Well I though the 4 cylinder would be cool since I get better gas millage than all the rest, but I cant pass going up hills!

It's bad up here in Denver/Boulder, and even worse the higher I go.

I would love to drop a new engine in it.

What are the pit falls of putting a 6 cyl in my 4runner that is set up for a 4 cyl?

Would I be better off just buying a new 4runner?

How about going diesel?

Thanks for the help, I'm a total newbie.

 

When all is said and done, you will be better off just selling your truck and buying a 6 cyl. By the time you go through the hassle of sourcing a quality used 6and paying someone to install it + the downtime you will incur, it just wouldn't be worth the effort...Unless you have $$ to burn and nothing better to do, then it wouldnt be a bad idea.

P.S. Using "T4R" is a no-no around these parts. Just a little heads up.

 

turbo is your friend

 

You can either sell your rig or count your blessings for having one of the most reliable engines ever mass produced, enjoy the savings in fuel mileage and enjoy the scenery as you drive up the Georgetown pitch in 2nd gear

If you maintain your engine really well, and know its limits, you'd be surprised what you can do with it. I regularly pass 3.slo (v6) 4Runners going up I-70.

 

CAI and cat-back exhaust system.

 

 

The 2.7 is 26 spline so you'll need a 23 spline tranny and t-case as well as motor, computer and harness.

If you want to make it a "little" better the only thing I found that "actually" did anything was an LC Engineering Header, LC Cat and Dynomax muffler. It goes up the hills noticeably better. the deck plate does nothing for the 2.7 but make noise.

 

Thanks for all of the great info.

I fell better about having the 2.7L, and I do have to say it is a tank going through snow drifts in 4 low

Perhaps my money would be better spent on other mods I have been dreaming about.

Some more lights, and a new head light wiring harness or an E-Locker...

 

intake Lce header full 2.25'' exhaust all the way back should give you a nice boost in power also is urs a 5spd

 

also welcome to yotatech

 

Yes, I have a 5 speed.

 

well those are all the basic bolt on mods you can do for extra power

 

IMHO, and if you have money to burn, I would put a turbo in it...that would definately help you going up hills...a great amount:

This reminded me of a story my grandfather told me once: My grandparents used to have a 86 ford non-turbo diesel. They used it to tow a 30ft 5th wheel trailer. During one of thier trips they were going up a certain road in colorado, and he had his foot to the floor and they were only going 2mph and smoking like crazy(there was so much smoke that the white trailer, turned black and was kind-of stained in that area)...they were actually plaining on jumping out, if the truck would have stalled. But they made it up, when he got home, he decided that he didnt want to go through that again, so he put out about $5000, and got a garret turbo put in. A couple months later they went up the same road, and he ended up passing trucks going like 35mph. And there was no smoke!!!

 

If you are disappointed w/ the 4 I don't think the 6 will make a huge difference. I went from an 00 2.7 5 speed Runner to an 02 3.4 auto, and while the 3.4 is clearly more powerful and quicker it struggles all the same places as the 2.7 did. I was actually disappointed with the 3.4 up in northern VT as I found the auto very confused on some of the long steep hills when you are trying to maintain 40-50, and that was w/ O/D off and ECT pushed. I have serioulsy considered a newer V8, but 90% of the time the 3.4 does fine, as did the 2.7.

 

I wish Toyota would move towards building a bulletproof CVT for their trucks because then they could just work on maxing out torque and HP in one small RPM range of the motor and the tranny could just hold it there while accelerating (this would improve fuel efficiency as well). I've had mine needing to downshift alot when holding speed up 5-7% grades, but I guess a supercharger or regearing would fix that too.

On a side note, in 2003 the 4th gen 4runner got a much improved 4.0L 6cyl making 245HP and 282 ft-lbs of torque (in the early years the V8 only made 235HP and 320 ft-lbs of torque and the prior 3.4L V6 only made 183HP and 217 ft-lbs of torque in comparison) and gets almost the exact same fuel economy as the 3.4L version. That is one very stout V6 to say the least.