Scary Situation

There could not be enough "residual oil" to pressurize the oil system. 2-3 minutes without oil pressure and you have bearing damage, period.

 

I would look for a new or almost new 4Runner and trade that thing in. You will never stop wondering if and when the engine will seize up. Once I lose confidence in a vehicle it’s sold as quickly as possible.

 

When you get your oil changed, there is no oil in the pan or oil filter. Essentially, your engine is dry. On a cold start all of the top end has drained into the pan. The engine is essentially dry.

If the tech only drove it out of the bay and shut it off, you're fine. If it was idling when you got in, it's toast. Sounds more like a couple of cold starts. Even 10-minute lube places check the oil level and pressure before moving it out of the engine bay, damn that dealership.

 

Long time ago, at the shop class we once drained oil and run the engine as an exercise. Then we took it apart to see the damage. The engine lasted less than 5 minutes at idle before spinning a bearing and that was a simple I4. Interestingly, when we took that engine apart there were a lot of residual oil on everything, obviously not enough to build oil pressure but all surfaces were still covered in oil. About the only place with visible damage was crankshaft bearings and they were all damaged but end ones were toasted. No visible chunks missing, just worn down to copper. This is because crankshaft bearings require not just lubrication, but oil pressure to work.

 

That makes sense, no oil pressure to feed the bearings. I would definitely be talking to the dealer about a lifetime warranty.

 

Just have them put it in writing that should the engine fail in XXX miles they will get and install a new 4.0 engine at their cost. I would go all the way up to whomever owns the dealership and have them sign off.