Blown engine!

https://youtu.be/y2_ZSAtqjmg

 

https://youtu.be/g1m9IB_65Bo

 

Same thing happened to me. I did the work myself and now my truck is solid. All in all I prob spent about $900 but I got;

Head swap
New
Timing chain/ components
New water pump
All new gaskets
New belts
Thermostat
Temp sensor


It’s scary to think of the project as a whole. But if you break it up into smaller sections and keep yourself organized you’ll realize it’s not that terrible.

 

https://www.autozone.com/diy/repair...-timing-chain-repair-guide-p-0900c15280261a16

 

Either head swap or used engine. Trucks worth fixing unless you really want to overpay for a new truck or adopt someone else’s problems

 

I feel for the OP. I'm in a similar boat, myself.

My '95 3.4 has 135K miles. Perfect body and frame.

I'm fairly certain my HG is blown. I need to replace the fuel injectors. And I have multiple oil leaks.
And I cannot begin addressing any of these issue until I find a stock intake system.

On the other side of the ledger, the TB/WP was done in the past 10K miles. New coils. All new fluids. New vac lines and a few other things.

I pinged my trusted wrench who exclusively works on Land Cruisers, and he said to fix what I've got rather than messing with a reman engine.

The cost for this work is going to be a good chunk of what it would take to just buy another truck.

 

I say fix it. Unless the body/frame is rusted to hell. A leaking head gasket is no reason to replace the engine on a Taco. Should be able to have head machined and replace all gaskets and timing chain (although you could do it without the chain, it's just good insurance while you are there). If the head is cracked, get another one and put it all back together.

 

The time and money to swap out a head (since 50% of them are going to be cracked on these engines) is like 2/3 what it takes to swap a long block - not worth a hg for me.