First off, hello to everyone. I'm new to this forum and Toyota Trucks.

I purchased a 91 4x4 3.0 extracab in November with 120k on the ticker. Everything was fine with the truck for several thousand miles and then it suddenly self destructed when going up a hill. First knocking at WOT and then total engine faillure within the span of a few minutes.

Pulled the heads and found the cylinder wall on #4 to be scored by the piston. So I found a used 3.0 out of a 90 4runnner that ran really nice with good compression. Both my truck and the doner 4runner are automatics.

What if anything do I need to swap from my old dead motor to my newly acquired one. Are the wiring harnesses the same? Will it connect right up? Thanks for your help!

Steve

 

Greetings,
There shouldn't be anything that you need, both are auto's, both are 3.0's it's a one for one swap straight up! The only thing that might be different is if one had cruise control and the other did not, simple stuff like that!
Take care! Good Luck!
Harry

 

got an extra alternator on one of those that works? i need one. Ben

 

Yeah, I have an extra one now. Let me ge the truck up and running then I can get rid of the extra. Send me an e-mail at sc912e@yahoo.com

 

Thanks Nunsa!

Do you take out the trans with the motor or just the motor? My truck lies dead in Princeton NJ and our garage space is full with my Dad's 57 Chevy which is mostly apart. Seeing as you are from PA do you know anyone good who can do the swap at a reasonable price? I'm gonna have to play musical cars if I do it myself.

 

You can do it either way, pull just the engine or, engine & tranny, Either way you do it is up to you, me personally, I'd just pull the engine. If you have to do it yourself it isn't that bad of a job! If this were a manual transmission, I'd pull the engine and tranny. I know a lot of people around where I live that could do the swap pretty cheap, but then again, I live up here in the Poconos! The hardest part is seperating the engine from the tranny and the exhaust, especially if you have to do it on the garage floor. You can have it out in a day w/o a problem!
Take Care!
Harry

 

How do you guys remove the upper trans to engine bolts? They seem imposible to get to and break torque without cutting holes in the floor. Also I couldn't get to the lower exhaust manifold bolts or the three bolts that connect the drivers side manifold to the exhaust pipe, so I cut the pipe under the truck and pulled the head with the manifold and the pipe. Any suggestions for the future? Thanks again!

Steve

 

I don't think you can fish the trans out with the motor, it's kinda a biatch getting it in there anyway.
Virtually impossible to do by yourself, get someone to help you. It can be done (I've done it) but you'll end up with some scratches, either on you or/and your truck.

90 to 91 should be no problem. I swapped my 94's into my '91 and then put the new/rebuilt into the 94.

I did keep anything electrical from the 94 with the 94.
Though had an extra computer from the 91 which runs just fine in the 94 (I think it's actually a little better.)

 

Anyone have a trick for those upper mounting bolts other than cutting holes in the floor?

 

There isn't any easy way to do it, the best tool I've found was a long extention and a u-joint/swivel w/a breaker bar or air tool. And you can pull the engine & tranny out together, I did it many times!
Are you in to deep yet? Those 3.0's can bite ya in the a**!
Good Luck!

 

Yeah, I'm in pretty deep. But its sink or swim for me! Any advice is helpfull!

Thanks Again!

Steve

 

If you have any further questions there Steve just ask, We'll all give you some good advice! 10-4?

 

Just an echo of what you've already heard we'll be here to offer what help and condolences we can Don't let everyone turn you off about the 3.0 its not really that bad an engine. One thing though when you make the switch check the records for both your truck and the donor with toyota regarding the headgasket recall if yours was done and the donor was'nt get the swap documented and get the recall done. If yours wsas'nt and the donor was don't say nothing. If something goes wrong down the road you may still be able to get it actioned.
Other then that the 3.0 is a tough little engine and can accept numerous little low buck upgrades most of which you cxan do yourself that will wake it up and boost the mileage. hope you get it on the road soon Cheers Aviator

 

Thanks again guys! Both vehicles have had the head gasket recall. At least that is what I was told. My truck definately had new head gaskets. I saw them when I pulled the heads. The donor truck supposedly had it, however toyota doesn't recognise the VIN even though carfax seems to have records for it. I called both the US number as well as the Canadian. The guy I got the engine from seems very trustworthy. Either way it's going in.

Steve

 

I removed the 6 bolts connecting the flex plate to the torque converter. The donor engine still had the TC on it. I'm thinking I should remove the one on the donor engine and use the one in my tranny so that the TC seats and aligns properly. Is this the best course of action, or am I creating more work. I'm concerned that if I leave it on the donor engine I won't get the thing oriented properly and the engine won't join up. The TC on the donor engine is probably good but I'm not totaly certain.

Thanks
Steve

 

The torque converter should stay with the trans it was with (use your old one). It should also be installed onto the trans before you put the motor on. There are 3 sets of splines to line up in there. Slide it on, slowly rotate the converter while gently pushing. You should feel it engage the splines.

 

It's in and running. Thanks for all your support! The only compatability issues were the two terminal conectors next two the ecu were different and the ac comp. does not line up with the drive pulley now.

I spliced the two connectors off my old harness with the new one and all the wires were color coded. They all seemed to match up, except there were 4 more wires on my old harness on one connector. Don't know what they are yet. I'll look at the schematic. What are those terminal blocks for?

Does a 90 4runner have a different ac comp or bracket? I used the doner engines bracket but used my old compressor. The system is still charged with r12 so I didn't want to take it off. Do I need to use my old bracket? The pulleys are off by about a hlaf an inch. If so, I'll have to find a another one, because I junked it with my old block like a moron. Thanks

Steve