HELP!!! 2006 LC - To sell, or not to sell (1 Viewer)

[MotoGainz]

Hello all,

It looks like I've purchased a lemon from a crappy dealership.

Quick backstory:
I was giving my car to a sibling, so I was told to buy a LC/LX470 for my next vehicle. I was living in Denver at the time and potentially had to move to GA for army stuff, so they're basically the perfect vehicle for a single guy living in s***ty road conditions and potentially needing to tow a trailer.

I bought my 2006 (now has 181XXX miles) in a rush due to s***ty circumstances. Purchased in late DEC2018 and since then, I've replaced leaking valve cover gaskets & leaking CV joint boots in the front.

I'm now dealing with a potentially catastrophic issue. I had to move to GA recently and prior to the move, I had a CEL with a P0306 code (6 cylinder misfire). I brought it in and had the coil pack and plugs replaced before making the trip. The CEL came back on and had the same code. Switched the coil packs on the 6 and 4 cylinder and the problem stayed on 6. Had a smoke test performed for vacuum leaks and a compression & leak test done on cylinder 6. Smoke test passed, but compression/leak test failed.

Compression on 6 is at 75lbs (normal should be around 175lbs+), so that's really bad. I brought into a Toyota dealership to check the valve cover gaskets just in case they installed a faulty product. That came back ok, so now I'm stuck potentially having to replace the head, or something deeper.

I'm hoping to get some advice on what the next best steps should be. Should I keep troubleshooting and throwing money at it? Replace the entire engine? Or should I just cut my losses and get rid of it? If I sell it, I'd be happy to post pics and get some estimates. I'm thinking if I sell it, I'd probably just put it up for 14K max.

Any help is appreciated!

 

[stickly]

I would get the engine rebuilt & bored and drive it for 300k more miles. s***ty circumstances but make lemonade. Upside is that you can replace all of the other hard to reach items since your engine will be out of the truck.

1/ Rebuild engine
2/ Replace all gaskets
3/ Service/rebuild the starter
4/ Rebuild the alternator
5/ Replace all motor mounts
6/ Do all of the timing/water pump/tensioner maintenance

It will not be super cheap (unless you are good at wrenching) but you will end up with a fully rebuilt, super reliable car that will last a very long time AND have great resale value.

 

[GTV]

I would get the engine rebuilt & bored and drive it for 300k more miles. s***ty circumstances but make lemonade. Upside is that you can replace all of the other hard to reach items since your engine will be out of the truck.

1/ Rebuild engine
2/ Replace all gaskets
3/ Service/rebuild the starter
4/ Rebuild the alternator
5/ Replace all motor mounts
6/ Do all of the timing/water pump/tensioner maintenance

It will not be super cheap (unless you are good at wrenching) but you will end up with a fully rebuilt, super reliable car that will last a very long time AND have great resale value.

It’s far more cost effective to swap in a known good engine than to have one rebuilt.

To the OP- you need to find out exactly where the compression is leaking from, it is coming from one of three places:
The valves (which means the head(s) should be rebuilt, assuming they aren’t cracked)
The head gasket (easiest to fix but may also require the head(s) to be machined flat)
The piston rings (full engine rebuild)

 

[MotoGainz]

It’s far more cost effective to swap in a known good engine than to have one rebuilt.

To the OP- you need to find out exactly where the compression is leaking from, it is coming from one of three places:
The valves (which means the head(s) should be rebuilt, assuming they aren’t cracked)
The head gasket (easiest to fix but may also require the head(s) to be machined flat)
The piston rings (full engine rebuild)

Thanks for the quick reply!

I forgot that I left out an important detail. I'm also planning to move to Europe in after I finish my army training in GA (I'm in the reserves) and don't plan on bringing it, so I'm trying to gauge what the most cost effective thing to do with this thing would be.

I was thinking of looking into the head gaskets, but I didn't even think about asking the mechanic at Toyota today after telling him about the compression on 6. He just went straight to replacing a head or doing a rebuild.

Military bases usually have some awesome shops to work in. They have all the tools you could need and also provide lifts. Not sure how I could pull off an engine replacement though, so doing the rebuild might be the best option if I go that route. But at this point it's all about managing my time between training and studying, so I'm not sure if I should throw money at Toyota and have them put in a certified engine, look around at junk yards (pretty sure these are a rare find in junk yards, or try to find a wrecked on on here or some other market place.

 

[ga12r1]

Hello all,

It looks like I've purchased a lemon from a crappy dealership.

Quick backstory:
I was giving my car to a sibling, so I was told to buy a LC/LX470 for my next vehicle. I was living in Denver at the time and potentially had to move to GA for army stuff, so they're basically the perfect vehicle for a single guy living in s***ty road conditions and potentially needing to tow a trailer.

I bought my 2006 (now has 181XXX miles) in a rush due to s***ty circumstances. Purchased in late DEC2018 and since then, I've replaced leaking valve cover gaskets & leaking CV joint boots in the front.

I'm now dealing with a potentially catastrophic issue. I had to move to GA recently and prior to the move, I had a CEL with a P0306 code (6 cylinder misfire). I brought it in and had the coil pack and plugs replaced before making the trip. The CEL came back on and had the same code. Switched the coil packs on the 6 and 4 cylinder and the problem stayed on 6. Had a smoke test performed for vacuum leaks and a compression & leak test done on cylinder 6. Smoke test passed, but compression/leak test failed.

Compression on 6 is at 75lbs (normal should be around 175lbs+), so that's really bad. I brought into a Toyota dealership to check the valve cover gaskets just in case they installed a faulty product. That came back ok, so now I'm stuck potentially having to replace the head, or something deeper.

I'm hoping to get some advice on what the next best steps should be. Should I keep troubleshooting and throwing money at it? Replace the entire engine? Or should I just cut my losses and get rid of it? If I sell it, I'd be happy to post pics and get some estimates. I'm thinking if I sell it, I'd probably just put it up for 14K max.

Any help is appreciated!

14k is going to be a tough sell with a bad motor. If it’s pristine inside and out with service records maybe 10k. If no records maybe 8k.

 

[MotoGainz]

That's exactly the kind of input I was hoping for. Thanks for that! I'll keep it in mind in case I end up going that route.

14k is going to be a tough sell with a bad motor. If it’s pristine inside and out with service records maybe 10k. If no records maybe 8k.

 

[scooterp7]

Where in Ga are you?

 

[MotoGainz]

Augusta

 

[LongHaulCruiser]

Hit a deer.

 

[MotoGainz]

Already did that, actually. Bought it in Seattle and hit one near Moab, UT around 3AM on my way back to Denver.

Hit a deer.

 

[LongHaulCruiser]

Next time hit an elk.