MotoXJunky

So, I have been a fan of 4runner's since my dad bought his when I was about 10. Now 13 years later and years of forum searching, reading and researching I have finally took my shirt and shoes off and jumped into the Toy pool (figuratively of course lol).

At first I wanted to do a 7mgte swap. Wanted a lot of power and when it comes to cars I am a straight six lover (sorry guys but when it comes to cars BMW is where my heart is). I knew the supra's were all straight six so this was an easy decision to make, right? Wrong. After a lot of reading, thanks to supracharged.com, pirate4x4, and of course yotatech as well as others, I decided that the 7mgte wouldnt be feasible. Turbo's are just to expensive to maintain, especially if you blow it out. So I then said forget the turbo lets just go with a 7mge. Again after a lot of researching I concluded that this also wasnt very feasible given I dont know how to weld and the whole engine mount issues i have read about, its just not worth the hassle. ESPECIALLY since this is the first time i will be doing anything this technical (with exception of fluid replacement and radiator/intake removal/replacment).

So with the 7mgte/7mge out of the picture there was only 2 options left. Rebuild the 3vze with aftermarket exhaust, cams, camshaft any anything else that would bump up HP, or the 5vzfe (with TRD supercharger of course ) Considering this is the 3.4L swap section, you guys already figured out what my conclusion is right?

With the engine decision made, the next step was to find the donor truck. Let me just say CRAIGSLIST IS THE !! Only took me 2 weeks and i found a 1990 4runner 3vze 4x4 for $400, but it did come with problems. Engine had a knock (didnt bother me its getting scrapped anyway), no 3rd member (i have the axles and shell), and a busted up tranny, but hey, 400 bux. Oh yeah, the sunroof window is cracked too.

I have had the 4runner for about 3 weeks now. I didnt have any tools (ok i lied i had 1 lol 1 phillips screwdriver hahaha) so i went to sears and bought a 160 piece craftsmen set and ryobi drill and work light. And with this the tear down began.

I started with the air cleaner/intake manifold and worked my way down to wear the only thing connected was the engine mounts. It took me 2 weeks to finally find someone with a engine hoist that i could borrow and the engine came out yesterday. During those two weeks of downtime I focused most of my free time on the interior. I pretty much stripped out EVERYTHING except the rear seats and front carpet as well as the headboard. I took some pictures a long the way so that I may share with you all.

So the engine came out yesterday and is sitting in my garage (I finally broke my engine cherry). I took off most of the accessory drives and alternator but that's pretty much where I am at.

I don't get my next financial aid check until mid January (yes I am using my financial aid hahaha, its free money why not ) so I wont be able to get my 5vzfe longblock until then, but in the mean time I will be collecting the little stuff.

So far i haven't had any major problems. I mean, some of the I had to unbolt required some amazing contortioning skills, and sometimes I was cursing god for the big hands he gave me, but in the end I got it done. Those bastard Japs and there little hands hahahahah But yeah, other then that and the occasional busted knuckle or 5, it was pretty fun.

I will be updating this thread as often as I get with comments, step-by-step work, and pictures. Without the help of people like us posting threads like this, I would have never thought of doing anything like this, so I hope at the very least my thread will inform or help someone.

I WELCOME ALL QUESTIONS, COMMENTS AND CRITICISM (POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE)

MotoXJunky

Here are all the pics I have taken of my project so far:

Truck and Engine (after removal of intake manifold)

MotoXJunky

Interior removal:



The previous owner had to be a complete IDIOT!!!! I don't know who he/she had wire the alarm system but it was THE worst wiring job I have ever seen. This is what I ended up taking off:

MotoXJunky

Finally the engine came out:

MotoXJunky

Check out the mess I made out of my garage...



I live in an apartment complex so I only have a one car garage. You can imagine how fast it gets cluttered. I do most of the wrenching on the truck outside of the garage.

cartune777

welcome and good luck, its really not that hard, and yes financial aid checks are great for cars lol

mt_goat

Yeah I love my straight 6 in my 328i, great engine. Good luck

breknraj

I like the Big 6 in my 535i - STRONG engine! Damn shame they don't make them, anymore.

Good luck with your swap. Those of us that have done it have all been very pleased with it!

MotoXJunky

Thanks for the comments and support.. Keep it coming...

P.S. Any advice/pointers/tips/fore-warnings are definitely welcome if not needed before I go into this head first

RaginYota

I am also going to complete the 3.4 swap as soon as I can find an engine w/ accessories. I am not sure if you have stumbled across this site, but I am sure it will help once you start the 3.4 install.

http://www.andrewzook.com/content/view/22/37

Good luck

Jeremy

MotoXJunky

Sweet Page, thanks for the link

freddy

good luck, don't forget the pics.

RobD

When you said you're looking to get a "5VZFE long block", I hope you realize that a long block means an engine block with heads, cams, and rotating assemblies installed, but no accessories, wiring, exhaust or intake manifolds (typically). The only things transferrable from your 3.0 will be the powersteering pump, alternator, oil pan, pickup and dipstick.

Your exhaust and intake manifolds won't fit, nor any of your intake parts (MAF sensor for example) will work and you won't have any of the wiring harness.

You also need the computer and EVAP system from the 3.4 to make this all work.

In other words, you'll need a complete 3.4 with wiring harness and ECU to do this swap.

MotoXJunky

No I know lol, I got a wrecking yard right down the street so i can get all those part there minus the harness and computer. I am ordering OFS's harness conversion, and I havent decided exactly where I am gonna get computer. If I can get a complete engine for the same price as a rebuilt machined long block that has low miles I will definitely jump on that. But those deals only come around every so often. I also am gonna try to get doug thorley headers and do a custom flowmaster exhaust system from the headers back.

RobD

Take this for what it's worth, but I'm sure the rest of us who have done the swap will agree that you're absolute best bet is the entire engine, harness and computer from the same truck will save you the most grief.

And you're aware that ORS is closing their doors in 4 days, right?

jasond

Not to mention, what you are buying from them is not the engine harness, its just the conversion pigtail to connect the original dash harness in your truck to the engine harness on your new motor.

syber_kowboy

RobD is absolutely correct. My swap was made 4-5x harder because of an engine harness and engine mismatch. There are a number of things that change from year to year. ORS will be sending you an adapter that looks like a plug-hydra. It has body to body plugs and the additional ECM plug all made into one adapter. You are still going to need an ECM and a matching wiring harness.

MotoXJunky

This is exactly why I love forums like this because all that information you guys just gave me, I did not know so THANK YOU!!!

Its to bad ORS is closing, anybody know why? Also, anybody know a good website to order a complete engine from with ecu etc besides ebay?

syber_kowboy

These are the two I would look at. One is free the other has registration costs.

http://www.ridesafely.com/

http://www.vb2.com/

RobD

If you do get the complete engine/ECU from the same vehicle, the wiring isn't that hard and not worth spending $700 on.

Go to Toyota Techinfo (Google it) and for $10 per day you can download all the factory service manuals to your heart's content.

Essentially, the wiring comes down to splicing the 3.4 harness into your 4Runner's body harness (located behind the passenger side kick panel).

You need to cross reference the functions on the 3.4 harness with similar functions on the 3.0, like the brake light switch for example, and splice the two together. It's time consuming and a pain in the Richard Nixon, but otherwise it is do-able with help from the members on here.