I've got a 3.0 manual 89 4runner that's been sitting for the last ~15 years that I would like to finally get up and running again. I am wondering, are 3.4 swaps still viable in 2024? I've been looking at salvage options, but it's pretty hard to find something that isn't high mileage these days.

 

I would think if you can get a reman 3.0 you can get a reman 3.4. A 3.0 would be a direct replacement at least but you would still have to deal with what has been sitting all these years. Such as bad gas in the fuel system, rotten hoses and belts, etc.

The 3.4 would require the same plus the swap work and expense but you'd have a better engine.

LS swaps seem to be going in everything these days. Would that be an option for you?

 

Yes. https://toyonlyswaps.com/
That's what I'd do if it was my rig.

 

Is the 3.0 in it now serviceable?

 

I plan on doing the 3.4 swap in 2025 sometime. I plan on doing a rebuild of a cheap 3.4 I picked up. I'd rather rebuild it than the 3.0.

 

thanks for the replies all, lots of interesting thoughts from them.

I guess I didn't think about it in that way but you are totally correct. Either way I am probably doing a significant reman, but it would still be better to end up with a 3.4 I think

thanks! I hadn't seen them yet, but I will definitely be emailing for details.

As far as I know it is. I got it from a friend, and he indicated that nothing was wrong with it, he just slowly stopped driving it until one day it was parked. That was in ~2010. Around 2012, he didn't want it in his yard any longer, so I bought and stored it in my parent's garage. Superficially, it appears to be in pretty good condition. I'll be there in December and that is when I can really see what's up. Right now, I'm just doing the early prep work of figuring out what all I need to do to get it going, and then work up to something approaching a daily.

 

If you are leaning toward a 3.4 swap check out the stickies and read up. I had a running donor for my swap and I highly recommend getting one if you can. Getting all the parts from one truck is the best way in my opinion. If you are going to run an automatic, get an automatic donor and the same if you want to run a manual trans. You will spend a lot more time and money piecing a swap together from multiple sources.

If it was a running truck without problems I think you are on the right track by getting it running again as is. It's still a lot of work and can still get expensive.

I did just that with two pickups that had sat for years. The fuel system was full of crud, lines were plugged. All hoses and belts were dried out. Even the brake hoses. I had a couple split when I was flushing the system. Hopefully no rodents got into your truck. They can do some damage. One of mine had the coolant crystalize. I did get them running. I basically had to go through pretty much everything. Once I got them going I took short test drives at first, did some rechecks and went from there.

Whatever you decide, good luck with your project. Please follow up. Dead end threads suck.