My 98 4Runner engine is toast

[kvn98runner]

Was driving to work the other week and my engine on my 98 seized doing about 75mph. It only had 125k miles on it which seems fairly low for 4runners. My 84 was sold with around 315k miles and it ran fine. Has anyone else had this happen at fairly low miles. I check oil and get it serviced once a month.

-Kevin

 

[00t4rlimited]

That is extremely odd. are you sure it's seized? can you turn the crank pulley with a breaker bar & socket?

 

[gapboi210]

failed oil pump?

 

[peter78]

You are the first one I have heard of. Did you get any kind of warning before it seized up?

It will be interesting if you ever figure out what happened. As bad as it is, I would think it would make sense to try and get another engine. Let us know what happens and I am sorry about what happened.

 

[Tomsriv]

Was it oil, heat or timing belt related?

Thats a bummer man.

Time to drop a Chevy LS1 motor in there.

 

[kvncortez]

sorry it took so long for me to respond, I forgot password and email address i had used on that account. The problem was due to complete loss of oil. I've had problems with rear differential and engine oil leaks since the day i got it.

EDIT: I had a used toyota V6 engine swapped in. its slightly newer drives a little different but i like it

 

[peter78]

sorry it took so long for me to respond, I forgot password and email address i had used on that account. The problem was due to complete loss of oil. I've had problems with rear differential and engine oil leaks since the day i got it.

EDIT: I had a used toyota V6 engine swapped in. its slightly newer drives a little different but i like it

Welcome back. I was wondering if the oil engine light came on, or did it just seize up without the light?

I think that was a wise decision to get another engine, hopefully you can fix the rear differential too.

 

[gapboi210]

so u drove it without oil?

 

[Tomsriv]

This is why I like idiot lights, even if I do have a gauge. When you lose oil pressure you want to know NOW, not when you glance at the gauge or hear the lifters clattering. I am putting both idiot lights and gauges on my old cars.

How did you lose all the oil? Just slow leaks and a lot of driving?

 

[RunnerUp]

if he really does get the oil checked and the vehicle serviced once a month then it would have to be a catastrophic failure, i dont really believe he does it once a month but hey, he said he does. which would mean that the last place they checked his oil prob. failed to put the drain plug back in... might want to go back there....

 

[Tomsriv]

I have a 71 Buick Riviera with 60k miles on the engine rebuild and it has been leaking for a few years. Yesterday it decided to get a lot worse. I drove it to a car show, it was about 200 miles round trip. I went through 17 gallons of gas and a quart of oil in 200 miles. I know it well enough to keep an eye on it. If kvn984runner sprung a major seal leak he could have dried up his oil in a couple weeks. Usually you can look in your driveway and tell if your car is leaking, but if you go on a road trip you have to remember to check. This goes to show how important an idiot light can be.

 

[1998SR5]

My 1998 engine blew up last year while going down the highway with about 120,000 miles in it. I could not believe it bacause all sechduled maintenance had been done. I went to get a salvage engine in my old Toyota 1984 Extra Cab. No one could figure out what hapened.

 

[Tomsriv]

My 1998 engine blew up last year while going down the highway with about 120,000 miles in it. I could not believe it bacause all sechduled maintenance had been done. I went to get a salvage engine in my old Toyota 1984 Extra Cab. No one could figure out what hapened.

Their has to be a reason. Did it physically blow up? Maybe a stress crack in a rod made it throw a rod. 22Rs are known to throw rods if you drive through a deep puddle (hydrolock). Engines always blow up for a reason.

 

[1998SR5]

The broken rod was the leading theory but I was down a vehicle and had to focus on getting it going again. There was actually a hole about the size of a silver dollar on the front, passenger side of the engine. I dropped the oil pan just to see. It looked like a 20mm canon shell hit the engine. I agree that it happened for a reason. However, it was not a lack of oil in the pan or a lack of scheduled preventative maintenance. It defies all the reasons I bought a Toyota.