Need Quick Advice On Whether To Buy This Engine

[kevinvic]

Toyota are not playing ball with my 2004 rav4 with the seized engine and have quoted me 4000 euro for a replacement engine. As I am in Cyprus it is extremely difficult to source a second hand engine but I have just spotted this on auction. Should I risk it????

My engine needs pistons, crankshaft, conrod, valves etc, full rebuild really so if this engine on auction was still running what is the worst it could be and roughly what wou;d it take to fix it?

ENGINE NEEDS REPAIRS.

1AZ-FE 2.0 VVTI engine from a RAV4...

What you see in the photos is what you get... nothing more, nothing less.

Engine was running spot on and never used and water or oil ,it has covered 63K with FSH. Driving home its started making a knocking noise slightly. I stopped the car immediately and had car recovered home.

I have been informed it is a very common problem for the crank bearings to go on these engines. This engine will need stripping and crank bearings replaced. I dont know how good or bad things are as i was offered a replacement engine at a price that was cheaper than me rebuilding my own engine.

Collection only, I can put it on a pallet for YOU to arrange your own courier to collect from Headcorn , Kent.

Many thanks.

On 10-Apr-10 at 10:35:20 BST, seller added the following information:

Engine is NOT seized..it was still running when ii was removed, but does make a knocking noise on acceleration

AUCTION ENDS IN 7 HOURS SO CAN ANYBODY ADVISE ME BEFORE THEN

THANKS A LOT

KEV

[crofter]

Although not as learned as other members on this forum. My first thought is you are looking at a engine that has been replaced due to worn big end bearings.

Can you be sure other bearings are not affected? as I believe the big end bearings are the first to suffer.

Since joining TOC I have read nearly all the posts and big end failure is not common and other things can cause knocking.

Hope other can offer more positive replies for you

Good Luck

[anchorman]

I personally would steer clear of that. It is the risk of what else is lurking - oil pump, crank etc etc. If it was repairable why didn't he do it?

Try findapart.com and see about getting it shipped but also they do pop up in working order on eBay.

[kevinvic]

I emailed the seller to find out exactly what was wrong and what he had been quoted to get it fixed, his reponse was,

HIya,

I was quoted £600 to remove the crankshaft, regind it and resize it to accept the next size up bearings and replace the gaskets. I managed to find a complete running engine for £550 from a salvage yard which ment i could do a straight swap without the car being off the road for weeks on end while parts are machined and fitted.

There are complete engines on here that vary form £1100-£1500 fitted for reconned engines.

Hope that helps.

I have looked into the recon engines but they want £250 to send the engine and then another £250 for me to send my bust engine to them. I really need to source a second hand engine. The toyota garage have told me that I can sell my car without an engine as I will be returning to the Uk in September but as the car is fully paid for I would like to get a decent sale price for it and without an engine in my opinion it is worthless!!!

My engine needs a new crankshaft, conrod, 4 pistons, valves but i wont be paying 4000 euros to get it back on the road when i will be selling it. I have 2 garages over here looking for a 2nd hand engine but no joy.

Is the engine up for auction too big of a risk? I value your opinions and if you say it is then i wont go for it.

[anchorman]

You can take a punt on it but there is a risk that it will need more than a crank and more than £600. With buying it you are already at £800 (if thats all it goes for) and it just seems quite close to an engine with a guarantee. If you are coming back, can't you collect one just the same (bring yours at the same time)?

You might be dead lucky and it doesn't need much but you would be better to find one for £550 like he did.

[redlew]

Well put it this way, if you buy it , you have shipping , repair & fitting on top of whatever you pay. And you have no come back whatsover.I wouldn't touch it. Take your time -the world is full of reconditioned engines.

[bothwell_buyer]

I suppose I can add my experience - I have bought several Toyota engines secondhand. Most have been ok although 1 had been stripped of its sensors etc.

I have used various parts websites that sell engines from wrecked cars, and even bought wrecked cars just for the engine. The T engine is generally pretty good - I'd try some of the internet salvage companies, and ask for a pallet cost to send to Cyprus.

I certainly would not buy an engine that already has a known problem - stripping engines down and rebuild is a very expensive option compared to buying secondhand.

[Mach 1]

You can take a punt on it but there is a risk that it will need more than a crank and more than £600. With buying it you are already at £800 (if thats all it goes for) and it just seems quite close to an engine with a guarantee. If you are coming back, can't you collect one just the same (bring yours at the same time)?

You might be dead lucky and it doesn't need much but you would be better to find one for £550 like he did.

Wise words from Anchorman and Redlew, I would never buy an engine that had a knock on it, it's an unknown quantity.

Rebuilding engines is an expensive game, and unless it was a very special engine (something like Imprezza, Evo, Cosworth that sort of thing)I wouldn't bother.I'm also suprised your engine need so many parts, what happpened to it?

