redwingsfan008

I am 18 and going to college in august which equals not a ton of money for atleast the next four years. I live in Colorado where the hills get long and steep and my 3.0 is sort of sluggish on the real long steep ones. I am wondering what all the yota vets out here in yotatech would suggest as the engine swap for me I have been thinkin 3.4 or 4.3 vortec but i also do have a ford 351 in my old 78 ford bronco. Also wondering if you guys think that a swap is even the best bet or should i try to soop up the 3.0 a little and hope that is enough?

bigt

id keep the 3.0 stock and reliable for as long as you can.. hopefully it will get you through college...
if your engine happens to blow a head gasket i would do a 3.4 swap for the reliable toyota factor.. maybe slowly start collecting peices so when it does happen you dont gotta bust the bank

RobD

You'd be wasting your time trying to pull more power out of a 3.0. I did my swap for the same reason you're contemplating yours. I run the highway through the Rockies and got tired of barely making it up in 3rd gear.

But, like the previous poster suggested, keep the 3.0 alive for the time being and start sourcing a 3.4, that way you won't be in a rush if and when the 3.0 barfs out a headgasket.

Mechanically, the 3.4 would be the easiest swap. It bolts in with no fab work, save for swapping your battery to the other side and cutting a hole in the hood.

The 4.3 will require more aftermarket parts to make it work, but the engine is cheaper. I just couldn't drive a Toylet.

I had to keep it all 'Yota.

My 2 cents. If you wanna know more about the 3.4, feel free to ask.

Elton

the 3.slow does have its problem but its really not too bad if you take care of it my freinds 89 see sig has a little over 300k on the stock motor he dont drive it hard .. and my moms 92 has some where around 210k miles still runs fine

redwingsfan008

Thanks for all the input guys I was planning on running the thing into the ground before doing anything major. I bought it for 2000 a few months ago cause the bumper grill and valance were all dented in the kid thought the insurance company would total it. I have a small connection with a toyota junkyard owner so i got all the parts for free and it looks fine now. It was a steal. He said he had the engine replaced by the dealership at 71,000 and he has the paperwork to back it up. according to the odometer that means i have only 70,000 or so on it so it will be alive and kicken for a while.

Going up 8% (that is what the sign said) grades for long distances I can stay in the 40-50 mph range in third gear and nearly 4000 rpm in 4th it just loses rpm and speed.

Thanks again for all of the help guys.

Adam F

18+college/4yrs+nomoney=no engine swap. Sorry, but an engine swap is going to cost you a lot of money and a lot of time. Do you even have the tools needed to do a swap? Hoist, engine stand, welder, grinder, etc?

Keep what you have, or sell if for something more economical.

ILLINOISYOTADAWG

I would try to keep it toyota as long as you can i had an 82 with a ford 302 now with the price of fuel i have lawn art.

redwingsfan008

I have access to everything needed for the swap as far as tools. hoist, welder and all of that. I am just gonna let the 3.0 get me through college and then who knows what will be going on after that. I'll probably be looking at acquiring parts for the swap between now and then. I think it will be a 3.4 swap just for the fact that it is much easier to do. Plus i really dont like the idea of taking the heart of my toyota out and making it a Chevy. Like RobD said, I just couldn't bring myself to drive a toylet.

Once again thanks for the input guys.

syber_kowboy

I feel yea on all fronts. I've blown up 3 4runner since collage and every time I just dump it for whatever I can get and buy another 4x4 or whatever is laying around. Going to the ski hill in a 3.slo sucks. I've decided to go all out on my latest. I think for reliability and personal preference I'm going to keep it all Yota and do the 3.4 conversion. My biggest issue right now is the darn transmission. The five speed will make things a lot simpler for you. Try to hold onto that 3.0 for as long as she'll take it.