CJM

Running it that hard isnt exactly a good idea to do often. You wouldnt try running on a treadmill at 10mph for an hour would you now? At those kinds of RPMS oil breaksdown and engine failure as you found out happens.

Possible PO didnt change oil to often helped this failure. But its a truck and is CERTAINLY not designed to push speeds like that all the time. Its not a race car..

20014runner

I have to admit, when I punch my 4Runner with the AEM intake, it sounds great. Funs over, I am selling my AEM. I am also letting go of my idea of buying a TRD exhaust and supercharger, not worth the headache of my engine possibly blowing twice. Did you guys read the post of the guys rod blowing thru the motor and thru his transmission! Toyota was asking eight grand!
So, no more quick aggresive "punching", the rpms quickly rise 3,4,5+ and 10-15 minutes of low to moderate driving.
I need more info. on BG44K and BG MOA. I thought the dealer can use BG by using the cleaner from the top of the intake and "spraying it in". Not to familiar with this.

Trucks and Suvs are for hauling and rock climbing and sports cars for rev-happy speeds, got it.

Later guys!

20014runner

I spent some good time searching the country for a fully verified (original miles) healthy engine. Found it. It was a 2002 limited, hit in the rear 4Runner. Engine had clean oil, no leaks, fresh factory spark plugs. The body of the Suv was shiny and well kept along with the interior, conditioner on the leather and hardly no wear. Why does this matter? It shows that the previous owner cared for his Suv.
Motor was installed, replacing the 2 cam seals, a crank seal, rear main seal, timing belt, water pump, thermostat. I also changed the front and rear differential fluid. I will also drain and fill the transmission oil, don't know if I am gonna use BG ATC PLUS, I am not getting enough information on the internet regarding the success of this additive/conditioner.
Engine is quiet, smooth acceleration, responsive. I am very happy. I would totally recommend a used motor if you do your homework on choosing the right one. I will let you know that it cost $1750 for this motor.
I don't think I will ever put the gas down more than half way, it's gonna be babied and driven sparingly. I will use my other car for daily use.

Thanks again guys for your input!

icerunner

Hey sounds like you got a good deal, GOOD JOB! And your right its always smart to take it somewhat easy on an older engine...

And its clear to me there is 1 or 2 of you who seem to take some joy in rubbing peoples face in a engine failure.
Not me, to me its a real tragedy in someones life (involving lots of $$$$$) and and its a delicate issue.
I'd be real pissed too if my engine went yet no need to rub someone's face in it and add "Insult to injury".
"We don't know, what we don't know"...
I'll admit I push my 4 runner a little hard on occasion just because its a Toyota.
Crap, we ALL do...!
20014runner, real good to hear you are back in the game....!
over and out...

mkgarrison5

a real tragedy that he runs 100 miles an hour a lot in a 4 runner???? glad your motor blew buddy.. hope you dont kill anyone.. enjoy the new motor and lay off the pedal before something really bad happens.. you must be 16 years old.

Red_Chili

Geez, some of you guys have dinged him twice in the same thread for 100mph... I think he got the message. It's getting boring.

Regards 5K RPM, the motor can take it and was built for it. I have bounced mine off the rev limiter with confidence snow wheeling. Solid. Mine has about 100K on it, but based on what I saw when I pulled the pan and valve covers, my motor was well maintained, and now runs Valvoline Durablend changed oftten. The motor is built hell for stout. No worries. Hold it there for long, with lousy and old oil, and you are asking for trouble with any motor. Doesn't sound like that was the case at all.

Water entering the combustion chamber is bad but if it hydrolocks you'll know it instantly and you will go nowhere suddenly - likely throwing (or bending) the rod and coming to a sudden stop. If not, and it is unlikely a puddle or rain would bypass the air filter in sufficient quantity to come anywhere close to that - you just steam cleaned your piston tops perhaps. That is not why the rod failed IMHO.

There have been some 5VZ-FEs with failed rod bolts. Not many. From the sound of it though, you lost or spun a bearing, which caused a cascade failure and did give you some warning. This is likely due to contamination, lousy/dirty oil over a long period, and you are likely correct that it was due to poor maintenance.

That'll kill anything. Not a Toyota problem.

Do you have your old rod and could you shoot a picture of it? Including the big end cap and bearings?

Ron Helmuth

glad to hear you had faith in the brand enough to do it all over again. Happy to hear you got it fixed.

You may never know what caused the failure, but you seem to me to have learned from the experience. Do not let the brow beaters get you down-we all have made mistakes-many of us more than once and some of us able to admit same.

I recommend Mobil 1. GIve yourself that little added protection for not a whole lot more cash. My .02. When I see that Red Chilli recommends Valvoline Durablend-then I will look into that also.

Sounds like you got a great price on a basically new to you engine so clearly you are not as dumb as others think you must be.

With regards to your lack of notification on the postings to your thread-I believe that is a setting within your "User CP" at top of the page.

You can easily miss a few haters without that properly set. There is a little less bashing going on over at t4r.org and I invite you over to take a look.

Red_Chili

Actually, in the interest of full disclosure, I am looking at Valvoline Synpower now, and extended OCIs. Durablend seems like a good deal though, with a bit more protection and not much more cost than straight dino.

Who knows, this old Valvoline guy may actually run Pennzoil :shudder: Platinum based on BITOG.

20014runner

Hey Red Chili, I dropped off my blown motor so I can get my core charge back, wish I took some pics. Thanks for the invite Ron. I also fixed my email alerts with the user cp. What's up fellow Chicagoan...Icerunner.
It's definately cool to have such great support. Thanks YotaTech members. Thanks a million.
Some of my friends were telling me to dump my 4Runner and get into a Jeep 4x4 or a Rover but I just can't part with my 4Runner for nothing. It does everthing I need it to, camping, hauling, moving large items, and you gotta love the rear window on these 4Runners.
I wasn't gonna give up on it, Toyota 4life.
If I get around to it, I will download a picture, you guys should like it.

