Engine blown at 71k

Hi there, me again..
42 days ago, 2017 taco broke. Threw a bunch of fuel, knock, cylinder6 and injector codes, along with "high transmission level" on dash screen.
2 mechanics and 1, 1300.00 injector later, truck was deemed fit to drive. Still had knock, was told cylinder 6 valve would eventually need replaced. Drove approx 20 or so mis and knock got so bad I parked it. 8 days later I had it towed bk to mechanic. In 7 days couldn't get a call back on status. So today, I showed up with a borrowed car hauler (freaking tows are expensive), loaded her up and took her to dealership for a Toyota diag. Within an hour I was told engine was blown. There was glitter in and around oil filter.
I was also told they don't know what went wrong with the engine, that it would be an additional 3hr and 180. hr to dig into it with no guarantee of a reason why it blew.
Is this a thing? That they don't know?
New engine out the door is 11k..
Am I wrong in thinking I need to know what went wrong before I step out financially, for 11k?
I know I'm a woman in a man's world, but that sure as $hit doesn't make sense to me.
I have pics of the filter and all the metal shavings ( gliter ), but I can't figure out how to upload them..
Also, how does a mechanic miss a blown engine, while replacing an high pressure injector. He didn't say anything abt the valve until after I'd paid and went out to start my truck, heard it and went bk in to ask abt it..
T.I.A.

 

Sorry to hear about this. It can happen to anyone. Unfourtunatly luck of the draw.

Sounds like the first shop improperly diagnosed.

Yes, a replacement engine can be that expensive or more.

 

Sorry about your situation.. don’t spend money on trying to figure out what went wrong . The other shop owes u a full refund or motor since they didn’t diagnose it properly .i would seek legal action against them . If you don’t want to go that route u can find a used motor at a junk yard for less than dealer . Best of luck .

 

They won't know until full tear down. Sounds by description it's toast. I wouldn't pay an extra $540 to have it tore down, unless you have money to waste. Not gonna help any. As for new engine. I would research reputable mechanics in your area, for used engine. If you sink $11k+ into your truck, you will be so far upside-down. You should be able to get quality used engine with warranty for half to 2/3's that price. A 17 4x4 high grade is worth low $20k range, you don't want to have $35k+ stuck into a $20k truck. Just my opinion.I wish you best of luck, and sorry this happened to you.

 

Thank you for the reply.
Very sound advice.
I'll forget about trying to figure out what went wrong. Even tho it doesn't sit right with me, I guess at this point it's beating a dead horse.
I understand not wanting spend on a truck that I'll never make my money back on. I'm older and in a fixed income situation, so something new or a pmt isn't in the cards for me.
I'm having a problem finding a reputable mechanic.. That's why I took it to dealership.
The injector mechanic was very hard to deal with and I'm going to address things with him once I get the truck bk up n running... (orig mechanic towed my truck to him, without my knowledge, (( I knew orig Mechanic was going to have someone else work on it, but didn't know it was going to a different shop)). I only found out what was wrong when got a call that it was ready). Whole lot to unpack there..
Totally agree that it would be cheaper to find/install an engine elsewhere, and I'll continue to search for a decent mechanic, I have to get this addressed and get my truck back on the road, soon.

 

Post where you are located. I'm sure someone in your area can help, or already knows of a good source for what you are dealing with. Tacoma's have a great helpful community.

 

I am just outside of Bryan Ohio. I've already delt with best one, (they did a tune up and left spark plugs 2 4 and 6 finger tight). The orig tow guy was also a mechanic at John's towing. He couldn't get to it due to being busy, so towed it to mechanic shop in edgerton, who replaced the injector, deemed it fixed. He did mention that valve +6 was going to eventually need attention. It was blowing or blown when it got there, both times.
The engine was essentially toast when it died in my driveway, 42 days ago. It started up, but rod was knocking on +6 cylinder. It was driven approx 30 miles in 42 days.
If anybody knows of a reputable mechanic in the area, please respond.

 

Look for a used engine at https://www.car-part.com, they have lots of low mileage motors for $3,000 to $6,000 for your Tacoma.

