new guy w/3.0 performance questions
 

I am the proud new owner of a 1994 4 runner w/3.0 and auto tranny. The runner is undergoing a ton of suspension and accessory modifications but i'm not sure what's worth doingto the motor. the first few things i'm ready to go are:
k&n F.I.P.K. air intake
D.O.A throttle body and injectors
headers and exhaust (waiting to see what happens on the new thorley's)

any input would be appreciated

mike

To be honest, this topic has been talked about to death. However, the consensus is, you can't do much at all to the engine to get any power that's amazing without dropping a TON of money on it. I'm sure that there are a couple people here that can point you in the right direction.

Welcome. Stay away from DOA. Do a search here and you'll find out why. Exhuast and intake are great places to start. As far as the FIPK goes, you are better off doing the ISR mod (search) with a drop in K&N filter. You'll get the same performance at a fraction of the cost.

Hey chicken, who did your t-body work

Downey. It's only 3mm over. I'd like to go bigger.

Hold off on getting the k&n F.I.P.K. air intake (like i am) and wait for this https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f116/who-wants-mods-3-0-a-60936/

i am obsessive and compulsive and need goodies right now!

yea so am i but look at it this way...if your lucky, the K&N only adds 3 HP and costs more than $200.
Now if CP-E is successful at this MAFci conversion it should add 20+ HP and cost roughly around $400. Thats a much better money to power ratio and worth the wait in my opinion.

Ok from my experience it sounds like you're going in the right track. Better breathe-ability for the engine. If you're looking for just bolt on or swap out parts you've hit the nail on the head:

Headers, high flow cat, new 2.25" piping, muffler, drop-in K&N, ISR mod, and bored TB.

If you have the time, patiences, tools, desire then:

All of the above plus, yank the heads (port and polish is up to you), over sized valves, better flowing fuel injectors, custom fab the y-pipe for the headers don't buy the pre-fabbed ones, upgraded ignition like Jacobs or MSD.

Better breathe-ability, more fuel, more spark more power. Definitely research the D.O.A. stuff. Not to many happy customers here. I hope I remembered everyhing from my research.

-=Morphine=-

The 2 main probs with our motor is the lack of breathability and low compression. The breathing you can fix as Morphine said but IMO go the whole 9 yards and get the intake, headers, car, 2.25" pipe, catback bored TB...if you've got the money and time 1-2 weeks depending on how quick you are and who does the work...then yank the heads and put in OS valves and port and polish the heads and intake plenum and manifold. The compression you can't do much for, you can shave the heads and block a tiny bit (couple ten thousandths if I remember right) before it starts to screw up the timing belt, cam sprocket crank sprocket alignment stuff...kinda hard to under stand but i've heard it can be bad.

Don't waste your money on the K&N. Seriously. There are other, less expensive ways to open up the air intake. What more important to understand is that none of them will really make much of a difference by themselves. You need to combine the air intake mod with some headers, with some exhaust mods to really feel any difference. Mine pulls much better after all the mods I've done, but IMO, it's still a dog. I question the worth of doing all the stuff I've done to the engine to try to get better performance.

Doing engine mods like those listed above invariably leads to additional complications -- in particular with the headers. Some people report frying the starter; others burn through the emergency brake; I've personally melted three speedo cables in less than two years. It's a PITA trying to route everything around the headers making sure nothing gets too close to them to get incinerated. The additional heat in the engine bay created by headers has also played a role in some of the over heating issues I've had. I upgraded to a 3 core radiator, installed a heavy duty fan clutch, and I've considered adding an oil cooler and other mods to try to off set the scorching heat of the desert summers here in AZ and the extra heat caused by the headers.

My opinion -- do some basic, cheap engine mods and sink your money into off-road enhancements. The 3.0L engine will never be a go-getter no matter how much money you throw at it, and the complications you're likely to encounter as the result of the mods make it a losing proposition.

