88toyotaOleMiss

Help! I'm preparing to send in my truck for an engine swap and want to save some money on labor by removing the motor myself so they don't have to do it. Where can I find a step by step guide/manual for disassembly of my 3vz-e (1988)?

jeremyt

Did quite a few of these. The only real tricky part is the top bellhousing bolts really. everything else just detach and label (more of an issue if your putting it back together which sounds like your not). Dropping the motor an inch or so after getting it free of the motor mounts will help greatly to get your hand over top the bellhousing.

If you dont have a good cherry picker (the over hood engine hoist situations) Ive used a chain dolly strapped to a beefy door frame. (or anything elevated you believe can withstand the weight and be stable)

The folks doing the swap relocating your battery? Might ask them extra steps you can take to reduce costs. If they are not relocating the battery you might start throwing up a few red flags that the shop might be short cutting some corners in their process.

EDIT i immediately thought this was going to be a 3.4 swap. disregard the last paragraph if your throwing another 3.0 in there

88toyotaOleMiss

Thanks for the advice. I can get a hold of a cherry picker to pull it out. I'm so ignorant when it comes to this kind of stuff. I don't know what any of the stuff is called inside the motor. There were some names in your reply that confused me. I really just need a manual that tells me the name of what I'm removing and how to do it all. I know that any ol' monkey can remove stuff and that putting it back together is the hard part...but..I guess I'm dumber than a monkey.
I'm having a mechanic put a dressed motor back into my truck along with all the other crap from my old motor that's attached to it now. I just want to cut some of the cost by taking it all out for him.

jeremyt

Ok sounds like a straight swap then.

One way to take all the mechanical jargon out of the process and just jump right in is to use masking tape to actively label all things. But not with names, just label mating parts so you know where things came from. IE label part A1 to A2, part B1 to B2 on down the line, I always do this with the 3.0's maze of vacuum hoses. If you take your time and you have some basic tools at your disposal within a couple hours you should have everything removed and ghetto fabulous labeled.

I would advise though that you do remove the big plastic thingy (see what i did there?!) that covers the fan next to your radiator (at very very front of engine) first to give you more room to work and then later to afford more space to move the engine around. Its sometimes safer if your really ham fisted (like me) to just remove the radiator all together to REALLY open up your work space and maybe save some bloodied knuckles later on.

88toyotaOleMiss

That sounds like a great idea actually - A1 to A2, etc. Yes! Black plastic thingy! Now you're speaking my language! As funny (and pathetic) as it sounds, I knew exactly what you were talking about when you said that. LOL god how do I survive? I have skinny long hands with scary looking skinny fingers so that might help with the radiator removal. Thank God for people like you, brother. Little stuff goes a long way. Alright, well I'll keep updates as to how badly I'm about to foul this up. Thank you for replying so quickly to my post.

jeremyt

No problem man, been at your place, starring at the same overly complicated old v6 engine not knowing where to start...20 years ago :p Im just future you letting you know things will be ok.

another tiny bit of advice just in case you get stuck doing any assembly work is to take a detail round of before pictures from all angles and/or a video. Might answer some important questions later on and its free to do.

MudHippy

If you're going to put in a later(89-95) engine/long block...there's a few things you need to know.

1. 88 has unique single-year motor mount brackets. So if you go with a later block, makes sure it has the later brackets too. Because yours won't work.
2. Almost everything engine electronics wise is going to need swapped from the 88. The TPS(and throttle body) and fuel injectors are unique to 88. And will only work with the 88 ECU(and the 88 TPS will only work with the 88 TB). And almost everything else, those included, has different connectors. So use your old/88 stuff...or you'll need the wiring harness + ECU for the later years(89-95).
3. The left exhaust manifold for 88 was also unique. Later years won't bolt up to your 88 exhaust unless you use the 88 manifold.

Told ya there was some secret stuff about the 88 3VZ-E.

You're welcome!

jeremyt

Woah, learned something new about the scrappy 88' model year today. Id have to say those types of issues will almost suredly be confronted and overcome by the shop doing the install. Id imagine they would actually swap in the electronics from the newer(most likely) donor vehicle.

Ive run with a mis-mash of electronic ignition parts before and it wasnt the prettiest setup but it actually never caused me issues. Later 3.0s have quite a few small differences in distributer wire hookup systems, coil wire connectors, oil filter location changes(for 2wd/4wd) but almost all can be made to 'work' with eachother...well except poor old 88s i guess!