chubbydude

For these 3vze that are overheating without towing or carrying a heavy load, I would say the cooling system was not maintained properly, no fault of the engine itself. There is a problem for people who cannot do their own maintenance, that it is generally lacking if you have to pay major dough at the stealership. Taking care of your vehicle means preventative maintenance, which can get pricey if you cannot do it yourself.

camo31_10.50

be sure to use the PROPER fluids in the 3VZ (and 22RE of course).

previous owner used some kind of green coolant in the cooling system of my '92 4runner..and it's allll kinds of rusted up..i can only imagine what the cooling passages of the block looked like before i had it rebuilt.


i will have more to say on this topic when i get my 3VZ back into my Runner

For the record, my 3VZ had rod knock, because the oil pump gave out i believe. lol that's the only thing i've found wrong with it...but there was more problems because of the bad bearings.

91_TOYOTA_4x4

oyah it's most likely the water pump that seems to go like clock work on 3vze's? rightnow my buddy's 4runner is sitting because it most likely needs a new water pump, power steering stopped working, has a oil leak that we couldn't. and basically he is just tired of the thing. i checked the history of my truck and its only had one new water pump done. if i owned a 3vze i would right away replace water pump, timing belt, rotor and cap and the whole 9 yards because i don't trust the thing lol. where as my 22re i dont worry about it ever. get in the mud with a 22re and it will become your friend very fast haha 5000rpm for 10 mins and it doesn't get hot = beast

BackGateYota92

i have around 200,000 miles on my 3vze and the only issue i have is a lil oil leak coming from my valve cover. every toyota v6 i know have around the same milage as mine and dont have issues at all. like mentioned the proper maintence and care means alot. oh and i mud my truck like a maniac and have yet to have it over heat. lol but who knows?

camo31_10.50

are you SURE it's the water pump? lol

UKMyers

170K on the clock on my 3VZ. Had the headgasket done under recall. I replaced the water pump, timing belt, and tensioners strictly as preventative. The radiator split so I replaced that. I also replaced the valve cover gaskets once a while back. Besides that I've done nothing to it. I have the ISR mod with a K&N drop in a Borla Catback. It's been strictly a wheeling truck for the past 3 years and I rod the crap out of it. Never had any issues with it and with 37's and 5.29's I can cruise down the freeway at 70mph with the cruise on and the AC running. Try that in a 4 banger. 91 Yota I see you have nothing but bad things to say and everyone of them starts with my friend or my buddy or my parents.. always someone other than yourself. I'd venture to guess that the majority of the issues they have had is because of neglect not the engine itself. Don't knock it till you've tried it.

az4x4runner

Yes. I drive to Phoenix occasionally in 115+ degree heat and my temp gauge has NEVER gone past the center, even on the massive grade on I17 coming back home.

2DoorRunner

My 22re is great, just dont expect to get anywhere fast.

Im running 31s with 4.10s, 235,000 miles, and it cruises just fine on the freeway. I usually sit at 65mph, and it will pull up slight hills in 5th,
bigger hills in 4th,
over the mountains drafting a semi truck in 3rd

The main reason i wouldnt get a 3.0 is that it is a pain in the ass to work on. 22re gives you much more room to manuver in the engine compartment.

Or get a 3.0 and swap in a 3.4!

91_TOYOTA_4x4

Oyah i wouldn't own a 3vze lol hence i bought a 22re Look im not saying all is bad with the v6 but come on the 22re is a much better power plant hands down? i have driven the 4runner a few times so its not like i dont know anything. just my honest opinion is that the 22re is better! you can say all you want about "SOME" 3vze's being decent but there are far more that are crap. and obviously if the 3.0L was well maintained than he might be fine, but he is buying a used truck, from some guy he doesn't know? idk about you but id rather have the 22re that can take abuse rather some abused 3vze? all i hear all day is how people hate there 3vze? am a wrong? am i the only one that see's on 90% of the users on this site that own 3vze's, put "3.slow", or "3.suck" in there sig? but everyone who has a 22re just puts "22re" and they have nothing but good things to say? i have had some ruff patches with my 22re, not going to lie, but even when it was running bad its still got me around and didnt give up. proud to own a 22re and glad i didnt get a 3.0L

BackGateYota92

haha idk i must be one of the few that loves their 3vze. i dog the crap out of mine and it takes with out a problem. i would gladly put another one in my truck or buy another truck with one in it. i would actually take a 3vze over a 22re but thats just cause i have had good luck with mine i guess. i mean come on 200,000 on a motor is pretty good imo and im sure there are people with more than that. my bro's 3.0 in his ford ranger has been rebuilt 2 times and and his only has 120,000 miles. have you heard of a 3vze that has have to been rebuilt twice with only 120,000 miles??? lol

az4x4runner

I'd say you're wrong. I don't hear people talking about how they hate their 3vzes. I see it called the 3.slow from time to time, but I always found it humorous. Nothing wrong with slow, it is not a huge V6 after all.. and if we were comparing it to the 22re it's not really that slow.

