Stangmandan

Quick question! On the 3VZE motor. Facing the motor while its in the truck still, should the pistions read L on the bank which is on the same side of the battery? Cause mine do? And the other side has the R on it where the distributor goes. I thought that if you sit in the drivers seat the motor is left and right just like your sitting.
Right???
Wouldnt that mean that my pistons are arse back wards?? Or are the pistons enterchangeable?? I just read on the FSM for the Toyota that the pistons are labled that way cause the shape of the piston varies from one bank to the other.
Help me out guys and gals cause Im about to raise heck on the people who rebuilt my motor. I had the dumb head gaskets go so I am in the process of redoing the head gaskets and saw this.
Every picture of the 3VZE motor that I could find has the pistons the other way around than mine. Is this a major goof up or what???

hilux1026

Pistons should be installed left on drivers side and right on battery side. almost made the same mistake on mine as back in oz we read it from the front of the engine not the drivers seat. your right the pistons are in backwards

Stangmandan

Thanks hilux1026! I wonder what kind of damage can this do if any. So I will be waiting for our lawyer here at work to get back to me and tell me what I need to do to go down to the place that rebuilt my motor and get my money back. Not only did I find this mistake but they also left a shim from the caps that go on the springs floating around my head and it scared up the bearing caps for the cam and the head where the cam sits. All the caps had their shims already so how this one got in there is beyond me?? I just want my money back and I'll go somewhere else.

hilux1026

probably when they rebuilt it the shim went down into the area beside the valves. they obviously didnt see it and makes me wonder if the cleaned the heads when they rebuilt the motor. glad to help

Stangmandan

Im starting to wonder about the heads too. I noticed the heads had some pitting from the head gasket but they looked like they got resurfaced when I took them off to clean them. Heads were straight but the valve stems looked weird on top. I took them over to another place that rebuilds and he said that the heads looked resurfaced but the valves are all screwed up. All kinds of things wrong with this motor. Always my luck.
So anybody else want to chime in on this problem of mind? I need some really good info on this if Im gonna go get my money back. I got pistons that are reversed, a shim that was left in the head and who knows what else was put on wrong in this motor.
I miss driving my 4Runner.........

pisc2bn

Wow man, I'm sorry bro. That is BS.

Stangmandan

Thanks. The real BS is me not being able to off road my Runner.
I have the 3VZE curse!

Stangmandan

So I was outside in my garage looking at my motor and making sure about what Im seeing is true. In my Haynes manual it clearly has a picture of both pistons and how they are labled L and R. They also say that the dimple on top of the piston should be facing the front which on mine the dimple is facing the front.
The pattern on the piston where the valves come down is different though from the picture in the Haynes manual. Its reversed on mine. Maybe the dimple thru off who ever was putting my motor together. How he didnt see the L and R is beyond me?
I use to think I could hear a knocking when the motor was on if you were standing over it with the hood up. If I reved it, it would go away. I wonder if that noise was the valves hitting the pistons?
So anybody want to see a picture of what Im talking about? I just want to know if Im seeing this right and the motor is built wrong. Help me out folks!

pb4ugotobed

Your left bank is the drivers side, right bank passenger side.

If you took it somewhere else and they said the valves look all screwed up, they probably are. These heads are really straight forward and simple. There isn't a lot to it.

I wouldn't say you have the 3vz curse, you have the guy who doesn't know what the hell he's doing curse. You'll know the 3vz curse when you step on the gas pedal and the truck won't get out of its own way (which means it's running right)

Personally, I'd raise holy hell with the place that rebuilt it, and demand they either fix it right, or refund your money and you'll take it somewhere that will.

This just happens to be one case where the dealership would have been your best bet from the beginning. These are the guys that throughout the whole HG recall have rebuilt more of those engines than you will ever see...

Stangmandan

I guess I could have taken it to the dealer but it probably would have cost more. But! You pay for what you get!
So does anybody know if putting in the pistons this way will cause major damage? I know in the number 3 piston the walls of the block have two HUGE scrapes on the top. Dont know where that came from? Almost looks like that happened before they put the motor together.
Well today Im going to get all my paper work together and pictures of the motor so I can be ready on Monday to see what these guys say. My motor is still in the truck so I will only be taking my heads to show them the damage on them. I just want my money back so I can go somewhere else and get this motor done right!

