500 dollar junker problems. Weird gunk in throttle body. Help.

Did the diesel go in a 5 lug chassis overseas? The 3.4 would prob. fit better if swapping as far as spring rates and whathaveyou.

Is that a 4Runner bumper? Can't say I recognize from my old '98 5 lug.

 

Sub'd to see where this goes. No advice other than good luck!

 

This isn't much of an update but still... Update- Work's pretty much ground to a slow slothlike crawl. Why? Because most of my friends are all talk, no action. Motor's pretty much ready to come out after I just unthread all the bolts connecting it to the trans and motor mounts. Here's the downside. I'm working in a tiny little shop with no engine hoist or proper tools. Just whatever I have laying around.
In any case, I found a local machine shop that's not so expensive you want to cry while you pay them. 325-ish to test the head, and if it's good get all the bells and whistles (Valves done and so forth). 150 to clean and test the block. I'm cool with that. For kicks and giggles, I'm tacking on another 250 as an estimate for the block to be rebuilt. Providing it's good. If not, I'm SCREWED.

 

I really don't think of a rebuilt import engine as better than a junkyard tho.
Unless your a pretty good builder with lots of measuring tools, you're just not going to get it better than they did.
They just don't cut corners there anymore and really used very good parts.

 

Sell it for $600!

2 owner, ran fine till parked!

 

Yeah I think the last seller definitely lied to OP. They probably bought it thinking exactly what OP did, opened it up, and well, we can see how that's going. Not saying it's unsalvageable, it might just take a lot more cash than the truck is actually worth. However if you get another 100k miles out of it for a couple thousand dollars and a whole lot of headaches, yeah maybe it is worth it.

 

Nowadays it's worth 1 Million dollars though.

Actually it IS one of the few Tacomas that got a decent mpg. Like 27 hwy.

 

Update- Okay... This is so frustrating that I'm just laughing about it. The pictures are of the setup that me and my cousin devised in order to TRY and pull the motor. Nothing. Tried the clutch trick, but nothing. So right now at wit's end, angry and just laughing about it. Any tips that don't involve yanking the transmission would be greatly appreciated.
I'm not selling it. This is going to be a legacy vehicle that my children will learn to drive in. Hence why I'm prepared to dump money into it. If it was the Maxima or Impala I owned, it'd have been sold. But it's not. It's something I've been searching for for years.

 

Are you referring to hard it is to break the grip of the dowel pins between the block and trans.?

Yes, seen it that bad. Used wedges. Start small and use penetrant at the dowels. They have a serious galvanic bond going on.

edit: I don't know why 2.4s seem to be soo much worse than 3.4s or even the 2.7. but the worse ones I've (ever) run across were 2.4s. I mean like ANY incl. Ford, Datsun, etc.

 

Yes. I am referring to the dowels. We managed to get a flathead screwdriver tip in but nothing came of it.
And it seems the displacement number is cursed. Seriously.

 

Prybars are a godsend working under cars.

 

Been a bit but figured I'd keep ya'll in the loop. Update- Well... After grunting, shaking and pulling, and prying the motor finally came out. The pictures are self-explanatory... Also, we found rust on the crankshaft and the rods. Not sure what to do from here. My options are limited to my budget of x amount of dollars. I've been stuck in a slump due to the discovery of rust. Machine shops near me won't rebuild the bottom end. To top it off finding a replacement motor has proven to be difficult, if not annoying... Going to make a decision over the weekend and let ya'll know.

 

It's Dead Jim.

 

I keep seeing this thread pop up and curious if @$500TRD posted here yet??

 

First I've seen. I'm gonna read thru it.

 

These are my options.
1- Clean the ever-loving crap out of it, ignore the bottom end, get the head done and slap it all back together and pray it'll hold together for a month or 2.
2- Quickly snag up the closest and cheapest junkyard motor (700) and toss it in.
3- Take the loss, set the truck in the backyard, and save up for a 2JZ swap (Current pipe dream option)
4- Snag up a damn near $2k motor with under 100k miles on it on eBay from Florida, throw on the missing parts, and slap it in. (Current 'best' idea).
5- Lastly, snag up another truck and set the Tacoma to the side for the time being...

Selling it isn't an option. I REFUSE to do so.

 

Update- Oooo boy... SO close but so far away. Snagged up a $700 motor. For about 2 weeks it hung over the engine bay. Why? Because a guide pin was in the same place on the transmission and the motor. A friend of mine chose violence to remove it. After removing the pin from the engine, it was slapped in. Now I have a couple issues.... One wire seems to go to nowhere. Some of the various parts I have to put back on have been sitting for a while.

 

If you post pics......someone here has already been there......what ever it is...

so many stories.......

And your pics have been golden.......interesting to see the edge.....

 

This is/was the guide pin that was in the way. As I said in my update, my friend chose violence. Kinda wish that I thought of it BEFORE spending 100 on a dang impact and drill bits... No matter.

And this... This glorious picture of the motor is one of the latest victories. The 700-dollar junkyard engine sitting in its rightful place, inside a 500-dollar junker truck. Shout out to Hunt's Used Parts in Asheboro, NC. They were a bit surprised when I showed up to buy this thing but they were very professional, gave me a 90-day warranty, and told me all they could about the motor before I bought it.


The list of things to slam on includes the following...
Power Steering Pump, Alternator, Starter, A/C Compressor, POSSIBLY the original radiator (Providing it can be cleaned all the way out and the crack be sealed), Engine to transmission stiffener arms, Intake piping, belts, fan, battery... Then she'll be ready to fire up. Though that's everything just off the top of my head.