OK, the 3.5 should be a good engine

Oh yea a small increase wont hurt. I have almost always towed a gear sometimes 2 down.. put many thousands of miles on my 4cyl trucks north of 4k rpm and never had a problem.

I read the one about 4 low vs 4 hi, something along those lines and was picturing an engine near redline vs one in a low cruise. . Like 4500 or 5k on the 1gr, vs 2500 or so.

Generally when I tow on the highway I run about 70mph or so in 5th gear (6spd) which nets better mpg than towing in 6th at a lower rpm.

My mr2 with stock everything ran almost 4k around 80 in 5th gear.. it was geared short and ran like a champ the whole time I had it.

Until you approach the redline I think most engines are happier to run a few extra revs than be lugged. I have seen many 22r's that pounded out rod bearings being lugged. And on the flip side, only really ones that were over revved spun a bearing.. and broke a rod..

 

Turns out it’s a beauty. Best engine ever.

 

Who woulda thunk we’d actually be all riding (lugging) around at 1100 RPM?

 

This man saw into the future.

 

I am very happy with the Toyota 3.5L V6 in my Tacoma. Sure it gears down and holds the revs high when power is needed, but it has done everything I’ve asked it to in 5 years. And driven easy gets great fuel economy.

 

No issues with mine either. It very smooth, and pulls fine from 1200 rpm on up.

 

2017 love mine

 

Holy thread resurrection, Batman.

 

Now that we have the facts, it’s time to act.

 

Did you sort posts by oldest to newest and think, "yep, I'll give CPR to this post."?

 

Haha. No. I sometime actually use the “search button” and ancient stuff comes up that intrigues me. This thread, being 34 pages of speculation about what was the future 3.5L at the time, is actually an interesting read if you are bored. A lot of concern about too-high revs, which funnily turned into the reality of too-low revs. Worth a revisit. Shows how wrong we all can be.

 

so good it drowns itself in oil and hydro locks and cracks a block

 

I think the post was spot-on.

I had a 3rd Gen Tacoma for 3 years. I sold it because it no longer fit my needs of my big family of 6, but I really don't miss it at all. The 2GR is a real sore spot for me, and that is with a MT (4:30 Gearing stock) and OVtune.

When I put the Tune back to stock before I sold it, it really made the flaws of the 2GR engine series apparent to me more than ever before.

Going Forward, I think Toyota needs to either increase the displacement, or turn to a smaller displacement V6 hybrid, or get smaller displacement V6 turbo. I don't think an I4 turbo is very appealing.

 

At the end of the day it seems like there is a love/hate thing going on with the engine. Not to get technical but looking back we can find the all manufacturers have had issues. I remember having liked the small block Chevy's 283-327's but it had issues with flat cams at about 70,000. Ford triten v8's had some plug change issues. The early penistar 3.6 had cam pazer problems from Chrysler. We could all add to the list. Myself I don't mind the engine in my Tacoma it has the power I need. But the shift points at my issue. I'm thinking about getting a tune, not sure if I have the confidence to do it myself. I would be leary to do myself, the closest person to hire is 400 plus miles from me.
Not sure if it would be as easy as using hand helds for some of the stuff I did when I worked at a dealership in the lube/tire area and trainer. the sprinter van had a nice hand held reader I learned to use. The transmission seems to be bigger issue the engine on these trucks.

 

With something as immensely popular with young people and newbs as the 3G is (after Toyota ditched the crotchety 2G with the grandpas) you are bound to have a couple problems here and there. Asinine to assume otherwise.

 

To be fair the pcv problem is very well documented, and is also a problem with many other models of modern “off-road” vehicles. Popularity doesn’t excuse a shitty design.

 

Absolutely, however, stopping on a hill is something you avoid with more experience. For sure Toyota could have done a better job, but numerically, it’s a pretty insignificant problem.

I followed my buddy up a very steep trail that he was struggling on due to no locker, and his 2G started smoking like a bastard when he stopped, so this isn’t just a 3G issue.

 

The engine is reliable. It just sucks. When they have a legacy of engines like the 3rz, 22RE, 3.4 and 1GR, I mean it's going to be hard to live up to that to be fair to Toyota.

I think as far as Truck engines go. The 2GR is on the same historical level as the 3.0. Prove me wrong.

 

The 3vz is a perfect comparison to the 2gr

 

Jesus Christ, it's like watching old ladies argue about yarn.

Unsub.