Head gasket out at 489,000 miles, repair or replace engine??

Wow, I did not know that replacing the engine is so easy than. I mean there are lot things connected to the engine - not only all wires, hoses and drive shaft but all the other stuff stuff powered by the engine. Then hoisting this heavy brick out and in.

Taking out the head was just intake and exhaust plus whole bunch of small vacuum pipes. And the beauty of Tacoma is that there is so much space in the engine compartment that the work can be done without removing the engine. V6 is little wider than I4 but not that much. This is how the guts look when I4 head is removed (you can see that everything else is still in place):



I remember stealer quoted me 900 bucks just to replace the oil pan (they ended up doing it on their dime because they broke the thread for the plug during oil change). 4x4 drive makes access from the bottom a little bit more complicated.

 

Best post so far!
At almost 500,000 mi. there could be a fair amount of wear to the bottom end, rebuilding just the top end is a risk, it could last, but, I don't like to gamble on getting stuck somewhere remote.

 

where to start, first off a v6 is a hell of a lot more involved then a 4 cylinder and you have 2 heads not one.

pulling the head or pulling the engine requires the same amount of stuff to be disconnected. the only thing and engine swap has that head replacements don't is you pull the radiator and unbolt the tranny, torque converter and motor mounts, that's about it.

the final and only "real" difference is you undo the tranny and motor mounts to pull it out instead of pulling the top end of the engine apart. removing the timing belt, hoses, pulleys, 3 different intake manifolds, and water pump off takes at least as long as unbolting the tranny and torque converter and removing the motor mounts.

both choices take you the better part of all day to remove them

here is a 5 part video showing what is involved in doing the head job on a 3.4 v6, its NOTHING like how easy it is to do on a 4 cylinder
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=voLBRDZL9fE

not to mention the OP has a SC involved which adds even more things involved he needs to take apart and put back on

 

Thank you for clearing it out. I stand corrected.

Now I know why I always wanted I4, not V6.

 

I think there is uncertainty in how well someone may or may not have maintained, even a low mileage, salvage yard engine. If I were in your shoes I would look into getting a good shop to do a rebuild on your motor.

 

while it is true you can never be certain how well someone else took care of their engine, a good compression test plus the appearance of the vehicle it comes from, is about all that is needed for you to know its worth using, because these engines can and do often go 400k-500k miles (albeit not supercharged) 100k is barely break in mileage for these engines so unless it was abused, even a not so well maintained engine with only 100k miles can be pretty sure to get another 200k miles for you.

this is why you want an engine that is still in the vehicle so you can see the true mileage it has, you can see it was wrecked so you know it was running and "should" be in good running condition, and you can see the condition of the vehicle to tell you if it was well cared for and if possible, you can start it up and hear it run before buying it. all these things are clues to give you a picture of what you are getting.

 

Replacing the engine is not near as bad as it sounds. Took me 2 days to do it, including picking up the other motor and an engine hoist, but if I had to do it again I could definitely do it in 1. Worst part is unbolting the tranny from the engine and getting the starter through the jigsaw puzzle of cooling lines and brake lines. It took me an extra 2 or 3 hours trying to get the motor in only to realize I had not got the torque converter pushed in all the way.

 

Ok, such great advice from every one and lots to think about.


I will just park the truck for now and take my time in looking for a used
engine 100,000 or less. I'm not in a hurry and I want to do this once.
So I will keep an eye out for an engine that's still in the vehicle so
I know what I'm getting.
Thanks again,

 

I'd agree with this.

IMO at that mileage it would be dumb to do just the headgaskets

 

Ok, thanks for all the advice, here's my update.
Look what I found!!!!!
Glad I waited,

I found a local person that rolled his truck on this site with a low mileage engine a little over 100,000 very clean out of an 2004 Tacoma that is being taken out now.

Here's the photo from the donor trunk and engine
I'm so excited to get it running again and yea, won't have to worry about those heads or any oil leaks anymore.

 

That's a good long life for any engine, most are lucky to make it beyond 200k because the average person just doesn't take care of their stuff. I'd definitely go with finding another low miles 3.4 though if I was you. They're all over the place and easy to come by for a few thousand bucks.

 

I LOLD

 

Ah, I see. I failed to see the OP's latest post!

 

Me too

 

I dont get it.

 

He literaly just posted that he bought a motor, nobody bothered to read any of the thread

 

Ahh. I took it more malapropoly then funny.

 

Ok, things coming together now, got the 2004 motor with a little over 100,000 miles ready to go to
replace the 1997 engine that has 490,000 miles, both engines side by side to
swap all the parts using as many of the 2004 parts as possible.

Being safe and having the complete engine resealed from valve cover gaskets to rear main seal and front seals, timing belt, tensioner pulley , idler pulley, water pump, water pump pulley, All belts, most vaccuum hoses and installed stainless fuel line
for supercharger and a new clutch, resurface the clutch plate.
Changing the supercharger oil, and power steering oil, engine oil, spark plugs,
Spark plug wires.
Yea there a lot to do on a motor swap but a much better choice with this many
miles than just replacing the head gaskets I see now.
The hard part was finding an engine that was not a junk yard engine
(I don't trust the junk yards with the miles they claim un less in the truck still)
with legit miles that I could carfax to verify the miles and be able to
hear the engine running that was a low mileage motor.
Should be all done this weekend!!! and go to go for another 400,000 miles,

 

Repair or rebuild the original. You've got a special truck. Definitely different. Not "just another" new Tacoma which looks like all the others and that anyone can have.

 

He found another engine. Update is in this thread