so i have a friend who has a 2006 tc (only 37k miles) with the dealer installed supercharger. She was driving and said the car started knocking really bad so she took it to midas and they said she had no oil... They put oil in and it was still knocking. They said she probably needs a new engine. She asked me to take a look at it for her (I am very knowledgeable with cars, just don't own a scion.) Sure enouigh when i pulled out the dipstick I saw little metal flakes in the oil. Looks like a bad rod bearing(s). What doesn't make sense was she was within her oil change interval, and she said it has no leaks (i looked and the engine was clean, no oil anywhere) When it's running it's a LOUD knocking that gets worse with rpms, its pretty obvious that its the rod bearings, i just don't understand how she ran out of oil.... midas is probably retarded, could her oil pump have failed? is it common for a rod bearing to die with you guys that have the trd supercharger?

Okay so the second question I have is I am probably going to be installing a new engine for her, where is the best place to source a used 2az-fe engine, and what is a reasonable price? anything i should know about before pulling the old engine?

Thanks so much, i really appreciate the help.

 

I would look at the local wrecking yard, another reseller that offers a warranty. If she has a stick do a new clutch & re surface the flywheel....good time to do some other mods like front sway bar and motor mounts if she gets down like that...

 

No visible leaks doesn't mean no leaks it just means you didn't find any. It could be an internal leak in that it's burning oil. There is also the chance that whoever did the last oil change didn't actually put oil back into the car. I've seen that happen before.

 

Yeah that could very well be, still find it hard to believe it could burn all its oil in 1500 miles with only 37,000 miles total. It doesn't really matter either way i guess... Unfortunately the engine is toasted. anyways she said she found an engine with low miles thats 1500 shipped, (not bad considering we live in hawaii) I feel like that's a decent price but you guys are the experts here. I could probably put the new engine in for her in 15-20 hours, what would be a fair price to ask? i was thinking around 700. Is that too much to ask for a friend? Also is there some sort of warranty that should cover this from the dealer???

 

With that low of miles it dosent hurt to ask. At thus point asking is cheaper than buying!

 

I'm thinking more along the lines of someone didn't put oil back in. My brother ran a Geo Storm a good 2K miles before it was discovered that it didn't have oil. Given your location, it would surprise me that it would last 1500 miles with no oil.