Advice needed... Cooked my little pwado... Engine swap or not...

[Noobie Banned Find all posts View Profile Close Noobie]

Piggy made me

[timmay5.7 Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close timmay5.7]

Fit a v8 from the US 4runner.. (thats what I'm doing if the v6 dies in mine)
If you have no real attachment to the car, perhaps option 4.

[wooley Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close wooley]

I'd be rebuilding it/getting a recon motor.
I don't like the idea of inheriting someone elses problems with a second hand motor.
D4D would be extremely expensive I think, would probably be cheaper to buy a 150.
Or see what diesel v8 options there are Brunswick diesel maybe...

[Noobie Banned Find all posts View Profile Close Noobie]

Piggy made me

[kav Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close kav]

recon , why put some spoonheads problem in your car . whoops was that bad

[hulbyw Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close hulbyw]

Interesting you are saying the wife cooked it. Did it have any issues before she drove it? If it were mine, I would be wanting to do more investigation before I decided which way to go, although definitely not option 4. My experience with engine swaps is they can yield good results however the challenges are endless (even with old cars that I have worked on) and at the end of the day you have a mongrel that is probably going to be very hard to sell when the time comes.
Cheers....wayne

[Noobie Banned Find all posts View Profile Close Noobie]

Piggy made me

[Bushbasher Out of control poster! Find all posts View Profile Close Bushbasher]

Had cause to drive a new little Mazda bubble-car the other day. Guess what? No temperature guage on the instrument cluster. It only has a warning light when things go south. They are obviously designed for women who don't know how to read guages.

[SWR Banned Find all posts View Profile Close SWR]

Gday Noobie

Normally an engine that has just over-heated there is generally room for salvage. but in your case it sounds like the engine has been pushed to destruction!

The cyl-head definitely u/s. Then there is the realistic question on how much damage did the engine block actually receive? Would it be ok with new pistons, re-bore, machined crank, oil pump, water-pump, cam-belt, thermostat etc or did the main bearings get hammered and would the main bearing end caps need to be decked and re-machined to re-align the crank main bearings etc? Sounds like too many variables given the known outcome!

Maybe option #1: Put a second-hand engine in and sell..... or maybe keep if happy with the outcome

Maybe option #2: Put a recon long motor in that will have a warranty and no variables! (Apart from reco radiator, Thermostat, Hoses, "Maybe clutch fan or temp sender!" As all was cooked!).

And if a manual gearbox do you do the clutch whilst the engine is out or the torque converter seal if auto!

If you don't want your engine re-build to exceed the price of the car or get the basics done only to find other issues later then maybe a long motor is the safest option! (After all you will have to pay someone to pull the old engine out/pull it apart & hope that nothing gets over-looked or even worse! Original quote blows out and then stuck with a car in bits at a garage at there mercy & too committed to pull-out!

To-date you only have a bill for pulling the head off!

If you have a replacement engine with a known price tag plus labor to fit it then you would have a very realistic idea on the total and more accurate price and then decide either to sell as is and cut your losses or invest!

If you don't get it write the first time you could be stuck with a heavily over capitalized vehicle.

Here is one mob you can ring for price ideas but i reckon there is guys on here that can help you with more alternatives to ring http://www.japparts.com.au/products/engines.html

Hope this helps towards your decisions.

Cheers

[KAKADAZ Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close KAKADAZ]

LS1.....dirt cheap and I doubt it's any wider just two cyl longer.

[Noobie Banned Find all posts View Profile Close Noobie]

Piggy made me

[Davros Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close Davros]

I wouldn't be so quick to bag out your wife.
It sounds like the engine has been on borrowed time for a while. A common issue that causes cooking is overfueling. How many kms has the engine done? Have you done up the injectors before?
What condition is the pump in?
What condition was the cooling system in?
Do you have auxilliary fuel filtration in place?

Anyway, I have experienced an engine cook/total failure before. It is not a nice feeling.
If you intend on keeping the vehcile, you will want to look at more than a long block transplant. You should look at a fuel system overhaul, and ditto on the cooling system.

Here are some estimates on pricing....

Long motor exchange. $4500.00
Labour to remove, refit, and freight. $1500.00
Cooling system overhaul. $???? depends on how far you need to go
Fuel pump overhaul $1000.00 to $1200.00
New injectors. $450.00

So you are looking at anywhere from about 8k to 10k with the labour which is a lot of loot, but better than the 20k loss that you mentioned earlier.

To be clear, it is pointless plonking a new/reco donk in the prado, without identifying the cause of overheating and dealing with it.

Good luck.

Steve

[wooley Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close wooley]

I think putting a d4d in is asking for trouble, I've done a few engine swaps; petrol -> diesel, diesel 6 > diesel v8 and every time it's a pain, and this is without having to worry about fancy electronics.

A reco motor would definitely be my choice.

[KAKADAZ Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close KAKADAZ]

I think putting a d4d in is asking for trouble, I've done a few engine swaps; petrol -> diesel, diesel 6 > diesel v8 and every time it's a pain, and this is without having to worry about fancy electronics.

A reco motor would definitely be my choice.

I agree for sure, engine swaps never go straight forward you end up changing everything you touch because nothing matches up. I can't believe how expesive these motors are I've come over from an LS1 forum where new 6.2L LS3 motors cost about 6k Brand spankers.

[tassie tiger Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close tassie tiger]

Had cause to drive a new little Mazda bubble-car the other day. Guess what? No temperature guage on the instrument cluster. It only has a warning light when things go south. They are obviously designed for women who don't know how to read guages.

I think all cars should have temp light as well as a gauge. Things overheat pretty damn quick so most of the time its already getting hot by the time its seen. Maybe an amber one and then a red one?