Sad news

bitchaaz

bitchaaz

New member
Short Story about my '02 Runner with 188k miles.

The electrode on spark plug #5 broke and fell down into the piston. Towed it to my mechanic and he put a scope down in there and was unable to find anything. There's one heck of a rattle coming from the bottom end though. It starts up and runs fine, but then you hear a sound like what a chain sounds like when you place it on the floor. Best guess is that there's damage to the connecting rod and or rod bearing. Its hard to tell, but Im being told that its a matter of time before something blows through the block.

I have been depressed about it since I got the news on Wednesday. I don't know what to do now. I need advise though. I have 2 options and not sure which way to go.

I found a 3.4 with 93k miles for $1,500.00. My mechanic is saying book hrs are 28 hrs for R/R:sobbing: Anybody have an idea of exact time it would take? He's figuring it shouldn't take no more than 15 hrs to do @ $100/hr. So figure 3 grand. Chances are it probably needs a timing belt/water pump/pulleys/belts/plugs done prior to install. Figure conservatively $500 for that. So far $3500. I need new tires right now before the first snow fall. Another $800. That's $4300 just to get it back on the road. Is it worth me putting that money into it knowing full well everything else has close to 200k on it?(tranny, bushings, drivetrain etc etc). It sounds alot.

2nd option is just take it to the auction or carmax and dump it and hope to get 4 grand out of it. Its so confusing. Done and done.

I just want to curl up in a ball and cry.

Cliffnotes: Change your spark plugs this weekend.

Pics for Reference

Pic #1- Clean Break
Pic #2, no electrode at the bottom..
Pic #3 is as she sits.
 

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Looks to me like you have a pretty sharp looking rig man! Pretty decent looking shape....if you really love it that much, and feel it's worth it....get the engine put in!

However, another bit of advice....if you're gonna drop a newer engine in it....what about paying a few hundred more, and get your current transmission rebuilt like new??? This way...you have a good solid powertrain!

Just a thought...... :)
 
Yea that sucks. Carmax won't give you 4k for it. Any mechanic will hear that sound and know the engine is toast. Once the engine is toast, the car losses most of its worth. You can part it out I guess, but that is always a hassle. Someone might pay 1k for the whole thing. Every auction and decent dealer I know does a check over the car before they even guess at a estimate. Any engine noise is usually a deal breaker for them. If you engine really does like you say, they will know the moment they hear it.. and walk away.


This sucks. And there is no happy ending unfortunately. I had a bearing go in my engine. My truck went instantly from an awesome 4x4 in great shape to worth almost nothing in about 2 seconds flat. sucked! I bought a motorcycle and was careless for awhile.

Anyway. I say try for a new engine in there.
 
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That's a tough one. Couple of Q's to help with responses:

1.) Any other reasons you'd consider parting with the rig?

2.) How long did you plan to keep it?

3.) Is it currently your DD and only mode of transportation?

That's a whole chunk of money to spend but if you did't have to pay someone else $100/hr to swap it would it play into the decision?
 
Besides the engine, the only other things to be worried about at that mileage are the radiator and ball joints.

Get all of that fixed and you are good to go for another million miles mi amigo.
 
Mellow77 said:
That's a tough one. Couple of Q's to help with responses:

1.) Any other reasons you'd consider parting with the rig?

2.) How long did you plan to keep it?

3.) Is it currently your DD and only mode of transportation?

That's a whole chunk of money to spend but if you did't have to pay someone else $100/hr to swap it would it play into the decision?
Click to expand...


1)other then the money? no other reason. Just cut my losses now before I put money into and then I will be committed to it now matter what other issues might arise.

2)I orginally planned to keep it till it had 300k. I got it when it had 110k on it and my previous DD was a 2.7 tacoma that I gave to carmax for 3k @ 268k miles on it.

3) yes. It is my DD
 
4-Ripcord said:
Besides the engine, the only other things to be worried about at that mileage are the radiator and ball joints.

Get all of that fixed and you are good to go for another million miles mi amigo.
Click to expand...


Replaced ball joints 50k miles ago and replaced radiator about 10k miles ago with fresh toyota pink.
 
What is your level of mechanical prowess? What I mean to say is, have you considered swapping the engine yourself? You would have to buy or rent and engine crane, and obviously do some research, but if you can take the time to do it, you could save ALOT of money and have your rig back. That thing does look really good.

Maybe there are some T4R'ers near you that can help? Or you might even check some yota clubs around there, or even other truck enthusiast clubs. Maybe some guys that are mechanically inclined would be willing to help you do the swap for some beers and dinner.

Even if you aren't very mechanically inclined, with some help, or just some cahones, you might be able to pull this off yourself for a relatively small investment.
 
Looks like a nice truck, I would recomend swapping in a engine yourself.

How old were the plugs? did your car overheat? what exactly happend ?

I dont often hear about this happening besides maybe with the use of nitrous
 
I do all the maintenance and repairs myself, but the 2 things that im intimidated is engine and tranny swaps. I just cant bring myself to tackle it. Now that I put the word out, there might be an inexpensive solution. I'm going to focus on it for the next 2 weeks before I make a move. In the mean time, its eating me up.

The plugs were about 50k miles, maybe 60. Ironically, I had set aside some money and was going to buy one of those timing belt/water pump kits you guys are always
linking to, so I could work on that next weekend, and I was going to give it a good tune up tommorrow, ( plugs, TB cleaning, air filter, oil change etc), because they are calling for some freezing rain, so i figured it would give me something to do for the day.

and no overheating. I just started it up, took off, heard some clanking noise and my truck was sputtering/shaking. I thought I had a flat tire for a sec,
then I saw the check engine light blink on and off (clear indication of misfire for some odd reason). pulled off to the side of the road and was deathly afraid
of an overheating issue and just stared at the temp. needle, but it didn't move at all. I was an hr. away from home and I didn't want to risk it so,
just had it towed.
 
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You sound really bummed and I can understand, but at the same time you still have a 4Runner. A rebuilt or newer engine, depending on ow many miles are on the clock, could get you another couple hundred thousand miles or years in the same vehicle with out sinking money into another (presumably uncooler) ride.
 
sorry to hear about your misfortune.


life is too short, don't trip about this.

not trying to be an a$$, but you make it sound like you had a death in the family or diagnosis with some illness.

good luck with everything.
 
I totally understand it eating you up. I also understand feeling intimidated by engine and tranny swaps, but read some of the engine swap threads here (not engine conversions, just swaps). I don't think it is as hard as you might think. You could also take the heads off and pull the piece out of the cylinder directly. At some point, you have to say, "If I'm going to take a loss on it, I might as well give it a try". Would you lose any money by giving it a shot?
 
*****aaz said:
I do all the maintenance and repairs myself, but the 2 things that im intimidated is engine and tranny swaps. I just cant bring myself to tackle it
Click to expand...

I didn't know how to do that stuff either until I did it the first time. Its actually really pretty easy. Just take your time, snap some pics as you go, and have a little bit of extra money to buy some tools if need be. Worse case it takes you a little while to do and you learn a LOT more about your truck.
 
Check out Car-Part.com--Used Auto Parts Market fairly low mile engines can be had for far less than $1500. Labor sounds iffy. I completely pulled an engine start to finish is about 7 hours, and I am no professional mechanic by any means. That was taking my time without any special tools minus an engine lift. Heck if you lived closer I would swap an engine for you for around $400. Plus parts of course. Hope more information gives you some better options. If you have any questions let me know.
 
paying someone $400 to do it would be a no brainer. I hope someone local is on these boards that has a shop.

This is becoming therapeutic. Im sure the crown and coke is helping a little bit also.
 
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