Looking a third gen(01), engine was replaced. Should I be concerned?

[tekstrand]

Looking at a third gen for sale in my area, owner says car has 160K and engine is at 137K, was replaced recently. Is there anything I should be worried about with this? Specific problems that I should check for to make sure it was done properly or questions I should ask around the swap?

It's automatic, 3.4L V6, 4WD.

 

[jreask]

First of all, ask why the engine was replaced. Did it blow ? These engines usually last well over 250K miles with routine maintenance. Was the engine abused or not maintained regularly? Lack of oil changes? If the engine was neglected, most probably the entire truck was neglected. If someone can't find the time to change or get the oil changed, they probably neglected ALL of the maintenance. My opinion of course.

 

[tekstrand]

That's kind of what I'm guessing is the case, it sounds like the current owner is replacing the drums for the brakes right now as well.

If this were the case and it was neglected, would it mean that other items like the transmission/rear end and seals would be in trouble too? I don't plan to do the mechanical work myself on this vehicle so I want to avoid getting into something that will have a ton of little stuff.

 

[csp]

It's a crapshoot if other things were neglected. I bought mine with a bad engine due to an oil leak from a loose filter. It was regularly maintained and taken care of. Someone made a mistake that wasn't caught in time.

Seals aren't a maintenance item. You leave them alone unless there's a leak.

Ask for maintenance records on it if in doubt.

 

[tekstrand]

Cool, I appreciate the input there. I'll talk to this guy more to get more history, hopefully nothing alarming because I'd really like to buy this thing and join the 4runner club!

 

[gamefreakgc]

Even if it needs a little work, maintenance on these 4Runners is a piece of cake. Everything is simple and easy to get to.

 

[jreask]

Even if it needs a little work, maintenance on these 4Runners is a piece of cake. Everything is simple and easy to get to.

You mean like the starter? LOL.

 

[7echo]

You mean like the starter? LOL.

It seems like there is always some thing that is a hassle to work on on every vehicle. I will say that overall I find my T4R to be easier to wrench on than some of my past vehicles.

For the OP, not much you can do except research the thing and see if you can find out how it lived.

One thing I try to remember is that there are more available. If this one doesn't work out take your time, read old threads here and learn about the trucks. Mine had all the known issues-front brakes vibrating, some under carriage rust, slow throttle response due to stretched/misadjusted cables, rear axle seal leak, dash board clock dead, and I don't recall what else. I knew all these things and what do look for as the trucks came available for sale in my area.