i have a love hate realtionship with both of mine.

 

she's a turd...and i hate turds

x2 very well said

 

I have done a fair bit of work on mine, but it hasn't let me down yet. It could really use some more ponies... and if it does give up the ghost soemday I'll swap in a 3.4 for sure.

 

My buddies 92 3.0 Xtracab will run away from my 22re powered standard cab.
I sure wouldn't mind having one.

 

I hate the 11 m.p.g. but the engine is solid. It's like others have said, it's not a race car. It has plenty of power to drive on the interstate & will get out of an intersection in city driving just fine.

Oh, b.t.w. it's bone stock.

 

i thought the 3.0L was a perfectly fine engine in my 1994 4runner with 33's on it. it had plenty of grunt to move the rig. ill tell you one thing though, once i got my 2000 with the 3.4L... world of difference. sorry... had to be honest.

 

Well, this is a pretty common phenomenon on Internet forums. The few people (in this case) who have problems get all excited and make a big stink about how terrible something is and give the impression that something rare is actually common. On the other side of this particular coin, the 3.0 isn't particularly powerful and doesn't get very good mileage, so people who don't have problems don't get excited in return and simply shrug and don't say much. But if you post a topic like this, most people come out and say "it's OK". Very few people are like 91ToyTruck. (he's gotta be nuts - I expect my motor to go a LONG way, but as much as I like the 3.slow if it ever dies something beefier is going in it's place!) The 3.0 is simply quiet (in a performance sense) and reliable. Nothing to get fired up about.

 

I would have to say love/hate as well. I think the key to buying a used 3.0 is to make sure that the previous owner took good care of it. It will run a long time with little to no maintenance because it is a Toyota but, when you get into the higher miles usually it will need at least a headgasket replacement, which to some can be pretty expensive. That being said, I just replaced the headgaskets on my 95 at 156k miles and 3k miles later it's running great. The mileage could be better but I figure I'm just paying a bit more in gas for Toyota dependability in the long run.

 

it was a good engine. it had good power for offroading, but for highway, forget about it. i saved up my penny's and with my moms help, i upgraded to a new taco with the 4.0 and all i have to say is wow. it feels like a porsche compared to the 3.0. however with 161,000 miles on it, its still solid, and i know whoever buys it, will not be dissapointed with it, unless they like to drag race.

 

Why bust my nuts ?

I don't have the money or another vehicle to have my truck sit for however long it takes tto do the 3.4L swap. I'm sure it's more expensive then rebuilding or buying a rebuilt 3.0L that requires no fab work to drop in, bolt up, and be back on the road.

Please correct me if I'm wrrong but most of the write-ups on the 3.4L swap are expensive and take more than a weekend. I would love to be shown otherwise. This would probably change my opinion on the subject matter at hand.

 

Probably cost the same either way.

 

My problem would be the cost and (more importantly) the time. I'm sure someone will chime in with some links to help me beteer understand. I have read a few write-ups and it just seems very expensive( more than 3.0 rebuild ) and a lot more downtime.

 

i would have to agree with 91toytrck. with the 3.4l u have to fab certain stuff but if you just get a rebuilt 3.0 then you dont have to worry about that its basically plug n play!

 

I like it. Its been good to me.

 

So you just got out and find a good salvage 3.0 and throw it in there when the one you got dies? hmmm ok--

That said I'm on my 2nd, and rebuilt 3.0, got 200k until some valves went out on the first... It's a solid engine. One thing to realize is that we are a an obsesive culture. A 3.0 V6 is plenty for off roading or doing whatever, but some have this vast need for a larger V6 or even a V8 when it really only marginally improves their situation.

 

I like the way mine sounds. It is WAY to expensive for a new one (I would know). A chevy or ford v8 is cheaper then a reman 3.0

 

I have no need for a V8 from anyy manufacture. I know they make kits but you still have to mess with all the wiring. I guess I'm just going to be one off the die hard 3.0L people. I just think it more practical to rebuild/add improvements then to swap out another engine, worry about the wiring harness, and worry about how and where everything else in the engine bay is going to be located.

Does that not make just as much sense to all those that want to swap engines? I'm sure this arguement could go on for pages, but I would rather talk in agreence about other things and ...

agree to disagree on the whole rebuild/swap engine topic.

 

Its been alright so far. Been driving around on it for about 5months. One thing I have noticed is that gas is much better than people say it is (but thats coming from someone who was dd'ing a gen 1 sbc camaro). If it ever goes I'm definatly either going to do a 3.4 for the power and better mileage or maybe even pick that inline 6, 11second supra motor up from that kid that flipped his car drunk a town over

 

I can say at least you are keeping it in the Toyota family. LOL