V6-I4 SWAP

Ok, Imma put this into Toyota terms. I totaled my 1997 pearl green Toyota Tacoma XtraCab on Wed July 29 at 7:20 a.m. Yesterday I traded my dirtbike and my 75” tv for a 1994 Toyota 4Runner with a 3.0 V6 engine. The guy I bought it from claims it overheated and warped the heads which is why it’s is locked up. I then went on to tell him that unless the heads are visibly warped there’s no way in hell it would cause the engine to lock up. Bringing me to a path that diverged into two roads one road I could take leads me to a place where I take the I4(from my totaled tacoma) and put it in the 4Runner. The second road takes me to a place where I try to fix the V6. The 4Runner has a 5 speed automatic transmission, and the Tacoma has a 5 speed manual transmission. The engine and transmission is already out of the Tacoma. The engine and transmission are not out of the 4Runner. Which brings me to my next topic. What are your opinions? Should I try to salvage the V6? Is the I4 going to fit into the 4Runner? What do I have to do to the wiring harnesses? Is the I4 going to bolt straight up to that transmission? All of these questions are necessary and detrimental to my well being I have a full time job that I need to keep and need a reliable mode of transportation. WHAT DO I DO?

 

If you can’t fix the V6 maybe a rebuilt engine, should be a lot easier than trying to put an I4 in there.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Toyota-3VZ...283839170364?_trksid=p2385738.m4383.l4275.c10

 

When there’s a will there’s a way. I’m sure with enough fab work and money you could get the I4 into the 4runner but it’s not going to be cheap - non-oem engine swaps never are. Gonna go out on a limb and guess by the fact you traded a TV for the 4Runner you don’t have much of a fab budget either.

Rebuilt or used stock engine for the 4Runner would probably be a much cheaper option.

 

Locked up as in it won’t turn over? That’s more than overheating. That’s driving knowing it’s overheating until it is dead. Might even have a knock on it too. If it were me, I’d look for an engine from a salvage yard. They typically will come with some sort of warranty depending on mileage. You might be able to trade the I4 for a good V6 engine (or at least get some credit for it).

 

The loss of performance with the 4 cylinder coupled with the fabrication costs are just not worth it. Find a salvaged v6 from 94 and put that in.

 

Thank you for your help but I’m almost positive that the motor will bolt right up but if someone knows it won’t let me know plz.

 

You might get a bit more insight in the swap if you have a mod move this to the 1st gen section instead of the 2nd gen area where you’re at now.

 

Even if it bolted up, I highly doubt it if the trans will. Plus that 94 is a OBD1, your wreck tacoma is a OBD2 so wiring will be different also. And you decide to use the 4 cylinder trans, you have too plumb lines, cut holes for clutch master...etc the list goes on.

I personally would rather just swap it over to the 3.4, there's lots of info on that already. But at min, just buy a reman 3.0 and part out the wrecked taco to try to recoup some $$$. Good luck

And how bad is the taco wrecked? Any pictures?

 

Decide what option works best

What ever you decide can be done!! Also not a job that can be done in a few days alone.

First the 3.0 in the 4runner people pull running engines to swap in the 3.4

They are also known as the 3 slow.

either engine bolts to either transmission

Putting the I 4 in the 4runner I think moving the engine mounts on the frame is needed !!! I would need to look closer.

***Going into the 4Runner the Tacoma ECM and Engine Harness are merged to the 4runner harness giving you the OBD11 system

Having the EWD`s for both vehicles is pretty much a must

4Runner fuel is on the right exhaust on the left this needed to be changed also swapping the battery and the air filter box

This is off the top of my head no doubt forgot some things

 

Except the V6 in the pre 1995.5 years is the same HP rating as the taco 4 banger and 3 ft.lb less torque, it's a turd from the early 80s

 

Personally I would put the I4 into the 4runner. I haven’t driven the 3.0 before but I all I hear is that it’s just a slug for a 6cyl. I think having the reliability of the I4 that you took care of is worth more than fixing an engine that wasn’t cared for. Maybe if it was a 3.4 you supercharged it, it would be worth keeping haha. With that being said I’m not sure how hard it would be to swap in the I4. It would probably be a fun project though

 

What makes you think it will bolt right up? Or are you making assumptions because they’re a similar vintage? Motor mounts, cross member locations, and wiring all tend to vary between different engines. Especially between 2 different models of truck. Seems very optimistic to think it’ll bolt right up.

 

(UPDATE) It’s the end of the day I made very surprising discovery. I went to o’s and bought a new battery, put it in and it turned over. Put some new gas in it along with some seafoam high mileage, radiator flush, and I bought some more power steering fluid. It started right up. However I’ve been reading your replies and it sounds like I need a supercharged 3.4 is that what I’m hearing. The 3.0 has a blown head gasket it has white smoke and water coming out of the exhaust. I got some bars leak head gasket repair hopefully that works I would love to swap it for a 3.0 but I’m not doing anything crazy in it no mudding or high speeds. So I think this engine will do just fine I found new head gaskets on amazing for abt 51 bucks if the repair doesn’t work. And the taco is bad bad bad the frame is bent to hell both rear shocks were shot the leaf springs were split in half but guess what. They flipped that truck back over in the ditch I got in it and that bitch fired right up lmao

 

Just swap a regular 3.4 in, you dont need a supercharged motor, people here can be bone heads and that's terrible advice. Additionally a regular 3.4 barely clears the hood, a supercharged one for sure won't. Check to see if it had the head gasket recall done under by toyota, if not I believe they will still do the recall for you. That 3.0 had some pretty bad problems with head gaskets and there was a recall campaign on them.

 

I don’t suggest a supercharger for mudding and hard off-roading although it helps to have slightly more power But just for daily driving it’s very nice to have, not even for speed as you won’t really go faster you will just have a lot more low end torque. I don’t think you need one though, I just threw it out as more of a joke. A NA 3.4 is enough for me, although owning a supercharged 3.4 4Runner previously was really nice to have the extra low end power, I have absolutely no issue with NA 3.4. I just suggest the 3.4 over the 3.0 based on what I’ve heard about them. But if you’re just trying to get on the road with a DD I would look into possibly just rebuilding the 3.0 and running it until it dies, or like slander said see if Toyota will fix it for you. That would be awesome, good luck man

 

I've got a buddy with a '99 2WD 2.7, 5-speed with 345k miles on. He bought it new. It's still his DD.

And I would've put stop leak in an engine I was going to keep

 

3.4 swap time.

Locking up an engine has nothing to do with warping the heads. I had a shitbox 3.0 that was all sludged up and the driver side cam shaft seized up from lack of oil. the brand new timing belt was strong enough to twist the end of the cam off when it let go.

 

1st 3.0s are garbage. I've had 4. Especially with the 4 speed automatic, which you have. They didn't make a 5 speed auto for those generations.
2nd you could swap everything from the taco over to the runner but from the sounds of it, I think that would be above your skill level.
3rd you can't mix and match what you have. There's no reason to buy a 3.4 and swap it all in.
4th sell everything, take the money and buy something else. It will save you lots of time and money.

 

May have some problem with the transfer case if you use the one from the 4runner, but swapping the transmission-engine-t-case and everything into the 4-runner should work great

 

Unless it’s an extremely nice 4Runner and you are a talented mechanic, it’s not going to be worth swapping a different motor into. If you were going to swap a motor into it, a 3.4 would be your best bet. Even if you have a perfect 3rz sitting there on the stand. Just get that 3.0 going and use it. Do not get your hopes up. It’s going to be a turd. Let us all be honest, even a 3.4 is kind of a slouch when you stick an automatic behind it. Good luck on the repair.