Engines a goner, lets talk options!

NorthernRyan · 2014-03-24T01:06:00+00:00

Current Engine Back Story: When I bought the engine it had 150k km on it, was dealership maintained and maintenance records looked good. For the 30k I've driven it I've done Mobile1 Synthetic oil changes and drive it around town or 1000km round trips to Edmonton (the closest major city) and the odd off roading/camping trip. The engine failed when I was out camping and doing some exploring on pipeline roads. I was going up a long stretch of about 5% grade that took around 1.5 minutes. Revs were around 4k the entire time to keep up tire spin through thick mud that other works trucks had rutted up that day. For the play by play you can read the original thread here: http://www.toyota-4runner.org/4th-gen-t4rs/164527-went-pooched-again.html Toyota said: Once it was towed there and they looked at it I was told the #5 rod bearing "let go". When I asked what they saw was damaged exactly the desk guy went to the back and asked the tech and he came back and vaguely explained what sounded like they fired one cylinder at a time till they found which one was making the noise and I assumed guessed it was the bearing from the noise. I care about its current state and why it failed to help weigh my options. Gadget said this in an email from URD: "It would be good to learn why the bearing failed. If you have an XRunner it may be due to the shallow oil pan and loss of oil pressure due to pump cavitation." ...is a 2003 V6 4WD a XRunner? Besides the two main options below I'm also looking for opinions on worth while add ons too. If I'm removing the damn thing I should be upgrading it as far as I'm concerned:guitar3:. Headers, intake manifolds, what's worth while? Used Engine Option Pros: Cheap and quick...relatively. Not to underestimate those factors though. I get a somewhat newer engine than the one I had hopefully. Cons: I don't really know the history of the engine or what quality I'm getting. Thought I was getting a good one before but maybe not. To make that fact worse the main thing in the 1GR-FE family that has changed over the years is switch to a new cam shaft sensor in 2005. This means I'm only looking at 2003/2004s for a direct swap. This doesn't really appeal to me as if I'm going to swap a new one in I would like to get a 2009 with 30k km on it. To do that I would then have to swap the cam sensors from my engine which as I understand is the sensor and the gear or what ever inside the engine that the sensor reads which is pretty involved sounding. The selection that is close to up here in Northern Canada for these engines as well is pretty shitty to say the least. Rebuild Option Pros: I know what I'm getting. Depending on how much is replaced I'm getting almost a new engine. As my old boss said, if I'm replacing an engine, I'm making it better. If I do rebuild it I want to make it stronger so if I decide to, say, put a super charger on it, I'm not at any real risk of damaging the engine. The URD small block assembly looks interesting in this regard. Only really uses the stock crank shaft and block even in the cheapest rebuild. Short Block Assembly - Underdog Racing Development It would be nice to get it done closer but my old boss was saying if he were to rebuild it, get a shop that has a good reputation and builds your engine or Toyotas in particular. Agree/Disagree? Cons: Cost, going to be more expensive, but at least I know what I'm getting. Time, for the URD rebuild its 90 days which means for most the summer camping season I don't have my 4runner. :crybaby: The Swap I'm probably going to pay someone to help me do the swap. There's two people I know that have years as automotive mechanics and enthusiasts that I will pay around 1.5k to help me do the job. Cheaper then the 4.4-3.6 I've been quoted and I don't entirely trust myself to do this one. Thoughts? And of course I'll post pics of it all. Might go pro the whole things if people care. Shipping Going to be a pain in any option living where I do. There are no used engines close to me and even a rebuild, the URD one being across the border. Anyone have any tips on how to ship engines at the cheapest cost, or what's even involved? Thanks everyone! Lets have some fun with this...even tho I never really intended on ever having to spend any money on a Toyota engine...

Thread starter NorthernRyan
Start date Mar 24, 2014

iBison

Member

Sep 2, 2014

Code2 said:
Im curious since I dont know what vehicle inspections are you referring to? What is inspected? is this something done yearly?

I only ask cause in IL you buy a car or own one and the only inspection you have to take is a smog test pass or fail nothing more then that

AFAIK that only applies to Chicago, we don't have any downstate.