Potentially snapped Timing Belt

They should of just pulled the cover then said it’s snapped. Done. I wouldn’t want to pay for them to just throw a belt on a dead motor

 

@thefish712 honestly for the cost I would inquire what a dealer would charge for a new used engine or a reputable shop that specializes in Toyota’s.

last 4.7 I replaced a couple years ago came out to around 6500 all said and done

 

Yeah, I'm shopping around now. Will see what else is out there. Plus I don't need such a low mileage engine if it saves me a good chunk. I've heard that sometimes you can't know for sure if the engine will be good to go and have compression until it's been put back together. But my ignorance on engine work isn't great lol

 

What should i sell my sequoias 4.7 for? Seems like califorinans and alaskans will pay beaucoups. It was replaced in ‘10, with “an ‘04 tundra motor”, so i dont know the milage, but it’s never skipped a beat, even with 6 cracked coilpacks.

like, if i drove the sequoia to someone, and left it, how much could i spend on the motorcycle to get home?

 

This! Sunken cost fallacy is real.

OP needs to think of this as 'Would I buy this for $16K?'. As others pointed out - it's shitty they didn't scope it before installing a new belt but it doesn't change that the only way repairing this works is if you keep it a loooong time.

Any doubt, sell it as is to someone who will swap an engine themselves.

 

The plan was, and still would be, to keep it a loooong time. I do pretty much want to have it forever and get another car as my "daily" aka anything with better gas mileage

 

I would do the same for my truck. Had it since 2008 and don't plan on letting go. I'll be buried in it.

 

Guess I didn't understand at first this truck is part of the family! You're on the right track in getting that engine swapped or rebuilt and you've got the right support group on this forum to help you. The rebuild route might be worth getting an estimate just to compare (maybe from a different shop). I bought my old '89 new and spent $3K on a new paint job last year, so cost wasn't my main focus. Heck, if the old 3.0 (slow) died tomorrow, I would probably find a 3.4L to slap in there and keep the old girl going with a newer motor. Best of luck to you!

 

At first, I thought the used engine price seemed high but after searching car-part in San Diego (zip code 91911), it doesn’t seem they are that far off.

What you and we need to see is a printed of quote that breaks everything down. Parts, labor, supplies, etc. $7,200 just seems really high to me and personally at that price, I’d be looking at an LS/4L80E swap.

 

Rebuilding the $5k ls6 on fleabay would be SOOOO tempting if my stuff was broke.

 

When you wrote that I also found it bizarre. I'd want a reduction in that price b/c that's an odd procedure. Like plastic surgery operation on a dead person before checking to see if they're alive...

 

I think many people are stuck in "old world" pricing. The dollar is losing value due to ~20% inflation. WE are in a period of hyper inflation. Just look at pricing for most things, it's a lot higher than just a year or a few years ago. This is especially true for vehicles and parts and TRUCKS.

And the OP lives in one of the most expensive areas in the nation.

All vehicles cost money. Some more than others, some less. But while not particularly fun, $7k is not that much money. It's nary 7x the amount he'd have spent on his 250k motor, had he just done the recommended service. $7k is only $6k more than he'd have spent, and in this instance he's getting a engine that is 5x less aged.

So really, the difference is $6 grand, and he's getting a new engine. Heck, I'd do it. If the engine on my 250k Tundra went out tomorrow, I'd drop the money and get a new engine.

In my 250k mileage Tundra, in the last year I've spent $3500 on various maintenance, rack and pinion, front struts/shocks, and odds and ends, to keep it well maintained.

Anyone here priced new trucks lately? $50k for an entry level truck.

I'm puzzled that folks think the $7k for a new engine installed is that much money.

 

I wouldnt bawk at $10k for a rebuilt ls swap. And compushift makes automatic transmission controllers that control whatever you can find.

 

Smart to shop around. I don't think $7k is outrageous, but I would want a competent shop to do the work, with the best motor available (preferrably a rebuilt one), with the best warranty you can get.

 

Might be tricky to fit a ford 5.0 and 10 speed, but would be a great swap.

 

May as we’ll go all electric…

 

Here's a strange thought that you can file under "throwing a wrench in the works"....

How do we know the belt was installed correctly by the shop? This is assuming the engine miraculously didn't sustain any initial damage...

keep your options open. I like the idea of you and a friend tackling the job. Maybe some of our west coast friends will help out...?

 

In a shop they could have it out in 4hrs, but on a floor with jack and hoist is a few days job

 

And inflation has hit the automotive market hardest - especially with low inventories of new and used vehicles.

 

So - I keep seeing this mentioned around here. Does anyone have links for this?

Does the Toyota T/C mate to 4L80 or is there a custom tailshaft?

Not that I think my 4.7 will ever die but it would be really cool to have access to so many performance parts.

 

I'm voting against anyone not mechanically inclined or with the right tools to tackle this himself. While some folks here might have a garage, cherry picker, all the right tools, the OP doesn't appear to be that skilled given the conversation.

