Epic Ed

My engine gernaded itself last night:

https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f2/runner-threw-rod-33263/

So now I'm faced with replacing the engine...AGAIN. For practical purposes I may have to stick with the 3.0L engine, but I would very strongly consider investing the $$ to put a 3.4L engine in there. I did some searching through posts on this site last night and it looks like doing so would be a major hassle since I have an automatic transmission.

I'd like to get your thoughts on how to proceed. I have a lot of money sunk into this ride that I will never recover if I ditch it and buy another ride at this point. Recent mods include headers, locking hubs, and re-gearing. If you were in this situation how would you proceed? How much money do you think it would take to get a 3.4L in there? Assuming you were going to drop another $2000 - $3000 in there for a new engine, anyway, how much of a reach would it be to do the swap?

A second question -- if the 3.4L swap isn't financially feasible, what is the best I can do for a 3.0L short block? If you were going to put your "dream 3.0L" engine in there (I know..oxymoron), what would you do to it and who would you buy it from?

Thanks -- Ed

914runner

Well I did my swap in my '91 4runner that had the 3.0L, but mine has a manual tranny. Your best bet would be to get a 5 speed and do the swap, and sell your old auto tranny to pay for the 5 speed swap. Then the only cost would be the motor and related parts. PM me for more info.

mt_goat

The first thing I'd do is call Mike here http://www.offroadsolutions.com/meetthestaff.htm. But get out your check book, last time I ask it was going to be at least $8000 for him to do it. You can buy a lot of manual hubs for that.

My dream short block would be brand new from toyota.

Epic Ed

Yeah, it looks like if I want to do the upgrade I'll also need to swap out the tranny with an automatic for the 3.4L -- big money on the parts/labor side; or swap in a manual tranny for the 3.0L -- big money on the labor side, plus I really don't want a manual.

This sucks. Any ideas I might be missing? I'm open to suggestions.

Ed

rimpainter.com

How about a 350 small block?

Vato Loco

Or get yourself a '96.

MTL_4runner

I think all the auto tranny needed was an adapter from marlin.
Make sure you get the engine and tranny out of a 96+ truck.
I think the wiring harness from offroad solutions is about $600.
Beyond that it is all pretty standard stuff.

There is tons of info on the site if you do a search for 3.4L swap.

Cebby

Get the whole engine/tranny/tcase/ecu out of the donor. I've been gathering info on this swap and I think it's not as hard as you might think. There are claims that a body lift is required to clear the taller 3.4. Last time I checked around here, the whole setup could be had for about $1500-1800.

Flygtenstein

Get the engine and tranny out of a 96 or newer donor rig.

Get an adaptor for a passenger drop gear drive t-case or two.

You could do this on your own very reasonably. Then you can go fast and slow. Wow, this is a good idea.

Using the stock, pre-96 tranny presents some issues. First, it is a turd. Second, the number and size of the valvebodies in it are different.

mt_goat

[QUOTE=Cebby] There are claims that a body lift is required to clear the taller 3.4. QUOTE]

BL or a hood scoop.

Epic Ed

Not sure what you mean by that. Can you explain a little more?

Cebby -- Engine and tranny for under $2000? I may have to start looking.

Cebby

Adrian means that the 3rd Gen is driver side drop, you need a Marlin adapter to swing the gear driven T-Case (s) over to the passenger side to work with your existing front diff. Gear driven cases can be regeared with crawler gears 4.7, 5.0 and doubled up for an ultra low crawler set up.

bh4runner

Go to junkyarddog.com they will send you back quotes. Got my new ecu tranny engine all for 1600. And when I say everything i mean every thing I had them take every thing off the firewall and all the in-dash electronics.
In the process of doing the auto tranny swap getting ready to put my web site up in a little bit. Check out my previous posts and some pics.....

bh4runner

https://www.yotatech.com/forums/show...160#post302160
https://www.yotatech.com/forums/show...597#post305597
linx----http://bbs.off-road.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=offroadtoytruck&Number=128 4551&page=&view=&sb=&o=&fpart=1&vc=1

Epic Ed

Nice! Hey, thanks for that info.

Highland Runner

Won't the transfer case from the 2nd gen bolt to the transmission of the 3rd gen? The 5 spds are all R150's from 88-04, and the auto are all A340'S. You should be able to use the auto from a 3rd gen and the transfer from a 2nd gen.

mt_goat

The auto tranny and transfer case are all one unit.

MTL_4runner

It is doable this way but it would require complete disassembly of the tranny and transfer case to do it. I am also not sure that slight changes were not made from year to year. I have never seen anyone try this but it may be theoretically possible.

potroast

If you're gonna do an engine swap, do something better -- like a 350 small block, or something.

Highland Runner

I know this is bringing up an old thread but I have been doing some searching on this transmission thing. In swapping a 3.4 into a 2nd gen auto, why can't the original 340F transmission be used? Its the exact same transmission used on 2nd and 3rd gens. The only difference between the two is the transfer case. The 3.4 and bellhousing will bolt right onto 2nd gen auto. That Marlin adapter was to put a A340H into a 2nd gen so dual cases could be installed.

In this article http://www.4x4wire.com/toyota/tech/autocrawler/ look at the pictures of the transmissions and bellhousings.

Am I missing something? The 3.0 oilpan, T-100 dipstick, etc could be put on the 3.4. Use the 3.4 bellhousing and bolt it onto the old auto transmission. Do the wiring and exhaust work and your'e done. The 3.4 donar would have to be an auto for the ECU to shift the trans.