 

WOW! Just WOW!

 

JASPER Remanufactured Engines & Transmissions

I went with these guys probably 12 to 15 years or so ago when the engine on my 1994 SR5 went at 311,000. The installer was a POS but the engine served me well for about 100,000 miles before I traded for my current Tacoma. Might be worth exploring for your situation.

 

Hopefully a couple things to help ease your mind.

First off, catastrophic engine malfunctions have the potential to be very hard to diagnose...especially if multiple people have been replacing parts on the truck. And even if you do get an answer as to why the engine blew, it really wouldn't help you in making a decision about replacing the engine or how to care for another one. As long as you performed routine maintenance when you were supposed to, there is nothing else you could have done to keep that engine from failing and nothing else you can do to keep another engine from following the same path. Some things are just out of your control in life.

It sounds like the first mechanic was just using a diagnostic tool to troubleshoot the issue and then threw a part at the truck without physically diagnosing the issue. A quick borescope of the cylinder or inspection of the oil filter would have told a much better story than a computer. Sadly, proving the mechanic was negligent is going to be very tough as you would have to prove that the replaced injector was in fact still 100% fully functional and that whatever diagnosing software the mechanic uses did not instruct the mechanic to replace the injector before further diagnostics. Most modern day mechanics simply pay for an online repair service guide and do what the computer says to do and charges the customer a premium. Not many use a stethoscope, borescope and years of experience to diagnose anymore. So, going after the mechanic to recoup the first bill or to have them replace the engine (that was already blown when you took it to them) will most likely yield no results but more frustration and lawyer fees.

As for replacing the engine, that is a financial decision only you can make. Putting a new/remanufactured engine in there is always the safest route but is the most expensive. If you plan on keeping the truck for many more years and putting a couple hundred thousand miles on it, then consider putting the money into the truck. The used route is another good option but you never know what you are going to get. Your engine suffered a catastrophic failure at 71,000 miles and you know how it was maintained. Putting another engine in the truck with 70,000 miles may have 1,000 miles left or it might have a million miles left in it. You never know. Most reputable salvage yards will provide warranty options that covers both the engine and labor for various amounts of time...but they still don't know the history of the engine they are selling you. Warranties are made to make the seller money, not the buyer but will definitely help if a mechanic puts in a used engine and it starts knocking as soon as they turn the key. When I was selling used engines, they came with a 6 month part warranty and extended warranties varied from $250 for a longer part warranty to $1000 for part and labor warranties. Always a gamble.

TL/DR
Not much you can do about the mechanic. You will either need a new or used engine based on your financial and future truck needs.

 

I have reached out to a friend in Defiance to see if he has any top flight recommendations in that area. If he does, I'll post back.

EDIT:

@likxrokx, this is the response I got re: a shop in Defiance.

***************************************************
Northwest Automotive, 1735 Spruce St. 419-782-7827.

Always been honest and doesn't do needless work. They advertise building performance engines.
*****************************************************

Not that you need a performance engine. But it may be an indicator that they are at least familiar with engine internals.

Best of luck with your resolution. Keep us posted.

 

Toyota absolutely Hawkeyes their dealers when it comes to full engine replacements, especially on stuff like this. It may cost a few dollars but you will have sound of mine knowing that they'll do the engine correctly. And if they tell you they can't use a used engine tell them to suck one. Because they absolutely can.

 

LS swap?

 

I think about this daily..

 

What is an LS swap?

 

Basically drop one of GM's V8 engines into your Tacoma.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Motors_LS-based_small-block_engine

 

Sad stuff..

Car Care nut lives in Chicago I think, I was wondering if you could get in touch with him, and see if he can recommend someone.

 

@Clearwater Bill
I have no idea how to respond and tag you, so I hope you see this..
I called northwest automotive and spoke with Tim. He is going to look up and price out a LB for me. I should know more tomorrow.
REALLY nice guy.
Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!

 

@Horseshoez
Good lord, that would be too fun. I can't imagine my truck with a V8.. I'd need wings.
Is the price comparable? Or is it way more than a rebuilt 3.5L?