NiceToy

So I just swapped a motor from a 90' 4Runner with rust, into a no rust 4Runner with a knock. The Good 4Runner is from Cali with all the Cali crap on it. The donor motor is not. It starts and seems to run ok, but is poss misfiring and produces no power (3vze). With the exception of the timing being a miss (which is possible). Is it possible that having the California Computer could be causing the problem? I plan on swapping computers later to test it, but thought I'd get some feedback here first.

This is a 1990 4Runner with 3.0 and AUTO. So I swapped the computers and got no difference. My next thought was that possibly the timing was off and the timing belt somehow skipped a tooth somewhere. The guy that had the motor before me told me he was screwing with the valves on the passenger side of the motor, so it is possible I guess.. I pulled the timing cover and nope, all timing marks align as they should. compression is good on all cylinders, and it seems to run ok, but when you step on the pedal, there is NO power, if your going up a hill, it can't get over 2000 rpms and literally crawls along. down hill it seems to rev, and shift and drive ok. But the motor is just not putting any power to the pavement. I swapped out the AFM and ECU to test both, and got no difference. I'm at a loss here with regards to what the problem could be. Anybody have any ideas? I imagine it has to be something stupid. Compression is good on all cylinders. Anything else I should test swap out? Could there be an issue with the auto Tranny, that would cause this? I have a spare tranny I could swap in, but I want to eliminate other things first. The tranny is a little low on fluid, but that's it.

myyota

Did the new motor run good before you swapped it ?, a lot of people with a 3.0 block off the EGR and that seems to help a lot.

NiceToy

The motor was "supposedly" running well. But how well, I cannot confirm, it's only got 115K on it

myyota

Im just guessing here, but did you swap the sensors and sending units from the old motor over to the new motor, its possible that there calibrated different and thats throwing things off, also check the vacuum lines.

NiceToy

I swapped over the seemingly important sensors and such, other stuff I left in .. I've checked the vacuum lines a ton of times.

a little more on it's condition. At idle, it runs fine. when you press the accelerator, it motor shudders a little until around 2000 rpm, and then it revs freely and is responsive. at idle it almost runs fine.. Then when you put it in drive, it turns into a dog, no reving at all under load, and it runs like it wants to go, but can't

jpsstewart3

Doesnt hurt to check your fuel lines or change the filter (or fuel regulator). I just swapped in another 3.0 and it was doing the same as yours (with the idle part, not driving) and i ended up accidentally kinda pinching the main fuel line by the upper intake manifold.