BlackMambaGS350

Hello Friends!

I have made a stupid mistake so please, I have already learned my lesson.

I was started up my 2013 GS350 awd in the morning and drove off. A few mins into my drive a "low oil" light came on, as I was getting ready to pull over, the car shut off. At first I didn't think I was actually low on oil since the light as came on before and I had enough oil in the car, so I tried to jump start it. Obviously that didn't work, I got it towed home and checked the oil which was empty. I filled her up and it started right away. As soon as it started, I had a rod knock right away.

I am wondering should I try to find and change the bad rod bearing myself, or should I just replace the engine instead?

FYI I am located in Washington state if any mechanics would like to do the work. Or if you know anyone that you can send me their way.

Please let me know your thoughts!

LeX2K

There is no recovering from oil starvation by replacing bearings, the crank will be damaged. You can try, and the repair may even last for a few thousand miles but eventually the knock will be back and more than likely the engine will fail catastrophically.

Don't want to be too negative but labour on such a job is very expensive and even if you find a shop willing to do the work are they going to do the job properly? If you know a mechanic you trust then maybe. This all assumes the replacement engine will be good.

Jakerin

You won’t know the extent of the damage is until it’s opened up. Rod bearing of course but where is the knocking coming from? Is the rod hammering the crankshaft? Does it have to be replaced which means all the rod bearings have to be replaced? Can this be accomplished w/o removing the heads? One has to wonder though, where has the oil gone? That has to be addressed before anything is done. There’s really only two places, the ground underneath it when it’s parked or out the tailpipe. One may only require some new gaskets. The other, an expensive ring and valve job. It’s a ten year old car, what’s the mileage on the motor?

LeX2K

As soon as there is rod knock the damage is already too great, only fix is machining the crank and new undersized bearings. There are no undersized bearings available from Toyota you're stuck with whatever aftermarket may be out there. OEM rings and pistons only come in standard size. 2GR is not designed in any way to be machined and rebuilt.

2GR is very sensitive to oil starvation.

BlackMambaGS350

Sounding like my best option would be to change the engine then.

gravesg

grab a used engine off of ebay you can grab em for about $1200-$1700, with a warranty, and you replace all the gaskets while the engine is out on a stand, and go 200k miles after the swap.

jgscott

iTrader: (1)

Makes no sense at all to try to even repair that engine. If the bottom end messed up surely the top part that had to get oil was starved too. Include the piston rings and sleeves, and the top end. Also think about where any metal particles would have gone also. Try car-parts.com. Call and see what deals you can get. I would be looking for a low miles 15 engine. Sorry to hear you had that problem.

Also your engine was likely that low on oil for some reason?

JDR76

Where in WA?

BlackMambaGS350

greater Seattle area. I’m willing to travel/transport as needed.

BlackMambaGS350

my daily work commute is 115 miles. I didn’t change the oil for about 12k miles either. Both of those is probably why it was low. Hence the lesson I learned.

BlackMambaGS350

mileage is 140k. I bought it with 60k and been putting on roughly 100 miles daily.

BlackMambaGS350

Any good engine swap guides/videos out there?

I have the basic idea and means, but specific instructions are nice.

LeX2K

Your car being AWD complicates things. Can watch a bunch of engine swaps on Youtube to get the general idea but there are so many steps the only way to learn is do. If you've never done any engine swaps before and especially if you don't have mechanical experience then you shouldn't do it yourself.

You need an engine lift with leveler, jack stands, a bunch of jacks and a full compliment of tools.

peasodos

iTrader: (1)

I've changed oil at 12k miles, and level before changing was within the lines on the dip stick. If your engine really lost that much oil even in 15k miles you had some major engine oil leak.

Before you start buying motors get your problem diagnosed by a professional.

gravesg

In the future, run Amsoil, or hplubricants oil. Had you been running either of those the motor would still be intact.