Oh no my Yota Threw that rod

[JLoy]

2003 Tacoma 3.4 V6 4x4 125k miles. I use 5w30 Pennzoil yellow bottle change every 4k miles. I think it did its part. It was full of oil and never used any. I think it was a fluke for this to happen.

My least favorite rod

 

[SOHCman]

Looks like that rod gave you the shaft! Were you the owner since day one? If not perhaps this could be from some neglect/abuse early in the engines life? I had not heard of any problems like this either.

P.S. thats one clean head considering!

 

[robshelton]

"Well thar's your problem!" But seriously that sucks. I don't see any bluing on the rod's big end and the bearings look fairly intact so it probably wasn't due to an oil problem. As you probably already know.

My mother's 2000 Camry 4 cyl had a rod nut come loose just past the warranty period and Toyota didn't really help. They put in another (overpriced) short block but if it had been neglected and a sludge motor they would have done it for free!

Good luck!

 

[JLoy]

I got the truck with 50k miles on it. I put the last 75k miles on it. It had crossed my mind that the initial owner may have mistreated it. I bought it with the certified pre owned toyota warranty, thinking if there were problems they would arise before now. Oh well I may not ever know exactly why this happened. I will say I was happy to see how clean the engine was. I may even re use my heads on the donor motor which is out of a 96 4Runner. Supposively has 100k miles on it. When it broke down I looked underneath the truck to see if it was gushing oil....nope, then I pulled the dipstick.... it was on the full mark...then I towed it home, plugged in the code scanner thinking I was fixing to get somewhere, you know this thing never set off a CEL?? I dont get it really I dont. I even checked for codes about 3 times, nada.

Im fixing to get after this engine swap, hoping for a successful outcome. I was thinking I would check the compression in the donor since it came attached to a transmission with a starter. Anyone know how accurate/useful those cold engine compression readings would be?

 

[river_rat]

Probably a fluke. But since they started making them in the USA, they ain't as good as they used to be, IMO. USA Engineers are often heavy on the math and light on the mechanical comprehension.

 

[demarpaint]

The engine was certainly clean. I'd say just [censored] luck, or a bad part from day one finally let go. It happens. Now if it was an engine calling for a 20 grade oil, and you were using a 20 grade oil this thread would probably have gone down hill fast and got locked.

All kidding aside, it looks to me like you did your job taking care of it. Good luck with the repair!

 

[Pablo]

That sucks. I wonder if it was a metallurgical issue or process issue.....at 125K certainly not an assembly issue.

Kinda proves that the BITOG engine assessment method (BEAM) has it's weaknesses.

 

[JLoy]

I cannot see any reason to switch oils. I have been eyeballing the Quaker State synthetic though. I use QS green bottle in my accord with confidence and have no complaints, especially for the price. But I keep reverting to rule number 5 (If it aint broke dont fix it).

 

[JLoy]

Follow up question here. I have always noticed when pulling any dipstick wether or not it has discolored areas. Why do some dipsticks have discolored areas or stains (like a burned oil color)? Is it because the oil was not changed on time? I pulled the dipstick on my donor motor and it looks like brand new steel, as my first motor does. So Im hoping to find it nice and clean when I get the valve covers off, which will be soon! I cannot wait to get my truck back on the road, it is AWFUL not having my truck let me tell you.

 

[bullwinkle]

Originally Posted By: river_rat
Probably a fluke. But since they started making them in the USA, they ain't as good as they used to be, IMO. USA Engineers are often heavy on the math and light on the mechanical comprehension.
IMHO you could edit that & replace "engineers" with "ACCOUNTANTS"!! That con rod looks like a brittle piece of metal to have shattered like that-that's just bad luck for sure!

 

[eljefino]

Originally Posted By: JLoy
Follow up question here. I have always noticed when pulling any dipstick wether or not it has discolored areas. Why do some dipsticks have discolored areas or stains (like a burned oil color)? Is it because the oil was not changed on time? I pulled the dipstick on my donor motor and it looks like brand new steel, as my first motor does. So Im hoping to find it nice and clean when I get the valve covers off, which will be soon! I cannot wait to get my truck back on the road, it is AWFUL not having my truck let me tell you.


Am I the only guy who cleans his dipstick with steel wool before putting a car up for sale?

Good luck with your fix-up.

 

[bigmike]

That'll buff out.

I threw a rod once but that was my fault. It sheared off the crankshaft, broke the block, dumped oil all over my header, and caught fire. I carry fire extinguishers in every vehicle now.

Be thankful you're OK.

 

[JZiggy]

Wow, you don't see that too often! We've had a number of 3.4's and they've always been stout-hearted. Very surprising!

 

[Sayjac]

Interesting, have the same engine on an 01 PreRunner 2wd with ~110k. It's seen whatever name brand 5w30 dino has been on sale, but recently some QSUD/PP on sale too. Average ~5-6k OCI's. Runs great, uses a tad of oil.

Does sound like a defect and not oil related imo.

Sorry to hear it, tough luck.

 

[SUPERGASHOG]

Heat..transferred from bearing to the rod.
Could we see some up close photos of the bearing?
If there is anything left.

 

[Quest]

Looks like it's a manufacturing defect (on the con rod part).

@SUPERGASHOG: insufficient heat to break down an otherwise supposedly properly forged con rod (if excess heat, the surface of the rod should show "blue").

Q.

 

[OVERKILL]

Originally Posted By: Quest
Looks like it's a manufacturing defect (on the con rod part).

@SUPERGASHOG: insufficient heat to break down an otherwise supposedly properly forged con rod (if excess heat, the surface of the rod should show "blue").

Q.


I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that the rod in question is not a forging, given that it shattered, as opposed to bending.

Similar to how a forged cracked-powder rod breaks.

 

[river_rat]

Originally Posted By: bullwinkle
IMHO you could edit that & replace "engineers" with "ACCOUNTANTS"!!

Oh yes. That's true. Accountants are good at saving money until they save the company right out of business.

 

[Vikas]

What was the load and the rpm of the engine when this happened?

 

[Quest]

Yes, you are right about that (I must say that I don't know enough about forging to differentiate between the 2) but if it breaks on the con rod, then it's not something that would happen on a regular basis.

Q.