Just got a Tacoma, think engine is seized

Hey guys, I just got a 1999 Toyota Tacoma SR5 Prerunner 3.4 V6 2wd auto from a family member for the price of the new starter he put in it. The truck has 293k miles on it but is pretty clean and little rust as is it was a SoCal truck up until 3 years ago, Northern Indiana now.

That's where the good stops. I was told the truck just needed a helicoil since it blew a spark plug, and the coil over that it took out with it. It wouldn't jump because we figured we could get it on the trailer with 5 cylinders, well 4 since that one coil over was gone now. We'll when I get it home I just figure that it might be hydrolocked so I took out the spark plugs and still nothing. Last night I sprayed some pb blaster in it and tried to turn it by hand but I got nothing.

I'm just wondering if she is worth saving. The timing belt says it was changed at 113k miles so that may have went and the piston slapped that spark plug out and she is all fubared inside. It aparantly only had one owner before my family member who never even titled it because they got it broken as well. It was well maintained. The oil level was good and is still clean. So do you guys think I should tear her apart and save her or is she best as a transplant donor?

 

I'd find another good running motor and drop it in. Any good junkyard should guarantee a motor for 30 days.

 

Do they tend to come with heads as well? My only worry is I don't know how well the transmission shifts being 300k on an auto trans.

 

The 3.4's are non-interfierence motors so if the Tbelt did snap no internal damage would be a result. I also picked up a 04 taco TRD 4x4 for cheap with a blown motor as a project. Found a 3.4 with 69k miles out of a totaled 03 pre-runner from a salvage yard in Az. and now i'm driving it everyday with no issues.

 

x2 non interference. I would work on fixing it.

 

To try to turn the motor by hand I went clockwise. Not sure if I was doing anything wrong with that.

 

They are fairly hard to turn with good compression but can be turned. If you believe it is seized get some marvel mystery oil and poor in the cylinders.

 

What will the marvel mystery oil do? I took out the spark plugs and when I tightened it all it would do is tighten the crank bolt.

 

Took off the air intake and it has oil in it it seems like things may have got ugly.

 

Marvel mystery oil will help break the pistons loose from the cylinder walls. May help break it free so you can turn it over. Fill the cylinders up let it set for a couple days. That is if nothing is broken internally such as a connecting rod, etc.

 

I'll do that and let it sit for a few days. Gotta wait until next weekend anyways in order to see if the block is worth salvaging by taking the heads off. If it breaks free then I will get it running instead to test the tranny then rebuild it anyways if the tranny is good.

 

1st thing "I" would do is drain the oil and drop the pan. Check to see if there are surprises inside that don't belong, and that there is nothing but oil in it.

 

Was able to take the oil pan off shortly before having to come to work. Took me a while, didn't realize there was 2 bolts under the inspection plate. I did see some shaving like material but I don't think it was metal because it never glistened and ripped apart with not much effort, didn't have time to really test.

The weird part though was one of the connecting rods was completely oil free, while the others ones still had oil on them. It almost looks sand blasted. I didn't have time to take the cover under them off to look up the cylinders better but I will give you guys an update when I am able to.

 

With no plugs it will have no compression so that shouldn't be an issue. Even with plugs you should be able to budge it with a breaker bar. If it won't move at all, there's an issue.


Quick ? for the OP though, why mess with it? If it has seized, even if you get it spinning again, you're looking at a rebuild. That's time stripping it to the block etc etc. It would likely be faster/easier to just do the swap now.

I bought one with what I though was a plugged heater core, that wasn't the case and found an exhaust leak into the coolant, so though it was a blown head gasket. I spent all the time splitting the engine to replace the gasket only to find the head was cracked. After all that, spent the time finding a replacement engine (block had 260k on it so no point imo putting a new head on it) and then doing the pull etc. I would have been a month ahead of myself if I had known the head was cracked to just replace the engine.

You're lucky (kind of), you know it's tanked from the get go

 

I was only able to get a picture of the rods. The pan shavings almost seemed like they were a gasket of some kind. In this picture if you look at the front rod you can see that it is oily and grimy as well as the bolt, while if you look in the back you are able to see that the rod and the bolt are clean, too clean.



I am hesitant to buy junk yard motors, my family have never had luck with them. I would rather check the inside first and possibly rebuild it than get a used motor. My theory at the moment is that maybe part of the spark plug is stuck between the piston ring and wall. If that is the case I may have to bore it out but there is no complaining from me about that

 

Swap motors.....wasted too much time already on that locked up engine....yank it....junkyard...and install..it'll be a great excuse to buy a bunch of new tools...!

 

I realize it has no compression with the spark plugs out. I didn't know if he still had them in. Yes I agree you can turn them by hand with the plugs in. OP I say swap the motors.

 

Got a first gen with the 3rz-fe (2.7) last December with burnt valves. Two days after the salvage yard motor showed up I was driving it. My vote is for a motor swap obviously.

 

My guess is that one of the oil ports is full of crud. Also with the head problems, I would suggest just go with a rebuilt one....... one of those here:

http://www.gearheadengines.com/products/

 

I kind of assume this isn't his DD so he has the time to play around with investigating. I say keep going OP and figure it out. Chances are if it's bad enough you're going to replace the motor but if you can figure it out then more kudos for you.

btw since it sat for a while that may explain the rear being dry. everything drains to the front on the 3.4 due to the oil pan clearing the diff on the 4wd models (think it would be the same on 2wd?)