3VZE Mods

[ToyMota 4Runner]

Hi guys
anyone out there ever done any mods to a 3VZE V6. I have a 95 4Runner with the 3VZE. I have modified the airbox with larger intake tube and ITG filter. Exhaust is modified so that the exhaust joins down behind the gearbox instead of behind the heads.
Doesnt seem to matter how I drive it , it still gets about the same fuel economy at approx 15lt per 100km.
Anyone got any ideas how I can get any better Mileage. Have been thinking about a rear mount turbo or possibly a small blower .

[JetspeedCamry]

Theres guys in the US running 400hp on stock internals and FI, if you decide to go that route.

[ToyMota 4Runner]

yeah but the yanks dont seem to worry about economy and yes if you throw enough bucks at these motors they will produce. Mine has over 200K on the clock so not too keen on going to hard with it.
I was thinking maybe a rear mounted turbo like this sorta thing
http://www.thunderracing.com/project...n=read&pgid=92

but havent heard of anyone in Aus doing such a thing

[airfireman1]

There has been a guy on one of the 4X4 forums that has turbo'd his 3vze but had limited joy. He now runs a V8 lexus motor. more power =more fun. one of the draw backs of the 3vze (i have a 4runner too)is the vane type air flow meter. Mine is on gas and I am very wary of a backfire as it slams the vane back and can cause it to bend.TRD make a supercharger for the later model prado motors and they are a direct bolt in charger and motor that is, it all depends on what your budget is.LPG is cheap

[ToyMota 4Runner]

Hi Arifireman
how does the gas conversion effect the power?
I have the SR5 LE with cruise control etc and I find that at time the poor old 3VZE struggles up some hills and feels just a little under powered.I was thinking bout the rear mounted turbo to boost up the power just a little so that I didnt run the risk of doing any engine damage .Have read that the engines dont suffer pressurisation too well at all so figure just a little boost might do the trick without doing the damage

[thechuckster]

One of the Qld toyota car club folks has a V6 camry with factory Supercharger installed on it - boost is (from memory) only 6-7psi. Being a 5speed it gave wilbo's JZA61 a bit of a run for its money - but the 1JZ did teh win.

Not the cheapest conversion (prices start at about $5k i think), but on the outside the car just looks like a factory tourer with a body kit and slightly larger brakes (ex JZ30 from memory). is a very competant sleeper.

[horse]

*psst* he's got the 3VZ-E (RWD motor) not the 3vz-fe (FWD Motor) *psst*

[thechuckster]

ah... i figured post #1 was a typo...

[NeoNasty]

If your after more economy your prob best with a LPG conversion. Peroperly tuned it will run well. Perhaps use a dedicated LPG system?

Turbo charging your engine will cost a LOT, unless you can do all the work yourself. Considering that the engine has already done 200K Kms, it will prob need a rebuild also.

Easier things. Headers, new freeer flowing exhaust, intake, CPU reset, keep it well serviced and the timing set right, 4 runners are quite heavy, so any weight you can shed will help as well. Get rid of those huge subs/amps bull bars, winches etc.

After doing all that, you might get better fuel economy, but if you dont enjoy your car, whats the point in having it?

[ToyMota 4Runner]

I was going to say hadnt heard of a blower kit for the 3VZE but must admit did grab my attention being from a Drag Racing background.
The beasty already has a fully custom exhaust with the original crossover pipe long gone and a full new pipe running down both sides of the engine.That runs through a Hi Flow cat and then a full flow though sports muffler and a resonator at the tail. Some of the welds may not be the prettiest but then Gasless Mig is never pretty.it all should flow rather nicely . My idea is to rear mount a turbo somewhere around the rear diff. Some guys in the states have had good results from mounting tubo units behind or over the Diff.The main reason for doing this is that these days engine bays are just too full .I am hoping to grab a turbo from Ebay for a few hundred bucks and manufacture the rest myself with the only real hard part finding the place to get the oil feed.
As for mine being a sleeper well it sorta sticks out like a sore thumb running on 32x11.5 BFG AT mounted on high polish alloy rims .
I use the truck for recovery at Wakefield Park just out of Goulburn so even less chance of hiding then as its got a full strobe lightbar so could say stands out just a smidge. 9" driving lights with blue lenses dont help either and its soon to get a 2" body lift . Oh yeah and for the record NO SUB WOOFER but has got in dash TV and reversing Camera

[thechuckster]

5VZFE factory kit:
http://www.trademotion.com/partlocat...catalogid=3626

TRD kit for Solara Camry
(scroll down to heading "Toyota Racing Development's Solara:")
http://www.turbomagazine.com/tech/02..._boost_part_4/

[ToyMota 4Runner]

I think that those blower kits are for differant variations of the 5VZE . I have looked into fitting one of those blowers to the 3VZE with heavy mods but unfortunately it appears that the ECU doesnt cope well when fitted with that unit. I have heard of guys putting forced induction onot the units and it always appears that trying to force too much air into these motors isnt a good idea.
My idea is rather to just put a small amount of boost that will only mean a small increase in power but will increase the enonomy . The small electric units that are for sale are great in theory but I fear that they wont work too well on anything bigger than the family lawn mower.I was thinking bout a rear mount turbo forcing air at low boost inot the original aribox.But as I havent heard of anyone trying it I figured I would get other opinions first
I looked into putting on headers but everything I look at is either too exxy to import or just too hard to try and track down.

[ToyMota 4Runner]

Easier things. Headers, new freeer flowing exhaust, intake, CPU reset, keep it well serviced and the timing set right, 4 runners are quite heavy, so any weight you can shed will help as

what exactly did you mean by CPU Reset.I have to reset the CPU a few times every year to fix a cruise control error but it doesnt appear to make any differance to the rest of the engine's performance

[airfireman1]

Hi
with regards to my 4runner on gas it is good for general city driving and long runs but it does lack power on hills, it also does this on petrol. In my opinion the 3vze is a very revy motor but has no torque. I would much prefer to convert it to a holden 3.8 or put a prado 3.5 with a supercharger from trd or maybe a lexus V8
Cheers

[BradW]

Have you guys had any trouble with the heads on your 4runners. I've got a 91 model V6 SR5 ltd and have had the heads done twice in about 80,000km's. First time was done by toyota, cost about $2500. Second time was done by myself, cost about $1000 in parts and head servicing (all at trade prices).
I have heard they have problems with the valves reccessing into the head but haven't had this happen.
I find mine is a little underpowered on hills as well and quite heavy on fuel, but I love the car and love driving it. Wouldn't mind getting more power out of it, but we will probably trade it in soon for something with a bit more room ( not much room left in the back with 2 baby seats in there ). It's done over 200,000km's as well but still runs perfectly and drives great.