2.7 l swap for same..

I have a 2009 Toyota Tacoma 2.7 l 5 speed manual. My engine is screwed...
I can buy a 1996 2.7 l engine for it.. mine has coil on plug design, the 1997 engine has less than 200,000 km on it.. but it has a distributor.. am I able to use this engine in my 09? What all am I going to have to change??

 

No the 97 and 09 are 2 entirely different engines even though they are both 2.7L.

You need an 05-15 2TR-FE for it to be a drop in replacement, the 16-23 2TR-FE is also different and won't work.

 

I realize there are different in the fact that mine has the coils on the plugs and that one the one I was looking at has a distributor would it be feasible to swap the head and then that would work?? Or are there other things I would be having to change?? Could you please let me know specifically why it would not work.. I'm just having a really hard time finding an engine ..

 

You can't swap anything between them, they are two entirely different engine families.
The 97 is a 3RZ-FE and the 09 is a 2TR-FE, The 2TR has variable valve timing and the 3RZ does not, plus all of the electronics, sensors, ECU, and wiring are different.

I can understand 2nd gen 2TRs aren't cheap or easy to find but your still cheaper and better off than trying to frankenstein something else in there, the question about 3rd gen 2TRs comes up pretty often but this is the first time I've seen someone ask about putting a 1st gen 3RZ in a 2nd gen.

 

Okay thank you so much for your help I didn't want to buy an engine I can't use

 

Why not buy a new short block for $2,500 and have your head sent to the machine shop? Or buy a new head for $900.

Buying a used engine can be a roll of the dice.

 

The head gasket went in line while I was driving in a snowstorm at near minus 30 and I didn't want to stop and kept driving now my engine will crank over but it sounds funny and it will not start..
Is it worth trying to fix?
The oil stick does not look like it has antifreeze in it but it did lose all its any freeze.. would it have fried the piston rings? I know the coil packs were melted to the sides of the pockets in the valve pan cover..

 

The coil packs getting hot enough to melt to the valve cover is something I’ve never seen. If it got that hot, I’d be replacing it.

You could try replacing the head gasket and having the head rebuilt/machined, but once again you’d be gambling that the short block survived, and would have to rip it all back apart if it’s bad.

 

If it got so hot it melted the coils I wouldn't try to salvage it, you could pull the head off and see but the head and block are both probably not worth the money it would cost to machine it back to tolerances if it's even possible.

It baffles me why 2nd gen 2TRs are so crazy expensive used when they are generally pretty bulletproof but it is what it is.

To build a new one from Toyota parts is probably north of $5k though, it sucks that Toyota does not sell a longblock or complete engine for any of their engines in the US. You can only get the shortblock and head (which is often not complete itself) as separate parts and assemble them.

https://www.hollanderparts.com/used...-(vin-x,-5th-digit,-2trfe-engine,-4-cylinder)