truckmike26

Oh, I forgot. I agree. Be 100 percent certain the distributor's in correctly. I've pulled distributors from various engines for various reasons over the years and, honestly, incorrectly re-installed them most of the time, no matter how many marks and reference points I've made. It's the first thing I re-check.

93runner223

i think im in love shes so purrrtyyy

dieselloco427

I have checked this about 3 times now - might even check it a 4th time, you can never check too many times!

I'm still having trouble getting the darn thing to idle without having the idle air flow screw unscrewed just about all of the way. I don't seem to have any vacuum leaks, the timing is set correct (10 degrees BTDC w/ TE1 & E1 jumped) and it drops to 8 degrees unjumped. The TPS has been replaced and reset. It idles at about 600 rpm, and according to the FSM it's supposed to be at 800rpm +/- 50rpm.

I've got about 25 miles on the unit now and haven't noticed much improvement in power, but I'm still working out the little details and once I'm comfortable with putting it on the dyno - the numbers will tell. Plus, I've gone from driving a 95 Pathfinder with the VG30E 24 valve DOHC V6 - which has much more get up than a 3VZE... but this isn't a Nissan forum, so I'm not going to bite into that lol.

Challenga

Looking good!!! It must be the flipflops!!

dieselloco427

Alright guys - I've been driving this thing for about a week now. Everything has been going well so far and I ended today with the first 150 miles on the engine. One thing I have noticed - this unit loves to go over 2,500 rpm. I don't let it go past 4,000 rpm - at least until the first 500 miles are over with. I did tow my trailer the other day (John Deere LX176, Honda HRX217, Stihl string trimmer, blower & 2 five gallon gas cans [full]) and I can definatly tell a difference when it comes to getting the extra thousand pounds moving. Of course it could be the fact that my last engine was just shot and had no power what so ever.

Jay351

my 3vze defantly feels like it hits almost a boost at 3,000rpm. I love it!

truckmike26

Looking at the photos, did you reconnect (or block off somehow) the A/C idle-up hose port on the intake from the air filter? That bare metal pipe in front is what it connects to and is nothing more than a fancy way of kicking up the idle when the A/C compressor clicks on. By mistake I've left mine disconnected a few times and had a crummy idle because of it.

DarrenDizz

Eager to see this red block in the rig... Good info to watch!!

dieselloco427

I reconnected that hose to the box on the air filter. I had just taken these pics before I had done so. That did give me crappy idle when I did the first startup. But now that everything is connected it seems to idle fine, even though the idle screw is almost fully un-screwed. Oh well.

Have you found the "turbo boost button" yet? It's that little button underneath the fan switch marked "A/C" turn it off when you're accelerating and the thing will haul a$$. LMAO

JR

Good Day Dieselloco427

How goes the battle, got all of the bugs out yet? Hopefully so! Dyno numbers might be nice but what do you think so far. If a Jacob's ignition can add 8HP you should have more than a couple of horsepower and torque increase. It should be an all around improvement.

Presently I am working on my own 1993 pickup. Have reshimmed the valves; Intake where not bad but the exhaust where really out. Hopefully exhaust valves did not get burnt, had about 150psi on all cylinders. What a pain in the ass to adjust, I now know why both Toyota dealers said that they never heard about adjusting the valves but call them when I need heads. Went to Fountain Tire / Goodyear and they said never heard of it but call them when I need new heads or a motor. Isn't odd that all these mechanics never heard about replacing the shims on these motors but they all said call them when I need new heads or a motor. Money eh! Replaced timing belt, water pump.

Transmission is out for clutch and leak. Exhaust manifolds are off waiting for headers. So once I get the transmission put back togetheir I will be able to reassemble and pray that it sarts right up.

Have a Great Day

truckmike26

FYI: My intake elbow off the throttle body had some minor cracks. Then, a week ago, I was re-installing the stock intake system and by doing that, it split wide open. The point is, I had a rumbley idle when in Drive for the last year-and-a-half and I now know why -- those small cracks in the intake elbow. I cleaned the throttle body thinking that was it but it didn't help. And there wasn't any check engine light for this old-tech EFI system. I jimmy-rigged it with household aluminium HVAC tape and it now idles almost Lexus-smooth.

The point? Time after time after time, it's almost always something really simple causing a frustrating problem.

Dorman has a replacement. It's lots cheaper than the $135 plus tax Toyota Canada wants.

I hope it's as good as O.E.: http://www.dormanproducts.com/p-1832...ymmeid=5503720

truckmike26

I forgot, after the tape fix, I had to turn the idle screw way back in to where it was before -- I turned it out lots to raise the bad, low idle.

dieselloco427

Mike - My elbow is fairly new. I still have yet to do the ISR mod, but I'm going to check all of the vacuum lines and intake tubing again for leaks. My TPS might be slightly off as well because I notice the transmission shifting like the TPS is disconnected or malfunctioning - going to check that again too.

Dyno numbers will be coming shortly. My connection to the dyno is on vacation for the next couple weeks.

I did just get my exhaust welded up. Cherry Bomb high flow cat and a Flowmaster Delta 40 muffler - all 2.5" pipe. It sounds pretty nice and, honestly it feels like theres a little more power now that there is a complete exhaust.

Exhaust clip:

I couldn't get the embedded video to work for some reason...

toyota4x4907

Wow. Great looking rig and engine. Amazing sounding exhaust!

dieselloco427

Thanks I'm going to recruit a friend to help me do a drive-by video sometime, and of course I'll record it on the dyno as well.

KBump

Might a Newbie ask as to how much cabbage this set ya back? Im all about a 3.4 swap but my wallet isn't at this point. Thanks

stormin94

Cool thread. Looking forward to dyno results!!!

dieselloco427

I think I've spent just around $3,500 USD. The longblock itself was $2,750. After I get the rig on the dyno that will definatly tell whether or not it is worth the extra cash for a 3VZ-E SS or just to do a 5VZ-E swap.

truckmike26

I still maintain the 3VZ-E cams are what hold it back (the head gasket discussion is, I hope, dead and gone forever, now) power-wise.

For all the expense and on-going hassels of swapping and re-engineering everything, a pair of from-scratch 3VZ-E cams and 10:1 or-so custom pistons should bring this engine to what the 5VZ-E is, maybe more. And I'll mention it again, if you compare the numbers displacement-wise, the 3VZ-E beats the old 5.0L Mustang in horsepower, 225 HP, and matches it in torque, 300 ft-lbs. That is, a 5.0L 3VZ-E should make 250 HP and 294 ft.-lbs. of torque, all else being equal. The sole reason for this comparison is the two engines share the same intake manifold design. Yet, the 3VZ-E has the advantage of a lightwight OHC valvetrain so the possibilities are un-descovered. I remember at one point the late Downey Off-Road had re-ground 3.0L cams but no company with any good reputation made some from-scratch cams.

catodon

Okay, so cam and pistons, if you can find them. What do you do about the intake and ECU?