Help! My 200 Series Piston Rod broke and punched through the motor

[liv2bike]

Y’all may be referencing me in some of the above. Valve spring failure led to carnage last spring. Took me several months to get my 200 back on the road. I looked at all the options. Had a wonderful conversation with the Car Care Nut (Ahmed) as well. Ended up sourcing a used LX570 engine with 70k miles from car-part this past summer. It was $16k all in with donor engine and labor. I did have to get a new intake manifold and that was really the only unexpected adder ($1,500).

My other options were:
- Rebuild my blown engine for $25k
- Buy a new short block and heads from Toyota plus labor and all the other parts for $34k. You can’t get a long block from Toyota.

I decided to wait and find the right donor that me and my mechanic felt good about.

My truck had around 165k miles on it when this happened. I made the decision to drop in a new (used) engine because it was worth it to me. My truck is very clean and means a lot to us.

Good luck man. I know exactly what you are going through.

Guy

 

[MSLX]

If you can find a shop to do it ($5,100 - 155k miles):

Engine 5.7L VIN Y 3URFE 2009 LEXUS LX LX570 155K MILES | eBay

LAND CRUISER 08-09 (5.7L, VIN Y, 5th digit, 3URFE engine, 8 cylinder). LEXUS LX570 08-09 (5.7L, VIN Y, 5th digit, 3URFE engine). LAND CRUISER 10 (5.7L, VIN Y, 5th digit, 3URFE engine, 8 cylinder), thru 10/09.

www.ebay.com

OK Auto Parts Mississippi – In Business Since 1957

okautopartsms.com

The above is the link to their direct website

They have several Tundra 5.7's and a Sequoia as well

 

[linuxgod]

IIRC book labor on a direct swap is somewhere 40-48 hours. Maybe @liv2bike or someone else unlucky on here can confirm

 

[TimCFJ40]

2011 with 216K miles

It sounds like you have a lot of mods on this one? If so, given the prices that similar trucks are going for, I'd look for a similar or lower mileage 2008-2011 for ~20k, swap your mods over, then sell the remains off to a salvage yard.

 

[rexington14]

Y’all may be referencing me in some of the above. Valve spring failure led to carnage last spring. Took me several months to get my 200 back on the road. I looked at all the options. Had a wonderful conversation with the Car Care Nut (Ahmed) as well. Ended up sourcing a used LX570 engine with 70k miles from car-part this past summer. It was $16k all in with donor engine and labor. I did have to get a new intake manifold and that was really the only unexpected adder ($1,500).

My other options were:
- Rebuild my blown engine for $25k
- Buy a new short block and heads from Toyota plus labor and all the other parts for $34k. You can’t get a long block from Toyota.

I decided to wait and find the right donor that me and my mechanic felt good about.

My truck had around 165k miles on it when this happened. I made the decision to drop in a new (used) engine because it was worth it to me. My truck is very clean and means a lot to us.

Good luck man. I know exactly what you are going through.

Guy

Thanks for sharing this.

Something to consider for anyone planning on long term ownership as these rigs get older over time. If your 200's 5.7 dies for whatever reason, you could be looking at massive costs to get back on the road. Wonder if we'll see (lower cost?) LS motor swaps attempted at some point.

 

[tbisaacs]

Thanks for sharing this.

Something to consider for anyone planning on long term ownership as these rigs get older over time. If your 200's 5.7 dies for whatever reason, you could be looking at massive costs to get back on the road. Wonder if we'll see (lower cost?) LS motor swaps attempted at some point.

Massive downgrade

 

[lx200inAR]

You’ll get 15-20k salvage value on auction. I’d use that as a guide, depending on how much you’ve sunk into the truck, how long your otherwise expect to keep it, etc. assume 15k to get a low mileage used engine installed, will you get 30-35k if you fix and sell? Maybe but probably not. So fix and keep or auction it off.

don’t be afraid to call around and find a shop that will quote less for a warranties engine and have it towed there from the dealer. I wouldn’t have an Indy shop rebuild a 3UR unless I really trusted them, but an engine swap is going to be less skilled.

