Has anyone heard of this before?

[tjschmidt]

I got a 98 SR5 3.4 that had 160,000 on it. I noticed that a valve was starting to tick and progressively got louder. So one day I had a great idea, I'll run a heavier oil to make it stop. I went from always running 5•30 to 10•40 and if that's not enough I put in a bottle of Lucas oil stabilizer. Well the next morning on my way to work on the freeway doing 75 I heard a pop, I didn't think much of it cause it was still running just fine but as soon as I got off the exit I heard the worst thing you wanna hear from your engine. Something is broke inside. I l drove it a couple blocks up the road and towed it home after work. I had a guy stop and listen to it and his thought was a spun rod bearing. After a month of searching I finally found a totally rebuilt complete engine for $2300 after freight the grand total was about $2700. Plus I still have my old one to rebuild an sell or whatever.
So here's my question, the guy I bought it from said that he put in some sort of plug where the oil cooler is and said that I shouldn't put it on the new motor, it don't need it.
Does this sound right or does some input on that? Thanx for any help.

 

[PNWRunner]

You could have gotten a JDM import with ~60k miles on it in lynnwood for 2g after tax. All OEM parts, instead of whatevers cheapest for the rebuilder. Sounds like the guy that rebuilt your motor likes to cut corners, and overcharge. I hope it wasnt gig harbor engine haus or ORS that you got your motor through, Ive seen bad experiences with both.

The oil cooler was factory issue on 4wd, but not 2wd. I doubt Toyota would put it there unless it was needed, so you should probably get one. Good luck with the rebuilt

 

[tjschmidt]

That's the kind of stuff you don't tell someone after they already bought it someplace else.(lol). It actually came from the east coast. The guys that built it did a great job. I don't think the price was bad considering there was no core deposit. (I still got mine to rebuild or sell or what have u). Plus freight from across country all completely rebuild for under 3g. That was the best I found when I was looking anyway. I was finding guys selling there's with 200k for 2g. Your right tho, I think i should look into the oil cooler more tho. Thanks for the input.