JamesD

My opinion the 3.0 has a terrible air/fuel management system. The engine can run more efficiently with an aftermarket system than with the stock one. VAFM suck for air metering. Too much restriction. If I had all the parts I would take the 3.4 harness, sensors and ECM and adapt them to the 3.0.

James

Mcdoggy2000

Thanks tc,

I keep seeing from other post here about japanese manuf. parts is better, but just wanted to hear your opinion.

I changed cap and rotor - autozone brand- did not notice power gain, but seems to be AT is shifting better. I will change O2 sensor and wire soon.

stupid_mud_gremlins

Anyone ever try a tornado? I didn't really believe it did much, but after this weekend's test run without it... it kicks the old "Butt Dyno" up a notch. The whole principle of this thing is to spin the air coming into the intake.... much like emptying a pop bottle full of water, give it a spin and see how much faster and easier it comes out. Throw some fins into your intake tube and put a spin on the air. These things claim to increase horsepower and mileage up to 25 or 30%^, but even 3-5% is alright in my books. I figure I probably get close to 400KM on a tank with this thing in. Worth the price? Little over 100 bones, you guys decide.

JohnnyRanger54

From my exp in porting water cooled VW heads, the more "swirl" or vortex you create the better the head flows.. The Xflow motor (aba) is a testiment to that,

4Mogger

Especially small, inexpensive parts, I always use Toyota Genuine Parts. In fact, the only time I don't is if there is a stronger, superior part available in the aftermarket. A chinese pilot bearing cost me about 1000$ in transmission/clutch issues. Difference in price with a Toyota OEM bearing? 3$.

I also have a wholesale account at a Toyota dealer. That makes things easier and cheaper. Anyone can get the same deal, just takes a little effort.

Back to the cap and rotor and all electrical connections: I always use dielectric grease to help waterproof connections...and don't forget anti-seize on the plugs.

I like my 3.0. I have owned my 4Runner since new and take extremely good care of it. Amsoil synthetics. I installed a remote bypass/full flow dual oil filter kit that also adds about 2 quarts of oil capacity. I change my oil and filters every year to 18 months and even then the oil is not dark. That bypass filter is awesome at keeping the oil nice and clean.

I have the Black Magic electric fan. It eats a lot of amps and power/gas mileage gains are negligible. It also cannot keep the engine cool during extreme use. Towing up hill and climbing long grades at 4500 rpm can push the coolant temp into unfriendly territory and a few minutes of slow down are required before I can push again. This is a mod I would not do again.

Downey air intake. So so mod. I like the sound and it frees up the intake noticeably. Slight improvement in mpg. I would have preferred to do a less complicated, less expensive intake mod.

10 pound over stock Certerforce flywheel. Worth every penny. Improves crawlability, makes it almost impossible to kill in 4 low...even riding the brake. Just idle along and bump over logs/rocks. Also makes modulating the throttle much smoother--no more herky-jerky accelerating and decelerating when geared waaaaay down.

Wrangler Power Products 190 amp alt. Again, addresses a problem with every Toyota I have ever known...weak alternator. This has led to early battery failure especially with all of the electrical do-dads that I have added.

NWOR headers. PUUUULEEEEESE! $1000 for headers and a "Y" pipe! Plus a 6 month wait! Yes they are nice. But considering I could not use the "Y" pipe with my 4 link front, and that I had to cut up the headers to fit around the suspension links...I can't say if it was worth it or not. I had then ceramic coated and ran the rest of the exhaust in pure stainless, even the hangars. No cat. Seat of the pants is impressive, but turning 40's and over 1000 pounds of axle makes it hard to compare to stock. ("Y" pipe is available if anyone wants to make an offer)

The 3.0 likes to rev. If you are going with some big tires, over-gear the axles/final drive. You want to run at least 3000 rpm at 60-70 miles per hour to even begin to expect to use 5th gear. For me, this meant 7.56 gearing fit the bill perfectly for 40's. I cannot stress this enough. With this little motor, gearing is your best friend.

