To Engine Swap or Rebuild?? 2nd Gen

[reddahaydn]

Hi All,
Need some urgent help. I hydrolocked my 3VZ-E and the general consensus was that it would be cheaper to swap an engine in than rebuild.
Now it seems that engines are very rare and I'm looking at about 2k for an engine with 180 000kms on it that I would still probably want to get the timing belt and head gasket done while I've got it out of the car.

So in that case, is it worth just trying to rebuild the engine I wrecked.
I haven't pulled it apart yet but I can't crank it over at all so the conrods are stuffed. I'm yet to determine whether I damaged the head in any way tho.

(was a pretty recently reco'd head as well)

What do you guys think? Due to the rarity and price of these engines i'm thinking it may just be worth doing a full rebuild of mine.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

cheers

 

[SwiftRunner]

Looking at your problems logically. You won't find out if the head is toast until you start your rebuild, right? If you can't find an engine right now, you would do better to start the rebuild rather than sit on your hands. There are also options you haven't mentioned. One is junk the vehicle and buy a new one. You could shop around for a similar 4-runner if you want. Then you could keep the old one for parts. For that matter you could buy another for parts and rebuild the one you have now. Finally, to dispense with the worry and car, you could buy a pistol and blow your brains out.

 

[KidVermicious]

I had my 22re rebuilt after my brother melted it down on the freeway, and I regret it. It would have been cheaper to swap in a 3.4, and I'd have doubled my horsepower to boot.

Unless you're going to rebuild it yourself, I'd pay for a crate engine.

 

[BucknutBob]

Check out these guys

Hi All,
Need some urgent help. I hydrolocked my 3VZ-E and the general consensus was that it would be cheaper to swap an engine in than rebuild.
Now it seems that engines are very rare and I'm looking at about 2k for an engine with 180 000kms on it that I would still probably want to get the timing belt and head gasket done while I've got it out of the car.

So in that case, is it worth just trying to rebuild the engine I wrecked.
I haven't pulled it apart yet but I can't crank it over at all so the conrods are stuffed. I'm yet to determine whether I damaged the head in any way tho.

(was a pretty recently reco'd head as well)

What do you guys think? Due to the rarity and price of these engines i'm thinking it may just be worth doing a full rebuild of mine.



Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

cheers

Check out toyotacarpart.com, friend--they carry professionally rebuilt 3.0 V6 longblocks for $1500 with a 3-year warranty. These guys have been doing this for some time now, and it's all they do. I believe shipping runs about $300. They're based in Colo. Sprgs, CO. All you need to do is swap over some external parts, and you're good to go. Best of luck.

 

[reddahaydn]

Thanks mate,
I will sus that out. over in Australia a rebuilt engine is $4250 + $1100 to install it.

I have a mate who will do the engine swap/rebuild for me for $25/hr.
but it will cost me $300 to get my car to him.

I will see if i can freight a engine over from America (i have already priced on I found in England, was $1200 for freight).
So if it's similar I'll have a full rebuilt engine for $2500ish.

In regards to an engine swap, i would only be changing in the same engine. to get the 3.4 your looking at over 4k for the engine to only gain a little bit. anything else like our local 3.8V6s of 5.0V8s were looking at 7-10k to swap em over.

Cheers guys

 

[jackstanton]

Re engine swap

You might check out Rising Sun -- they're in CA (and elsewhere) and might be cheaper shipping -- they test their engines before shipping -- see details on site -- I am about to buy same engine for ~$1500 + $300 core charge and $85 shipping. Obviously that may not work out the same for Down Under -- but worth a look?

Used engines and transmissions from Japan from Rising Sun Engines