These numbers seem optimistic for a 08-11 200k+ mile truck. I'm sure markets plays a role and I live in a "cheaper" market. But I have seen at least 5 08-11 with 200-280k miles for $17-$21k in the last 6 months (all with running engines, and mostly rust free being southern cars). And at least a few of them sat for a while. The "salvage" value that I paid state farm to buy back my 2010 LX with 145k miles was $9500 and that was with a running motor. I know LCs command a premium over LXs, but that's a big leap to get to 15-20k from there for an older higher mileage version. I guess maybe the whole shipping LCs to the middle east might increase the value.

Either way, I don't want to turn this into a 200 series value thread, just don't want OP to have unrealistic expectations.

I'll say that I decided to go the route of fixing my rig. My reasoning being that if it was going to cost less than 10-12k to fix then it was worth it to me to keep a known quantity that I've been driving a while and that already has the mods I want done to it verse starting over with a new to me 200.

And one more "useful" bit of info. I had to buy a few big parts and wiring harnesses to repair my LX. I found this used parts dealer on eBay that has a couple LX570s they are breaking down right now. I bought 2 wiring harnesses that from Lexus would have been 6k for $800, plus a few other parts that would have added up to 2-3k for less than 1k. They currently have a complete LX570 motor (plus a few Tundra/Sequioa) and a few broken down LX570 motors (blocks, cyllinder heads, etc). These guys do an amazing job taking the rigs apart with doing the least amount of damage to the parts and packing and shipping everything. Neither wiring harness i bought had a single broken clip on it (out of literally probably a 100+ clips). You should always verify though, because they are not the cheapest used parts dealer around. Sometimes their parts cost more or the same as new parts from UAE/Japan, so don't make that mistake.

 

[bloc]

Neither wiring harness i bought had a single broken clip on it (out of literally probably a 100+ clips).

This strikes me as bordering on impossible. Definitely a good sign for that vendor.

 

[2014 LEX 570 GA]

More nightmare fuel. Might stay off Mud for a while.

My condolences to the owner.

 

[hoser]

Agreed, this is not a dealer repair. Take it to a trusted Indy shop. Find a good used motor that a junkyard backs up through their warranty, and have the shop drop in that used engine.

Keep in mind, the Tundra/Sequoia 5.7 has some slightly different bolt on components that they’ll need to swap over from the 200 series. Keeping in mind, you may need to inspect the swapped over 200 parts for any metal debris (which you may need to replace if the metal debris damaged the bolt on parts).

Hot take, if you can find a lightly used (factory sealed) engine. It will be a much better option compared to a rebuilt/remanufactured engine.

x3 Try hitting up @2001LC He's an independent mechanic (I think in the Denver area). He might be up for a job like this.

 

[lx200inAR]

This strikes me as bordering on impossible. Definitely a good sign for that vendor.

They provide a ton of pictures in their eBay ads, and everything looked good, but I still fully expected to have to repair a few of the clips. In the end I didn't have to repair anything. I ended up only replacing one of the harnesses completely and then used parts from the other to repair my damaged harness. I was able to get my damaged harness out without breaking anything as well, so it can be done if enough care is paid to separating the clips properly. Obviously, these guys put the same attention to detail when dismantling wrecks. The only damage to anything was some of the wire clamps weren't in the best shape, but a lot of those are near impossible to get out without mangling. I'm pretty sure i still reused every clamp that was still on the harness as it was sent to me. There definitely some black magic to pulling apart Toyota connectors, but once you get the hang of it, it's not so bad.

 

[ryanCA]

I had to buy a few big parts and wiring harnesses to repair my LX. ..... I bought 2 wiring harnesses that from Lexus would have been 6k for $800, plus a few other parts that would have added up to 2-3k for less than 1k.

why did your LX need so much repairs?

 

[lx200inAR]

why did your LX need so much repairs?

Under hood fire. I haven't gotten to the part where I fix what caused the fire, so still a bit of mystery there. But I'm 90% sure some part of the AHC piping let go on the front passenger side and sprayed AHC fluid over the exhaust manifold and started a fire. I haven't figured out what gave out yet, so more to come on that. Probably get to that in the next week or two. Assuming I don't keep finding more "while you are in there" maintenance items. Definitely falling victim to scope creep at this point.

 

[LX Cruiser]

Whew. That’s…not good.

I agree with the others who have said DO NOT use a Toyota dealer for this work; it is needlessly expensive. A trusted local shop is a far better bet.