Again...I absolutely love my little 3.0. I treat it very well and it has yet to fail me. I had the HGs replaced under recall and used the opportunity to replace every single pulley and tensioner/water pump, etc. that I could think of...Apart from that, it has been flawless. 177K and still kicking. Runs at least as good as new.

phildelfino

I have the 3 L with an auto tranny, but with 224K miles, I don't know if I want to spend money on mods. It would be very beneficial to me to see how much these various do cost. Please include some $$$ amounts for the rest of us. Believe it or not, if the cost isn't prohibitive, I just might do some of them. For now my motor remains stock. Seafoamed the intake and gas tank with no noticable change. Need to change the O2 sensor(s). Never thought about plug wires and such in these terms and maybe I'll change them all with my O2 swap.

I am all over every 3 L thread I see here. I am surprised that noone has developed a comprehensive kit for 3 L owners since there are so many of us. We would all pay money to get good parts that help. I now I would.
Thanks for this thread and I am waiting to see coreyc619 results with his rebuild.
Maybe I need the 5 speed.
Thanks, Phil.

CoedNaked

I think a kit for the 3.0 should include

1) 2 1/4" Mandrel bent S/S exhaust with appropriate high flow muffler (Borla or Magnaflow). LCE makes a catback exhaust that fits these spec's.

2) Ceramic coated S/S headers like the LCE 3vze headers.

3) Cams, like Weasy2k's cam set up

4) Some type of intake - either a tube that has a very gradual bent to replace the Intake Silencer or a full FIPK but I'd prefer something that uses the stock air filter personally.

5) High flow cat

6) New O2 sensor because it's tough to get the old O2 sensor out of old rusted pipe it's probably now welded in for most, plus a new O2 sensor won't hurt power.

The above kit would probably be in the $1500+ range but would probably give you a very satisfying, aka kill your dreams of a 5vz-fe swap, power increase because all of these modifications will compliment each other as far as increasing breathability. Hell maybe even include a bigger bore throttle body somewhere in there.

89pickupsr5

I like this thread I just wish I had some money for mods and dynos i could hook you guys up with

has anyone ever found a modded 3.0 dyno run

Racer944

So let's go ahead with a recap of the helpful ideas thus far:

1. Buy factory O2 sensors, keep it well maintained.
2. coreyc619 will be doing some big time work, stay tuned... But definitely change the exhaust and maybe a throttle body.
3. SEAIRESCUE hates the 3.0 and can't grasp the idea of this thread, but believes valves are small, maybe need to upsize.
4. 4Mogger buys amsoil synthetics, has a remote bypass/full flow filter that keeps things very clean, doesn't like the electric fan, did a FIPK style intake, a 10 pound heavier flywheel that he loves, did a better alternator, did headers (which he liked but had problems with), and is a huge fan of better gearing, also when the engine was apart he redid all the tensioners and pulleys.
5. Someone should put together a kit for all the parts that people have thought were necessary.

Now then, it looks like at this time my build is going to include headers (nwor or Downey, can't tell a difference at this point), hi-flow cat, the remote bypass/full flow filter 4Mogger has, a 10 pound heavier flywheel, bigger alternator, and probably 4.88 gears (please comment on this as I've never even looked into this before).

4Mogger, if you could post up the brand of remote bypass filter you used, that would be very helpful!

Anyone else got ideas?

Also, I should be able to take this thing on a dyno (going in for the race car at the end of the year), for some hard numbers! It's amazing to actually hear that proof may finally be available.

js9924

for the flywheel are you talking about manuals only? cause the autos are on the torque converter and that brings up the flexplate issue.

SEAIRESCUE

Racer944.....best of luck with your endeavor. What ever you do to your 3.0 I am sure it will make you happy. The people in Japan love them because the motor is small as is most all motors in Japan. The Japanese can optimize engines and pull incredible power and reliability if they so desire. I do not know why that did not happen with the 3VZ. If the Supra engine had been put in the trucks and runners, we would not be having this thread and millions like them.

I have worked on a 3.0 just like a student would do so for their senior design project. Every part was studied. Then the application was evaluated. In the end, I did not find much to brag about. Like you, I was optimistic that some good could be found if I just looked hard enough.

Yes, I despise that engine and will never have another. The record number of head gasket and crankshaft failures attest to the poor design and poor choice for the applications. But ,its your money so have fun and blaze that trail right behind mine.

MonsterMaxx

The 3.slow is what it is, an 80s smog motor that when left stock is moderatly reliable (as long as you don't get bitten by the headgasket or oiling failures.)

