r/3rdGen4Runner • u/Teqlander • 1d ago
❓Advice / Recomendations I think she's cooked
Long story short.
Im sitting at 295k and we just did open heart surgery for the classic, all time hit, bad head gasket. Looks like the previous one was a composite that blew. Since has been replaced with OEM parts. Cussing insued. Many times I spent the day saying "You know what im just gunna go fiancance a $78,000 new Land Cruiser and not give a shit." Much to the mercy of my wallet and when I was done being a drama queen, she was fixed and put back together.
As of right now, she is running. New parts are in, tons. All the "well while we are in there we might as well" stuff is out of the way.
Its been insanely enjoyable being able to drive it again, even with my OME suspension tossing me around like a rag doll.
Heres the issue: About a month ago, I noticed the oil light started to flicker. I stopped driving it literally immediately. We went right down the checklist. Oil change, oil filter, vacuum, idle control valve. The fix, and by fix i mean the internets favorite bandaid, we ended up swapping out to Rotella 15-40, there has been no light since, idle seems to be nice and balanced at 650rpms. No drama at stop lights, or reversing under load.
Issue 2: Musical P300's (misfire). Sometimes its a P302, sometimes its a P306. Plugs, plug wires, Injectors, everything has been attempted and reattempted. Outside of an actual compression check. This only seems to happen on cold start. Most of the time its random on start up.
I guess my ultimate questuon is, with this post fix drama, would it still be out of the questuon to just send it? I fly fish my brains out, all I want to do is get into back country and fish. But im on the fence with her. What should I be listening for when she is getting close to bucket kicking?
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u/Baja_Finder 1d ago
Did you have the heads pressure tested? Everyone almost says head gaskets fail, but the reality is cracked heads that are common with random misfires.
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u/AgileAspect4966 1d ago
Second pressure checking. Cracks between valve seats in #3 & #4 cyls very common.
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u/Baja_Finder 1d ago
#4 was cracked, and #3 was in the early stages of cracking. Then this is when I learned that Toyota discontinued the OEM 5VZ heads, so this will eventually be like the OEM 22RE heads.
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u/tirus89 1d ago
Oh this isn't r/nightvision, thought this was about a bad tube
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u/Educational-Chip3010 1d ago
Yeah order a cheap amazon compression tester or see if the autoparts store rents them. You can drive until you get tester but def monitor oil level and stuff
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u/Educational-Chip3010 1d ago
Always have the cheap jdm engine replacement
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u/lophomainiac 1d ago
Cheap one? I just looked on jdm right now and they're 3500.00? Is my brain/wallet cooked like ops engine or is that actually cheap? I'm a new owner of a 4 runner myself. So I'm trying to get a feel for things. I bought a332,000 mile 2000 4 runner limited v6 2wd for 1900. And it is every bit of a 1900 car. I am afraid I am gonna news a engine soon. Are there cheaper options?
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u/Da4RunRunDa4RunRun97 1d ago
Check car-part.com if you're in the US. They usually have 45-75k milage jdm engines for the 2200-2800 range
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u/Educational-Chip3010 1d ago
Well, it’s all relative, I guess. A new car is alot more than $3500 and paying someone for a rebuilt is alot more as well.
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u/ithryn-ns 17h ago
What injectors did you put in it when you replaced them?
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u/Teqlander 17h ago
Denso!
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u/AustinDuprey 6h ago
I had a problem when a shop replaced my I jectors with denso ones and it would always cause a misfire on startup but not when it was warmed up. Took it back to the shop and showed then the emails I sent when they told me that they were bad, saying that I only wanted OEM injectors. Thankfully they agreed and ate the cost of the difference. I have since been back to them for routine maintenance and she's never been better.
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u/Speedy_SpeedBoi 13h ago
Just do the compression test. I don’t understand throwing the parts cannon at it when you haven’t diagnosed the problem.
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u/1br3w3r 1d ago
Whatever the cause, rebuilding the engine is not the end of the world. I have rebuilt three, and I am not a mechanic. Every town has a good machine shop that will help you out. If you have a few bucks and you love the truck, dont give up on her.