I have been spending some time researching oil lubrication and metal cleaning. Auto-Rx basically cleans the motor safely(restores compression) and is ester based. I am sure you guys are familar with it. You guys got to check out the hardcore oil sites such as Noria and Bitog.


Peace

Red_Chili

Do your friends want to set you up to be humorous entertainment or something? They suggested you go from Toyota to Land Rover or Jeep? LR and Jeep built some good vehicles here and there, but your friends are either
1) not terribly well informed, or
2) looking to see if you take the bait so they can laugh over beers.

20014runner

Probably a mix of different reasons. Some are just offering different options and maybe one or two see if I leave the Toyota family. I have been bragging about toyota ever since I purchased my first one in 1995. It was a 1982 tercel I bought for $125 from a grandmother (it was a 5 speed on top of that!) I drove an additional 40,000 miles on it without a single problem. The older Toyota's really had a rust issue, water was entering thru the windshield and from the floor and trunk, completely rusted out. Mechanically excellent. The salvage yard purchased it from me and uses it to transport car parts thru their yard, sometimes putting a transmission on top of the tercel's hood!

I guess it's all about brand loyalty. I know families who have driven nothing but Chevy or Ford trucks, won't ever change. We know how they tease each other back and forth,etc. I guess I received a little " I told ya those Toyota's have sludge problems and can't handle power and load capacities like a Ford, Gmc and Chevy,etc..."

I will stick with Toyota, Nissan and Honda. Best wishes

SEAIRESCUE

I would bet on rod bearing failure and/or a rod journal problem. Cause? I will say that the cranks on the V6's appear to be soft. Furthermore, the bearing widths seem to be on the narrow by design. It appears that the 3.4 was derived from the infamous 3.0 if you study the block castings. If that is the case, then it inherited some potential issues. I concede that the 3.4 has proven to be more durable than the 3.0. Both have a very long oil pickup which I feel is a detriment to the design for longevity. As you know, driving any engine hard shortens its life. Perhaps your habits may have contributed to its demise?

My $0.02

20014runner

Yes, driving "hard" will shorten life. I purchased the Suv with a ton of miles and gambled that the original first owner female gave it the standard 3,000 oil change. From what Toyota stated later after a somewhat quick examination, dirty oil, not so great maintenance from original owner were mainly the cause of a rod bearing/ connecting rod issue. Driving occasionally with power worsened the situation leaving it to failure.
You know what's funny, she told me that every morning she would pump the gas a few times before starting the car (her husband told her to do that) I told her that that was for the older carburated autos, not any more! I still bought it becouse the price tag was a steal, several thousand below the market value. Still with that being said, I love my 4Runner and don't regret a thing.

icerunner

Yea, fellow Chicagoian it is!!
Man what a rough Winter we had!! Made me want to move to CA...
HAH!!

Red_Chili

Sounds like a string of cascading deductions, do you have hard data to back it up?

3.4s don't show excessive crank bearing wear. The block castings are the same externally only (leading to easier engine swaps), but that does not support your conclusions.

mkgarrison5

as a former jeep owner the only jeep i would remotely recomend is the wrangler with the AW 5 sp tranny with the 4.0 inline... the others are POS!!!!!!!!!! trust me... the wrangler i had got abused like no other but i did do good maintenance and i traded it in with 185k miles on it with everything orginal except the following LOL

1. water pump, alt, hoses, belts, brakes any other wear and tear

2. the computer $800 bucks!!!!!!! went out at 120k miles.

3. exaust manifold-- replaced with high flow headers and high flow everything else.. she growled when pushed.. mucho improvment.

4. both front axles TWICE!!
my vote, stay with yota

20014runner

You said it, this winter in Chicago was definately one of the heavier snow falls. Oh crap, I didn't want to admit this to you guys...I snow plow with my 4Runner. No, not comercially, just a few of my properties. I have not seen a Toyota in my area with a plow, I get strange looks from Chevy, Ford, Jeep, Gmc and Dodge owners. The common question I get is: " you can put a snowplow on a Toyota?" " haven't seen that before".

Why is that? Is it not durable like an american truck? Yes, I know it's an Suv, but I believe in the 3rd generation 4x4 4Runner. It can haul, carry a 1000 pound load and push snow! If you guys see the pics I have of my 4Runner with a 7 foot plow in front of it fully lifted, it's mind blowing!

Hey Red Chili, I wish I kept the connecting rod that blew thru the bottom of the motor. I also wanted the rod bearings so I can examine the wear. No hard data, just toyota letting me that it was a bearing/connecting rod issue.
Now that I have a "fresher motor" with some 64,000 miles, it's getting the star treatment, I have never revved this past 3500 briefly upon acceleration.
I still demand that the 4Runner do it's duty and haul, carry and plow.

marcnlori

I also blew a rod on my 99" 4-runner very similar deal in passing gear but maybe 40-45 mph. replacing my motor too maybe it's a chicago thing

sharrack

IMO.............100,000 miles on a 3rd gen runner is like being 25 yrs old.
you got your whole life ahead of you.
Something was very wrong with that engine and it could be why it was sold.

Kenny S

X-Tool Pimp

MOD EDIT: (Lysmachia) BANNED!

X-TOOL posted 60 bannable images. Way tooo much crap.... I coulda banned all posts but I wanted everyone to see what a jerk he was. 60 posts of the same Image... I hand cleaned this one.

Come on Guys! We ALL OWN YOTA's Who cares? Let's leave the fighting to the hummer guys!