97 camry v6, blown engine.... is it worth fixing.

[blownrig]

So I believe the engine in my 97 Camry is toast. It's an XLE, 3.0 V6, Automatic with 170K miles. I was cruising down the highway at 70mph and out of nowhere it started shaking and vibrating. Turned it off immediately.

I have only pulled the front 3 plugs and all are covered in oil, and one (closest to the drivers side) was crushed in like it had been hit.

First... what the hell happened. What are my best guesses?
1.Timing belt broke and the valves hit a piston, bent in a crushed a spark plug - is this even an interference motor?

2. threw a rod and crushed the piston into the spark plug.

I guess I can stick a borescope down the plug hole that was crushed and see what remains. I guess I can also try to get off the timing cover all the way and see if it broke, but likely not. I pulled just the top front 3 bolts for the timing cover and saw the belt still wrapped tight around the top cam gear so I figured it may not be broken.

I am a mustang guy and have pulled and rebuilt motors before…just not a Toyota. But I am familiar with DOHC motors as I have a 32V cobra.

This car was in decent shape but is it even worth spending time on trying to fix? Worst case, cant I just get a motor out of a junkyard for like 1000 bucks and drop it in?

Anyway, I am just needing opinions…. On anything….what you think is wrong or if you think the car is even worth messing with or just cashing in at the local junkyard.


Thanks in advance,

Rob

[rstrohaz]

If you can replace the motor yourself that would probably be worth doing. For cost comparison I just had a v6 installed in a toyota truck it ran me $2600.

Usually on the v6 you get a blown head gasket and get a warped head.
thats been my luck.

later

[JustinC25]

The car is Definitely worth fixing. 170k is nothing. It's got ALOT of life left.
I replaced the engine in my '95 (4CYL) with 165k, just turned 249k yesterday.
(I bought it from a customer for 150 bucks with a rod through #4, his teenage daughter didn't know what an oil change was !)

If you do get a junk yard engine, make sure to pull the valve covers to look for sludge, as these engines are famous for it if you don't keep up on your oil changes. (5k miles or less between) The heads on these run REALLY HOT and they tend to cook oil.

Let us know how you go, it would be sad to send a car that young to the bone yard.

Thanks,
Justin

[BMR]

Originally Posted by blownrig

First... what the hell happened. What are my best guesses?
1.Timing belt broke and the valves hit a piston, bent in a crushed a spark plug - is this even an interference motor?

No, it's not an interference motor.

[JohnGD]

It's not an interference engine. So it probably threw a rod if the spark plug could even be hit.

[JohnGD]

The 97 is a sludge maker. Who know, it might have sludged up and threw a rod??