I'd say I'm about a 3 on a 10 scale for mechanical ability and tools. I would not tackle this project. It would take me months to do the job, and then there's a good chance it would not be done correctly and I'd have to at some point hire an expert to fix my mistakes. I considered just doing my own timing belt etc. but then figured it would take me a week, I might do it wrong, and destroy the engine. A pro can do it in 3 hours.

PS - going by outdated manuals finds the wrong information at times. Heck, the manual is wrong about the amount of transmission fluid for a drain and fill. Can we really expect a shade-tree mechanic to "get it right" to basically tackle the most complicated job on a vehicle, which is an engine pull and reinstall? Setting the OP up for failure IMO.

No idea if the OP has the space, tools, time, or aptitude. If I was unemployed, had a big garage, and all the tools, and endless time and several friends to help, I might tackle it. But I don't. Job, responsibilities, limited time, limited space... My friends all also have jobs, responsibilities, etc.

True story: My first car when I was 16 had a good structure, but the motor blew. I spent a summer and all my money getting a used junk yard motor, and hiring local "gear heads" to put it in. The car sat for years, and never ran. It was an unfinished project because I did not have the skill, and "throwing a motor in" is not that easy. In hindsight, I wish I had just paid a garage to put the motor in. The car was a total loss to me.

In life you just learn there are some things best left to experts. YMMV. This is just one of those expenses you save for, and dip into the savings.

 

So far, in my life, that has only included finishing drywall and a Colonoscopy...

 

$7K is still $7K lol. Yes everything has been inflated but my damn salary hasn’t gone up (if you don’t include the job change). I’d have a hard time spending $7k on an engine. For me, that’s over twice as much as I paid for my Tundra.

Part of my job is negotiating repair bills. I NEVER pull the trigger on purchasing any equipment or major repair bills without getting three quotes. Once you’ve settled on a shop, you can always negotiate from there. Cash discounts, coupons on their website or whatever method you have to do to get the price knocked down. Again, if we can see a written quote, I would be happy to look further into it and see if I notice anything out of the ordinary.

I’m not picking on you either Jimbo as I value your input/advice. If the OP is planning on keeping the truck, it’s worth fixing. At $600/month for a payment, a new engine would be paid for in a years time. On the other hand, $7k would be a nice down payment on a replacement. My brother just went through the same thing with his Ram 1500 5.7L. Just rolled 110k and had a lifter fail. We could have probably done it ourselves but limited space, tools, etc. It was easier for him to pay $5k and have it done. Stage two cam, HD/Hellcat lifters, new water pump etc and he was back on the road in four days.

 

Yup, my thoughts exactly. Since high school I have always tried to work on my cars, trucks, motos myself. But I know my limits - here it's a limit of knowledge, time, resources, and ultimately, confidence. I took a '76 motorcycle and got it running again. That was, until it's wiring harness kept failing. After digging, I found that it was not the job for me. Hired a pro and was happy to do so. The lesson has stuck with me - do what you can, but stay in your lane.

 

Well, I just dropped my CC info sooo the original guys with the truck have the job. He's including a rear seal and the starter at no extra labor cost. We've talked a good bit at this point. I trust him. And I 100% trust the guy that has been going to him for years and recommended this shop.

I did shop around. Everywhere I went was either the same price or more expensive. One shop would have been about $100 cheaper but I would have had to get the truck back to San Diego from Newport and the engine he was offering had 144K miles on it. No thank you.

As for the "odd" order of operations, each shop told me the same thing - installing the new timing belt first and then reassembling it all to find out if the engine is good is pretty common practice. That way, you don't have to start taking the engine apart and you'll know as soon as you try to fire it up if the engine has compression or not. No compression = bent valves. It's more quantifiable rather than digging in and eye-balling. That is what several shops told me after I asked.

End of day, I feel good about the decision. Holy sh!t this has been a journey. Thanks for the support and sticking around, everyone!

 

Good luck with everything!

 

Good decision. One point of order. GET AN UPGRADED HEAVY DUTY STARTER. Even if you have to pay the difference. Research this forum for the type and reasoning. It's one of those small cash outlays that is a much bigger job once it's installed and has to be removed.

 

Does anyone here have a reason for the upgraded starter? I'm on my original with 261k miles. I put new starter contacts in it at about 120k for the occasional click but no start. Toyota tech I talked to on the phone (was trying to order a new starter) told me he had never seen a starter for the UZ family of V-8s fail. It was always just worn starter contacts. Here I am 140k miles later on that same starter with no issues. Spins fast too.

 

At the end of day that’s what counts.
Yogi said “it ain’t over till it’s over….please keep us up to date

insert “you got this” meme

 

Yogi also said "you do you BooBoo!"

At least I think he did. I don't know any other BooBoo's. You sir have done you, we are all glad that the Tundra will live to ride another day. Hopefully the advice here was helpful and didn't muddy the waters too much. Good luck with the repairs!