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just picked up a 1991 Toyota Odyssey. its running the 3.slow and auto trans. i did a tune up to get the thing running decent enough to take out a couple times before i start a refresh over the winter. not expecting a racecar by any means but it cant get out of its own way. hills are a joke, can barely do 95km/hr down the highway. fuel mileage is approx 200kms to a tank so poor aswell.
i was originally looking at a 3.4 swap this winter. power gains seem to be minimal. my buddy is suggesting we try a 5.3 swap. has anyone here done a similar swap? this is basically just a dually 2wd 91 pickup so anything pickup/4runner should be fairly similar.
or any other recommended swaps? i was toying around with the om617 or possibly tdi swap but while reliable in stock form once modded to get some more power they seem to lose a fair bit of the reliabilty.
the 5.3 seemed like a decent choice as its got good power in stock form, wont be working as hard as a 3.4 would be, lots of torque, parts readily available and i can pick up a decent donor through local auction for cheap.
me and the wife are building this for a trip down the pan-american in 2022 and then a cross canada trip the year after so reliability is a major selling point for us.
anyways any suggestions greatly appreciated. was contemplating a low slung sas and 4wd conversion aswell but not 100% on that yet. i have my tacoma for offroad adventures.
I have never swapped one of these, but consider myself a pretty competent musclecar and ‘Yota wrench and your idea of engine swap and then long distance travel scares the bleep out of me.
Instead i would try to make it as well-tuned and reliable as possible and then pack some spares of parts that you could need but not be able to get in other countries. Then of course, nothing would go wrong.
however, if you do the swap, i’d want to put quite a few miles on it locally road testing before hitting the road long distance.
Id love to see a solid axle on that beast but...maybe not so practical.
LSD would be a good idea, get your gears set when you figure out motor n tire size. Theres also a toyota motorhome forum that might be more helpful. I forget the name rite now.
nice! yeah im on the toyota motorhome forum too. everyone just suggests the standard 3.4 swap which may be the route i go. my interior is still in decent shape but has some water damage in the rear. this winter will be an interior refresh, new roof and exterior reseal/respray. thinking of going 040 white to match my tundra and taco and then redo the stripes in some toyota blues. i work at a bodyshop so that helps with the paint portion.
Ive got the 3.4 in a 97 T100 and love it. Dependable, easy to work on, good power even with 32" tires.
Its the most straightforward swap, so if this is a project youre doing, id recomend it. If time and money isnt an issue, theres plenty of more powerful motors out there. When youre planning it out, just think thru gearing and what speeds you want to reach. You could be hot off the line and top out at 50 or 60.
What trans are you thinking abt? You have an r150 in it now?
im running the stock 4spd auto trans in it right now. im gona stick with auto so the wife can drive it if needed.
might end up going with the 3.4 in the end. i just want decent parts availability, reliable.
its a winter project but i am on a budget so dont want to go too crazy. hoping to spend under $3k for the swap which should be doable if i do the work myself and can snag a cheap donor.
You can find a 3.4 in something. Get the whole donor vehicle if you can and try to find a 2wd auto trans model so you have less compativility issues to puzzle thru.
09-16-2020, 04:54 PM
