Need your opinion TacomaWorld

Hey all, so I just picked up a gorgeous 02 Tacoma Xtracab TRD Offroad. V6 4WD AT It's imperial jade metallic and has 268,000 miles. Its been freshly repainted with zero rust on the frame. It's been in the South its whole life. I picked it up dirt cheap because it overheats with the thermostat in, but it runs and drives great with it out. It has a new thermostat, radiator, water pump, fan clutch. My dilemma is do I tear down the motor to find what's causing the overheat and spend $$$ to fix, or do I just put in a low mileage motor for $1700?

TL;DR: Bought truck cheap Cuz it overheats. Spend money fixing 268,000 motor, or do engine swap for $1700?

 

Swap the slut

 

Make sure the thermostat is oriented correctly. The V6 has the jiggle valve at 6 o'clock. Truck will run hotter if not oriented correctly.

 

Jiggle valve inserted right. Have tried 2 different thermostats. 1st owner said he overheated and cracked a head. Bought a rebuilt head and fixed the head gasket. I don't know what the mechanic could have messed up to cause the overheat. Does not appear to burn coolant and no bubble in radiator to indicate blown hg.

 

Anyway the headgaskets could have been installed incorrectly partially blocking some coolant passages? Not sure if that's possible on a 1st gen.

 

I don't believe it's possible. If you put it on backwards, it would stick out the otherside. Maybe they put a rag in a port to keep stuff from dropping in? But engine doesn't overheat with thermostat out. It's like the hot coolant is not flowing to the water pump so the thermostat doesn't get hot enough to open

 

If you have the space and time to tear it apart yourself without spending $, you may find a simple fix. If you find a bigger issue, then go with a swap.

 

Do you see water flowing through the top of the radiator if you have the radiator cap off with the engine running? Also, does the heater work?

 

I'd do some basic checks on it first. Compression and then a leakdown test. That will tell you if it's worth it. 268K isn't bad if the engine has been given normal oil changes.

 

Left and right head gaskets can be installed on the wrong side and will "fit" but cause flow problems.

 

Crazy.
OP, hopefully that's all it is and you make out with a helluva score on that taco.

 

So yea, looking at the head gaskets, they look the same, but one clearly has more holes. Wouldnt be surprised if the mechanic used the wrong HG. Heres the next question, driving around ~200 miles with thermostat out. Think I warped the head? or will some coolant still flow, just not enough to keep the engine cool? As for the truck, I got an excellent price on it, so I got no problem putting money into it.