Hello everyone, first post here. I have a 2000 4runner with the 2.7 4 banger. We had a check engine light come on with a rough idle, sluggish performance and poor mpg. We were told that the codes came back to the egr valve. It also needed a major tune up as the plugs were pretty bad. They also replaced the water pump, cooling system flush, fuel and air filters, and all drive belts, and the egr valve.

When I went to pick it up he tells me that there was a third code that showed an intermittent mis-fire in the #2 cylinder and that it might have a valve going bad but that it runs much better. I was also told that this motor was notorious for the valves going bad. As soon as I pulled away I could see that it still runs as bad as before and the CE is still on. I turned right around and when I get back to the shop he does a compression and leakdown test and confirms his suspicion of a bad valve. I did not see the test done but do trust the shop. I asked why this wasnt done earlier but he said they thought it was a no brainer with the plugs as bad as they were.

So does anyone think this diagnosis sounds right? I already spent 1000.00 on the first bill and he is offering to either split that bill with me or do a 1500.00 valve job for 1000.00. Sounds fair enough but I just want to know if this will fix the problem. By the way 118,000 trouble free miles so far. And is 1500.00 the going rate for a valve job?
Thanks alot guys!!!

 

sounds a little pricey to me. maybe the valves just need to be adjusted? any decent mechanic could adjust valves in under an hour. The 2.7 is definitely not notorious for valves going bad as far as I know. Maybe someone who owns one can chime in. How many miles are on it? Has the timing chain been done? What exactly is he talking about doing when he says "valve job"?

 

He says that he thinks there is a bad valve in the #2 hole after doing a leakdown test. His price would include a complete rebuild on the head. All new valves, springs , retainers, seals. everything. The timing chain has not been replaced. If it just needed a valve adjustment wouldnt it have passed the compression and leakdown test though?
Thanks

 

Well yeah, $1500 sounds reasonable then...if you trust what your mechanic says

 

i have a friend who works on motors for a living. He worked for few guys in nascar and work for some locals, i give him a call and asked him about this issues of yours jwo. He said that price is pretty low and he would never charge a customer that low. Guessing from his statement, is that he's experienced and i've seen his work, he says that you probably should bring your runner to someone else for a 2nd opinon. Also, he says that your headers might not be clean, from reading your post.

keep in mind, this is a long ass'ed labor and expect the bill to be high.

 

Thanks guys. I called two other shops and they said it could run anywhere from 1500.00 to 2800.00 depending on the condition of the head. He's offering to give me a deal because I already spent a grand with him and the problem is still there. He is actually going to give me a 500.00 credit so it will come out to 1000.00. Said he's doing it for cost, I feel he's a heads up guy. I only hope that after all is done that the problem will be fixed.

 

my only thing about any of that is that you can get a 90,000mi engine for that much and have it installed for about $500 then have another engine to mod out in your spare time.

 

You can by a whole new head for $300 and that comes with band new valves. If it was me, I would go that route and put a new head gasket on for roughly the same price. Then you know your good for another 100,000 miles.

Also as said before, it might just need a valve adjustment.

I know those engines had a problem with the manafold cracking and if not fixed, the valves get burnt. Make sure your manafold is not cracked, don't want to spend all that money and have the same problem down the road.