The only problem with 2nd hand engines is knowing if the engine is alright, it is much better to hear the engine running before buying it, but not always practical.

Just out of interest does the RAV4 engine fit any other car (maybe Avensis,Celica) or is it just model specific.

[markiebhoy]

Under no circumstances must you purchase any sort of engine from a company trading as MPL or Motion Power Limited, absolute cowboys and if anyone from that company is lurking here, bite me!! You have been warned

[kevinvic]

Thanks everyone, I took your advice and did not buy the engine. It went for £311. I have put in a request to findapart.com for an engine so will wait for quotes to come through. If i want to bring the car back to the uk I will have to pay shipping costs so it is much easier to sell here considering used cars here are twice as much as in the uk so i will get more money for it here. If anyone hears of a decent second hand engine can you let me know. Shipping it is not a problem as my brother in law is in the logistics industry. I have had one quote from a company in Manchester who want £1600, not sure if this is the going rate but if i knew someone in the uk who could search the scrap yards i would be able to get one cheaper.

thanks

Kev

[kevinvic]

PS, Mach1, even Toyota still insist that they don't know what happened. Car was running fine and the next minute it lost all power. All they will tell me is that one of the oil wells was dry to the conrod so there had been a blockage!!! car had FSH by Toyota and I checked the oil regularly. I am not a happy bunny buy Toyota, although agreeing the engine failed prematurely, will not offer one penny towards the cost of fixing it so I have to cut my losses, control my temper and get it sorted!!!

[Mach 1]

PS, Mach1, even Toyota still insist that they don't know what happened. Car was running fine and the next minute it lost all power. All they will tell me is that one of the oil wells was dry to the conrod so there had been a blockage!!! car had FSH by Toyota and I checked the oil regularly. I am not a happy bunny buy Toyota, although agreeing the engine failed prematurely, will not offer one penny towards the cost of fixing it so I have to cut my losses, control my temper and get it sorted!!!

No wonder you're not a happy bunny. In my experience oil starvation normally is caused by oil pump failure or incorrect oil/oil change interval, the oil light should have come on if oil pressure was lost due to the pump failing so I wouldn't leave things at that. What's the point in FSH if it doesn't safeguard the engine ( amongst other things)from a catastrophic failure, doesn't make sense

[reece]

Driving home its started making a knocking noise slightly.

AUCTION ENDS IN 7 HOURS SO CAN ANYBODY ADVISE ME BEFORE THEN

Walk away

[kevinvic]

No warning lights, they removed the engine and told me basically that the engine was too badly damaged to work out what caused it. I am wasting my time with them. Believe me, if you think it is hard work getting anywhere in the Uk, try here, they are prehistoric and customer service is zilch, you are just met with a shrug of the shoulders. Toyota still have the car and I have to pay them 350 euro for removing the engine. I don't have a problem with paying for the hours spent but I would have liked a diagnosis for my money. Does anyone know what internet sites i can use to source a replacement engine?

[anchorman]

Its not pleasing when your engine suffers such a major failure but Toyota aren't obliged to repair the engine. The extended warranty was for excessive oil consumption and not for a failed engine through excessive oil consumption. I know this sounds harsh but if the failure was through lack of oil they will conclude that it should have been checked in accordance with recommendations and that means to expect oil consumption of up to 1 litre per 1000 miles and keep an eye on it accordingly.

The trouble is when such a catastrophic failure occurs, it is hard to determin just what happened because you are faced with a mass of melted parts. Under those conditions it is virtually impossible to know what happened and in what order - it is just a mess. If you are on the motorway doing 3000rpm (50 revs per second) and something goes wrong, a failure takes seconds to manifest itself. It invariably gets very hot and begins to melt in places and it can consume a sump full of oil in less than a minute. If you have a window open or the radio on you may well not hear anything amiss and the first indication would probably be the oil light at virtually the same moment the engine melts itself to a standstill.

Did the oil run low? Did the oil pump fail? Did it nip a bearing and cover an oil hole? The problem is Kev that without some real forensic examination it is impossible to tell. Its a sickening feeling especailly when you are faced with a big bill but unfortunately it happens. I have to say that statistically it happens less with Toyotas than it does with other brands which probably isn't much comfort.

Keep your chin up mate and sit tight, you will find an engine soon and get sorted. When you do, resist the temptation to get rid of it as a way of getting your own back because you will have just provided a very nice car for somebody else. Keep in mind that if you do buy a new engine off Toyota it will be the latest spec but if you get a replacement second hand one it may use oil and you will have to watch it.

I look after two Corollas for friends and the both have VVTi engines and they both drink oil. The upside is that although we have to watch them, they are otherwise virtually bomb proof and keep plodding on. The latest one is to replace a Renault which was a disaster in every respect. I am talking about 2 ten year old cars that are trouble free.

[Mach 1]

How many miles had the car on the odometer?