Anyone have first hand experience, 3rz to 3.4 swap?

[99Runnr]

Circumstances here, why I do NOT want to just "buy another 4runner with a 3.4". My truck was just completely gone through by me. Interior, sound deadened, stereo, body is perfect, no rust, brakes, new axles, so on and so forth. Some things are interchangeable but I like my foundation now.

My truck; 1997 3rz, 5-speed, 4x4

Donor; 120k mile 3.4, ecu, full harness, Gen 1 supercharger, automatic trans

I know I would need a different trans and the basics. My question is, engine mounts, anyone make a swap mount kit/write up? I have seen this asked, many times with ZERO follow through on other forums, other platforms, ect.

Anyone have an old link or some concrete feedback here? I want to gain the power here, the blower whine (I have had several 03-04 Cobra's and miss that) and I like the challenge. I'm not doing this to beat a budget rebuild or anything. It's a project I want to know a bit more about prior to committing.

 

[Scramble]

I'd rather put forged pistons, crank & blower on the 3RZ. Headers are an easier install & it's already a manual. It will surpass the 5VZ in HP & it loves higher RPMs where as the 5VZ doesn't.

 

[T4R2014]

What a complete and total waste of time. A 3RZ 4Runner is already hard to come by. Use all that extra space they gave you for a turbo.

 

[99Runnr]

I wasn't looking for personal preferences, I gave the reason why I had interest in doing this. I will elaborate a bit more, if it makes any sense.

To rebuild my 3rz and buy a turbo kit is probably 4k minimum for everything.

To get this 3.4 with SC AND transmission is under 1k out of pocket for my situation. Add on radiator and some small stuff, as either situation would entail, it's less then 50% of the cost.

I am not trying to make 190 whp instead of 175 whp with it. I realize people like 3rz stuff and it does high RPM better. The 3.4 with a roots style SC makes power LOW where it's incredibly useful on a 4x4 truck. I'm not aiming to drag race it. The displacement plus wide range of power gain from the TRD blower would be worlds ahead of where this 3rz truck is now, having already spent money on an LCE header, Volant intake, tuned up 110%, valve adjustment, so on and so forth, I know it is running as good as it's going to get. An I personally prefer the 3.4 platform as were the other 6 Toyota's I owned with that mill.

So beyond that, it's never going to be fast. It's got 220k miles and I have over 10k into it, I'm not going to make money on this one, I build stuff how I want it to be and I just wanted a little insight. Cheaper isn't always better, but in this case I think it's all of the above for me. Half the miles, half the cost, low end torque and I'd be staying manual.

 

[99Runnr]

Did some research the last couple hours.

LCE fuel management system they say is essentially mandatory for boosting the 3rz;
LCE Pro Fuel Injection Kit #3 4Cylinder for 0-30 lbs Boost

LCE turbo kit low boost, $2500 more.

So between those two item's alone, no gauges, no coolants/oils I'm over $4k. Haven't even touched a rebuild on my 220k mile 3rz. Never in this lifetime will it be worth $6k plus to me, to do all this for 200 whp MAYBE out of a heavy ass truck. It is worth $1-$2k to me for an engine swap/boost/half the mileage.

I can even squeeze a $500 set of headers for the 3.4 into a $2k budget. So please, besides bench racing, can anyone give some insight as to what this swap entails outside obvious harness/ecu swap things.

My concerns are mainly clearance/frame differentials and what modifications need to be done to set it in place. I remember someone stuffed a V8 into one of these, so going to an OEM engine platform should not be that hard it seems.

 

[rkntoy]

Did you try connecting with ChildrenOfBodum to see if he ever did his? I remember reading some posts.

You don't have to justify it to anyone but yourself. I do a whole bunch of things that I can't justify to anyone else.

 

[99Runnr]

Did you try connecting with ChildrenOfBodum to see if he ever did his? I remember reading some posts.

You don't have to justify it to anyone but yourself. I do a whole bunch of things that I can't justify to anyone else.

