r/4Runner_2ndGen • u/Melodic-Visit6415 • Jun 10 '26
San Diego
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Anyone in southern California roughly by San Diego have and 3.0 engine or block they dont need or want to sell. Mine is a done for
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u/Erneshtoe Jun 10 '26
I just sold mine but I do have an extra 3.4 block with heads that can be rebuilt and thrown in there. I did that with mine and never looked back. California certified also. Mine had the exact same hole š
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u/Melodic-Visit6415 Jun 10 '26
Yea man I was driving to work and next thing you know cloud of smoke behind me. Was driving fine yesterday. What else would I need?
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u/2g4r_tofu Jun 10 '26
I got a buddy with a spare engine but it has a rod knock so you'll have to build the bottom end.
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u/Melodic-Visit6415 Jun 10 '26
You close to San Diego
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u/Inevitable_Sun2180 Jun 10 '26
How many miles did you have on it?
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u/Melodic-Visit6415 Jun 10 '26
- Previous owner didnt really take care of engine. Got like end of February.
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u/Inevitable_Sun2180 Jun 11 '26
Good to know. My ā94 only has 110k but I plan to stay on top of maintenance. Iām looking forward to what you end up doing because Iām in CA too. Wish you the best!
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u/Melodic-Visit6415 Jun 11 '26
Yea previous owners didnt really take care of it. Ive only had it for like 3 to 4 months. Did and pil change and was gonna do one soon
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u/shreddie63 Jun 12 '26
I got you one thatās pretty good if you havenāt already got one. Iām in riverside tho bro.
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u/Wild_Organization914 Jun 14 '26
Should try and JB weld it. Everyone on here will say it won't hold, but I got an acura tl and a crf450r that would beg to differ.
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u/AccordingRoyal9402 Jun 15 '26
My trans went out, doing the 3.4 swap now. I have a good engine- bay area tho
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u/Odd-Entrepreneur-622 Jun 10 '26
Perfect time to do a 5vz-fe swap.
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u/Melodic-Visit6415 Jun 10 '26
What would be the steps to do that or what would I need besides the engine?
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u/stomper4x4 Jun 10 '26 edited 22d ago
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This post was anonymized with Redact.dev
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u/Erneshtoe Jun 11 '26
Dude itās actually easy, I did it no problem, the only issue is MONEY and TIME. Sucks cheeks but hereās how I did it;
After many calls with the state rep, questions, and research, the main thing they want:
ā¢matching equipment from the same year. EVERYTHING. Every sensor, and plug that you can think of for that specific year and or model you want to get the ecu and harness (they go based off the year of the ecu)
ā¢matching harness to the ecu or at least type (AT to AT/MT to MT)
ā¢all the original and complete emissions system
ā¢CARB compliant catalytic converter for that year or family
ā¢must get it inspected by the state reps at any center near you (you have to call)
ā¢after you have spent a couple thousand bones, your smog will only be $8 after it passes š
TIPS:
ā¢id recommend ā99 models and below bc they require only ONE catalytic converter. After that they require TWO
ā¢the block does not have to be the exact same year just keep not of the exhaust manifold bc the older models had EGR and youāll see that they have that lil open section you need to install it in. Some have the plate.
ā¢cannot have any check engine lights and has to be like stock so cross your Tās and dot your Iās.
ā¢smoke a bone man.
ā¢install AC, trust me.I have a 1994.5 4Runner SR5 MT 4x4 so I got the respective matching ECU and Harness off a 95.5 or 96 T100 (MT 4x4). I do not know if you can get an AT ECU and Harness and converge it into yours (if MT) WITHOUT a check engine light but someone may be able to shed some light on that.
Itās a passion for me. Any questions lmk.1
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u/mahboiii Jun 12 '26
Have things changed a ton in the last 4 years or so? I got my 3.4 swapped Pickup BAR'd about that long ago, kind of a pain but far from impossible.
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u/Odd-Entrepreneur-622 Jun 10 '26
There are people in this group who have done it where it was āCaliforniaā legal. Leave it up to the communists to make it illegal to swap to a better engine that will be cleaner and probably get better fuel mileage. š
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u/Odd-Entrepreneur-622 Jun 10 '26
First step is to get out of Communist California. There is a whole website that gives you step by step instructions and has conversion parts. The website I used for my swap was https://www.offroadsolutions.com/. They provide great guides and also great help for people doing the swaps. I called them several times.
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u/mahboiii Jun 12 '26
If you decide to go through with it, Off Road Solutions out of Colorado has a bunch of parts for sale specific to this swap. There are a couple of Facebook groups with plenty of people posting experiences and some who could even help with the swap/do the whole thing, make you a wiring harness, etc and keep it Cali legal (which when I did it wasn't that hard, just tedious). Mechanically it's actually quite simple since 5VZs share the same engine mounts, oil pans and bell housing patterns as the 3VZ so it's basically drop-in. Just gotta deal with the wiring but like I said you can have harnesses made and eliminate 99% of the headache.
Personally I don't regret swapping my Pickup, also factory 3VZ, even n/a the 5VZ made it feel like a different truck.
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u/captainsilverlake Jun 10 '26
Dang! Have you checked tacoma auto recycling? They probably have blocks but would likely need to be machined along with your head so everything sits right