And it sucks to see. I am under no delusions that these rigs are perfect; I really do think they start to show their age around the 200k mark. I have had various issues with my ‘09. Still, it’s a solid vehicle, and I think it would protect my family in an accident better than just about every other similar-sized vehicle. on the market.

 

[liv2bike]

IIRC book labor on a direct swap is somewhere 40-48 hours. Maybe @liv2bike or someone else unlucky on here can confirm

That’s pretty accurate. It was 40’ish hours. That was to pull blown motor, receive and inspect/go through the donor, drop in the donor and several hours of road testing. Labor was roughly $6500.

ARD Offroad outside Park City did the work. I didn’t even consider my local dealer.

Guy

 

[TeCKis300]

Thanks for sharing this.

Something to consider for anyone planning on long term ownership as these rigs get older over time. If your 200's 5.7 dies for whatever reason, you could be looking at massive costs to get back on the road. Wonder if we'll see (lower cost?) LS motor swaps attempted at some point.

Just a different perspective. Part of the reason I own a 200-series is the motor. For it's great performance and reliability. But also the huge source of commodity engine and driveline components shared with the Tundra/Sequoia. Cheap source of factory sealed motors for decades to come.

I wouldn't think twice about owning a rig that had a new heart transplanted in.

Having done motor outs many times on different vehicles, it's some of the easiest low risk mechanics work. Sure not a 2 banana job, but it's straightforward compared to any more sensitive rebuild or internal engine work.

 

[rexington14]

Just a different perspective. Part of the reason I own a 200-series is the motor. For it's great performance and reliability. But also the huge source of commodity engine and driveline components shared with the Tundra/Sequoia. Cheap source of factory sealed motors for decades to come.

I wouldn't think twice about owning a rig that had a new heart transplanted in.

It’s a good motor. But things can happen, especially as age and mileage increase.

If my 4.7L 2UZ severely overheats (can’t really think of any other way it would die), I’m pretty confident I could have a donor installed and be back on the road in about a week, and it would cost me ~$5k total. It would suck, but it's manageable, and that's important to me on an old vehicle.

But what we’re seeing is that’s simply not the case with the 5.7L in the 200. There’s nothing cheap about a $16k+ motor swap on a 15+ year old vehicle that’s only going to get older (and lose value). That's catastrophic, IMO.

Every time a 200’s 5.7L blows I see the same thing: “just go grab any 5.7L out of any old Tundra you can find, get her installed and rock on”. But has anyone on this forum actually done -exactly- that? If so what did it cost, and how long did it take?

 

[CanadianRockyCruiser]

Just a different perspective. Part of the reason I own a 200-series is the motor. For it's great performance and reliability. But also the huge source of commodity engine and driveline components shared with the Tundra/Sequoia. Cheap source of factory sealed motors for decades to come.

I wouldn't think twice about owning a rig that had a new heart transplanted in.

Having done motor outs many times on different vehicles, it's some of the easiest low risk mechanics work. Sure not a 2 banana job, but it's straightforward compared to any more sensitive rebuild or internal engine work.

I'm in the same boat: I'd prefer to source a cheap one and do the swap myself (sweat equity). Nonetheless, I understand that many people may not have the luxury of a second vehicle, or the ability/space/time to do a swap.

All of these individual circumstances will have to come into play in the ops decision to keep and replace, or sell "as-is" and move on.

 

[ryanCA]

Under hood fire. I haven't gotten to the part where I fix what caused the fire, so still a bit of mystery there. But I'm 90% sure some part of the AHC piping let go on the front passenger side and sprayed AHC fluid over the exhaust manifold and started a fire. I haven't figured out what gave out yet, so more to come on that. Probably get to that in the next week or two. Assuming I don't keep finding more "while you are in there" maintenance items. Definitely falling victim to scope creep at this point.

WOW


glad you and your family are safe

 

[Heckraiser]

Try calling ATLR or Japanese Auto Service (both pretty close to Stevinson, and both LC-knowledgeable) for a comparison quote.

Me personally, I don't think I'd pay $15k to resurrect my truck if I were in your shoes. $24k is about what the truck is worth, so I definitely would not go with the new motor. I'd probably sell as-is and move on.