SR5 Engine Failure

Just get another 3.4l? The spark plugs probably werent tight and all the combustion pressure was to much for a few threads to hold and it blew out. Not the engines fault someone forgot to tighten its spark plugs. The 3.4's are TANKS and will take whatever kinda abuse you throw at them without missing a beat. If the rest of the truck is in great shape, replace the motor with another 3.4l.

 

or just take the head off yourself take it to a machine shop get them to repair the spark plug hole and re-assemble. I mean the heads arent the hardest thing to get off on theses.

Toyota is just going to take the head to a machine shop. No need to replace the engine for a small repair. I have even heard of people who heli-coil it with the head still on and have no problems.

 

Or take this approach. And save the trouble with a new engine thats not needed.

 

You could stick a small block ford in it...A small block chevy would be too wide I think.

 

I'm thinking the spark plug is threaded for a distance of about 3/4". If the plug blew out, it would have damaged only about 2-3 of the outermost threads. The threads farther in should still be good. If you can get a visual on the threads, I would check that first. Then you can get a tap from a bolt supply company to match the sparkplug threads, clean up the outer threads and try to put the spark plug back in. It's worth a shot!

 

I'm wth Whitfield on this one. A good machine shop can install the heli coil with out any teardown. There will be no problem running this until the engine finally dies. At that time, have the motor built and install a new/used head and keep on going. A couple hundred dollars vs several thousand dollars, I know which way I would go.
Fred.

 

Whats it worth if the engine were good, maybe sell it to a salvage yard and buy another truck.

 

That would be a lot cheaper!
BUT....I always wanted to do this:
http://www.dieseltoyz.com/toyota_conversions.html