Stangmandan

Just want to bump this thread. I really need a difinite answer on this problem of mine. I just need to know for sure that these people who put my motor together did it wrong. The FSM shows the pistons different from mine. Im pretty sure that they are facing the wrong way.
Even the grooves for the valves on the pistons are wrong. Big groove should be for the intake and little groove in the piston is for the exhaust and mine are arse backwards.

hilux1026

there the right way with the dimple at the front but the wrong bank. Thats the problem most people have, They see the dimple and dont look at the lettering. if you move the pistons to the other bank then it will be fine. This is also why you number the rods when you disassemble the block to make sure the pistons go back in the right place. That is of course that when they put the pistons back on the rids they look at the numbers. Usually down with center punch to the bearing caps

hilux1026

as far as the scrapes in the bore it could be a couple of things. Piston pin came loose and damaged it , more likely that a ring broke and caused this damage. I had the same which is why i bored mine out 20 thou over, and yes if they are deep enough you will loose compression. Document everything if you are getting the lawyer involved.

OutlawMike

Yes, your pistons are in backwards, essentially. the combustion chamber pocket should be towards the outside of the motor, not towards the centerline of the motor. Damn, that sucks.

In the pic below you an see the bottom end from my motor as it came out of the engine bay. This motor had never been out of the rig since the factory. Your pistons are flipped.

Good luck.

Stangmandan

Well its almost time for me to head in to the place that built my motor to see what they say about this. I just want my money back and I will find somewhere else to get my motor done.
I have disassembled motors before and took real care as to what I pulled out of where. I had a 85 Mustang that I built awhile back and I remember how anal I was on what gets pulled out and how I tag it. My friends even make fun of me cause I will bag each set of bolts and lable them as to where they go and take pictures. I'll admit that this time around with my 3VZE, I knew what I was dealing with when I took it apart to do the head gaskets this second time around. How this got done to my motor is crazy! I probably would have done the whole thing my self but the motor needed to be decked and the heads resurfaced and rebuilt and with the cost of those two these people said they might as well assemble it for me. Now I regret it...
So do you guys think I have enough info on this to make a complaint? I have taken pictures of my motor to show them. I will be also taking my heads in and the cams to show them the damage to the one head because of the shim left floating around in my head.
My boss here at work said that if they dont believe the pictures I took of my motor he is gonna get his car trailer in and we will take it down in person and show them because my motor is still in the truck.
We have a lawyer that works for the company I do and he wants to make sure that I have everything I need before I walk in there. Also, my girlfriend is a legal secretary for a law firm and they said if they give me trouble it would be wise to take them to a small claims court. I have lots of great people helping me out with this. I just hope something gets done cause I miss driving my 4Runner.
Keep your fingers crossed for me!

Stangmandan

bump:

OutlawMike

You have enough info to start the discussion, but I would not expect them to roll over and cough up the money. That type of thing just does not happen. Pictures of the motor are fine for now. Again, don't expect them to just accept it and give you what you want. You can get the conversation going and take it from there.

Some advice:

Keep it professional, even if they do not.
Write down what you want to say ahead of time, use that as reference.
Write down what they said afterward, so you have it documented.

Good luck.

Stangmandan

Thanks for the info OutlawMike!
Pretty much everyone is saying that. Keep my cool. Be ready with my questions, write down everything they say and dont give them any lip even if they are.
I think that when they see the way they put the pistons in, there wont be to much to debate. That is just plain stupid!
This 4Runner is my daily driver so its gonna be hard not to be pissed if they disagree with what I show and tell them. Who isnt pissed when their car or truck is broken down and you got problems like this. LOL
Thanks for the luck OutlawMike! I got my fingers crossed!

Stangmandan

I really need help with this one guys!! I was told by the people who rebuilt my motor that it didnt matter which way the pistons where installed. The owner of this place said that the markings on the pistons didnt mean anything. Then why are my pistons put in the total opposite of every other motor I see on line??
Can someone who has rebuilt or has been a Toyota mechanic please tell me if this is the case? Can these pistons be put in differently. Do the markings on the pistons matter?
I apperciate everyone who has already chimed in on this one. OutlawMike posted a pic of a motor that had never been touched since it came from the factory and it had the pistons in different from mine. His pistons have the same pattern on top as mine but my pistons are sitting in different banks. What gives?!
I dont know where else I can get this info from. There is not a lot of places here in Vegas that rebuild motors but I still need to keep checking.
Any ideas as to how I can prove that this is wrong or write?? I am running out of ideas. Please help me out.

Stangmandan

Anybody out there?
I Just want to know something. Is this the right way to build a 3.0 3VZE motor? I dont know so thats why Im asking.
Any Toyota mechanics out there?
This is my second time dealing with the 3VZE. ugh...and I did pretty good the first time for being my first Toyota. The block was rebuilt including the heads and friend of mine and myself threw it back in. I never saw the pistons cause the heads were all ready on. Gotta it running no problem.

Any picture i've seen of someone pulling their motor or just taking pics of it with the pistons showing look different from mine. Even the pictures on a Haynes manual show which piston goes where and even states which way the front of the motor is and its the oppisite on my motor. Now where talking about the same looking piston with the same top but reversed on my motor. Are my pistons ok or have they been installed wrong?

Thanks.