New Motor -- ideas needed

Hi,
I have 2002 Tacoma with the 2.7l 4 banger. But after 210,000 miles it's now turned it's self in a 3 banger. I have lost most of my compression in cylinder 3. When i tested it last week it was around 50 psi.
The other 3 cylinders have good compression around 170 psi
The truck is still running its just bad on gas and has a slower than normal pedal response.
I took it to my mechanic he looked at it and told me i was going to need put in a new motor or have mine rebuilt.

The rebuild price is about the same as get another motor.

But i was also think about swapping the motor and trans for something with more power.

what would be a good option to re-power my Tacoma?


I plan on keeping the truck so selling it is not an option.

 

swap in a V8 thats what i would do if i had the money, haha trophy truck status.

when i was looking for my tacoma on craigslist most of the Tacos had a v6 in from a same 4runner. so you might wanna research there

 

You may have blown rings or just an improperly adjusted valve that is not seating or has burned the seat and is dropping your compression. When was the last time the clearances were checked? They are shim under bucket so it isn't easy to adjust them, but it has to be easier/cheaper than a motor swap, trust me.

Otherwise, this

 

Now this would be awesome! Just think of how many horses you could get out of that engine!

 

If 3 cyl. are carrying 170psi & 1 is flat lining I'm thinking its a valve issue maybe, if motor was worn out you'd probably carry low psi across all cyl....

 

Usually its the rear cylinder that has the lowest compression. It runs hotter. Its further from the cool water coming from the radiator and behind the other cylinders that are blocking the cool air.

 

Thanks Guys


I'm going to try to get the valves check this weekend.
I appreciate the help.
I'll update yall on the progress.

 

I personally would do the following in this order.

1 - Get a second opinion on the issue. It's extremely unlikely to have one dead hole and all the others be fine. I'm thinking you have a valve issue which at the absolutely worst case is a new head. On the 2.7 you're looking at well under $1000 for a rebuilt piece by a good shop with installation. The 2.7 is a Stevie Wonder easy to do a head swap on.

2- If the motor is bad spring for a new crate motor with a warranty.

3 - If a larger motor swap is in order then go GM LS. The 4.8 and 5.3 V8's are under $500 complete and running from junk yards across the county. I picked up a 2003 motor with 54K miles for $550 complete top to bottom, front to back with the computer for a project I'm working on. There are kits to swap these motors into just about anything and parts are stupid cheap. They're also small enough that they'll fit in everything from older cars to Subaru's and I've seen kits that adapt the facotry 4 speed Toyota auto to the GM motor but you would be better off with a stronger GM trans.