Mutate Now » 4Runner

Toyota V6 3VZE Engine Rebuild [Photos]

Molli Fire — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 02:32:52 +0000

A whole lot of pix from the rebuild and restoration of my 1988 Toyota 4 Runner engine and engine compartment. From fresh paint to brand new pistons!!

For “before” pix of the same engine, go to this older post:

(BIG) High Quality Photos Of 3VZE Engine Before Rebuild

High Quality Photos Of 3VZE Engine Being Rebuilt For 1988 Toyota 4Runner Truck:

[Click on thumbnails to see larger image, then click on big image if you want to see full size image...]

V6 3vze Engine

Molli Fire — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 14:54:43 +0000

In 1988, Toyota introduced the 6-cylinder 3vze engine for 4Runners and Hilux trucks. Less common than the 4-cylinder 22R engines found in many 1st generation Yota trucks, the 3vze is harder to shop for, but incredibly easy to work on.

From Title To Tune Up In 6 Days

When I bought my 1st 4Runner (already 20+ years old and poorly maintained by previous owners), it was leaking coolant and overheating. Within a week I removed the entire cooling system, all the belts and everything else in front of the block. Now, I’m a mechanical person by nature – I love to take things apart and see how they work. But I had never worked on a Toyota engine before in my life. Everything I needed to learn was available online, for free. The 2 most useful resources, beyond a doubt, have been the YotaTech Forums and the Factory Service Manual (FSM). Another vital resource is the local flea market – a treasure trove of quality tools at bargain prices. Every time I got stuck on a part I couldn’t budge, I went to the flea market in search of tools I didn’t know existed until I saw them. This is how I finally loosened the 181 ft/lb of torque holding the crankshaft pulley bolt on plus countless nuts & bolts in hard-to-reach spaces.

Here’s pix from before and after my 1st Toyota Tune Up:

(BIG) High Quality Photos Of 3VZE Engine

Falling In Love – 1st Gen 4Runner

Molli Fire — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 22:28:22 +0000

In Spring 2009, I bought my first truck – a 1988 Toyota 4Runner. I’d wanted a truck since high school, but never found the right one at the right time. I tempered my lust with tour buses, a Mercedes Benz, even 2 boats before finding the *perfect* truck. At long last, my friends introduced me to the 88 4Runner (or Hilux as it’s called in most places outside the U.S.).

I bought it off the former owner sight-unseen for almost nothing over the impound fees and pretty much got what I paid for. The vehicle was trashed inside and out in mysterious ways.

As soon as the title was in my name and keys in my hand for the 1st time, I compiled the list of known issues it had, one of which was a “minor” overheating problem. Just a few days later, I discovered that the problem was being treated with plain tap water (which messed up the cooling system parts) and a coolant leak had caused the timing belt to shred, weaving individual rubber strings into the crankshaft and cam pulleys. This explained the severe timing problem we found after failing the first smog test.

Stay tuned for the continuation of 88 Hilux & the Robot Whisperer…

For more info on 1984-89 Hilux and 4Runner trucks – including funny commercials, 4×4 home videos and simply awe-inspiring experiments – tap over to the mut8 Hilux/4Runner page:

http://www.mut8.org/tag/4runner/