Four Runner

OK Katie, let's hear your chime in here.
RE: https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f116...et-job-104934/

What final impressions do you have, and any dyno time yet that'll show us the final changes with what you've invested??

Thanks!

Bumpin' Yota

your 89 is a gen 1 4runner and your '99 is a gen 3 4runner....

My Gen 2 4runner w/3.0 is tipping the scales at exactly 4980lbs with a full tank of gas! That means dry curb weight is around 4400lbs-4500lbs.

How are the kicks working out for ya?

Bumpin' Yota

ps - I can tell you that the vvti 4.0 >>> modified 3.0.....LOL

pss - to the guy talking about vvti, sorry but they didnt offer that with the 5vz-fe......

justinking060310

My 95 4Runner has a modified 3VZE in it. It is a 2wd truck with an auto. I have been getting 17-18 mpg running 93 octane with the timing at 18*. My list of mods include Downey Headers, Magnaflow Cat, Downey full 2 1/2" exhaust, rebuilt short block with engine builder's master engine kit(.050" over), Sea2Sky's cams, engine builders oversized intake/exhaust valves, heads and intake are ported and polished, replaced stock valvetrain, using engine builders head gaskets. I have 4300 miles on the rebuild and have been driving it daily for about 2 weeks now. I have not calculated just the motor costs, but I have 2900 into the entire truck build, and that includes buying the truck for 900 with a blown HG.

As far as being able to compare to the 3.4, I can't. I have never driven a 3.4 equipped truck. My truck is a little slow moving until you hit about 2200 rpms, but once there it takes a very little tap on the throttle to wind up to 5500. It is very very smooth. I have a couple other 3.0 4runners and trucks, both 5 speed and autos. This is the only 2wd I have. It is way faster than the 3 other trucks/4runners I have.

Now, am I completely happy with it? The build, yes. The speed, no. I put my truck up for sale on craigslist yesterday. It just doesn't pack the punch I was hoping for. I was not looking for it to be a Corvette or anything, but it doesn't have enough. Maybe that's because my daily driver is a 06 f350 with a diesel. I don't know -

I have let quite a few people with stock trucks drive mine, and they love it, cant get over how much faster the modified one is. So, it goes both ways.

I would say for the PITA alone, it is far easier to build this motor up. If you want a 3.4 buy a whole different truck in my opinion. If you have to work on your truck, it is easier to follow FSM's if it is stock. I can take the 3.0 apart in my sleep now-a-days and I imagine the 3.4 to be a bear with quad cams and all. It does have its advantages, I am not knocking that. Just not worth it to me.


Katie

Bumpin' Yota

soooooooooooo katie you have a 6.0L powerstroke aswell aye? LOL We have a F250 crewcab short box '06 and I gotta say, I freakin love it.

Thus far the only performance mods Ive done to the powerstroke is the "zoodad" mod (cutting a hole in the radiator support so that the intake truely is a cold air intake) and a 4" mandrel bent turbo back exhaust without cat and without muff. It sounds AWSOME and pulls like a madman above 65mph. Im itching to get an SCT Livewire with an extreme tune and make that 8000lb truck turn in high 13s on the 1/4!

I think though if you have your modified 3vze infront of a 5 speed in a pickup, it'd have the "punch" you are looking for. But the 2000+ lbs that the 4runner has over the same generation pickup + auto tranny just kills it.

shoes138

how about lets see the modifed 3vz-e motor in a 2wd truck.....weights alot less than the runners

justinking060310

Bumpin - We have an 06 f350 SRW c/c long box 4x4 - It is the baddest thing around. It is bone stock and still has 79,000 miles under the bumper to bumper warranty. It will stay stock for a while.

I agree that the truck is lighter and faster. The biggest difference in the motor is how freely and smoothly it will rev up - you cant feel a lot of torque but it does go from 20mph to 80mph in quick fashion.

shoes - i agree - dont you have a 2wd truck? hint hint

shoes138

yes i do, n moding the 3.0 i plan on doing....but i gotta swap my auto out!

SoCalWheeler71

I never said vvti was offered on the 3.4L, I said that the 3.0 is primitive, not worth putting money into and that modern engines are better. I used the vvti as an example of why. I'm a mechanic, I've replaced motors and done head work on nearly every Toyota model, and I can tell you without a doubt that the 3.0 is the worst motor Toyota has ever made, by a lot! They suck to work on, they are unreliable (even when compared to crappy domestics) and they are gutless. The 3.4 is superior in every conceiveable way. Sorry but I don't think you're going to get much love for the 3.0 here.

Tim_Snapple76

i think many us who dont have a "full garage" and all the tools necessary to rebuild a motor, are in favor of the 3.4 swap. it does seem to have less immediate problems however, many of us who can and are able to rebuild motors will, and in a timely fashion. i just think sometimes it is easier for some to drop in a newer motor with less miles and hassles. not to mention a little more power and a little bit better gas mileage. 4wd weight is gonna kill your power, plus being a 4runner it is gonna hurt it even further. best combination for 3.0 being a 3.0 fast is 2wd single cab pickup. i know we want the 4wd but we'll always pay for it in gas mileage. before we bash each other, try to remember that neither one of us will ever get our money's worth out of a heavily modded truck/4runner. i guess the situation is about how satisfied we are as drivers...? tim.

Redeyejedi

also to add....
one more thing might wanna consider is the driving wieght you'll actually be rolling around in.

