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This is the story of my engine rebuild on my 1992 Toyota Pickup DLX 3.0L V6 (3VZE). I bought this truck from a friend in 2002 when it had about 90,000 miles. It had the head gasket recall done at 60,000 miles and a valve job done at the same time. It was a good strong engine when I bought it but over the years it has gradually declined in power. I changed the timing belt in 2008 at 156,000 miles plus the water pump and the top (water inlet) idler pulley. It was my daily driver until 2005 and now is just used for hunting and backpacking trips and when I need to haul bulky things. I really like the truck and have kept it in good shape but the power decline has become intolerable as it has a hard time maintaining even 60 mph over mountain passes. I'm 69 and retired and I don't really have the funds for a newer truck. I've rebuilt three other engines over the years and still have the tools and skills necessary to do this. Physically I'm in decent shape but I don't want to be crawling under vehicles very much longer. The last engine I did was my 1989 Toyota 22RE 15 years ago and I still remember the satisfaction at how well it ran after the rebuild. So it made sense to me to do this rebuild now. My goals were to:
1. Restore power and possibly augment it a bit.
2. Make it reliable for at least 10 more years or 30,000 to 50,000 miles
3. Renew or rebuild anything that might fail in that time period so I wouldn't have to fix anything in my old age
4. Give it a bit of a "shine" to reflect some pride of ownership
I pulled the engine and disassembled it. The hardest tasks were removing the crank and camshaft sprocket nuts. Youtube and this site helped me out a lot. I took the heads and flywheel to a machine shop for resurfacing and a valve job. The valves were much worse than I thought. Only two intakes could be salvaged and I had to buy ten new valves. The cylinders, on the other hand, looked pretty decent. The original honing marks were still visible almost all the way up to the top of the cylinder. There was just a barely perceptible ridge to be removed. I decided to just rehone and install new rings. The bearings were also not too bad. The crankshaft journals miked to within specs so just new standard sized bearings were installed. I used Hastings chrome-moly rings and Sealed Power bearings and thrust washers. A new Aisin oil pump was installed. The engine was reassembled with Toyota factory gaskets and seals. I had the machine shop do the valve clearances. New Beck-Arnley head bolts were used. I had one camshaft cap bolt strip which I had to helicoil.
I sent the fuel injectors out to be cleaned, tested and rebuilt at Mr Injector in Cour d'aLene Idaho. The PCV and EGR valves were both bad and were replaced. I got a new knock sensor wire plus new Denso plugs, wires, distributor cap and rotor. I changed the fuel filter and the starter contacts. A new Aisin clutch kit was installed. The timing belt looked perfect and wasn't renewed.
I decided to install Doug Thorley headers while I had the opportunity of better access. I was planning on leaving the original studs in the heads rather than using the supplied bolts as per the recommendation of someone on this site but I couldn't squeeze the driver's side on. I used bolts on that side and studs on the passenger side. The supplied mounting tubes for the reed and EGR valves worked without cutting. I did have to grind down the top compression sleeve for the EGR to get enough threads exposed on the EGR to get it to screw on. I was able to move the brake lines away but the fuel lines are still awfully close to those hot tubes. I used reflective asbestos tape to shield everything as best I could. The other issue is that the exhaust tubes are too heavy a gauge for the exhaust clamps to have any effect without stripping the threads as you try to tighten them. They are probably going to need to be welded.
Putting everything back together seemed to take forever but at my age I'm a slow worker I'm glad I took pictures and labeled the vacuum hoses. Finally, though, I filled it with break-in oil and Zerox Asian antifreeze. Thanks to the new starter contacts the engine cranked very strongly and started right up. Oil pressure was good and there were no visible oil, water, fuel, or exhaust leaks. It took a while with several shut down and restarts to get the air out of the cooling system. I set the timing to 12 degrees BTDC. My fan clutch had frozen up so i ordered a new Aisin part and installed it.
Best of all, I got my power back! It runs and feels like a new truck. I'm very pleased. I'm doing some detailing and having my SmittyBuilt bull bar repowdercoated to show some love. I'm going to get a new catback exhaust system with a Magnaflow muffler to get a few more hp out of her.
I should add that the truck had 184,000 miles at the time of the rebuild and that the engine parts and machine work totalled $3100 (machine work was $750 and headers $639). Sandblasting and powdercoating the bumper was $275. Exhaust and Magnaflow muffler was $450.
