will '89 engine work in a '95 pickup??

my buddy just got two pickups. an 89 with good motor thats been rolled and a 95 with a fairly clean body but has rod knock.
we are planning on putting the good motor from the 89 in the 95.
will everything work? the only thing that comes to mind right off hand is 89 has cable deiven speedoand 95 has sensor speedo i believe. not worried to much about that though my 91s speedo cable has been broken for over a year and i drive it every day.

so what do u guys think? anything else thats not compatible?
and yes i realize these arnt tacomas but figuered you guys would most likey know about pickups as well.

thanks,
TBone.

 

Is the 95 a Tacoma or just a Pickup? Tacoma's went into production that year but as I understand it, it was halfway through 1995.

If it's a Taco, I'm going to say no...or at least you'd be better off finding a motor from another one. If it's a Pickup, then I don't see why not...probably some electrical/wiring changes in that year difference that may need to be worked out.

 

is just a pickup. both trucks look just aout identical but ones grey and ones black both 4x4 xtra cab. with 3.0l v6. and 5 spd manuals.

 

i was also thinkin we could swap the 89 computer and any wiring in with it and in case any sensors or wiring i different.

 

You shouldn't have much issue then. You may have to reuse various sensors that the newer truck has but for the most part it should be easy peasy. I'd consider putting a set of aftermarket headers on the 3.0l because it is known for blowing the head gasket near cyl 6 because of high heat buildup due to shitty stock exhaust manifold design. Just a heads up that motor is known for shenanigans, not a great design and makes dismal power for a v6.

 

Yeah I don't see why that wouldn't work. You don't live in California do you? Because out here, I'm pretty sure it's a state law that you can't use a motor from a vehicle older than the one your putting it in (you'd have to get a motor out of a 95 or newer basically).

 

That law is messy, they really don't want you to reuse old smog and emissions equipment from older motors but if you put your model year emissions junk on there is no issue.

 

Makes sense, yeah I figured it was just part of their crazy strict emissions regulations.

 

yes i live in northern California. smog once and not again unless u sell the rig.
they look to have the same emissions equipment on them as far as the egr/pair valves, catalytic converters and the ridiculous amount of vacuum hoses on the pass. sideof engine.

so besides the possible issue with smog there shouldnt any problems swaping the 89 engine into the 95?

we want to rebuild the original engine from the 95 so my buddy basically just wants to drop the 89 engine in till we get the original rebuilt.

 

ok. i missed this reply before my last reply.
and yea i was teliing him we might as well get rid of the crossover and ateast make a proper Ypipe for it if not headers.

thanks alot for the quick responses. looks like we will get started pulling the engine from 95 in the morning.
il post what it took to makeit work and any issues along the way as to hopefully help someone elsebout thats looking to do something similar.

 

You have to get smogged every 2 years in Cali right? That's what I was told by he DMV for my truck since it's an 04...at any rate, I'm sure if you find the right shop it will be okay. Looking forward to the write up on the swap!

 

The speedo cable connects to the side of the transfer case/transmission. If you are just swapping the motor only, it would not be effected. I drove with a broken cable for a long time, once I got around to swapping it out, I was kicking myself for not doing it sooner.

 

yea your right. i have no idea why i was thinking the speedo had anything to do with it.
i cant seem to find a speedo cable for a 3.0 v6 extra cab anywhere and the dealerships wants close to $70 for one.

as for smog were i live vehicles only get smogged if you sell them or buy them. if you get a rig from a family member as a "gift" you dont have to smog at all.

 

Not trying to offend but rebuilding a 3VZ-E 3.slow is guaranteed to be more money than its worth. That engine can be found in running condition all the time on Craigslist for way cheaper than it would be to revamp your current one. That engine has enough rep as a turd that people practically give them away around here. Plus the vehicles it comes in are all old enough to be had for cheap as a parts vehicle, which is a great option for keeping older Toyotas on the road.

