My buddy in the Virgin Islands has a 1992 4x4 P/U with a 30R V6. It just had the heads replaced free by Toyota due to a recall for head gasket failures common to Toyotas around that year. It ran great for 4 months and now is burning a lot of oil (a quart every 50 miles) and has no power. The dealership who did the heads says he has one bad cylinder...maybe a cracked piston, broken ring etc.They want over $2000.00 to repair it.

My questions are...
1.) Can the oil pan be dropped on this truck without pulling the engine?
2.) If money is critical (it is) would it be feasible to change only the problem piston and rings?
3.) Has anyone had a similar problem?

Thank you in advance for any advice you can give,
Dan