1GR replacement options?

[dkcrew]

I have a 2005 Tacoma (206k miles) and a '73 40. This is my first post here related to the Tacoma. I think I blew the tacoma engine - 1GR-FE - 2 weeks back going up and over Monarch Pass. The CEL came on. temp rose, and it then essentially lost compression all within about 3-5 minutes once I was down the pass. Smoke and boiling coolant in the overflow as I came to a stop. It looks like the HG or block cracked because I lost the coolant somewhere along this way.

Once it was towed home ... I added water to check radiator and watched it flow out through the exhaust:

cylinder 1 had compression at 62psi (well below the ~170 target) ... leak down ~73% loss

cylinder 5 looks similar ~82% loss

So. I think next steps would be to remove the head and check the gasket and block to look for the source. If anyone has any other recommendations before tearing into the engine please let me know.

I am also starting to look at swapping with a lower mileage 1GR if I can find one ... so if anyone has any recommendations I'm all ears.

The last pic I took of the truck in action fooling around about a month before this happened -- I was really looking forward to some mountain time with the truck ... maybe next summer. 35s. 488s. double locked. ready to go ... needs an engine

 

[FerrisBueller]

It sounds like a pretty engine-catastrophic event, if the coolant all poured out that quickly and you were still forced to drive it further to get it off the trail. Even if you find that the head gasket is the culprit, replacing it might not fix all your problems for very long if the head / block have significantly warped from the duration of the overheating event.

From what I understand, removing the heads is a quite involved and time consuming effort on our 4.0L engines. But if you're aware of that and prepared to dive in, then doing that and checking around in there there probably is the most effective thing to try, especially considering the clue that water added to the radiator quickly leaks out through the exhaust. Maybe the photo makes it look worse than it is, but that looked like a really heavy water flow out of the exhaust.

Maybe start looking for a replacement engine at the same time, so if at some point a good deal pops up you can snag it.

 

[dkcrew]

I am going to remove the heads. I'm just not 100% sure what to look for once I'm in there unless it's obvious. Unfortunately the picture doesn't look worse than it is. Originally I was going to add some coolant just to get it filled. I quickly realized I had filled up more than the ~9-10 quarts spec I started looking around. The skids were on so it was tough to see. Once I took those off and added water it was plain as day - also noting the hole in my exhaust haha.

In the meantime yes - I am starting to look for another engine. Or possibly some type of trade. All options open at the moment.

 

[dkcrew]

I found a 2008 with 130k miles and going to swap the engine. it was running when pulled. fingers crossed.

 

[Tigerstripe40]

I was going to say, you can still get 1GR shortblocks from Toyota, and they are actually pretty reasonable, but if the heads cracked, or you burned a valve, that might not be a solution.

Sounds like you have a solution.
Take pics of the carnage!

 

[dkcrew]

Engine is in. I drove about 80 miles around town before heading the 1000 back up to CO. The trip was uneventful which was the best outcome. Thanks so much to @aljollano and his crew of Toyota whisperers for getting me back up and running.

 

[plainjanefjc]

What was the maintenance intervals on the motor that blew? Coolant changes/oil changes?

 

[dkcrew]

What was the maintenance intervals on the motor that blew? Coolant changes/oil changes?

On schedule done by me. It drove great up to this point. But I did push it much harder than I ever have up and over Monarch Pass trying to make it back for ,y son's basketball ... either way. so far so good now. The odometer reads 207000 today so I've put about 1000 miles on it. The new engine is my odometer minus 75000 which I think is pretty cool ... out of town this weekend but looking forward to wheeling before the snows close the passes soon.

 

[dkcrew]

so far so good. I finally buttoned up a few more things and got it out into the fall colors -- I found next weekend's camp spot ... alignment on Monday and then I put the skids back on and she'll be ready for the snow.