Valve job or replace the engine?

What do you mean, "LS swap it"?

 

Put a LS engine in it

 

Hey, and maybe the valve is just out of adjustment. It uses a shim over bucket and can be adjusted... it's actually supposed to be check during one of the maintenance intervals. Maybe it's just out of adjustment... maybe it's burnt and needs to be replaced. Get an exact diagnosis first.

 

He's just being a funny with nothing helpful to your situation. He's talking about dropping an LS based Chevrolet motor in there.

 

Technically it's an i4 not a v4, but yes the engine won't swap with the 3.0. I would recommend swapping in another 3.0 and go from there since it sounds like a engine swap isn't in your capability range.
I've seen those engines reach 400k. Just make sure you do some preventive maintenance such as wrapping the exhaust manifolds.
Truck looks like a very clean platform!

 

Yeah, I'm kind of getting ahead of myself. I just liked the prospect of getting a better engine in there with more torque, reliability, etc. Going to get a compression test and stuff this weekend.

 

Yes, first compression test. Burnt exhaust valve on one particular cylinder was a problem due to the wraparound style exhaust. First a compression test, then pull valve covers and check valve clearances on the low cylinder. Shoot, what if it's just a bad injector! All this may be for nothing LOL

 

OP You're right, kinda getting ahead of yourself, a misfire could be as simple as Spark plugs and wires or as gnarly as a engine or head rebuild.
Sub'd to see the outcome.

 

OP, you are jumping out of the pan into the fire, and the pan isn't hot yet.

Don't be looking for solutions until you know what you are solving.

If you have a skilled mechanic (not just a parts changer) they can tell you with a high rate of confidence where the problem is before tearing into the motor.

You may find that it needs practically nothing. Misfires can happen for any number of reasons.

You may find that the bottom end is quite healthy, and a valve job will restore good running.

Or, you may find a whole motor is in order.

Diagnose first, solve later.

You admittedly screwed up once not getting a pre purchase inspection. Don't double down with some JDM vendor when you might just need new plugs.

 

I've had engines rebuilt by Johnnie's Machine in Ballard, WA. (206)621-1799
I recommend them without reservation for doing top quality cost effective work.
I might be interested in the Japanese engine place in Tacoma, my brother's Subaru WRX needs a new engine. It's at Johnnie's now hopefully rebuildable.

 

Yeah, I'll have it looked into of course before doing anything. Incidentally, it just had a full tune-up--plugs, wires, etc--and the timing belt changed.

 

I say upgrade. Put a newer 3.4l in there. If I'm not mistaken, I'm pretty sure it's a direct swap and a change of engine harness and ecu

 

You are up for a lot of trouble.

First of all, you do not even know the vehicle you have LOL. As somebody mentioned above, that's not a tacoma.

Start by becoming familiar with the vehicle you have. Then go have it properly checked/diagnosed before you start dumping money on it.

 

Do mine pm me the place where they sale use Toyota Tacoma engine or a good mechanic I also stay in southern California

 

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Do mine pm me the place where they sale use Toyota Tacoma engine or a good mechanic I also stay in southern California

 

1999RegCab, you're right. It's not a Tacoma (it was advertised as one). According to the title, it's a Toyota Pickup ULX. Though when I transferred the title, the DOL's computer system changed that to just Toyota Pickup. Anyway, had a friend compression test it and, yup, it has a bad cylinder (95 psi). So I need to decide whether to

A) Have it rebuilt (He said we could do more investigation to see if it needs a just a top end rebuilt or a bottom end)
B) See if I can find someone that would be willing to swap the engine for a 3.4L V6 or a 4 cylinder
C) Cut my losses and sell it trying to recoup as much of what I paid as I can

Of course, I still have some investigating to do. Slight chance it could just need a valve adjustment, right? Gonna try this engine cleaner (Guaranteed to Pass, on reccommendation of a friend of mine) to see if maybe the valve is just too gunked up to seal.

 

So now you know what vehicle you have Seriously, knowing is half the battle in everything in life.

Do not rebuild that POS engine. As people highlighted already, it is one of the worst engines toyota ever made. Don't waste your money.

Did you get it properly diagnosed yet? What is the reason for the low compression? The engine might just need some valve job, engine cleaner, new ignition, etc.

But if you go the engine swap route, please let me introduce you to reality. It is not as cheap and simple as people make it sound. It will cost you a lot of money ESPECIALLY if you have to pay somebody to do it.

But if you go that route, you might as well go for the 3.4. Why go through the trouble for another 3.0? You can cut corners if you happen to know the exact condition of the engine and you can buy it for dirt cheap.

But just to give you an idea, first you need to find a good 3.4 engine with an undamaged wiring harness and ECU, with the hopes that the engine itself is in good shape internally and that it has service history records. Maybe a thousand bucks for the engine? Dunno, can't remember how much these used engines go for these days. Sometimes they come with the transmission and tcase as a combo. And you will need all the other crap for emissions, electrical. bAsically, you will need most of everything in the engine bay of a donor truck.

If it doesn't have service records, then you should certainly check compression, change the timing belt and water pump, check for valve clearance, new spark plugs and wires, have the fuel injectors cleaned, new fuel filter change, clean/polish throttle body and intake runners, etc.; Basically a big tune up. Easier to do all of that crap while the engine is out. If you cannot do these things yourself; it will set you back a couple grand easily with both parts and labor. Add that to the price of the engine itself and now you are in the 3 grand range.

Need to pay somebody for the swap? throw another grand at least depending on how much labor goes in your area. It is a big job, especially since you are using a newer engine in an older truck. Not everything will be plug and play; gotta make the ECU work with your old truck. Want A/C, radio and everything to work inside the cab, correct? That will take some thinking to figure out. The engine installer will need to figure a lot of things and possibly some custom fabrication. I doubt a regular mechanic will want to do it to be honest. You might need to go to somebody that does custom performance work and tuning. This will double the amount of money for labor immediately.

Then you have to figure out the drive line. Is your truck 4X4? You will need to swap the transmission and transfer case for one with a right hand output. Throw another grand for parts and labor.

Then you need fluids, new belts, wires, incidentals, etc.

For peace of mind, you might want to budget at least 5-6 grand for the 3.4 engine swap done right plus incidentals.

Or you can try to do it cheaper if you find a really cheap donor engine with all the parts, do the work yourself, and do not do any tune up and hope for the best.

Have the darn thing properly checked by a pro shop and then go from there. If the engine is really on its way out you might want to sell the truck. cause engine swap won't be cheap and paying for a full rebuild won't be cheap either.

 

So basically, unless it can be fixed by a valve job or something else fairly simple, I'm better off just trying to get as much money as I can for it and starting over. Damn. Okay, thanks for all the info and advice!

 

If you like the truck and decide to keep it, definitely do the 3.4 swap. That engine is bulletproof and will run forever. The 3.0 wasn't known to be nearly as good (as far as I've been told) as the 3.4, so it would be a worthy upgrade if you want to keep your specific truck.

 

I thought the 3.0 was solid, except for the defective head gaskets? I would think most 3.0's have already had the head gaskets replaced by the dealer. I know the 3.0 is gutless, but are there other major issues besides the defective head gaskets?