I was merely justifying beyond people saying it's stupid, ect. I had mentioned why I wanted this, for reasons outside the obvious. I have done stupid builds before on car's. Which is where you start learning to educate yourself BEFOREHAND, which brings me here. I've already had plenty of people tell me to yard my 3rz and make this trade opportunity happen, but I want to know what I'm getting into. Last thing I want to do is discover I just created a shit storm. Otherwise, engine/ecu/harness swap is no big deal.

Thanks for the tip on the member, I didn't unveil anyone really through my searching I felt I could follow up with. Lot's of people who had a dream of 3rz to NA 3.4 for power/avoiding buying new trucks, an so forth. Nobody really quite in this situation of OEM platform to OEM platform. Or they had similar results, IE: that's stupid, just buy a v6 4runner. Which is why I made note of that as well in the OP, haha.

 

[Kryptoroxx]

Circumstances here, why I do NOT want to just "buy another 4runner with a 3.4". My truck was just completely gone through by me. Interior, sound deadened, stereo, body is perfect, no rust, brakes, new axles, so on and so forth. Some things are interchangeable but I like my foundation now.

My truck; 1997 3rz, 5-speed, 4x4

Donor; 120k mile 3.4, ecu, full harness, Gen 1 supercharger, automatic trans

I know I would need a different trans and the basics. My question is, engine mounts, anyone make a swap mount kit/write up? I have seen this asked, many times with ZERO follow through on other forums, other platforms, ect.

Anyone have an old link or some concrete feedback here? I want to gain the power here, the blower whine (I have had several 03-04 Cobra's and miss that) and I like the challenge. I'm not doing this to beat a budget rebuild or anything. It's a project I want to know a bit more about prior to committing.

Motor mounts are definitely different and so are the Trans mounts. You will end up making the mounts. Wiring should be similar as long as the years are very similar. There was a big change in the wiring from 98 into 99 and above.

Not to rub the situation the wrong way but if you're going to go through the trouble of swapping why not swap into the 4.7 of you're looking for power. It's the same amount of work and you get a lot more hp vs the 5vz.

The other reason that people don't swap the 3rz to the 5vz is because it is a very rare truck.

The other thing you could do is swap bodies if you're dead set on the 5vz. It's about as much work.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G870A using Tapatalk

 

[MN4runnerman]

You have step 1 covered by getting a complete donor truck. So depending on if you have a spare car and don't care about down time I would take the engine and trans out of both 4runners so that you can see the differences. The motor mounts and crossmembers are different, and so is the front driveshaft length and the fuel lines too. Once everything is out you can start figuring out what needs to change in your 4Runner. The motor mounts are welded which kind of suck so what I would do is make new ones. (There's gonna be a lot of measure twice, drink a beer, measure a couple times more and then cut once). The crossmember you can cut out and weld into your truck. The fuel lines have to change because of the fuel filter location on the 3rz. I think if your creative enough it wouldn't be too hard. Good luck and take pictures so we can all see.

Just to add I've looked through some threads on yotatech and Tacomaworld and people have posted about this topic just no follow ups on how it's done or anything. I'd be doing my research over on those threads.

 

[T4R2014]

Totally understand the whole cost and comfortability thing but I honestly find all that work so pointless when there's so many 3.4 4Runners to choose from by comparison. Seems more like you blew too much money on a truck you weren't satisfied with even when it was stock.

 

[pauldub]

If you had the frame from the donor, that might make things easier. You'll need the transfer case and both driveshafts too.

 

[T4R2014]

If you had the frame from the donor, that might make things easier. You'll need the transfer case and both driveshafts too.

All that work for a truck that can be found on craigslist for under 4grand if you are patient enough.

 

[99Runnr]

Again, if I wanted something done for me, I wouldn't have started with a 3rd gen 4runner that had 200k on it. The truck drives flawlessly and has been really good since I finished it. Don't read into it too much, does not mean I made a mistake buying this cause I want a more powerful power plant. It does not mean the 3.4 with an SC is the end all, greatest power plant either.