 

i know alot people say they aren't good motors. i cant agree. i pulled(separately) both of the trucks where talking an hour and a half up some pretty steep hills and it pulled them surprisingly well.
my 91 has with 456 gears (used to be an automatic. swapped in 5spd) and 31s around 315,000 miles on it and i havent had any problems besides 1 blown head gasket.

i regularly rev it out to 4500-5000rpm when i need to. i personally think theres nothing wrong with the 3.0 i actually like it waayy better than the 22re used to have. i think the majority of people that say its not a good motor have no experience with the 3.0 and dont work on there own rig. all ive done ro mine is delete egr/pair deleted the crossover behind the motor and made a Ypipe remove cat converter and put a magnaflow muffler set timing to 17° degrees and either run 91 octane fuel or lucas upper cylinder lube in my fuel. its never left me stranded and id never hesitate to drive it anywhere no matter the distance. and yes thats at over 314,000 miles on it.

sorry for the rant but it bothers me when people say its not a good motor. especially poeple that say the 22re is better (not that u said that. just saying).

thankyou for your opinion though. we shouldnt be into it more than $1,000 to rebuild it with an OEM rebuild kit. plus knowing its essentially a new motor and setting tolerances and compression the way we want it is worth a few hundred more dollars to us.
i think people that have alot of problems with them think they never need to adjust the valves or do any maintenance because "its a toyota".

in my opinion ignorant owners are the 3.0s biggest problem.

thanks guys.

 

Makes sense to me I suppose. I worked on my grandmother's 91 4Runner a lot back in the day and the 3.0 she had was unfortunately a poor specimen. It burnt obscene amounts of oil and went through a couple head gaskets. I still loved it and would have bought it when she finally sold if I could have afforded it. Power wise I'd agree it is much better than the 22RE but I'm not sure I see it as reliable. I guess it never left us stranded but it demanded lots of oil and repair costs. I did the moat stuff on it at the time but Toyota did the head gaskets. Either way I understand wanting to build what you have, hell my 2.7 has had a new head cause the previous owner didn't ever have the valve clearance checked. But I was happy to spend 1/3 of the trucks value to replace it. So I get what you mean, and yeah I'd agree that the 3.0 has a worse rep than it should (as far as engines go it's good, as far as Toyota engines go...maybe). Good luck and I'll be watching

 

i know its not one of toyotas best motors but not nearly as bad as or gutless as prople make it out to be.
not sure what difference it make but for oil i always try to run rotella 5w40 sythetic with a ZDDP additive added. remember, these are flat tappet lifters so it gets the same oil my cummins gets.i change oil anywhere from 10-15,000 miles depending on what iv been driving. i change oil filter every 5,000 miles and oils never been low in between the 5,000 miles. maybe half way between full and low on the dipstick. i use napa gold #1516 oil filters(longer than reguar one theyl give u) and top up my oil with the same blend of rotella and zddp thats already in the motor.
zddp with "wear out " though so if iv been towing alot or hauling firewood il give it some extra zddp.

i could have gotten lucky and got the best 3.0 made but i doubt it.
dont baby it drive it where it makes it power and dont lug or bog it. get to know your motor so you can hear when it needs attention and preserve those cams and lifters with zddp zinc/phosphorus additive because they took it out of off the shelf oils. (the additives they use to replace it dont do what zddp does.) if ive just been puting around town my truck always runs better after i tow something or haul fire wood for a good distance and keep the rpms above 3000. just like my diesel does (rpm above 2000 for the diesel tho.)

i think to many people try to keep rpms down. but why? thats more stress on the motor. if i remember 3.0 makes peak torque around 3,500 rpm. theres no reason not to drive it up there unless your puting around town or on flat ground.

 

well i had some other things come up so we didnt get to start pulling the trucks apart yesterday like we hoped.

were going to start pulling the knocking motor out of the 95 right now. the guy my buddy bought it from already took the intake plenum and powersteering and some other things off. doesnt seem like he knew what he was doing looks like he was taking off whatever he could reach i guess. its a mess.

will post pics in a bit.