Bryce77

Before I start I want to let everyone I have searched this sight for about 5 hours staight. I am just trying to confirm my findings. I have a 99 Tacoma 2.7 love it never have a problem. I just bought a 88 4Runner which I also love till I read all these post on how crappy the 3.0 is. I have checked with the dealers in my area and they said the 88 was not involved in the head gasket recall because it used the ?aspestos? gasket before the ban. I have had this thing 2 days and I am ready to sell it. Is the 3.0 that bad or whats the deal. I want a good vehicle and maybe the 3.0 4Runner is just not it. From the posts on hear, these things are worse then a Dodge Shadow. What gives I see them all over? :complain:

Bob_98SR5

what exactly were your findings? post them so we can confirm, deny or add comments to them.

bob

brandontrek

in my 1.5 years and 40,000 miles on my 3.0 i love the thing...

starts up and runs like a champ...
does seep a bit of oil but i just keep her topped off(only like a quart ever 3,000)
has enough power for what i need(towed a stratus r/t 4 down for about 15 miles)

i like the enigine so far(just went to knock on some wood)

Snorkeldepth

Having searched YT for 5 hours you'll probably agree that there are many opinions about the 3VZE. I think that the best summary of the engine is that it has less power and higher fuel consumption than later Toyota V6 models. It's not a bad engine. It's just not as good as others. It seems to work better in lighter vehicles than in heavier vehicles and with manual transmissions better than automatic. I have a std. cab, short bed, manual transmission truck and I have been more than happy with the power the engine puts out. I wish the mileage was better. But, 16 to 20 mpg isn't that bad. Other than the HG issue, the engine is reliable and durable. I got over 235,000 miles from my OEM 3VZE. Toyota fixed the HG at 100K.

I just installed a remanufactured 3VZE. I put headers on it to avoid future burnt valve issues like the one that finally killed my OEM engine at 238K.

Bryce77

My findings were it gets bad mileage, has no power. I am can deal with all that. But from my findings this is not a dependable motor. It has all kind of head gasket problems, valve problems, idle problems. When I bought a Toyota I was wanting something dependable not something I would be fixing all the time.

brandontrek

headgasket and valve problems from what i have seen are heat related due to the crossover exhaust pipe. i have not put a set of headers on my truck to combat these problems(yet). i get 21 mpg out of my truck city and secondary road driving. i have a 5 speed extended cab with 32' tires(nittos). you can read my mods in my sig. like i said i like the engine(though a 7mgte or 5vz-fe would be nice....some day)....

ScubaDuck

You might get a warped impression of the reliability of the motor by searching here, since people generally only post here when they have problems. You just don't see many posts from people reporting that they DON'T have problems.

As for me, I have a 2wd '89 extended cab pickup, manual with the 3.0 and have had no problems with the motor (approx 120k with the original head gasket too). I believe the only work done to the motor was a timing belt replacement at approx 75k.

I think the motor is plently reliable. Like you said, there are lots of them on the road. There is a reason for that. Don't worry about it and enjoy your new 4Runner.

-Scubaduck

1styota4X4

its a great motor like everyone is saying just underpowered...you can get 300,000 out of these engines....it dosent matter what engine you look at there are going to be problems associated eventually...

Bryce77

Keep it up guys you are giving me faith again. Thanks for all the help so far.

Bob_98SR5

as others have said, there are some people with incredible experience with the 3.0 and others who have suffered the problems you mentioned. overall, id say if you are in the market to buy used, any vehicle with the 22RE and the 3.4L are historically more reliable engines. there are exceptions, of course, but the number of people having problems w/ the 3.0 vs the 3.4 engines are more numerous.

bob

Bryce77

Is the 3.0 I have different since it was not included in the head gasket recall. Does that mean I should not have head gasket issues?

Wile E. Toyote

There is always a potential for the HG to go, depends on the PO, depends on how you take care of it, and just depends on some luck. I've heard good and bad stories about 3.0s. And really a HG is not that hard to change, and gives you a good excuse to do some internal maintenance as well.

The 3.0 is a decent engine (it is a toyota after all just the worst of them).
No reason to sell the truck.
Personally I trust my 22re and my 3.4 more than the 3.slow (got rid of the 3.0 i had), but it's workable. And if you end up hating it, just swap in a 22r.

