its finally mine!!! now I need help

[Rokbucketz]

So the missus had a 92 when I met her. I (being a ford expedition owner....long story) have wanted to get my hands on it since the word go. Well, 2 days ago we got her a new camry so now the pig is MINE ALL MINE! Being that I now have the right to dig into it, what are some cheap-ish engine upgrades for extra power? I'm not all too worried about fuel mileage, but its a dog! I don't mean a dog like in the usual sense though, I have to drive with my foot on the floor to get 70MPH, and even slower in a head wind. If I maintain this floored status for any amount of time, it will begin to run rough and drop down to 60 MPH till I keep the pedal lifted for 5 minutes or so. Its not getting hot at all so that is out. It has 156k on the odo, but that doesn't seem like much in the toyota world, and it idles and accelerates pretty smooth. I will definitely upgrade the exhaust and intake in the near future, but what other mods are these awesome beasts favorable to? I don't really wanna rebuild the whole engine, but would a port/bowl blend on the head be a worthwhile endeavor? Any bolt on parts I should get? Any factory parts I should replace due to age? I've been building and modifying rigs my whole life, so there are no depths i'm not willing to go as long as my wallet can handle it (read: No forced induction). I would be happy with a bit more top end and maybe 25 HP overall. Any and all help is greatly appreciated.

EDIT: engine swaps are out for now......i like yoter motors.

 

[CycloSteve]

Search is your friend

Official Mud welcome.

Plenty of threads out there about the 3FE motor being pretty much a dog while trying to move a three-ton brick through the air at 70mph. Sorry, but not much available to "gain" HP over what originally came with the truck.

The good news is likely you can recuperate some lost HP by simply giving her a good tune-up...again plenty of threads out there on the site.

Some have desmogged their rigs, gaining some HP and some MPG, but perhaps that is not a great option if you are in a state which requires inspections.

Search, and ye shall receive.



Steve

 

[trd55]

My biggest upgrade was the Rodneys extreme transmission. The power gained from upgrading the transmission was huge. You should be able to get huge improvements with just a valve body from Rodney. Also, check and adjust you kick down cable, that should show somw modest acceleration improvements. There are some threads about adjusting the MAF a tooth or two, and advancing the timing a couple of degrees. Im my experience they do add power, but the also add to a rich fuel mix. Mine is back to he stock settings. I am able to run 37s in 3rd gear(stock 4:10) no problem. I also live where it is flat, so that helps too. Before the transmission upgrade, I could barely hold 35s in 3rd gear and was shifting to 2nd to climb grade on the highway. I burned up my transmission doing that. That is why I have a Rodney's extreme transmission now. Good luck.

 

[jonheld]

https://forum.ih8mud.com/80-series-tech/270758-general-3fe-tune-up-info.html

 

[Rokbucketz]

Will changing the fuel sock make that much of a difference?

My plan so far(to keep it simple) will be to :

port match the intake and exhaust when I change the gaskets.

change the fuel sock and filter.

cool air intake, possible ram air box(for a little extra top end).

2.5" single exhaust. high flow cat(s) and a cherry bomb
and of course all the other stuff that goes with a full tune up.


are the stock injectors sufficient pieces? is an oversized TB worth it ? I have access to a machine shop, so boring a TB is not a problem. Just wanna cover all the bases.

 

[Ebag333]

cool air intake, possible ram air box(for a little extra top end).

Don't bother. The stock air intake is huge, a lot of the "cool air" intakes pull air from inside the engine bay (warmer than the stock intake) and have a smaller filter area.

 

[jonheld]

Will changing the fuel sock make that much of a difference?

I guess it depends on how clogged the one in the tank is. My rule is they should be changed every 100K miles. It's quick and painless if you have the correct parts on hand. There are several writeups on this.

https://forum.ih8mud.com/80-series-tech/292564-change-fp-filter.html

 

[Eicca]

My biggest improvements came from disabling the EGR with BBs (search for "1991 3F-E Desmog Performed") and advancing the timing as far as I could without the engine pinging all over the place. Do all your preventive maintenance as well. The 3FE will surprise you when taken care of nicely.

 

[akarilo]

My biggest improvements came from disabling the EGR with BBs (search for "1991 3F-E Desmog Performed") and advancing the timing as far as I could without the engine pinging all over the place. Do all your preventive maintenance as well. The 3FE will surprise you when taken care of nicely.

Turbos wake them up too

 

[Rokbucketz]

My biggest improvements came from disabling the EGR with BBs (search for "1991 3F-E Desmog Performed") and advancing the timing as far as I could without the engine pinging all over the place. Do all your preventive maintenance as well. The 3FE will surprise you when taken care of nicely.

I will definitely do that mod. It seems like some people got no difference, but some seemed to get GREAT results. Its worth the 10 minutes to me to try it out.
I still have the :cough:expedition:cough: so I can give the 80 some downtime to get everything done right. It would be nice to go up hills in something other than 2nd gear......maybe even get on the highway without having to slow raffic down so dramatically?