well i am on the hunt for my donor engine and i found one and was wondering what key points to focus on when inpecting and evaluating the 3.4 engine before purchase. im gonna do compression check(wut should this be!) and pop a valve cover. i would like to do a leakdown test but have no idea how. what do you guys think the engine is from a 2000 auto and is going into a manual truck-despite having to drill the block for the dipstick- i should be ok with the auto wiring harness cause the plugs for the auto and manual ecu are the same hence the change in 2000 to universal plugs. correct me if im wrong-please.....

 

The plugs on the computer end may be the same, but the plugs on the tranmission end wont be. Its not a big deal, but just be prepared to read some ewd's and cut up your old harness for the transmission plugs (reverse light and 4wd light)

 

Your checklist so far seems pretty good.

I assume the motor is out of the vehicle? Has it been stored inside or outside? Covered or not?

Check the block for bad bolt holes. For example, make sure all the motor mounts attachment points are there with nothing broken. If involved in a hard wreck,.... damage can occur.

I doubt if the owner would let you, but if you could pull the pan and check for sludge or just the general condition of the oil that would be great as well.

 

engine is still in vehicle and the owner said i can do whatever i want as long as i leave it as i found it. does anyone know what compression on the 3.4 is and what is acceptable? and they should be within wut % of eachother?

yeh im gonna have to look at all the probable things that are associated with a wrecked truck. ive done similar work on vehicles in the past but i have never worked on a toyota at all! kinda funny i bought the truck needing a motor and this is how i ended up here. im tryin to do the swap with the purchase of the truck for 4gs. paid 1250 for truck. once i get a motor and get it in the works ill b sure to keep yall updated. thanks guys if there anything else yall can think of post it here.

 

Straight from the FSM:


Compression pressure:
at 250 rpm STD: 1,200 kPa (12.2 kgf/cm2, 174 psi) or more
Minimum: 1,000 kPa (10.2 kgf/cm2, 145 psi)
Difference of pressure between each cylinder: 100 kPa (1.0 kgf/cm2, 15 psi) or less