Waylayer

Well my truck (93 ext cab 3vze) cant handle what I need from it and Ive put all the money and work into the motor that I can, or at least I think so. When I got first got it didnt have much power and ran it. I changed out most the simple parts pertaining to the engine. I still wasnt convinced the motor was running good so I had a yota guy dive into it. Guess there was a bent valve and one burned right out. The truck had been ran like this for years. So valves got replaced along with head gasket, timing belt, injectors, clutch and some other misc parts. Put a k&n filter and custom made a exhaust. I noticed some power gain but it still runs and idles rough. Gets about 15mpg. Some times in 4 hi it really struggles and in 2wd it dies easy. 1st gear lots of torque and power, 2nd not to bad, but going into third sometimes 2nd it goes from first revving high then to grab gear its like blaaa. Im thinking more work needed to be done to top end instead of just replacing valves and prob should have had the whole motor redone. The truck now has 225K miles and I need a truck that has some sack. Here are some questions. I need a plow rig and dont even want to try to use it like it is now. I live on the side of a mtn and the drive way is steep and pretty bad in winter, hauling a trailer up it is a nightmare in winter, surprised havent blown motor yet. Plowing would prob kill it. I also commute with it, about 70 miles a day, but will be driving it less so mpg isnt too much of an issue. Would it be worth it to have motor worked on again or are there any "cheap" motor swaps that wouldnt reak havok on the rest of it too bad but give enough power to plow and such? Would it be worth it to put a bigger motor in it, then as parts crapped out replace them? If another motor and trans were to go in what are some good common options? Alright ol lady is nagging at me....gotta run...Any help or opinions appreciated.

wii_tarded

The options for motor swaps is ridiculous. I did a 3.4 swap....couldn't be happier. Some put in a Lexus V8, (not sure of the engine code) but from what I've seen that's pretty messy. Mine was straight forward, used same trans. same bell housing, and as far as cost, it was close to what a pull and rebuilt of my 3.0 would have been.

Just reading though, have you had the trans inspected? A little more background too... are you the original owner? How long have you owned this truck? When did you first notice the problems?

donomite49

you can look in the engine swap section for info about this. i am starting a 22re to 3.4 v6swap myself. the 3.4 has about 50 more hp than a 3.0 190 to 140hp. you can do a lot of mods to the newer engine supercharger etc. look in the forums and you will find tons of info.

Waylayer

Ill have to do some more searching to find some more intel on a motor swap......2nd owner.....I bought it in 2007. Motor work was done last year. Transmisson never checked out.