The previous owner had put the Smittybilt front bumper on and did not install the lower shroud/airdam. I have always considered adding one and finally bought a cheap one off ebay. The Smittybilt has brackets for the bolts but using them causes the shroud to bend too much at the corners making an unsightly gap. The solution would to drill and tap holes in the bottom of the bumper tube itself and use those for the outer mounting bolts. I may do that if I get time.
There was a 1990's era Pioneer cassette radio deck in the truck which distorted badly if turned up enough to hear at speed. I've kept it this long only because it's the last place I can play my old cassettes. I decided I needed something better that also had Bluetooth for my phone so I bought a Sony WX-900BT double-din unit from Crutchfield. It has about 7 times the power of the old Pioneer which is plenty to drive a pair of 6.5 inch Polk db6500 speakers I've had lying around for several years - they barely fit. The sound is now awesome! I haven't installed the crossover and tweeters yet and I don't want a subwoofer.
The Magnaflow muffler has a really nice sound - not too loud around town and not too harsh when I open it up. I made sure to get a stainless steel extension because the plain steel tip on the old exhaust rusted and fell off on a trip causing the exhaust to melt the taillight lens and housing, fusing the wiring together and burning the paint off the quarter panel.
Here's an update after three years and 9,000 miles:
The engine continues to run smooth and powerful (well, for a 3VZE). It idles smoothly and there are no oil leaks at all. I've made several hunting trips to Eastern Washington over Cascade mountain passes and one trip to Eastern Oregon. Hauling a bed full of gear and a lightweight teardrop trailer it will burn 1/2 quart of oil in a 1000 mile roundtrip when the trip includes a mountain pass. Around town and local trips it burns no oil at all (at least in 3000 miles - I change oil annually).
Now for a story on how not to do your maintenance:
I've changed the front disc brake pads and calipers more than once in my ownership and the rotors once. I had never done anything with the rear drums because in my experience they last forever if you don't routinely haul heavy loads in your bed. But creeping up on 200,000 miles I thought I should at least have a look at them. I also had on hand a set of brake shoes I bought for a previous truck and never used. So I pulled the rear drums and had a look. As I suspected the shoes had plenty of material left. I did notice, however, that the right side had the beginnings of some oil intrusion from the axle. This was the beginning of our far too brief summer and I had other projects lined up and I didn't want to think about axle bearings and seals at this point in time so I decided to try a stopgap measure. I found a product called Hapco Pro-Seal which claimed to stop leaks in differentials, axles and transmissions.. I replaced the brake shoes and wheel cylinders and cleaned everything up then added 4 ounces of the product to the differential. I figured that later in the fall, after hunting season, I would deal with the axle seals and bearings. After buttoning everything up I took a 100 mile roundtrip. In the latter part of the trip I started smelling gear oil. When I got home I looked under the truck and found the entire rear half covered in gear oil! It was like oil was was coming out of every part of the differential and axle. Apparently the product had done the opposite of what it advertised and destroyed any existing seal.
Lesson learned: don't do stopgaps.
Now for the second fail:
Okay, I know now that I have to replace the axle bearing seals, probably the bearings also, and the differential input flange seal. I don't have a hydraulic press. I have never done axle seals or bearings before. Could I possibly do this? On to Youtube and watch as many videos as I can to see if this is possibly within my capabilities. After viewing a bunch of videos I was encouraged. Tally Ho! I ordered a complete set for replacing axle bearings and seals plus an input flange seal for the differential. The axle seals and bearings replacement went smoothly. My Dremel tool cut the axle collars and they pounded off with little effort. A three foot piece of angle iron pounded the new ones on nicely. On to the differential input seal. The videos said to count the number of revolutions to unscrew the nut from the shaft. Okay, done. Then remove the existing seal. Done. Replace the seal. I was happy to have a big socket which matched the size of the seal to hammer the new seal home. Tap tap tap and done. Now reinstall the input flange and nut. Here's where thing thing went awry. Counting the number of turns, before the nut lined up with it's previous position, it tightened up. Hmmm. I read/saw that the crush collar will not crush under 90 ft/lbs of torque. Okay, so crank it up. At 90 ft/lbs it was still not lined up so I stopped and pinned it there. Hook up the driveshaft, fill it with gear oil and try it out. I took a 40 mile roundtrip. Near the end I was smelling hot oil and it was feeling "gritty". When I got home and looked underneath it was HOT!
