3.0 questions

[toygasm]

so a friend of mine whos ol lady just popped out their second kid has decided to sell his toyota.it has @370,000 kilometers(ya im canadian) on the motor.so around 230 000 miles..its been his dd for like 3years..never had any issues other than tha valve cover leakin...ive owned 5 toyotaz so far.three 22re and two 22r motors.never a 3.o..is this thing a time bomb??he doesnt know if the head gaskets have ever been done but doubts that it has.i have a bit of a negative opinion about the motors from what ive heard but never any personal experiences.wat u guyz think? i know lots of 4cys that have had headgasket/warped head issues..

[brockbuilt85]

depends on how it runs and how much you get it for. i have a 3.0 and its a lil rough but it gets me back and forth to work and does well when it snows. and if you can get the vin and see if it had the work on the head gaskets done do that, might influence your puchase. i have a mechanic friend who has done alot of stuff with 3slos and thinks they are notbad motors at all as long as you take care of them.

[Snowtoy]

i have a mechanic friend who has done alot of stuff with 3slos and thinks they are notbad motors at all as long as you take care of them.

This is it in a nutshell.  The 3.0 isn't like the 22r series, it needs normal proper servicing.  When it is maintained/serviced properly it is a durable relatively trouble free issue, when it hasn't it is worthy of the rumors you have heard.

How long has the valve cover been leaking?  If your friend didn't check the oil level regulary, you could have bearing issues down the road.

If it has an auto trans, you might want to consider something else if gas mileage is a concern for you.

[toygasm]

so i could take it in and get the recall done to it even if the headgaskets are still ok?

[brockbuilt85]

as long as it has not been done b4 im pretty sure

[toygasm]

thanks for the input.i had a buddy who had a 3.0 that leaked oil pretty bad.he blew the motor up because he didnt check the oil and ran it dry.lol!!..but ya,the truck is a pretty good deal but not something i would invest money into if the engine blows..just not a 1st gen 4runner with a 22re which is what i want but im having a hard time finding one locally..

[toygasm]

well,i went over yesterday and gave it a good once over. ..i will keep lookin.

[Coloradoyoda]

   I have a 3.0 that i bought a few years ago. Got it for a steal. When i bought it it leaked oil like you wouldn't believe.  I just kept putting oil in it until i had time to tear it apart.  When i did tear it down i found that almost every seal in the engine was deteriated beyond belief.  I did a minor rebuild, replaced all the seals and now it runs great and doesn't leak a drop.

[46&2]

so i could take it in and get the recall done to it even if the headgaskets are still ok?

Actually, I am fairly certain the 3.0 headgasket recall has ended. Also, I seriously doubt any 3.0 with 200,000+ miles hasn't seen a HG replacement at some point in time.

[4-lo]

Of course like any other cars if you Dont maintenance your car you'll have a problem.

[toygasm]

i personaly wouldnt spend money on a 3.0l..i was just curious about what kind of life span these engines have.the truck was a fairly well used and heavily abused by the last two owners..with the milage it had i was guessin it was nearing the end of its life.in the few minutes we stood there talking as the truck warmed up,a large puddle was forming underneith.he said he replaced the valve cover gaskets but it didnt help.it was leaking so bad.also the valve train sounded horrible.better for me to walk away and find what im really lookin for..22re.at least if it grenades on me i will be into fixin it.

[rockin86runner]

Actually, I am fairly certain the 3.0 headgasket recall has ended. Also, I seriously doubt any 3.0 with 200,000+ miles hasn't seen a HG replacement at some point in time.

i have a 90 pick up 3.0 5speed and i got 240k on mine and it still didint blow i just did it cuz it it was my only truck at the time so knocked it out in a weekend and now i just put another 200k on it its al how u maintain them

[46&2]

i have a 90 pick up 3.0 5speed and i got 240k on mine and it still didint blow i just did it cuz it it was my only truck at the time so knocked it out in a weekend and now i just put another 200k on it its al how u maintain them

Yeah, my 92 3.0 has 185k on it but the PO had done the HG recall before it even had 100K miles. Most 3.0s I see the PO's did the recall when it was still active.