New engine...?

M

merlinrunner

Junior Member
I've got a 2006 4Runner Limited, 4.7L with 149k on the clock. They tell me I have something restricting oil flow to the left side of the engine. Options are tear the engine down until they find whatever is causing the problem or throwing in a new engine. Cost to tear the engine down looking for the problem is , of course, unknown. Cost to replace the engine is $8500. Looking to the members for opinions on the options and the cost to replace the engine. The vehicle is in excellent condition, notwithstanding the engne issue. It's my primary driver. Any input would be helpful at this point.
 
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$8500 to replace an engine? That's insane. Can anyone else confirm that as a reasonable estimate?

I know the block is ~$3k, but what goes into the other $5500?
 
I had an oil pressure issue that was fixed with "Motor Flush" and cleaning out all the crud in the oil pickup. It's worth trying. How do you know this is happening? Sludging can happen on these when oil changes are prolonged.
 
MikeinNH67 said:
I had an oil pressure issue that was fixed with "Motor Flush" and cleaning out all the crud in the oil pickup. It's worth trying. How do you know this is happening? Sludging can happen on these when oil changes are prolonged.
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Discovered by mechanic when he was going into the head to fix another problem.
 
I would try multiple flushings of the engine's oil passages, I would do this myself but you'll most likely have a hard time getting any mechanic at a shop nowadays talked into trying that because of doing the flushing several times and cleaning/draining out any sludge between flushing it is time consuming, but not as time consuming as tearing into the engine, besides most mechanics nowadays have never done such flushings to clear oil passages, this is an old school fix for sludged up engines to get them back to life when they've been neglected on timely oil changes.
 
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The 2UZ-FE engine has an oil control valve filter as shown in the pic below from the shop manual. If your problem involves the variable valve timing system, this would be my first checkpoint...could be clogged with sludge and restricting oil flow to the VVT actuator.
 

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waypoint said:
As evidenced by what? Were you driving along and magically detected low oil flow to the left cylinder head?

Or were there some other symptom(s) you observed e.g. valvetrain noise, P0018 error code, etc.?
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Discovered as a result of trying to fix a chattering VVT actuator.
 
waypoint said:
The 2UZ-FE engine has an oil control valve filter as shown in the pic below from the shop manual. If your problem involves the variable valve timing system, this would be my first checkpoint...could be clogged with sludge and restricting oil flow to the VVT actuator.
Click to expand...

Yes, the mechanic showed me that exact picture in the his shop manual and told me the issue could be a clogged filter. After cleaning the filter, and replacing the actuator, the chatter was still present but more so since there was no residual oil in the actuator. This and other evidence such as cam wear, etc., lead him to the conclusion the that the oil flow to that side of the engine was restricted. His guess was a piece of a failed oil filter was at fault.
 
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AuSeeker said:
I would try multiple flushings of the engine's oil passages, I would do this myself but you'll most likely have a hard time getting any mechanic at a shop nowadays talked into trying that because of doing the flushing several times and cleaning/draining out any sludge between flushing it is time consuming, but not as time consuming as tearing into the engine, besides most mechanics nowadays have never done such flushings to clear oil passages, this is an old school fix for sludged up engines to get them back to life when they've been neglected on timely oil changes.
Click to expand...

Good idea. I guess it wouldn't hurt to ask about it. The vehicle has had regular oil changes. Not sure where the sludge would come from.
 
merlinrunner said:
Yes, the mechanic showed me that exact picture in the his shop manual and told me it the issue could be a clogged filter. After cleaning the filter, and replacing the actuator, the chatter was still present but more so since there was no residual oil in the actuator. This and other evidence such as cam wear, etc., lead him to the conclusion the that the oil flow to that side of the engine was restricted. His guess was a piece of a failed oil filter was at fault.
Click to expand...

Good info, bad situation. Blockage of an internal oil passage is a rare thing on properly-maintained engines. If the shop is seeing the engine clean enough to rule out sludge as the cause, then a foreign object (failed oil filter component theory) wouldn't likely be removed by flushing.

Two options to consider:

1) Have the shop replace that head. Rebuilt piece, or a good used one. Lower cost, but higher risk...the obstruction could be in the block's passage, and would still be there.

2) Install a used engine from LKQ that includes a bit of warranty time.

LKQOnline
 
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Thanks waypoint. I'm really leaning toward the less risky path of replacing the engine. I see mixed opinions here concerning used vs rebuilt; I suppose there are good arguments for both. Any experiences out there with either one?
 
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