This was the time to call in the experts.
I went to a local 4x4 offroad shop and they said I'd have to get on the schedule, it would be a week or two and it would probably cost above a $1000. Hmmm. I then found Zuk on this forum, emailed him, he gave me a price, said he could do it right away, and after looking at his site and seeing his attention to detail, decided he was my man. I removed my third member, packaged it up as per his excellent instructions, and sent it off. He got it on Friday, started work on Monday, and kept me informed on progress via text and photos over my phone.
My gears were in good shape. He replaced all the bearings and seal. I reinstalled it today and all looks good. I feel really good and confident now about my rear end. I have had both axle bearings and a differential go out on cross country trips and trust me you don't want that to happen.
My main takeaway is... You can go over a mountain pass at 60??? I just took a road trip out west with my 22re and I was going over some of those passes in 3rd at 45mph
The rear schocks were Rancho RS5000's and had close to 100,000 miles on them so I decided they were due for replacement.
I went with Rancho RS5000X's which are gas-filled. So far I am loving them.
My tires had plenty of tread left but they were over 10 years old so I wanted to replace them. I got Goodyear Wrangler All Terrains again but this time with the addition of Kevlar.
The old 60/40 bench seat was getting uncomfortable for this old man so I got a pair of Corbeau Baja RS seats. Major improvement!
Finally, I painted my wheels. I'm done for this year.
Last edited by hidesert; 09-03-2020 at 02:30 PM.
Reason: additions
I’m blown away at all the work you have completed on your own. Great work sit. The truck looks great. What do you think of the seats ? I am debating those as well. I’m 6’1 and worry with the bracket they will be to tall ?
I too went with the magnaflow muffler and cat and I like the outcome some far.
I just got back from a 2 week hunting trip where I traveled every day on some pretty rough roads.
I love the Corbeaus! The bolstering kept me from being thrown from side to side as happened on the bench seat. The result was I was much less fatigued at the end of the day.
There is not much change in the height of the seat - maybe a tad higher. I'm 5' 9" with a long torso and my head still has plenty of clearance. The big change is having to duck more entering to get over the high side bolster.
I appreciate the reply. I use my truck mostly for hunting also. Well that and taking the dogs to the park. The bench in there is getting to me. Especially the lack of cup holders. I would like to use that center space for a cup holder or two.
where did you order them from ? Direct ?
They look great I was also thinking of going black.
I ordered direct from Corbeau. You want to carefully measure the spacing of the bolts in your existing brackets because there are three different brackets for the 89-95 Toyotas. I emailed their customer service to confirm the correct brackets.
I built my own center console which includes a secure cupholder for my tall YETI insulated coffee cup.
I went hunting in an area on the East side of the Cascades in Washington. No, I was not successful in that muzzleloader season but I'm going next week again to a different area for the modern firearm season.
Thanks for the info. The lack of cup holders has me down. Did you measure from the center of each bolt ?
I just ordered all the AC components for my ride. Compressor, evap, condenser, dryer. The whole thing. Mine is not holding coolant so I figured it’s 25 years old. Do it once and do it right. I’m 1500 miles after my rebuild. So far so good. 200k. Just did the body mounts and all the coolant hoses. It’s been a monster build. A money pit. But I guess I love it.
Mule deer archery season is the month of oct here in Texas. Rifle for whitetail and mule deer is in nov/dec.
Yeah, center to center front to back and side to side for both seats.
I'm going after Mule deer which is difficult here in Washington because there is a 3 point (each side) minimum. I saw younger bucks and does but none shootable.
06-11-2017, 03:17 PM
I'm glad I took pictures and labeled the vacuum hoses. Finally, though, I filled it with break-in oil and Zerox Asian antifreeze. Thanks to the new starter contacts the engine cranked very strongly and started right up. Oil pressure was good and there were no visible oil, water, fuel, or exhaust leaks. It took a while with several shut down and restarts to get the air out of the cooling system. I set the timing to 12 degrees BTDC. My fan clutch had frozen up so i ordered a new Aisin part and installed it.
