Been eyeballing this truck sitting in the trees in someones yard for about 4 years now and finally the opportunity to get it came up. This was the first time i got to see it up close and thats when i saw the dreaded V6 emblem on the grill. Big time bummer but the price was right enough to still bring it home. Next project turned to parts truck just like that. Hate to kill a complete truck but I cant afford to have a 3.4 swap done in it.

 

You don't like the 3VZE? That's so sad ....

 

I wish there was something to like about it. Runs but its like the accelerator pedal is disconnected (its not) and I do not have the know how required to diagnose and repair one of these engines. Trades for a 22re truck are welcome

 

Like my dad used to say: "If you're not learning something, you might as well be dead." It's never too late to learn how to diagnose and repair something.

I never had an issue with driving my 91 4Runner with a 3.0L, it ran well into 500,000KM. Did it go super fast? of course not, but if I wanted to go super fast I would not be driving an 80s/early90s Toyota.

 

Im not going to write it off just yet. It doesnt seem to have any head gasket issues.I do have a 95 4runner with fairly low mileage 3.0 with blow gasket(s) that i figure i could at least use for other misc engine parts if need be. All the horror stories and threads with problems with no solutions scare me off a bit.

 

The internet makes the 3VZ-E sound MUCH worse than it really is.

In fact, the 3VZ-E is a GOOD engine.

I believe that most people don't like the 3VZ-E because of what they read on the internet. Toyota did issue a recall for head gaskets on this engine, and head gasket failure is not too uncommon, however I see nearly the same amount of threads about head gasket failure and timing chain wear on the 22R-E as I do about head gasket issues on the 3VZ-E.

Another problem is people's unrealistic expectations for an early Toyota EFI V6 engine. It seems that people expect big V8 power and fuel economy of a 4-Cylinder out of the 3VZ-E. People often compare the 3VZ-E to the 5VZ-FE trying to justify how bad the 3VZ-E is, however, they seem to forget that the 5VZ-FE is a newer engine, with improved mechanical designs and improved electronic management system. The 5VZ-FE should be better because it is a newer design, for newer vehicles. But just because the 5VZ-FE is better, does not make the 3VZ-E bad.

Another thing to think about: The 22R-E and 3VZ-E use very similar EFI systems, with very similar diagnostic procedures. There are several EFI related problems that can happen on both the 22R-E and the 3VZ-E.

As with any vehicle, regular maintenance and taking care of known problems before they get worse is the key to reliability and longevity.

Many problems with either the 22R-E or 3VZ-E can be traced to lack of maintenance or ignoring the warning signs of a problem. There are many 22R-E and 3VZ-E engines that have over 250,000 miles on them.

Honestly, my only real complaint with the 3VZ-E is its relatively low fuel mileage.

Give the 3VZ-E a chance.

 

changed out the fuel filter and put some fresh gas in it (Id rather do a 22re fuel filter blind folded than one of these again), cleaning the airflow meter seemed to help at first, then not. swapped it out with a known good one, no change. Starts up and idles and acts like the gas pedal is disconnected. can hold wide open throttle and it pretends like its not happening, just idles, poorly. checked all hoses for cracks and leaks. can not find any obvious ones and cannot find any by spraying carb cleaner around them.No check engine lights or codes stored. Washed it up and did a quick vacuum and its actually a really nice rig. would be a great candidate for a 3.4 swap. Maybe ill have to sell one of my 4runners and get it done. Or maybe I can find someone with a 4cyl truck that wants to trade (hint hint ..I like regular cabs and will travel..haha) I was so excited to finally get my hands on this truck, its such an epic let down that its a 3.0

 

Get your multimeter out and start checking voltages at the computer. VTA is your throttle, pretty sure the AFM signal is VS, both of these (from memory) sweep 0-5v..

Odds are pretty good you've got gummed up and clogged injectors but before you go through digging those out to clean you should finish going over the rest of the fuel system.

Does it produce and sustain fuel pressure, what about volume? Measure the fuel being returned to the tank when the fuel pump is manually turned on, if it doesn't do half a liter a minute it's not good.. (Change the intank filter sock, maybe the pump, make sure it has good power/ground, blow the trash out of the lines, inspect for damaged lines..)

Assuming you can get it off changing the oxygen sensor is something you'll want to do unless it's obviously brand new.

..
You probably have a trifecta of all (well, some) of the above issues. Opening the throttle plate should lean out the signal and command more fuel, more air plus more fuel means more rpm and that's obviously not happening.

 

DO check ignition timing.

 

Put plugs, wires, cap and rotor in it just because it never hurts and it didn’t make any difference. Then decided to check into the timing...that was the problem. Jumpered the terminals and set it to 10 and it goes to 8 when removed. Set idle at 700. Runs and drives great now. Very responsive and smooth. But to get the timing where it is I had to max out the rotation of the distributor. I’m guessing it may have been installed a tooth off at some point in time. Hoping maybe they did some work to it like a timing belt and never got it in correctly and left it as I’ll is. Going to check it and see if I can get it lined up better. But for now runs great.

 

Its very common for the outer ring on the harmonic damper to break free from the inner ring. This makes it impossible to set the timing right. To test if its bad remove all of the belts and see if you can spin the outer ring by hand. Mine on my 88 3vz was so bad I pulled the outer ring right off with no effort.

 

I am able to set the timing correctly and it moves from 10-8 when jumpers removed so it’s definitely not moving around

 

You got 18 Trucks??????

 

Ive pulled the distributor out and tried changing the position about 100 times and it will not run in ANY position but where its at now. Which is with everything lined up correctly. But i still have to crank the distributor ALL the way clockwise to BARELY get it to 10. I assume the timing belt has jumped or something. I figure if im going to dig into it i may as well just do a new belt, water pump, etc. and be done with it since i do not know if/when its ever been done. For now it runs and drives pretty well.

 

I'm a little surprised that no one has brought up the possibility of a TPS issue, if there's no reading from the throttle the computer shouldn't know what to do when the throttle is wide open. The distributor also may be installed a tooth off, I have chased that issue before.

 

I was always under the impression that if Timing jumps from 10-8 when jumper pins pulled that the TPS is functioning correctly. Can TPS issues cause the distributor to need to be advanced as much as mine is in order to get correct timing? As far as it being off a tooth I dont think that's possible at this point. I have had it in and out about 20 times and had it on every tooth possible and it WILL NOT fire up unless all the marks are lined up and rotor pointing to #1 contact on the cap and crank at 0 tdc. When its installed at this position it fires right up. but timing is off the chart to the drivers side, and i have to rotate the distributor all the way clockwise to get it BARELY to the 10 mark. and then when pins pulled it moves 2 degrees.

 

I have nothing to add to the conversation, but holy crap dude, that's a lot of Toyotas. If you want to kindly ship me one of your 92-93 swb 2wds to use as a DD, I'd gladly accept it!