Last night was told

Hello all. First post.

Last night a good friend of mine told me that his neighbor is planning to scrap his 2006 Tundra because the water pump failed. Has 2xx,000 miles, I cant remember the specific milage.
My friend is actually a guy who has been helping me work on my GMC. He said the guy would take four hundred bucks for it if somebody wants it and has the title right there. Otherwise you scrapping it. My friend already cut the cats off and recycled them.

I asked him why he wasn't interested in it and he said he's looked at it and it was too much for him and wasn't confident enough to tackle the H2O pump job. He said you have to take a whole bunch of stuff off to get to it and the front engine cover etc. And he also said that the mechanics wanted apparently too much and I'm just chomping at the bit thinking about what a good deal this could be but I don't know anything about the Tundra's. I ask him and he got distracted and then I sent him a text later asking what the engine was he said it was a V8 but I didn't get the specific engine or the displacement size.
He said it's a four-door was a bench seat and gold in the body is in good condition and that's about all I know.
So he say's that the guy had been driving it and carried coolant with him because the WP was leaking. When I asked for specifics about whether it was internally draining and questions about the motor he didn't know much.
So suffice to say that sounds like a good deal knowing the Toyota quality and the fact that my other truck has some issues makes it even more appealing.
And he says the reason the guy doesn't fixes because he has another truck that he's happy with.

Thank you for listening and any advice or info is welcomed and appreciated. I'll fill in details as I learn them.

And apparently the scrap is happening tomorrow thus my forum visit seeking sage knowledge.

Looking around seems to be a great community sharing lots of knowledge and being very helpful. I belong to another car form that I haven't visited in quite a while but back when I was wrenching and racing on the car, you couldn't ask for a better more tight-knit group of folks.

~Coolio

 

The only issue you should be concerned about is frame rust. If the frame looks good then you found a great deal!

 

Welcome from NY.

Like Ron said, check the frame for rust.

Also look into the price of new cats and possibly a whole new exhaust because the cats were removed and I'm sure the weren't taken off neatly. Check the oil to see if there is water/antifreeze in it. Then see what the price of a water pump is. If you have to pay someone to do all the work you have to figure that cost also.
If you are doing all the work then go for it. I'm sure he isn't getting $400 for scrap, offer him maybe $200.

 

My guess it probably has a lot more issues than just the water pump if he unwilling to fix it before selling. If your mechanically inclined it’s worth looking over to see what maintenance work has been done in addition to checking for rust damage that’s too far gone. Obviously you want to drive it to make sure it shifts right and doesn’t need the tranny replaced. Replacing cats will run you about $1000 here if you go with aftermarket.

 

Water pump is burried behind the timing belt... so pretty much everything has to come out.. main reason I started my engine trans swap before doing this on the 1uz myself...

https://youtu.be/Tq4bCxkD0oU

https://youtu.be/Enm4qg0ZIIc

 

Water pump failure can mean two things.. it locked up and broke the t belt and you now need an engine. Or it leaked all the coolant out and over heated and again, may need an engine.


Still for 400 bucks that’s a steal if the frames solid

 

If you are up for a project seems like a steal.

See if you can find a motor to swap in instead.

 

Welcome from the wet side of WA

 

Welcome from Nevada

 

Welcome

 

Welcome from LA (Lower Alabama)! It sounds like a deal even if you have to replace the engine, especially if you are mechanically inclined enough to do it yourself.

 

Water pump/timing belt replacement is under a 3 hour job for an experienced tech.

 

Thank you so much for the replies everybody. I'm in Arkansas and imagine rust isn't the problem on this vehicle but I'll be checking it out tomorrow. Is this an interference engine or non-interference?

Like you guys said $400 is a steal I could probably make that back in just a few parts push come to shove.
I would plan to do the work myself and Arkansas does not have emissions or inspections so I would probably believing those cats off for a while and yes from what I heard they were taking off quite roughly.

I watched a video on the teardown and it certainly doable. Also what else besides the timing belt would be a good thing to do while I'm in there? I would think plugs and wires, thermostat, timing belt, water pump,...