I've been waiting for this truck to come up on the block for about four months.  It belonged to the Sheriffs Dept.  It has A/C, lockout hubs, 5 speed, buckets, good off road rubber, bedliner, cap, and a nice stereo.  

I open the the hood and the spark plugs are missing and plug wires are undone.  Oil looks good.  Other than that, it had 93K on the odometer.  They said it wasn't running, and that it overheated on the road one day and they decided to dispose of it.  I put new plugs in it, added some gas, cranked it up and drove it home.  No water in the oil, but I definitely have a blown head gasket and maybe a warped head, as it was spewing water from the front of the head and I had steam in my exhaust.  

I just got a head gasket for $22.  If I have to put a new head on, it'll be about $500.  But that's OK, because I got it for $2150.  If it would've been in running condition I was willing to go to $3500.  These things are $4000-8500 on Auto Trader nationwide, and pretty much all of them were way higher mileage than this one.

Anyway, this is my project bush truck and I doubt I could've found one in this overall condition for anywhere near what I got it for.  


Jim

Congratulations! How cool is that. Great price, I hope it serves you long, & well. Good shot old bean!

What, were they out of $99 Jeeps, like the ads in the back of G&A always advertise?

Could turn out to be a really good deal on your Toyota 4x4. If the truck was reasonably well cared for up to the blown head gasket, it should give many more years of dependable service. Of course if it was well cared for, it might not have blown the head gasket, so it's a bit of a dilemma. Either way, it sounds like you'll be money ahead.

cool, thats a good deal if it runs good,

one thing to look out for is as I remember those heads will warp way out of whack so definitely take it to a machine shop to get it checked out.  But its alluminum so even if its cracked they can weld it.

I just pressure tested the coolant system.  This thing has a GM aluminum radiator in it and it has a plastic cap that comprises the upper portion of the radiator.  Not the radiator cap, but the entire top of the radiator.  It has a crack running across it which was probably the bang I heard when I was bringing it home.

I suspect the thermostat probably contributed to an overpressure situation which caused the original overheating and I made it worse when I drove it home.  It definitely isn't holding any pressure, now.

I may be homefree with a repaired radiator and new thermostat (about $80).  Everything else looks good from what I can determine.


Jim