Blown rod on 3.4 w/pics, where to buy an engine?

We bought the truck with a blown motor and trans for $1000. Its in good overall shape, just needs some tlc.

But the P/O never checked the fluid levels and the truck threw a rod on the freeway. Somehow the trans is roasted too, it has burnt brown sludge in it.

When I pulled the cooler line off the radiator, brown sludge oozed out. I heard that its common for a planetary to let go and scatter debris in these trannys?

Cliff notes:
I found this piece on my garage floor while sweeping up, it looks a lot like a piece of a connecting rod with a couple chunks of the block! There is a quarter sized hole on the drivers side of the oil pan. But oil is pouring somewhere from the right.







We will be pulling the engine tomorrow, its getting replaced with either a used or rebuilt. It just depends on price and warranty...

 

Sounds Like a sweet deal and a bit of a Project

Is the rest of the truck in good condition?

 

The truck was 100% complete with a clean title, perfect interior, it even has the turd package.

I just pulled the sheetmetal off to keep it from getting damaged while pulling the engine.

 

Thats a sweet deal

Any plans for the truck after the engine rebuild

 

We will use the truck for hauling the motorcycles and typical truck duties. Its definitely a keeper so it has to be reliable. I will do some light towing with it , so im looking to upgrade the trans cooling system.

The other tacoma i have is bagged, so its useless for anything except cruising.

 

Updated with pics, the motor is out. Im trying to source a replacement. Mine has a giant hole from the rod being ejected.

Im trying to find a shop to rebuild my auto trans, whats a good price? I can drop the tranny off at their shop.

 

Just curious, how many miles did the truck have on it when the rod let go? The 3.4 is supposed to be a pretty bulletproof engine. (Granted, poor maintenance will kill any engine...)

 

Saw this on CL los angeles. Might ge abel to get one cheaper though.
Later
Dan

http://losangeles.craigslist.org/lac/pts/3133701236.html

 

This was the one i saw last night. Cheaper.
Later
Dan

http://losangeles.craigslist.org/sfv/pts/3138747732.html

 

Whatever you do, do NOT buy a rebuilt engine from APR Auto Care in Colorado Springs... Trust me.

 

Mileage doesn't really matter much in destroying a rod. Poor lubrication and/or excessive revs can destroy one with 0 miles or 300K miles. Having a rod go in a properly maintained and normal driving would be vary rare.

 

1000 bucks!!!! Sweet Deal!

Dude this is going to be a sweet truck! Im betting you can even make some moneys off the blown motor and trans by parting out whats good on it!

Subd! Cool project!

 

That sucks that its damaged, that will hurt your core charge if I recall. I always wanted to try these guys for some engines I wanted but got rid of the vehicles now and never got a chance to do business.

http://www.precisionengine.com/rebuilt-engines/toyota/index.html

They had decent prices for small block GM engines rebuilt, re-manufactured and built up ones with extra power. Though I cannot vouch for them, hope you get her running!

 

Mine just threw a rod a few months ago at 68,000 miles and it is always taken care of. Although, I am the second owner of my truck so who knows what it went through before I bought it.

 

I smell a v8 or diesel opertunity

 

That sucks. Is it a manual or automatic? Were there mods done that would give a clue that it had a hard life?

 

It's an auto, no mods either. She always ran great before it happened. My mechanic has been working on Toy's for 22 years and he's never seen this engine (5VZ) crack the block like mine did.

 

Looks like the same exact rod that went in my old motor. I found a replacement motor from a 4runner for $1200 somewhat locally. Been running strong for the past year so far. It took me 3 weeks to the day to have a running truck again, from the day I blew up the previous motor.

 

Yeah you're right it does look like the same rod. Glad you got back up and running. It took me two months to get a remanufactured motor built and installed... part of that was dealing with a mistake from the company I bought the engine from which ended up costing ME an extra $1,200.

 

my 2003 tacoma 3.4 V6,103K did the same thing, put a hole on each side of the block. Never buying another Toyota!