Replace tacoma engine or get new vehicle

I have a 1998 4wd 4 cyl Tacoma. It has about 250,000 miles. It runs great. I just use it for longer trips because I have an electric car for town driving. But it severely slows and has to be downshifted to 3rd gear on even small grades. When should I replace it? Is just replacing the engine a good idea?

 

Donate it to me I’ll drive it until the wheels fall off lol …but I personally wouldn’t replace it until it breaks down.

 

Replacing the engine will not do much since yours is running fine. The 2.7 for 1st gen only puts out like 159 hp. If you have oversized tires, replacing them with a stock size will help some.

 

...have you given it a thorough tune up? If it runs well but feels sluggish lately, relplacing the engine feels like opting for a heart transplant just because your blood pressure is a little off. Any check engine light codes?

 

Have the valve clearances ever been checked? Mine runs much better after I fixed a burnt valve

 

Tough call... is the balance of the truck in good shape or rough? IMHO, you cant get better than your 1st gen Tacoma. I had 3 of them now I am down to 2, they always start, parts are still avalible and its a truck. I am not against a new vehicle just against new vehicles over depndancy on electronics. If the central display goes out it kind of renders the vehicle usless. If money is not an issue then put a motor in her. There are lots of posts on this forum where people have had a same/similar dilema and they sold their 1st Gen and regretted it. My ex is going through the same "pains" but for her it is her 2003 Jeep Grand Cherokee, 4.0, 258,000 miles and I cant find anything wrong with it. I am telling her keep driving it until something major breaks and then give me first option on it. For her this is an emotional issue with the Jeep and I understand that, the Jeep for her is like my 1st gens for me.

 

First definitely do a tune up, and make sure you're caught up on all your basic/mid term maintenance.
I have a feeling you will be very disappointed after spending thousands of dollars to swap in a new 4cyl. Chances are you have not lost very much power since it was new.

You could maybe 3.4 v6 swap it? Not sure what all the ancillary things would have to be swapped over to make that work though. Needless to say, that's another option which will cost thousands and thousands of dollars.

Even then, my v6 slows down on basically every hill. Any large hills on the interstate and I am stuck hanging out with the semis running their flashers.

'Best' way to just get more power per dollar spent would probably be a turbo, but that is of course a bit of a gamble at 250k miles. And again, after buying all the parts and a ecu you'll be looking at thousands of dollars spent again.

Personally, I just live with it. Its slow, thats just the way it is and it would cost more than I can afford to make it 'fast'.

 

I’d do a compression test to determine how healthy the engine is. It’s easy and cheap to do and should tell you a lot. I just got a new Tacoma going from 250,000 miles on my old one to 160,000 miles on the new one. This thing takes on hills way better. Compression was low on two of my cylinders in the old truck. Haven’t tested the new truck yet but I’m guessing that’s the difference.