Help checking if a 1st gen Tundra had an Engine replaced by Toyota

Hi everyone. First off, I want to thank you for making/contributing to this wealth of knowledge. I'm so happy to have found this place thanks to my co-worker.

I've been looking to buy my first truck since I was 16. That was a 1985 Toyota pickup with a manual transmission clocking at 350k miles thanks to my Dad making a deal for $500. My Mom didn't love that and talked us into using my college fund to make a down payment on a (much more practical I was assured) 2010 Corolla. I couldn't have known how much that would change my life...

Anyway, I'm ready for another truck. It would not only serve me as a daily driver for field work, but would also be nice for camping with my wife and nephews. Also doing home repairs, you know, truck stuff! I'm lucky enough to have mechanically competent friends and family to help me through the purchase of what I've decided will be a Tundra, with a budget of about $10k. Well, I'm probably already over budget because I've found one on FB that looks decent.

It's an '06 Limited DC 4x4 4.7 V8 with 270k miles. The listing has been up for a month and the owner is now asking $11k. I gave it a test drive, and spoke to the owner who apparently needs to get rid of it due to it not fitting in his parking space at home . He's an old timer who used to rebuild vehicles back in the day. He's only had it for a few months and hasn't put many miles on it. Most importantly he told me that a previous owner took the Tundra to a Toyota dealership who then replaced the engine (charging only about $2k for labor) at around 200k miles. This was on one of the receipts which he happily showed me.

Transfer case was also replaced with a used one due to a past owner having issues getting from 4wd to 2wd.

Soon after the test drive, I paid for a pre-purchase inspection (details below photos) which the owner was happy to bring the truck to. I also got the Carfax. Very few reports of oil changes so maybe that's why the engine needed replacement, I don't know. Of course the owners may have been doing it themselves.

I gave the dealership a call about the engine replacement and they did confirm that it was in for repair at the time it showed on the receipt, and while they did mention work was done to the engine, I wasn't able to get many details. So here's my question. How would you confirm if the engine was in fact replaced? The VIN is still the original. I popped the hood which I'll include photos of here. I appreciate any help I can get as this engine being replaced is really the only way I'm willing to shell out this kind of money. Also I'd love to hear what you'd pay for this despite a lack of photos.





PPI Details:
tpms light with following codes: C2122, C2123, C2124.
Front daytime lights out, left front turn signal lens cracked.
Brake fluid may never have been serviced.
Cooling system -19 degree protection, mechanic recommended service.
Drive Belt cracked.
Battery at 66% Health, 72% state of charge. Idle no load 14.03V, Idle load 13.7V Diode Ripple 0.12 V.
MAF Filter needs replacement
Steering rack seeping with drips on passenger side, pressure hose seeping. Recommend replacing as pm.
Front lower control arm bushings heavily cracked/broken, uppers cracking. Sway bar end link bushings cracking and ball joints seeping.
Engine mounts slightly cracked, recommend monitor.
Trans fluid: atf varnished, services at 237k 3-4 shift felt hesitant on test drive. recommend monitor, may need trans repair in future
Rear diff fluid heavily varnished, recommend leak repair and drain and fill of fluid
No history of spark plugs (but they'd be replaced with the engine riiiiiiight??)
Drips present at left rear axle seal and transfer case.
No history of induction cleaning, due every 30k on port injection, recommend service.

Okay, that's all. Not sure how much of that needs to be addressed before I daily drive it. I've sort of made the mistake of falling in love with a truck I haven't bought yet. I need help. If I do buy this, I'll be sure to replace the LBJs with OEM immediately

 

Best I can say is go to toyota.com/owners/ and make an account. Add the VIN to see the vehicle and click on service history. Anything done by Toyota will show up there.

 

Agree with this also, if you have a free CarFax Account, you can add the VIN to your garage. I have only 4 entries at Toyota.com/owners. But on CarFax I have 15 entries that are in decent detail. I never knew it till I looked on the CarFax but Toyota had replaced my lower ball joints in the first 30K miles. That wasn’t even mentioned at the Toyota.com/owners site.

 

On your PPI, what's this about?

