Its been a while

[Michael Brown]

I have been keeping an eye on some remanufactured 3.8l engines. I know ATK sells 3.8l engines through Jegs for about $4k.
https://www.jegs.com/i/ATK-Engines/059/263/10002/-1

Otherwise, the Lexus is the best one of that group. The GX is known as the Toyota LC Prado in other markets. Solid frame, V8 power, and a great 4WD system. It is as close as a replacement to the Gen3 Monteros as I can find. They do come with some of the Toyota Tax in their pricing, but not as bad as 4Runners or full size LC. Your best bet would be to find one that was bought as the wife's SUV with low mileage. 2013 GX also have the older bumper with more clearance. 2014+ have the new Lexus style that has less clearance and even less aftermarket.

 

[hardwaregrrl]

I just had my engine rebuilt for 2975. I supplied most of the parts minus crank bearings and rings. It's on it's way back to me so I should have more of an opinion in the coming months.

 

[CharlieNorth]

So, back to the beginning, a butterfly valve dropped and was recovered. The screw heads are I presume unaccounted for.
Does the engine still run, what is the issue here?
Have you looked in the cylinder with a bore scope?
The screw heads could be jammed into a piston or blown out the exhaust. So what?

Why do you feel you need to spend thousands to rebuild the engine?

 

[Fefrank]

CharlieNorth, this is a quote from the first page of the thread.

RyanT, thank you for your response. There is definitely valve damaged at the very least. A piece of the butterfly valve went in with the screws - Also the butterfly valve itself is bent at most of the edges, and has sustained some heavy damage. I have not removed the head, to observe, but I bought a snake camera and inspected through the valves. Inside the cylinder bore and on top of the cylinder I saw chips and scratches. I did not find the screws but found pieces of metal throughout the cylinder bore. In other words the engine is done for.

Its been a while since I started this thread. In the end I purchased a 08 Jeep Commander w/ Quadradrive II System and 3rd row with 150,000 miles for $4500. Getting a new engine for Monty just didn't make sense to me right now. In my opinion the Commander was the closest thing to the Montero that I could find. It has a 5.7 hemi with 330 HP, its been giving me 14MPG right now (which is 2 more MPG than Monty) 3rd row seating, similar 4wd system capability and 3 sunroofs, not to mention the DVD player/ Sat Radio and remote start. For now Monty will sit until I have the time and money to drop on it. Thank you all for your responses.