I have someone who WANTS my 3rz longblock and essentially will trade me straight across for said 3.4. That detail aside, I realize it's a lot of work, but I have time and capability. There was some good constructive statements made though an thank you for those.

My truck will be a 3.4, e-locker, supercharged rig with a 5-speed. Plate bumpers, tundra brakes, clean title, all original paint except the sport hood I just did. You cannot find that for 4k "all day on craigslist" so again, my platform is exceptional to me, so I'm not going to dump this truck for another pile of crap out there.

I would consider another engine, but I do not have anyone beating down my door offering a 4.7, or a 2JZ or anything else neat for nearly zero money with complete harness, donor vehicle and other essentials at my disposal.

Again, thanks for the constructive statements. I extracted those and it's noted.

 

[Tyler James Inc]

Oh man, people crack me up.
I'm not so sure the engine mounts on the frame are different, but I suppose they could be.
What year is the donor? I think the swap should be pretty straight forward, but you'll definitely need an ECU from a manual rig of the same year as the engine. Having the engine/trans harness from the same rig as the new ECU would make the swap really seamless.
Have you sourced an R150 yet?

 

[rkntoy]

If the donor vehicle frame is OK what about a body swap as an option?

 

[rkntoy]

And for everyone saying the engine mounts are different - the frame parts that the motor mounts bolt to look the same to me.

 

[1985taylor1925]

Circumstances here, why I do NOT want to just "buy another 4runner with a 3.4". My truck was just completely gone through by me. Interior, sound deadened, stereo, body is perfect, no rust, brakes, new axles, so on and so forth. Some things are interchangeable but I like my foundation now.

My truck; 1997 3rz, 5-speed, 4x4

Donor; 120k mile 3.4, ecu, full harness, Gen 1 supercharger, automatic trans

I know I would need a different trans and the basics. My question is, engine mounts, anyone make a swap mount kit/write up? I have seen this asked, many times with ZERO follow through on other forums, other platforms, ect.

Anyone have an old link or some concrete feedback here? I want to gain the power here, the blower whine (I have had several 03-04 Cobra's and miss that) and I like the challenge. I'm not doing this to beat a budget rebuild or anything. It's a project I want to know a bit more about prior to committing.

I don't know about this forum, but I bet there's someone on yotatech or ttora that has done this swap. Have you looked there?

 

[T4R2014]

Wow. Somebody wants to trade you all that for a 3RZ. I'd just find a good 3RZ used and trade him for it.

 

[99Runnr]

I checked plenty of forums for any kind of solid leads/people who claimed they had done it. I found one business who claimed to have done them and I have already reached out to him. He said he would call me Monday.

An yes, the guy wants the 3rz for his older gen pickup. Especially when mine was just gone through, has exhaust, intake, all new OEM parts, ect. They bought this 4runner for parts and he decided a 3.4 swap was too much work. So when I went there and puled the e-locker from t, we got to talking and this opportunity presents itself.

I'd be trading my engine/trans/harness, for the 3.4 longblock, harness, ecu. I would need a new 5-speed anyways so that doesn't bother me. Aside from that, the vehicle is complete minus the locker that's already in my truck now. So fuel lines, driveshafts, so forth, are all there if something works out and I'm comfortable enough pulling my engine.

 

[99Runnr]

Oh man, people crack me up.
I'm not so sure the engine mounts on the frame are different, but I suppose they could be.
What year is the donor? I think the swap should be pretty straight forward, but you'll definitely need an ECU from a manual rig of the same year as the engine. Having the engine/trans harness from the same rig as the new ECU would make the swap really seamless.
Have you sourced an R150 yet?

It's from a 2000. I have done very faint digging for an R150.

I could get all that stuff minus ECU and trans from donor rig. Stuff like that would add up but I am patient and won't be under the gun if I take this project on. I found a gentleman who runs a business and claimed on another forum, he has done these swaps. So that will be my determining factor from here on out honestly.