is this worth it?

i'm a jeeper and dont know much about toyota's except for they're expensive. my friends selling his 99 ex-cab 4X4 tho. its a 3rz with a stick. 193K on the clock which scares me. but i can buy it for 3 grand. body and frame are great. its actually a very nice truck except for the fact that it needs a new starter and my main concern is that it has a bad valve tap. it sounds just like an exhaust leak from a header but its the valves. he hasn't changed the oil in forever tho as the truck has sat for the past couple months because he takes the train into the city for work now. i'm hoping an oil change will fix the problem but if not are the valves easy to adjust on these motors . . . if its not fixable are new heads expensive for these motors? whats the reliability like with these trucks with this motor? i hear toyota's will last a long time. any feedback much appreciated. if i buy this truck you'll definetly see me around the site alot. thanks alot, matt

 

sounds just like this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMZfgyQOO-Y

 

haha oh great. hope i didn't start a jeep vs. toyota thread b/c jeeps would obviously win and i would feel bad hurting your feelings . haha just kidding. i hear toyota's are great trucks too if you don't get a bad case of cancer which this truck is pretty good on

 

Amen!! This place is pretty cool - unlike other forums. I own a Wrangler myself (trail rig) and a Tacoma daily driver.

From your thread - sounds like you work on vehicles & motors yourself?

What do you plan on doing with the truck if you were to buy it?

Do you know if the truck passes the recent Toyota frame rust warrantee? The frames are rotting from the inside out - and might not be recognizable from the outside. Toyota is giving over KBB value for these trucks that fail the inspections.... just something to think about.

Other than that - even if you got the truck for $3,000 (or less), it'd be one hell of a fun little project to work on. Turn it into a trail truck, do a solid front axle swap... I don't know the details about the motors - but they are known to last even longer than that. Even if you discover the motor is not worth saving...Hell, put a V8 or diesel in it and have fun!! The body, the transmissions, axle, etc are bullotproof. Obviously, that would all depend on past history and if the truck was totally abused or not.

At a minimum, you could probably part-it-out on ebay and recoop what you paid for it and more.

 

i'm no a level tech but i know my way around motors a little bit. never torn one down internally and done a rebuild but i've done all parts on the outside, manifolds, water pumps, alternators, starters. i use to fix everything on my old wrangler. valves is something i've never messed with before tho. as for the truck it would be a dd. i'd lift it and put probably 33's on it but nothing to crazy. its been maintained pretty well. but my friend said he didn't ever really have to put anything into it. he did a starter on it once before but tahts it really. kept up on the oil changes but he hasn't done one i probs over a year because he never drives it.

 

Do some more research and post that video, I'm sure you'll get some info eventually.

The fact that he hasn't changed the oil in over a year, isn't necessarily the route of the tap problem. I have a jeep that sits in the garage mostly - and I've changed the oil after a year or longer. In fact, this year.... I only put 250 miles on it since last summer. I run synthetic oil and I do get out and start and/or drive it briefly from time to time to keep things lubricated.

Do you think the lifters are loosing pressure? I know they can sound rattly and sometimes obnoxiously loud until they build up oil pressure.... once they build up pressure, they're fine.

What type of oil does he use in it? Weight etc.

Do some research online and find out how much the truck is worth...

 

Good advise Janster. welcome to TW friend