To call the 3vze "crap" is a pretty broad statement. What do you mean by a "22re that can take abuse or an abused 3vze"? Do you mean the people who run their vehicles into the ground without maintaining them? If you don't maintain the 22re, such as the timing chain, and it breaks you are looking at some serious engine repair. Not so with the 3vze. If you set the reputation the 3vze got from the head gasket recall aside, it really is a pretty solid and unstoppable engine.

tpaine14

hate to tell you man but yes, the engine overheated but the engine did not warp the head and intake...your mother did. an engine is only as good as its owner. when an engine starts an issue-over heating- you find the issue and fix it right. if that engine had been properly fixed not ran hot then it would be fine. but yes any toyota person will tell you, if your gonna buy a yota and blow the whole budget on the truck your chances of having an issue free motor that will require no work/money than the 22re is in most cases gonna be your best bet. but if you can work on vehicles and are willing to fix things correctly and KEEP UP ON REGULAR Maintenance then dont kick either out of the question. either engine will treat you as well as you treat it.hopefully the previous owner treated it alright as well so you dont pay for them not taking care of it. i drove a freakin mazda protege to 260k... the engine didnt quit on me, it blew a head gasket and my sister ran it hot and warped the head and at 260k miles and a slipping tranny i quit on the car. had i seen it as worth it i would have fixed it correctly and the car would still be on the road today(well probably not...rust) are mazda proteges noted for going unreal far? not that im aware ive seen few over 200k but since mine was bought rough but the issues were fixed and done so correctly when ever they arose before damage was done they were fixed. when my sister got it and it stopped being treated good the car died. but it did not die on its own my sister killed it! ive seen few vehicles die on their own without the route of the issues being from carelessness of the owner. if my 22re blows a head gasket ill fix it correctly, if i run it and wreck the motor in the process ill be on here doing a rebuild calling myself a moron not my truck junk. every engine has its issues but there a reason some guys on here like their 3.slow and have run them many many miles. all i got to say i guess

PismoJoe

Like I said in the beginning NOT this debate again lol

AZ...interesting you say "aside from the head-gasket recall"

That's the defining factor of the 3vz...the HG issues. I would be interested to learn WHY this is so. Was it a flaw in the block? Head? HG material? Surely the power and torque is better than the 22RE, but it sort of depends what the OP was asking.

I had a 94 3vz that ran like a champ until the HG blew around 200k. Now, I have a 22RE that blew the HG at 230k, but I have no history on both of those cars before I got ahold of them. I will tell you that when I bought my 86 4runner with the 22RE there was regular tap water mixed with the antifreeze. Who knows how long the PO ran in like that for, maybe its whole life?

az4x4runner

Eh, I know it really is a defining factor of the 3vze.. Just saying it seems to happen to some more/sooner than others, I don't know if it's the coolant used or what. My HG was replaced in 1999 under the recall and the truck now has 183K without issue. I have always just used standard premixed coolant. Couldn't tell you why after the recall some people still have issues. I have read posts on here before explaining the problem, just can't remember.

I guess it's just a matter of preference and personal experience, this debate has been beaten to death, and in the end no one on either side has changed their mind. In the end though, I think we all agree on one thing...

tc

A couple reasons. First, it's an iron block/aluminum head design. Show me ONE motor from this era with that construction that DOESN'T have head gasket issues.

The biggie is that it was originally designed for an asbestos head gasket. When asbestos was outlawed, Toyota had to rush to come up with an alternative, and, frankly, they screwed it up. They performed the recall, and replaced them with properly designed gaskets, and the reliability came back up to "normal" for an iron block/aluminum head engine designed in the early 80's.

IMHO, the recall is the big factor in public opinion - not the facts. People assume that since there was a recall, this must be the worst engine ever made. Simply not true. With the post-recall head gaskets, the 3.0 is every bit as reliable as the supposedly bulletproof 22RE.


91toyota is comparing a 4cyl truck to a V6 2nd gen 4Runner ... I wouldn't guess the extra 500-1000 lbs plays any part in the performance difference?

camo31_10.50

theres too much heat build up around the #6 cylinder of the 3VZ...that's where about 90% of the HG issues are at...that cylinder.

Solution:
get rid of that P.O.S. stock cross-over pipe.

either get headers, or get a custom exhaust fabbed up (like i'm doing) to get rid of the crossover.

people will say the problem is because of the Iron Block and Aluminum heads..they have different tolerances to Heat...therefore they expand at different temperatures.

well hello!? almost every automaker has used an iron block and aluminum heads..and they didn't have HG problems?

it's the stupid stock cross-over.

that is all, thanks for reading

camo31_10.50

Chevy 350's..NEVER heard of one them having a headgasket issue...atleast not at large...maybe once or twice on the net...never heard about it in person..and pretty much everyone i interact with owns a chevy..and have always owned chevy's..and have never had headgasket issues.

tc

... and if it's from the early 80's they don't have aluminum heads.

Good point about the crossover BTW. I don't necessarily agree that it's the primary cause, but it's certainly a hugely contributing factor.

camo31_10.50

never said it was early 80's

my father has actually owned a few different chevy's with Iron blocks and aluminum heads..never had any problems...

but this is all just from one engine lol not really much of a comparison.

what other motors (of the era) were Iron Block and Aluminum head?

i'm pretty positive that my '96 dodge's 2001 360 motor has iron heads...but not positive.

camo31_10.50

i said almost every automaker...without having info to back it up.

however i do believe the 5.0L 302 has aluminum heads...in that Era i mean.

i know Nissan was using aluminum heads, and i haven't heard of people having HG problems there.

Jeep uses Iron heads on the Inline 6..i know this because i rebuilt one...it's a heavy SOB