School me on the 3.0

[NotMatt]

All the things you bring up in this post are things that happen to ALL motors regardless of who manufactures it(Dodge,GM,Ford,etc). At some point in time every aluminum headed motor blows a head gasket,has oil leaks, etc,etc.etc. Sure a 22RE is easier to work on, but still has the same flaws.

True true, that was kind of my point... just like every other motor, it has it's weak points.

PS, Remember that 3.0 that you gave me for free? Still going strong... the guy who owns it now lives down the street from a buddy of mine. :redneck:

 

[PORTER]

PS, Remember that 3.0 that you gave me for free? Still going strong... the guy who owns it now lives down the street from a buddy of mine. :redneck:

Right on, glad it went to good use.

 

[Alpine4x4]

The 3.0's are notorious for their various problems... head gaskets, burnt valves, leaky valve cover gaskets, etc. I'm sure mike thompson will chime in sooner or later... he works on these specific motors a lot over here in Wenatchee and has probably seen it all when it comes to 3.0's.

My advice: don't let it stop you from buying it if you like everything else about the rig. The 3.0 is not a horrible motor, they just have their issues, and if you deal with them properly it should be reliable. If the 3.0 blows up down the road and you decide it's not worth fixing it, swap in a 3.4 out of a newer taco... good, solid motor, bolts up to the 3.0 bell housing. A 22re swap in place would be more work for less results, IMO.

Yep Mikes got an estimated 60 or so rebuilds on those turds:haha:

I had one. Bought it at 256k and ran it to around 268k before i totalled the truck. It was a good motor, but a PITA to work on. Replaced the HG, coil ignitor, various other things that kept popping up on the pos. If I remember right its #6 cylinder injector that likes to die on em.

I have a friend who is at 299k on his original motor and it has been abused like a red headed step child. He doesnt even remember the last time he changed his oil:looser:

It seems its hit and miss. Some 3.0's are just prone to exploding while others will run forever with little to no maint. Go ahead and buy it and if it ends up being a turd your half way there to swapping in a 3.4 with the tranny being a direct bolt up.

BTW I run a 4popper now and couldnt be happier...since the damn thing is practically brand new:haha:

 

[CHOP SHOP]

both my 3.0 wheelers were 89 4runner 2doors. and both would smoke my girls 95 runner.

A friend of mine at the wrecking yard said the 88/89 engine has a different motor mount of some sort so it has a different stock number than a 90-up engine. he claims they never sell (folks dont need a new one) them and are a better engine than the later version, which they cant keep in.

the timing belt issue is easily remedied. I dont even think you can get the old idler. the kits I have used have a new upgraded replacement in them.

has anyone else had a above average experience with just the 88/89engine

 

[mthompson223]

The 1990+ 3.0L is the shittiest engine Toyota has ever produced. Compare it to the rest of the offerings from other manufacturers at the time though and the 3.0L wasn't so bad. I'll still take the 3.0 over anything else produced during that time.

CHOP SHOP:
The early production 3VZ-Es destined for 1988 model year trucks and 4Runners had engine mounts that were stamped steel and attached to a lower set of bosses on the block. The late-1988 to end-of-production 3VZ-Es had a series of extra bosses in a higher location and used cast iron mounts. AFAIK there are four different castings for the truck version of the 3VZ-E. The early 1988 style had no provision for the cast iron mounts that would come later. The mid 1988 style had the extra bosses cast into it in preparation for the soon to come cast iron engine mounts, but they remained untapped. But, you can tap the bosses and use the engine in early or late style applications. Then, you have the late 1988/1989-1995 style that was recast to fix a oil galley problem and had all of its holes tapped. You can use these castings in any application you want. Then, at some point the casting was changed and they shaved a few millimeters off the thickness at the front of the block. This change went largely unnoticed since all parts still remained interchangeable.

It is true that the late 1988 and 1989 3VZ-Es were far superior in the head gasket department. It isn't unheard of for those ones to go forever without a head gasket replacement, whereas the 1990 and newer ones have been through 2-3 HG jobs or worse. I would always avoid the early 1988 3VZ-Es like the plague since they had a flaw in the casting that caused a crack to develop in the high pressure oil galley that would then drain into an adjacent coolant galley. This caused your radiator, heater core, etc to fill up with engine oil. I still see an early 88 show up with this problem a couple times a year.

 

[NotMatt]

The 1990+ 3.0L is the shittiest engine Toyota has ever produced. Compare it to the rest of the offerings from other manufacturers at the time though and the 3.0L wasn't so bad. I'll still take the 3.0 over anything else produced during that time.

CHOP SHOP:
The early production 3VZ-Es destined for 1988 model year trucks and 4Runners had engine mounts that were stamped steel and attached to a lower set of bosses on the block. The late-1988 to end-of-production 3VZ-Es had a series of extra bosses in a higher location and used cast iron mounts. AFAIK there are four different castings for the truck version of the 3VZ-E. The early 1988 style had no provision for the cast iron mounts that would come later. The mid 1988 style had the extra bosses cast into it in preparation for the soon to come cast iron engine mounts, but they remained untapped. But, you can tap the bosses and use the engine in early or late style applications. Then, you have the late 1988/1989-1995 style that was recast to fix a oil galley problem and had all of its holes tapped. You can use these castings in any application you want. Then, at some point the casting was changed and they shaved a few millimeters off the thickness at the front of the block. This change went largely unnoticed since all parts still remained interchangeable.

It is true that the late 1988 and 1989 3VZ-Es were far superior in the head gasket department. It isn't unheard of for those ones to go forever without a head gasket replacement, whereas the 1990 and newer ones have been through 2-3 HG jobs or worse. I would always avoid the early 1988 3VZ-Es like the plague since they had a flaw in the casting that caused a crack to develop in the high pressure oil galley that would then drain into an adjacent coolant galley. This caused your radiator, heater core, etc to fill up with engine oil. I still see an early 88 show up with this problem a couple times a year.

Yeah, what he said!

 

[WHITE TRASH1]

Wow, thats a nitch market you got there... To me thats a whole lotta knowledge on a useless engine but to your customers you are the 3.slow god.. Good for you.

 

[Alpine4x4]

Wow, thats a nitch market you got there... To me thats a whole lotta knowledge on a useless engine but to your customers you are the 3.slow god.. Good for you.

Funny you mention that as we refer to him as "God" when working in his shop:haha:

 

[Thanatos]

My 3.0 had 219K miles on it when it finally came out and was replaced with a 98 2RZ-FE at Crash's. It had been going downhill for a long time and I didn't think that it was worth what it would have cost to have it rebuilt just to have the same lack of power and fuel economy.

 

[Dusten]

My 3.0 had 219K miles on it when it finally came out and was replaced with a 98 2RZ-FE at Crash's. It had been going downhill for a long time and I didn't think that it was worth what it would have cost to have it rebuilt just to have the same lack of power and fuel economy.

we used to be stationed together....