 

No services records isn't necessarily a bad thing. A lot of us do our own maintenance, and smaller shops don't report it. Sounds like a typical 19 year old Toyota; just needs a little love. Check this thread if you haven't already.

https://www.tundras.com/threads/so-you-wanna-buy-just-bought-a-1st-gen-tundra-eh.115928/

 

Werent a jy engine, i dont see a lick of paint pen.

very nice. Only tattletale that the engine might be different is i think i see 3 different ages of vacuum lines.

 

There is no way I would pay $11,000 for a first gen with that many miles with the known problems that you have listed.

Keep looking, you'll find something either cheaper or in better shape for $11k.

 

It sounds like you're inheriting someone else's problems. My parents had a similar experience looking at RVs last week. I won't get into details, but it was a shitshow, lots of little problems that, as a whole, pointed to a shitload of negligence on part of the prior owner. That's what you're looking at here @uberraytuber, you're looking to acquire something else, for a fair bit of money more than I'd be willing to pay.

Beyond that though, at 270k miles, serpentine belt cracked, I see no mention of the timing belt condition, and if you read this (if you haven't, you should!), you already know that one of the big 3 killers of these trucks is the timing belt/pulleys/water pump/tensioner being replaced every 100k miles / 10 years (Toyota says 90k/9yr). Did the PPI even bother to check that? It adds another ~$1,500 in parts and labor to have it done professionally and if it hasn't been done within the last 100k/10yr, or it was done using non-OEM brand parts (i.e. Aisin brand) from a reputable source (i.e. not scAmazon or fleaBay), that's a big ass problem.

I'm with @Mr Badwrench on this one.

 

WHAT ABOUT THE FRAME CONDITION

 

Only reason I didn't bring it up is due to the lack of rust throughout the engine bay. It looks like a southern or west coast truck.

(But yeah, you're right, especially given lack of maintenance, I'd especially be checking the framerail below the brake MC res)

 

And the leaky rear diff

 

I figured since it had an inspection they woulda mentioned it. They seem to notice the small, insignificant frame rust so it's probably clean.

 

Recent poster here had a PPI on a truck he couldn't personally look at that came back clean and his frame was f@(ked when he recieved it.

 

Not for 11k. Walk away

 

A 2006 4X4 DC Limited Tundra is worth $11k all day in proper condition, I would argue maybe even more. Now, is this one worth that? Maybe not with some of the history provided and condition of some parts that need replacing. $11k is asking, I would use the condition to negotiate against that asking if this is a vehicle you want to move forward with.

 

You saw the laundry list of issues correct? 11k for a decent truck sure. Not the shitbox the guy is selling.

 

That's not shitbox territory. That's 20yr old truck stuff. All that updated and fresh takes this truck into the $15k range. I've said this numerous times on here, if you wanna own an old truck, you need to be handy with maintenance and repairs or the $$$ add up fast.

 

Wow, you guys are the best! Thank you for the replies. I'll share everything I have here because again, I've made the mistake of falling in love with this one and I do need a firm talking to here I want every reason not to buy it. That being said the old dude seems like he may be flexible on price and I do plan on doing what I can to maintain/repair what I can (along with some help from friends/family).

I've given another look at the legendary "so-you-wanna-buy" thread and see that I definitely need to give an inspection of the timing belt as the PPI did not inspect that. Please see the photos and Carfax below. I took the photos wen I test drove it. Let me know if you feel better or worse about this one after looking. I did make an account at Toyota.com and there's not much on there but it does corroborate that it was at the dealership at time of the engine swap, but it doesn't say explicitly that an engine swap was done. I gave the dealership another call about the engine and they're going to call me back with details, hopefully I can confirm the replacement. Carfax has way more info than the Toyota website and so I included that PDF at the bottom.

I hear you guys saying it's got a lot of problems. Only reason I'm considering it is the engine replacement.

 

Man. That undercarriage looks great. Not so much the inside of the cab though. Did you take these pictures yourself?

I might have to eat my words on saying "pass".

I'm guessing the mechanic who diagnosed/inspected it probably counted on capitalizing from doing all the work he recommended.

It's tough to say without seeing it in person or driving it.

