I changed my oil last weekend and noticed a knock in the engine that wasn't there before. Checked my radiator and the anti-freeze was lower than several weeks ago when I last checked. I'm thinking that the two may be the beginning of the death throes for my 3vze. But my wife and I are both in grad school right now as well as teaching full-time, so a 3rd gen or a 4th gen are not in the picture.

I'm thinking a simple rebuild before it implodes would be the cheapest and easiest. But I've always want one of those turbocharged, intercooled, 3.0L diesels from Aus, Eng, or Jap. 'Cept the last one I saw on Ebay was asking $2600 (he never got it). What do you guys think about either idea? What would it take to swap in the diesel? How much $$?

 

i'm in the same boat. my 3vze is on it's last legs. i'm still between rebuilding my 3vze or swapping another engine. but a turbo diesel would be awesome. if you find any information, please post it. i'm definitely interested in any ideas.

btt

 

Here's one on ebay right now. I emailed the guy for info on the wiring harness, etc.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...tem=2461270113

His price is pretty stiff though ($2600). Especially since you can get the other engines he sells MUCH cheaper.

 

The diesels are cool but be sure they are legal for the swap.
Some states don't allow a diesel swap because of environmental reasons.
There is a reason why they were not sold here.....an it's not performance or reliability.
Just check to be sure.

 

Whats kind of weird is all the posts about getting a rebuild or swap done have all been on rigs that are the same, or close to the age my rig is...hopefully my engine is OK

Maybe I should start taking it a little easier on the old 3.slow these days, even though its only got about 130k on it...I really hope it lasts another 100k or so...

Fink

 

http://www.jarcoinc.com/inventory/ is a company in Atlanta that always has diesels.
http://www.sr5.net/bbs/index.sht is a Toyota truck board with a lot of diesel info.
I have wanted to swap a diesel in my 94 also. My thought was to drive to Costa Rica, get one from a junk yard and swap it there, then drive home. Should be a direct swap I think.
The rough roads there trash vehicles in only a couple of years, but the engines should just be broken in. A guy I work with goes down there every couple months to train rescue groups. He is checking into see how many 3.0 diesels are in the junk yard. He drives to Costa Rica from NC with a trailer of equipment that comes back empty.

 

How big is his trailer? Hmmm, group buy???

 

Chris...Definitely find out about Costa Rica. I've also thought about going down there for a 3.0 diesel. We would probably need the entire front clip with wiring harness, computer, etc. Also from C.R. it would probably be cheaper that the $2600 that eBay'er is asking.

 

I'm gonna say that since the toyota diesels are built by Hino, drop down to a Hino dealer and see what they have or can get. The 3.o turbo diesel was in trucks that were imported to Canada and I'm sure that they must be able to get them down in the states. It's an idea at least. I'm also looking at doing the diesel mod.