CoedNaked

Yeah - the 3vze is such a crappy Toyota motor. I mean that guy who just traded in his 91 Toyota 3vze equipped 2wd extra cab pickup with 1 million miles must have fluked out big time. Give me a break. It pulls around a heavier, heavy duty compact truck with a 1 ton frame, and it was Toyota's first V6.

The supposed "issues" with the 3vze are amplified hundreds of times by people who have never even owned one. I have several people whom I know personally, on top of myself, who have 3vze's who have run 150,000-200,000 miles miniumum, without a wiff of problems from this engine. There are several people on the board who fall into the same category. There are of course people who have run into the odd head gasket issue, but I'll tell you what - if you stick with Toyota parts and keep this thing stock or reasonably stock, and don't perform questionable modifications on it, it'll go a long time without issue, and get you home every day.

SoCalWheeler71

Don't take it so personally, you didn't design it did you? (if you did this might not be the best site for you ). I hate to burst some bubbles but the biggest design flaw on the 3.0 is shared with the 3.4- the stupid t-stat being on the water INLET to the block. No matter how cold of a t-stat you can find the top end of the engine and radiator are running about 20 degrees hotter than they normally would. The whole engine bay gets exposed to a lot more heat than a conventional engine with the t-stat on the water outlet.

CoedNaked

So Cal Wheeler - the 3vze is not a bad engine at all. For it's size and displacement, it was ahead of it's time in technology when it came out (remember, late 1987? - this engine was designed in the mid 80's and we're bittching about it in 2007?). The biggest problem with the 3vze as far as the power hungry punks that we all are, is it's a 150 HP and 180 foot pounds of engine behind a 4000+ pound truck. The 3.4's are, at least in Tacoma's, light years ahead because they have more power and torque, dual overhead cams, and last but not least, about 400 pounds less weight. The auto 3.4's are still not THAT powerful, especially the detuned versions found behind the 4runners. Ever notice how the 3rd gen forum is alive and buzzing with engine modification questions, a lot of which come from auto 3.4 owners with 3rd gen 4runners?

mt_goat

That's an interesting statement. What kind of numbers have you found for coolant temps on the 3.0? It seems very few people have a real water temp gauge on the 3.0 and without OBDII readouts its hard to know.

The test I did on my 3.4 without a t-stat showed no change in max operating temp. It seems once the t-stat has opened compeletly its as if its not even there anymore. That would lead me to believe it wouldn't matter if it was in the inlet or outlet. I do know that on the 3VZ and 5VZ the oil cooler return line dumps out right on top of the t-stat which seems to me would open the t-stat as quickly as if it was in the outlet side of the block.

elripster

I'm on my second truck with the 3VZ engine. The first was a 5 speed 89 4runner pulling 33's with 4.88's. It got stolen at 297,000 miles and ran absolutely awesome. I never added oil to it between changes once. It went to the recall at around 175,000 miles.

Now I have a 94 auto. It went to the recall around 130,000 miles. I can see why the 3.0 has issues in this truck that are more frequent and/or more severe than in the 89 5 speed and I attribute it to the OD tranny gearing. The OD is WAY toooooooo tall. This means the engines flip flops between full power/high RPM and low RPM quite a lot. This thermal cycling is hell on gaskets and encourages metal to fatigue and crack. This is not necessarily an engine issue, it's just we find it is easier to treat the engine. If you can increase power so you don't have to kick it down from a .71:1 OD to a 1:1 3rd gear all the time that is a step in the right direction.

Frank

thefallman

I was waiting for someone to mention that it isnt just power its called technology and that those missing vacumn lines are reallly nice on the 3.4. btw the the 3vzfe (camary motor) and 5vzfe are the same engine for all purposes. the only real differnce are the 5vzfe is distributorless and has a bigger boar. so the only differnce again between the 3vze and the 5vzfe again is in the heads and displacement. and before anyone says anything let me explain the designation system, 5 is the version of the block, vz is the block famely, F is dual overhead cams, E is electronic fuel injection.

the 5vz has the same stroke and crank angles as the 3vz.

Now why wouldnt you want a head on your VZ block that flows better. If you really want to get power out of your 3vz, do As someone else on this forum once did change the heads over to the camary heads then you can put a 5vzfe lower intake manifold inbetween the camary heads and hey what do you know you can now put a 5vzfe supercharger on a 3vzfe.

Anyway as someone else said on here they spent 1400 just rebuilding the topend with better stuff. jeeze i only spent 2500 on my entire swap and only 700 on the engine after repairing some minor damage to the front covers. hmmm wonder who got the better end of that deal.
If i would have rebuilt the engine myself at those rates and improved it i could have easily spent more then the swap and still had less power and less mpg. AND the engine is upgraded now no further horsepower. HMMMM personally i think its smarter to swap to a 3.4 have the base horsepower of an upgraded 3.0 to start from and beable to increase from there, if you want.


oh plus all those other nice things like a vacumnless cruise, hotwire mass air, no vacumn lines to speak of, newer electronic controls, distribtorless ignition/electronic controlled ignition.

Belize Off Road Team

i've got a 3.0 Turbo D sitting in a garage until i can afford it in a few years, it is all properly sealed and stuff, new from the factory 0kms 0 miles on it and i still dont really know the specs on it but i know that i would take that over the 3.4 or 350 swap any day!

apalmer1

here swap this in. its a 3.0 buts its definately not slow :-D

https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f116...bo-swap-86354/

2JZ-GTE (MKIV engine)

shoes138

the 3vz-fe head would not work the 3vz-e block, they are totally different... may be the same displacement n from the same family but there different. And the 5vz may work but not with the supercharger.....i forget the reason but its like you need and extra pulls and something else........