 

It’s way rougher than the Sequoia I picked up last year — I paid $5,100.

https://www.tundras.com/threads/2005-golden-tree.135776/

 

What about the engine replacement is making you consider it? That is good or bad in our eyes? Truck is very clean outside with a good looking frame and rear diff corrosion wise. Interior is beat up a bit. That driver's rear brake shield has some wetness on it. Brakes were bled? Wheel cylinder or line leak? Axle seal leak? Not sure. CV joints look new, but not sure they are OEM or what. Front and rear shocks look new, Tokicos or KYB maybe, solid stuff if so.

 

Like others have said- definitely check the timing belt, and get a quote for the leaky rear axle.

That said, that truck is completely rust free, has a ton of new parts, and a handful of the recommended items on the inspection list are unnecessary. It looks a lot nicer than plenty of the trucks we see on this site. Here's the thing: no matter how nice it is, all of these trucks are 20 years old, and are gonna require a higher level of attention than a new vehicle. There's going to be some issue, at some point, period. However that doesn't mean that you won't be able to enjoy a safe, capable, reliable truck that will still last a long time, even at that mileage. You just need to pay attention to things a bit more.

I don't know enough about the Double Cab market to confidently throw a value out there- hopefully someone who does can chime in.

 

Here's a comp

 

The engine replacement is definitely good in my eyes as the vehicle would be worth more as it's "low mileage" but to your points I need to check on those leaks.

I want a truck for the next 10 years at least. And for a budget haha. I've only ever driven Toyotas and they've taken care of me. I also thought the truck looked great underneath but I'm not a mechanic and that's why I'm being super cautious. I'm trying to take all the PM into account so that I can haggle him down on price. Watching a video on timing belt/water pump replacement right now and that's quite a project but I'm up for it.

I'm assuming this comp doesn't have an engine replacement so that's making me feel a bit better on the price of the one I'm looking at. Though if the comp truck has better PM I suppose that's why they can ask almost $14k (and the mileage is lower of course).

 

The reason I ask is because engine replacement at 200k plus miles is a plus for an F150. It's not for a Tundra. These motors when properly maintained go for 400k+ miles all day. There's a few documented 1million mile examples and many on this forum in the 300-440k+ range.

 

I agree with @KNABORES in that an engine replacement is NOT a plus on these trucks. I want to know why it was replaced and if that was due to abuse, neglect, or mechanical failure. The latter is rare. So, that leaves the other two. If either of these are true, it certainly applies to everything else.

 

Based on the other neglect with everything else, and lack of maintenance, I think we know damn well why the engine was replaced.

Again. OP would be buying someone else's neglect. These trucks only need basic maintenance to go 500k+ miles on the original drivetrain. The fact the previous owner saw to it that it didn't even last half that is telling.

I'd avoid it. Find a truck that was actually cared for.

 

I hear what you're saying. I was told the engine was replaced due to a manufacturing defect. That being said I gave the dealership another call this morning and am expecting a call back with more details about it. It sounds like I should run. I was hoping it would be a bit of a project up front for something that would last another 10 years but it sounds like that is not gonna be the case. I'll keep looking as you've suggested, I know you've got my best interest in mind . I did forget to share the PPI photos the mechanic took, so here they are:

 

And we're telling you the person who's saying that is full of shit, and clearly doesn't know the 2UZ-FE very well. They have zero reputation for "manufacturing defects". This isn't a Ford or Dodge. You shouldn't trust whoever told you that, and it sounds like some shit a salesperson would say to sell you something.

The only person who could tell you "manufacturing defect" was the cause would be Toyota. Sometimes manufacturers will ask for engines back if something wildly unexpected happens. The 2UZ-FE has been used for years prior to the Tundra coming out, by the time they made it into our trucks, the engines were well-vetted.

 

You definitely have the axle shaft seal leak. At a minimum, you are going to have to pull the axle shaft and bleed the brakes once everything is back together. Your brake shoes are probably oil-soaked now.

Control arm bushings are pretty involved and yours need replaced. You're going to have to do some considerable front disassembly between your sway bar bushings, ball joints and control arm bushings. Not to mention your steering rack.

You're going to have to put some time and $$ into it for sure. As others have said, the engine situation is concerning too.

$11,000 is too high. I think you are making the best decision passing on this one. Some good news... I am surprised every day at what appears as far as clean first gen tundras. Every time I think I've seen a unicorn, another one turns up. They are out there.