I did the FPIC, lost power and MPG. It does 'sound' fast, but on any measurement we were able to take it was a zero gain or loss.
Did the Borla exhaust. It 'sounds' tough as hell. Again, lost MPG and no applicable increase in power.
Did the Jacobs street fighter pro system (brain & coil.) Lots of problems with it causing jerking of the truck. Have gone off and on with the kit (easy to bypass) for more than a decade and then it quit. Jacobs is gone, Mr Gasket runs the place and they said they'd inspect it if I can get it out and send it to them. Never noticed any performance gain.
Did the major rebuild (head gasket failure pitted cyl walls.) Did porting, polishing, gasket matching, cams, balanced and blueprinted. Balanced injectors. Added headers, Gibson 2.5" exhaust (Borla is 2.25") and a host of other 'goodies'.
This netted ZERO increase in peak power ON a dyno comparing it to a pure stock truck w/ 120kmi on it. It did increase the power band substancially. That is, a stock motor begins coming alive at 3krpm and is gasping at 4.5krpm. My motor comes alive at 3krmp and pulls hard all the way to the rev limiter giving me about 3000 rpm of usable powerband where the stocker was only good for about 1500rpm of usable powerband.
Cost for this rebuild ended up being over $6k, took three rebuilds to get it right and almost a year of downtime. (got screwed by Tim Jenkins of DOA.)
Engine lasted about 2 yrs (I work from my home and ride a bike so the truck doesn't get driven much - maybe 20kmi total on this engine.) I was towing a 6x12 uhaul w/ my bike in it and I think on my last stop got some marginal gas, truck was tuned to run on the ragged edge of power. = Burned a hole in the piston.
Rebuild # (I've lost track at this point how many times I've rebuilt this POS) included oversize valves and ceramic coating for everything that sees fire. Other than assy of the shortblock and machining this was totally DIY and cost another $2k.
Runs good for a 3.slow, but a stock 3.4 would run circles around it and get better MPG.


I'm sure I've forgotten some stuff I've added to the 3.slow, but I'll say that nothing external I did to this motor had any positive effect (not including 'sounding cool'.)
Internally I'd say the oversize valves and cams made the most difference. I believe this is where I got my powerband increase.

Bottom line: polishing the turd is not an effective use of time or money because the engine cannot breath (it's an 80s smog motor.)
Lots of products on the market that do little or no good. If you don't get internal on the engine what you bolt on the outside does nothing (in some cases may actually hurt perofrmance.)

Many people are happy with the performance of the stock 3VZE. If you are one of these people leave it stock do your maintenance and drive it. If you are not one of these people, don't waste any money hopping up an 80s smog motor that has known reliability issues and does not respond to performance mods, save up and do the swap.

taikowaza

I like the 3.0 a lot. It's the first motor I've really learned on and it's a great educational tool. I have had a lot of fun reading about possible mods and slowly saving and installing/having them installed. I used to wish that I had bought a 3.4 from the get-go, but now I feel really good about my 2nd gen. I love the body design and the solidity of the metal, it's a solid truck and a keeper.
The best mods as everybody is saying, are headers and exhaust. I went with a Jardine pre-made exhaust but would not recommend this, I would go with a custom bend using magnaflow cat and muffler. For headers I am very happy with Thorley ceramic. The best upgrade happened when I drove to to see Weasy2k in Vancouver, BC Canada. He installed his cams, did the timing belt and increased ignition timing. This happened about a week after I regeared to 4.88. All those things made it into a really fast truck on 32x11.5s. I lost a little power going to 33x10.5 but really like the way 33s look. OME suspension is fantastic on 2nd gens (also steering stabilizer). Downey rear coils and sdori coil spacers+bj spacers also fit great. for battery odyssey is the best, get a higher power alternator from boyle's future tech. K&N is a waste, but do the isr mod. Bored throttle body from LC engineering looks great and I'm glad it's on there, but minimal power increase so far-it may need to work in tandem with o/s valves and porting, but I will wait if/when the hg goes before doing this. That said, with cams and headers+exhaust, the heat is so much less on the cylinders that I fully expect (touch wood!) to go a long, long time before any hg issues. Overall I am very, very happy with the results after these mods! I love my truck, I am very grateful for all the advice I get from yotatech, the truck runs absolutely fantastic. Oh yeah, forgot to mention the marlincrawler clutch, it's totally awesome.

nix4x4

I really like my 3VZE. I know its the epitome of inefficiency, with
low power and bad fuel economy, but there's something about the way
they pull that's kind of fun. It's like driving a tractor or something.

