Why exactly is the 3.0 so crappy?

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2damslow

2damslow

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hyrum Utah.
What is it that makes the 3.0 such a dog? I have an old tractor with the chevy I4 motor, it's carbed and is 2.8 liters, and it has more power than my 3.0. I had a pickup with the 2.2, and I swear it had more power to weight than my runner with the 3.0.
What is that special something that makes the 3.0 so crap-tastic? Is it the fuel injection? If so, I will gladly mill a flat into the intake and slap a road demon carb on it. Is it the ignition? I will machine a Landcruiser distributer so that it fits my runner, and then install a mels ignition kit. I really dont care at this point.
I'd love to do an engine swap, but it will take buckets of money and time.
Did some toyota engineer forget to carry the one? What were they thinking? Where, specifically, did they screw up on this motor?
 
WristPin said:
why i dont like the early 3VZFE is cause of the likely event of a head gasket failure.

did the trucks you tested have the same gears and tire size?
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Didn't know the FE's had the problem... Just the E's... Big difference in those engines.

The early 3ZVE's had no HG problems. Just the 89-95. The early 3.4's had the same problem, too.

Cross over is a huge issue - should be removed and thrown in the garbage. Intake is restrictive, as are valve sizes.

So what? Still one of the smoothest engines Toyota has ever built.
 
Alot of it has to do with the design of the head.
It doesn't flow particularly well, and has rather steep angles valve angles.

The cam profiles were designed to meet specific emission standards, and really suck the power.

Sea2Sky tuning makes a set of cams that really wake the 3VZ-E up and make it run pretty well. A set of regrinds runs $400. A set of new billet cams are $700.

Also, I have been looking at the way the fuel injection is set up.
It's a batch fire system, with high flowing injectors.
So, injectors 1, 3, and 5 fire, then injectors 2, 4 and 6 fire. All at once.

The brother of the 3VZ-E is the 3VZ-FE. Which is a REALLY good engine. It's the DOHC version used in the Camry. The hot rodders like this engine because it's got alot of room to make more power, and came with all forged internals (as opposed to the cast internals in the 3VZ-E). This engine can be built to give a 2JZ a run for it's money.

Anyhow, it would be interesting to figure out how to set up a sequential fuel injection setup for the 3VZ-E.

In the end, it's easier and cheaper to just throw in a 5VZ-FE and be done.
 
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WristPin said:
why i dont like the early 3VZFE is cause of the likely event of a head gasket failure.

did the trucks you tested have the same gears and tire size?
Click to expand...


The 3VZ-FE (F denotes dual overhead came, with narrrow valve angles, also known as an 'economy' head) never had head gasket issues, and was never used in a toyota pickup or 4Runner. Just the Camry.

The 3VZ-E was originally designed for an asbestos head gasket. But since asbestos was banned, Toyota had a hard time coming up with something that matched the performance of asbestos in that application.
 
Tigerstripe40... Exactly what I've heard. A mechanic I've talked to swears up and down that the main reason the 3VZ-E has so many head gasket issues is precisely that transition to non-asbestos gaskets post-1989. They've changed the design of the gasket several times. Another issue that he says causes problems is that a lot of folks doing the rebuilds aren't paying careful attention to the precise tightening procedure for the heads--You're supposed to do the bolts in a certain order, to a certain torque, then do 90 degrees more in the same pattern, and then repeat, until the bolts are at the torque value plus 180 degrees. I found the TSB bulletin on this, just the other day, and I'm pretty sure this procedure isn't in the FSM. I'll have to look, when I get a chance.

Amazing how serendipity works. I was talking to this guy about my Land Cruiser, and he brought this whole "aluminum head/non-asbestos gasket" issue up about the 3VZ-E. Then, I'm looking through the Techinfo site, find the TSB, and I'm suddenly hearing from my brother that I may need to do a head job on the work truck... Joy.
 
thekirk said:
Tigerstripe40... Exactly what I've heard. A mechanic I've talked to swears up and down that the main reason the 3VZ-E has so many head gasket issues is precisely that transition to non-asbestos gaskets post-1989. They've changed the design of the gasket several times.QUOTE]

I've also read this somewhere. It'd be interesting to see the stats on HG failures for '89 compared to '90. It's not a bad engine, IMO. Seems poweful enough for me. But then, I like the 3FE too. :) What's the rush in getting a 2 ton + vehicle up to speed?
Click to expand...
 
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