So many people bash on the 3.0. The only big problem it has is that it is a pain in the @$$ to work on. And yeah once in awhile it blows a head gasket.
If you'd like you can look up my build & all of the detales. For the short version it goes something like this. I bought it from the original owner, it roughly two hundred and sixty thousand miles on it. Had 2 head to head gaskets put in it during its entire life. ( the original one at the factory and one later because of the head gasket recall) The reason the second poped was because his other truck had an issue so he could not tow his boat home. So he decided to try to use the 89 4Runner to tow home his 20 foot jet boat. well needless to say it didn't make it home before the head gasket poped. (But he'll put a 22RE in front of a 20 foot jet boat and you'll find out that it's motor will blow as well.)
So long story short I rebuilt the entire engine and everything under the hood with either new or remanufactured parts. Yeah I spent over $4,000 rebuilding it. Just went down to Salt Lake City & back with no issues. with 31 inch tires on it, I was able to do75 to 80 miles an hour on the way home. Climbing the hills I did have to step down to 4th gear because the Toyota 3vze is just so damn guttless & slow.... I call b******* on that. Yeah it may not be as powerful as other V6 is. But it still outrun a 22RE & Torque wise It's a night-and-day difference as well. It definitely does not get as good of gas mileage. But then you gotta expect that because it is a much heavier motor that produces more power and torque. Most of the issues I have with the speed is due to me having the wrong gearing for the tire size I have. If I had the correct gearing I would easily be able to have kept it in 5th gear. I would also have a much easier time getting up to top speed. As it sits the truck is geared to run a 28 inch tire. Hope to be able to rectify that issue here shortly. I intend to put in a solid front axle and new gearing.
. I spent over $4,000 rebuilding the motor. Some people think I'm nuts for spending that much money on the 3.0 but I don't really care. They say I could have put in the newer V6 for less money. And yeah I probably could have. The problem is you would end up with an old used tired motor and that swap would cost you $2,000 or more. ( I don't like to do things half-a$$. So if I were to have swapped out I would have had to a fully rebuilt the motor, that's making it about a $6,000 to $7,000 motor swap. Not to mention all the extra time & effort to do the mods needed. Doesn't sound so cheap now does it?)
And Hell I just had to take mine through emissions. Without a catalytic converter I passed with flying colors at high RPM. I did fail at low RPM idling. But, Only failed by .07 on the CO. Went home check things out and realized my air filter was dirty. Cleaned that and I passed with room to spare. I think that if I would have gone to aftermarket 4 hole injectors that it would run even better. Probably have better power, better emissions and better fuel economy. I plan to do that before summer.
Anyway I hope this information helps you out a little bit.