1styota4X4

or swap a supercharged 3.4 and have fun

Snorkeldepth

As I mentioned, my headgasket was replaced under warranty at 100K. I never had another problem with the headgaskets. I had a valve problem surface at 235,000 miles and 15 years that I found out about after diagnosing a rough idle and stumbling acceleration. Read the brief history of my truck in the "Check Out My Truck" section. That's as objective as I could be. Oh, I drove the truck pretty hard through the years going to the mountains summer and winter, driving in the desert carrying dirtbikes and hauling scuba gear from Long Beach to San Diego . . . as well as simply driving it everyday. I'd call it reliable and durable.

All that said, if I were to go out and buy anything but a 1985 4 Runner then I'd buy a later model 4 Runner with a 3.4.

mr toytech

whateveryone seems to either not know or want to admit it the 3.4 had a headgasket recall to. that recall was as big as the one for the 3.0 as i did hundreds of both recalls. the only advantage to the 3.4 is the power. the reliability of both is about the same. if the headgasket is blown on your 3.0 just have it done by an experinced tech and there should not be any problems. although i would recommend some good ceramic coated headers. it makes a hell of a difference. and w/ any motor the reliability is only as good as one maintains it. i love my 3.0 truck. good luck, i hope this helps.

Epic Ed

You've seen my opinion and I simply can't express enough contempt for the engine. It has to be the worst engine Toyota ever made, and I'd agree with the point made that it is probably more tolerable when paired with a manual tranny than an automatic. Header installed to "fix" a problem? That's the first I've heard. If they do fix any problems with burnt valves or improve air flow through the engine, they create problems that are at least equally bad if not worse. At least that's been my experience with the Downey ceramic coated headers.

Here's the deal -- when the original engine blew the head gasket at around 95,000 miles (it wasn't covered under the recall campaign) I read up here and on other sites about various modification you could do to help squeeze more HP out of the anemic 3.slow engine, so I bought a rebuilt engine to replace the original. About 12,000 miles later and just out of warranty, my oil pump failed while I was climbing a steep grade and the engine blew up -- gernaded both sides of the engine in spectacular fashion.

Engine #3 was a remanufactured engine and supposedly better built because worn parts were replaced with new, OEM stuff. I also bought and had headers install at this time. I have had nothing but additional nightmares ever since with over heating, burning through speedo cables, roasting starters, and nearly catching my vehicle on fire from the headers burning through my floor boards. I have blown my head gaskets on this engine three or four more times (sincerely -- I've lost track), and twice it was without the engine temp going to the red. The last time they blew, it was a doozie and I cracked one head and warped the other beyond spec. Two new heads later and over $11,000 worth of engine repairs alone I still don't have a fecking reliable vehicle. The latest is continued over heating and a recently diagnosed couple of bad bearings in the engine. It looks like the lower 1/2 of the engine is shot and my least expensive repair will likely be... engine #4.

I'm not trying to say that my experience is typical, but if you do the math I have had three engine blocks go bad for various reasons. You hear people griping about heads all the time, but most people will stick up for the damn POS and say "yeah, but it's a strong, bullet proof lower 1/2." Bull˟˟˟˟˟. It's weak hunk of junk and way under powered for the weight of the vehicle.

If you do stick with it, I strongly recommend sinking as little money into it as possible. DO NOT bother wasting money on engine mods -- it is what it is -- weak and slow. The K&N AFAIK is worthless; headers cause more problems than they're worth and don't improve performance much, anyways; porting and polishing your heads is a waste of money.

These are my opinions. YMMV, and I hope you have a much better experience than I have. I'm just about done with mine. I'm buying a Land Cruiser this weekend and the Epic Mobile will get fixed as time permits, and then it will be gone. On a positive note, all of the off-road and suspension mods I've done have been well worth the money. When it has been running, it has been a great vehicle to crawl with and I've done some trails with it that some people didn't think I could do. I was a very capable vehicle off-road.

Ed

Snorkeldepth

Of course, you'll all be the first to know when my new 3.0 blows up! Congrats on the new Land Cruiser Ed!!

tc

Mine has almost 200k miles on it, and still runs smooth and strong. The 3VZE and 22R engines are extremely poorly matched with the auto trannys of the day. It's not that either are BAD, just that they don't work all that well together (basically cuz the overdrive is too damn tall).

All that being said, if my 3.0 goes, a 3.4 is going in...

Paul H.

I have had mine for 12 years now, headgasket replaced back in 96 and have never had any problems with the engine or tranny. Other than power and gas milage, I'm very happy with it.

Figit090

if you went through so many engines and it was so bad why didn't you just give up and buy something else? just curious.