Whether to Replace Motor?

A newbie here: with a 2007 PreRunner, 100K miles. No issues til now. Trusted mechanic/great Yelp track record says cracked block (after sudden shaking, top speed 30 mph). Quotes $8000+/- for new block from dealer/reassemble/out the door. Ugh. Does this sound reasonable? At 100K miles? We would like to keep truck another 5-7 years at least. Smarter than $6400 for after-market motor? Any thoughts? Thank you.

 

Welcome to TW. I haven't heard stories of cracking the 4.0, especially only at 100k. The block is aluminum with steel sleeved cylinders. Did you overheat your engine? Did your mechanic say how they diagnosed this?

Unfortunately the sleeved design is not rebuildable, so a new (not rebuilt) block is required. When you say aftermarket motor, do you mean aftermarket block? I've purchased aftermarket 22re Toyota blocks and regretted it. Made in China of way softer alloy than the OEM block. Like I could strip the trans mount bolts with a 3/8" wrench easily.

You might also try seeing if you can find a low mileage complete long block used engine for much less.

 

^^ This.

Personally I've never heard of this type of failure with the v6. Especially at 100k miles, not many miles for this engine.

 

Thanks for the quick replies! Mechanic says he's seen 3 of this in 30 years. Yes, he's talking about the block, not the whole motor. Original thought was head gasket but tells us when it was dissembled they found a crack in a rear cylinder. My grown son has the the truck and swears no overheating. But I wonder: it suddenly ran very, very rough one morning. He shut it down. Then a few days later drove it to the mechanic, about 12 miles away, including low speed on the freeway. I don't know enough to know if that compounded an issue.

But it sounds like I need to go the new block. Ugh. Thanks again, and I'd welcome any additional insights.

 

How about a swap from a wreck? You already have 100k miles so if you find an engine from a wreck with less miles (seems like it should not be a problem) you are "ahead". Plus 8k dumped into a 9 year old vehicle seems too much

 

Given that the truck is an 07, consider the rest of the trucks condition. Is it worth putting that much money into a new motor, or a new or used tacoma?

 

X2. You can find a '15 PreRunner without a lot of bells and whistles for just north of $20k. There's a few hundred left...

For me, if I'm putting $10k into a vehicle I can buy brand new for $20-$25k, I'm likely just going to buy a new one. However, only you know your situation best. Just my two cents.

 

Find a good used motor, they shouldn't be over 2500.00 with lower miles

 

How's the frame?

 

$8k for a new motor OTD .. seems excessive to me. I would like to see pics and a vid of the truck running perhaps