Has anyone done any really mods to their 3.0 V6 that actually gain HP or torque? I'm really interested in getting a set of cams.

 

Your going to hear this time and time again. Unless you plan to sink some serious cash into the 3.0 your not getting crap out of it. You'd have way more into than it's worth. Do a swap if you truely want some more power. Offroad solutions is now producing a complete 3.4 swap kit. If your not into going that far do what's in my sig line. If your still stuck on doing internal mods check out DOA engines. They build some wicked Yota engines for some wicked $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

 

unfortunately a 3.4L swap is not in my budget. i do miss my 3.4L i had in my taco & 4runner. anyways, i'm at the point that i may just rebuild the engine stock so it will be reliable for another 200K miles!!!

 

Yes what UK said is accurate.

Intake (ISR mod too), headers, exhaust, fans.

That's where I would start with the 3.0.

 

Might I add the Taurus Fan? It does a take the power getting wasted turning the fan and allows it to go the wheels instead.
My .02

 

Ah..but Seafarin'...
Where does the Taurus fan get its energy?
The battery.
Where does the battery get its energy?
The alternator.
Where does the alternator get its energy?
The engine.


Same place the belt driven fan gets its energy. Do the Taurus mod because you're tired of hearing the roar, or because it will continue to cool after you've shut off the vehicle. But not because you'll get more ponies, because you won't.

The Law of Conservation of Energy states that there is no such thaing as a free lunch.

Especially on a 3.0.

 

The best thing you can do on a 3.0 is scrap the stock exhaust manifolds!!!! THe right side manifold joins the left side manifold via the crossover along the firewall and then exits thru a separate outlet ! The exhaust does not flow well at all. I installed a set of Downey headers and Downey's 2.5" cat back system on my reg cab pickup and was very impressed with the power gain!!!
I was running a set of 33" with a 4" lift and 4.56 ratio and she honked !!!!!

 

Ya but here's the difference. The electric fan never comes on unless you sit in traffic forever, where as even when the stock fan wasn't engaged it was still spinning and using up power.

 

Good observation.
But the stock fan also has a thermal clutch, albeit slow acting. Even though you hear it come on in the driveway when you start, it releases after a while because the engine is cool. The same is true for the highway.

 

Ya but like I said even when it's disengaged there's still a belt spinning a 16 lb plastic fan. It's freewheeling but its still drag on the engine.

 

yeah, i saw that. i helped building another 3.0 V6 that we are putting into cornbred's wife's 4runner. i didn't like the plumbing at all.

at this point, i have a black magic electric fan that i need to wire up. i'll be ordering atleast a set of headers. i might order the cams. as for the throttle body, i may hold off til fall since that would be an easy swap.

 

I have to agree with UK here. Even if the thermal clutch is disengaged on the stock fan, it still has to turn the small pulley that bolts up to it.

And, if we are going to talk physics here, let's not forget the moment of intertia, which, no matter how minimal - is always a factor with the stock fan.

Performance is improved with electric fans. And with the Taurus/Sable fans as a viable option, its well worth it too.

 

I agree that the electric fans are better technology and that the clutches on the stock fans rarely freewheel completely. But how much power loss are we talking about here? Maybe 1%?

What I haven't heard, from either the Black Magic converts (which I've considered) or the Taurus converts (also considered) is any seat of pants feelings or gas mileage increases.

What I do know is that, the simple engine driven fan has never let my engine overheat on trail, in town, or in a traffic jam. When I hear a preponderance of anectdotal evidence about electric fans, then I'll at least look again at doing the swap.

Seafain' & '96, have you actually noticed any difference in performance or gas mileage?

 

I think most of us would agree that we did this mod for performance reasons, and not to curb overheating. We now know that for towing, the stock fan is the best route. It simply pulls more CFM.

I see your points gwayhawkduke. I track my gas mileage to the thousandth decimal place...the problem is, when I did the fans, I did a bunch of other mods too. So, I really cant tell if the fans were directly responsible for my .5MPG avg increase from when I bought the 4Runner.

The performance gain is not stunning. But its there. The best way to describe it, is that my 4Runner seems more eager to rev, and initial tip-in throttle response seems quicker - especially from a stop light where the stock fan would have been engaged due to heat.

So, the noticeable gains are situational IMO. Where the stock fan might be a drag (no pun intended) the electric fans will shine. Know what I mean? Also, my 3.4 is much easier to work on due to the freed up space.

The $200 I dropped on my FLX 210's was worth it, however I may have opted for the Taurus mod had I known about it.

 

I can't track my mileage because everything is in liters and I'm too lazy to convert it but after I did the fan, and airbox mod I got 30 more miles to my first tank of gas and I consistently get 15-20 more miles a tank. So ya I think it helped.

 

It is hard for me to say whether I have gained a lot of power or gas mileage with the Taurus Fan because it is the 3rd electric fan that I have installed in my truck since 2000. The first two were Hayden 16"(POS~these don't last very long at all!) fans which did a marginal job at best of cooling the beast. If I remember correctly I did notice a fairly noticible "seat of the pants" sensation of acceleration. However, since I carry at least 200lbs of recovery gear/tools/5 gallons of gas and water, and have custom bumpers and sliders as well as a winch, and a non-aerodynamic roofrack with 4 large lights on top, I think that it is a moot point. Now on a "normal" rig I think that it would make a big difference.