New Guy with lots of questions

Hello everyone. I'm sure these questions have been asked many times and I hope y'all don't get too mad with me right off the jump... so a little about where I'm at will be below.

I have been a Toyota guy for several years now. Never owned a Tacoma. I've had a couple Tundras, a 4Runner, and my ex wife had a Sienna and now a Highlander. I currently have a 2007 Tundra 4x4 that has 180,000 miles on it that I plan on running until the windshield melts.

My brother bought a 1996 Tacoma 4x4 extended cab when it was still pretty new. He drove it until it had 280,000 miles on it and then let his son take over. He drove it all through high school and to college until the engine went with well over 300,000 miles on it. The last thing I heard was he thought the heads had cracked due to overheating. He had a guy pick it up and the guy had it several months before it showed back up at his house still not running. This was nearly 3 years ago. I've been after him for several years to sell it to me thinking the head was all that was wrong with it. Well this evening I asked his son about selling it and he gave me a price. I told him I would take it... not knowing that the head was not the issue. I spoke with my brother about it and he told me that the engine was gone and had actually cracked the block. So I went back with a lower price and ended up buying the truck.

So what I need help with the most at this moment is buying a motor. I want to go back with new or remanufactured as long as the warranty is comparable. Where should I be looking? I did a search earlier and it shows there are tons of places to buy them from but I don't have a clue about where I should trust. I plan on pretty much rebuilding the truck not like a frame off but I'm not going to skip over anything that should be replaced. I appreciate any and all help with this journey.

 

Hi, I am also new to the forums. How bout taking apart the engine that's in the truck now and inspect it? You can always rebuild what you have.

 

From what my brother told me, the block is cracked. I have not looked at it yet. It's still in his yard waiting to be towed to my house.

 

Ummm. Your truck, your choice…..

I am against rebuild engines since you don’t know who did the work. I had a 2006 4Runner with a fresh rebuild engine when I bought it. It blew a head gasket a year later when the warranty went out.

so i found a used engine from another car that was totaled and swapped in the motor. The used engine had 140k on it. Ran great ever since untill I sold it.

so I would try to find a used engine with decent miles and swap it in. It is a gamble any way. Most places like junk yards offer some kind of warranty on used engines.

these trucks are old. There are no “new” engines for them. You are either gambling with a used engine that Toyota made and sealed….or a rebuild engine that “John” at xxxxxxx place rebuild and “John” might had a bad day that day.

 

There's a ton of options....very popular with the part suppliers...

Roll the dice on a junk yard engine for $500....
all the way up to a custom yota1 engine for $8400.

and everything in between.....

In california they have numerous rebuilders on these jap engines...
and business is good.....make sure how long the wait list is....before putting money down...

I went with a reman block.....and then bought new heads...
2yrs on the block and 3yrs warranty on the heads...
About the same price route as the JDM used ones.

Used engines and even resurfaced heads is risky business.....
because these blocks over heat easy.....sorry ass water jackets....
only bad thing about these trucks....
and the heads love to crack......right in between the valves....
they dont like heat......

 

They should of made em like this...

 

Not this....

 

I see one on McGeorge (???) Over 11k for it though LOL

 

Thanks for the info and welcome. I hope to bring it home sometime this week if my brother can find the keys. I'm hoping everything else is in as decent of shape as I remember. Between him and his son the most they ever did was drive it hunting as far as off road. Neither were out mudding. My father had it repainted for the grandson some time when he was in high school so I think the paint is decent. It's a SC truck so the frame should be good as far as rust.

I'm really leaning towards a long block... but used isn't out of the question. What vehicles and years could I look at as far as matching up with with I have? I'm out of my element when it comes to a Tacoma. I know it's the 2.7 with manual trans and 4x4 but that's about it for now.

 

Are you referring to the 4 cylinders here? I overheated my old 3RZ pretty badly when the radiator went out a few years ago. It still purred like a kitten afterwards and got me all the way to Colorado and back. IMO they're pretty tough engines, especially if you can manage to keep coolant in them, unlike me back in 2021 lol.

 

JDM engines are plentiful and usually reasonably priced, as has been mentioned earlier. There's also so many of these trucks with rusty frames but mint-running drivetrains. It's not like these are are Ferrari V12s or something. My truck got a used engine a few years ago for $2500 out the door at a shop when the original owner had it, and it has excellent compression.

 

I've seen some used engine dealers in Washington state that do good business on the JDM's.

They even warrant them for a short time.

But I've also seen horror stories from some that were sold out of Florida....
water flooded engines and what not....

In southern states last few years we've had huge flooded areas....over and over..

a boom for used parts......but I'd be careful of the engines.....

 

Welcome To TW...

 

And would not put a 96 back in.....because of the $1000 maf sensor and other..

97 and newer would give you a standard coil pack.....and cam sensor to ditch the wear prone distributor...

Of course you'll also have to have the exact ecm for that motor size/year and associated tranny.......and engine harness.....

A lot of stuff for 96 engine is sky high if you can even find em.......like a $1000 ecm....


You can see your old parts are worth some money.....



These engine blocks have poor cooling....and its the heads that take it in the ass...
probably biggest reason for abandoning..
3Rz was formulated in mid 1950's....way different times.....
most likely a modified marine engine....

Unfortunately, a lot lean on Toyota reliability....and let maintenance slide....
7 year coolant.....right...
The denso radiator is barely up to the job......really too small for what a lot of you are asking out of these.....

 

The engine block on my son’s Civic cracked and I replaced it with a JDM engine from a place in NJ. He hasn’t had any more trouble with it. I wouldn’t hesitate to put one in my truck if I needed to.

 

Good news is because this is the base engine in 4-runners....there's very high volume of these used/remanufactured
3rz......
steady diet of consumers....

 

I'm only into this Tacoma for $1000... plus whatever it runs me to tow it to the house which is only about 5 miles down the road. The thing that worries me the most is the little things that you guys keep throwing out there that I don't know about like the ecm problems and distributor. I'd like to put it back on the road but I also don't want a money pit. Should I dump the money into it or send it down the road and look for something else? I've been on the hunt for a pre 2007 Sequoia for years in good shape with 4x4 but those don't pop up around here very often.

 

It make sense financially if you can do the work yourself. But paying someone to do it…..might be pretty expensive

 

The parts for these tacomas can be really add up......
....they are proud of their parts......
every little thing is like a hundred bucks.....and then another $20 on the shipping really gets old...

I guarantee you the Mcgeorge people are happy campers....


A lot of times when you get these...they've been littered with aftermarket parts...
so.....replacing all those can be a rabbit hole....

 

JDM or used with a warranty or break the one you have down yourself. Short blocks are easier to find
https://www.yotashop.com/toyota-3-4l-5vz-95-04-engine-short-block-5vz-sb-9504/
heads are hard to come by and as mentioned they had early head gasket issues and they’d crack between the valve passages. If you have a cracked block and clean heads get the heads rebuilt and buy a short block and you’re in business.
Or break the bank and buy a reputable rebuild
https://www.yotashop.com/toyota-eng...er-t100-tacoma-tundra-1995-2004-5vz-dlb-9504/