I drive a 2UZ-FE powered Tundra daily, so I know what its like driving
something with power (and a respectful 16mpg city). But, I understand
that the 3.0 is different animal entirely. It is no powerhouse, and cops
an attitude with mods, but a few things can be done.
Increase airflow, decrease heat, play with your timing.

That's a good place to start, anyway.

Targetnut

A lot of those blocks have been decked due to corrosion at the inboard rear corner near cyl #6, so check your deck height. If it has your cam timing may already be off

quackenheimer

This is a great thread by the way. I've had my 3.0 for about 9 months now and I guess I don't have enough history to give a reliability report. I can tell you that so far after performing all necessary maint when i got it, it's been toyota reliable. I've owned 6 different toy 4x4's so far. All with the 22re until my 89. I've battled in my mind over and over again about the pro's and cons of the 3.0 in comparison to the 22re. I knew about the reputation of the 3.0 before i bought it but have wanted this truck for a while. I can tell you this. When I bought the truck it got about 13 mpg!! I was use to the 17 to 21 of the 22re. After performing all the normal maint. Changing the tires from the 32's to the 31's, Plugs/Wire/Did advance the timing a few degrees over speck and played with the tps I'm happy to say that i'm getting between 17 and 19. I'm running 31's with no mods. As far as power goes having owned several 22re's I hate to dissapoint all you 3.0 bashers but my 3.0 has more power than any 22re I've ever owned. I do use my truck as a truck and not strictly a toy. I first noticed it when going up a grade that i've gone up a hundred times in my old 22re and I didn't have to downshift. That was kind of nice. Also the 22re did show signs of strain when hauling a decent amount of weight. I hauled an auto tranny from an 88 4runner with transfer case with my 3.0 and hardley knew it was back there. The acceleration in my opinion is just fine. I've always paid close attention to detail in any vehicle I've owned. All joints lubed, Correct tire presure, Light on the pedal, drive around the speed limit. I only use good gas. So bottom line is...I'm more than happy with the performance and economy of my 3.0. When it dies I'll put another 3.slow in it and drive happily down the road.

tc

What a quackenheimer!

passion2serv

K&N makes a kit for the 4Runner but it's expensive! http://www.racepages.com/products/?N...e&N=4294966984
Way cheaper to mod you own ISR! And then you can just do the deck plate mod and drop in a factory style K&N filter for those of you who like K&N.

I just finished mine up. Right now I live in Mexico and it was not easy finding what I needed. On my fist attempt I bought some heavy duty Rubber tubing with a 2-3/4" ID and w/a wall thickness of 1/4". Perfect fit to the throttle body and maf. Then I went to scope out some 3" exhaust pipe to have bent but no one seemed to have the right equipment to bend 3". So I bought a 6 foot piece of 2-1/2", tried to have it bent and the guy couldn't get it right till he used all my pipe (I was planning to have several made). Then we tried to flare the ends out to 2-3/4" but it kept spliting open. Not sure if US exhaust pipe does the same or is higher quality.

Finally after wasting $30 I went to the local hardware and bought 3 feet of 3" PVC and 3 45* elbows. I cleaned up the inside of them (for less restricted air flow) and formed it to fit. Only cost me about $8-$10 US. I'm rather pleased with how it turned out. However, I'm not sure if the PVC cement will hold up to the heat and movement. Anyone know??? All I have to do now is re-route the two rubber hoses. Once I get back to the US I'll dorp in a K&N filter and do the deck mod.

aviator

I have a K&N cone filter and ported MAF [basically just filed down all those pesky mold ridges and lips inside the thing], and a custom 2.5" exhaust with free flow cat and muffler, and I'm getting fairly good performance and MPG out of it. Trying to find a source for headers other then downey/nwor [just too expensive for my taste] does anybody know if those thorleys are finally available? if so any impressions? I have the conduit for my ISR just have'nt got off my arse to do it yet lol...

wardriver

I picked up a Fram Airhog for about $10 and I love it. (similar to K&N - just much less)

I'm also looking to do the "big three" upgrade and I'm hoping to see some gains from that. Battery to fuse box, Alt to fuse box, body/engine to battery ground.

Also - the right foot mod has saved me a lot of gas. Especially since I moved from a sports car to a 2nd gen 4runner with the 3.0.