well i took my head off and found that there was a nut that somehow got into the pistons and totally jacked everything up... so now im wondering what would be worth doing,,, buying a new car.. which i dont have the money for right now.. or putting in a 3.4L from the 96 and up.. can anybody give me some suggestions...thanks

 

In my opinion the total cost of one option would be comparable to the other.

 

Depends on the mileage on your engine; if it's relatively low, just rebuild it. I would say if you can't afford a newer car, you probably wouldn't be able to afford the 3.4 swap, unless you know someone that's got a 3.4 for cheap. I just priced a low mileage 3.4 yesterday from a salvage yard in Texas for $1300, not including shipping. Yikes.

 

i did the 3.4L swap well it came with the truck its alot better than that 3.slow i had

 

correction: 95.5 and up

 

ok thats just bein a smartass

 

haha

How bad did it mess things up? Dinged up piston? Scrapped up the cylinder walls? Bent a valve? If it doesn't look like a nome with a jack-hammer was playing around in the cylinder, I'd say just rebuild her; if it's the 3.0, it may be overdue for the HG job anyway. If just the valves or piston are messed up, those are replaceable. But if the cylinder walls are pretty scared up beyond what looks being able to bore or hone out, I would just see about getting a junk yard 3.0 to drop in, seeing how money is tight like you say... I've been in that situation, so I know how that is...

But if you come across the extra cash, I would say yes, opt for the 3.4 swap. It's a little more work, but you'll be happy with it in the end.

 

well it cost me 500 bucks to rebuild my 3.0 and it runs great, but i really want a 1uzfe, so im savin up the cash to do that swap.. 3.0's are cheap to rebuild....

 

Im in kinda the same delema. Im going to rebuild my 3.0 despite all of the problems they are known for. If I find a 1998 like I want with the bigger engine, its going to be easier to sell the 91 with the original engine and not some swapped in engine(unless you find a offroader with appreciation for it) even though the 3.4 is a good engine, my 3.slow has 330,000 miles on her and still runs(on 5 cylinders its still better than the 22re) without any prior maintenance....why would I put anything else back in?

 

The cylinder head is pretty jacked up and so is the piston, but it doesnt look like the walls are bad which is good, thank god, but i was doing some looking up on rebuilds, and a remanufactured head and it seems pretty reasonable, im just tired of having no power and getting 9 miles a gallon, but maybe if i do the whole rebuild then it should be almost good to new, the truck has 140k miles on it but the motor was just rebuilt and has about 10k on it, then the head gasket blew and thats where everything went wrong.... go figure

 

ditto, minus the rebuild. My 3.slow is chugging along at 150k, and im saving for the 1UZFE swap asap. displacement: 3.4 vs 4.0? 4.0l lexus wins! 6 cyl or 8? do I really have to answer myself? Look into it. get a band-aid engine or do the repair until the economy picks up a bit Otherwise, it'll be like a grand for the engine (750 on ebay) and a few grand more for the imported components. Seems the aussies will stick damn near anything in their precious hiluxs.

 

BTW, the best thing I've done for my 3.slow so far is help it breathe better. The damn OEM intake is so stupid its sad. Unfortunately, they never considered the possibility of a larger diameter throttle body sensor, so only a smart intake system will really do anything for us. Not like its been night and day, but I got a couple miles per gallon and real world horsepower (not to mention the best part of the sound of my truck!) out of my S&B cold air intake. I got mine from ebay but from an authorized retailer. I got mine shipped a few parts short, but they were really good about sending the stuff quickly. The only real remedy for our infamous 3.slow is a swap, however.

 

Has anybody considered this....?
http://www.doaracingengines.com/page7/page7.html
They have taken all the things wrong with this engine and beefed everything up. And a few choices to go along with it.
Simple swap , stock HP or higher,and all the problems fixed. Same price as all the other swaps, no hassle, and can do any add ons you like. Win Win win

 

do a search on here and you will find many a yotatecher that is unhappy with the service, or will flat out REFUSE to have anything to do with DOA...

 

Thats like calling the european fecal matter and standards and having them come polish your turd

 

The 3.4 is indeed a good engine from what i have experienced with it. We have a 99' 3.4 auto and it is pretty quick. Needless to say, when my 3.0 goes out, im gonna 3.4 swap it. That is my plan

 

look at my signature i got my whole rebuild on there mechanic dropped a washer in mine. the rebuild wasn't bad if you follow directions and can remember little details its easy. i got all my prices on there 2. the swap is expensive if your going to swap anything screw the 3.4 and go 4.3 sry to say it its a bigger more powerful CHEAPER motor!

 

HAHAHAHHAHHA, if you read it slowly its really funny.

 

Yeah, but then you have part Toyota, part Chevrolet.

It ends up coming out a Toylet.