Ed

Hey Ed,
Are you having problems with your passenger side header at the floor board? Mine has litterally burned a hole in the carpet there and melted the corner of my floor mat. Oh, and don't feel too bad, I've fried one tranny kickdown cable and a spark plug wire.
:bigok:

Not on mine, but others have related the same problem. It took alot of effort on installation to try to move as much of the header away from stuff that it would burn -- a futile task, it turns out. The guy who did the install (my mechanic) did some creative bending to keep it off of the floor board while maintaining integrity of the pipes. It's a tight fit. Add tranny kick-down cable to my list of casualties, too.

Ed

Thanks for all the info guys! Being the junky that I am, I bought and installed the K and N air system and also did a Magnaflow cat back system today. I will say there is a noticeable power difference. Not supercharger power, but a respectable difference, not to mention it sounds way better as well. Any mods beyond this seem like a definate compromise in reliability.
Can anybody give me feedback on ignition sysems?

MSD ProStreet Kit was dyno proven to give 10hp at the rear wheels over brand new OEM stuff. And this was only at 3800rpm where the dyno run stopped...(they should have gone to redline!!) Add that to your mod list.

Bored over TB shouldnt compromise anything...

I have the FIPK, 2.25" catback, free flow cat, port and polished upper intake plenum. For tipping the scales right at 5000lbs I can still do 0-60 in about 13.8 or so...

keep in mind there ARE several turbo 3vze's running around. IMO the 3vze is a damn good motor and not worthy of the dogging it recieves here and elsewhere.

Bumpin', I love what you've done to your 'Runner, but honestly, how much money have you put into the engine mods? It sounds like you have definitely choosen a better path than I did to get performance and your investment sounds like it has been better money spent. I wish you lived closer -- I'd really like to take your vehicle for a spin to compare it with mine. I know you have a MAF mod in the works and that will gain you even more HP, but do you have any idea how much HP you're getting at the wheels at this point?

I'm wondering (and this is really my point) with the amount of $$ you have in that engine if it wouldn't be a better spent on a 3.4L swap or just buying a 3rd gen 4Runner outright. After driving around in my new (to me) '97 4Runner, I'm convinced that there's no way I could do enough mods to my 3.0L engine to get it even close to the HP the 3.4L is putting out stock.

I could be wrong -- like I said, I like your approach for the mods you've done to your engine. Maybe we can look at it this way -- my mods are a good example of what NOT to do; yours are a better example of what works best. But as we can see from the OP post above, he's already heading down the wrong path and going against the advice of nearly everyone on this board and installed the K&N FIPK, anyway. This, to me, is part of the problem -- there is so much information about so many different mods to the 3.0L engine that it's hard to tell which ones are worth while and which are money wasters. It's my guess that the OP will start tossing money into modding this engine and then wonder why it still sucks.

Ed

I bought this 4runner about three weeks ago with no delusions of 3.0 power. I just like a 2nd gen and would prefer to keep it all 2nd gen. My main concern is to start compensating for the larger tire size and additional weight soon to come. I would definately be interested in a turbo if it were reliable. Who is making one for the 3vze.

Larger tire size is usually best compensated for by re-gearing. Now THAT's a worthwhile mod I did that I have no regrets about what-so-ever. What size tire are you running?

Ed

Cmon now Bumpin ya gotta give credit where credit is due...
Its was a "Jacobs" Pro street kit not "MSD".....
Dyno run

I noticed that you guys that are having the probs with melting cables, burning carpet, overheating etc. are running Downeys...could this be a design flaw in the Downey header? I have the NWOR headers and haven't had any of the probs and only needed to bend my brake line about .75" to not contact the header pipe...I'm also running much lower temps due to the headers pulling the heat out of the engine bay, I'm running all stock cooling system with just a bottle of water wetter added (I was running before the headers, so that didn't make the diff).
Mike as far as bigger tires go regearing is the way to go...I'm running 34s on stock 4.10s and although I can still drive around town and on the freeway up to 80 fine I find that offroad is where the screwed up gearing really hurts.