engine swap for '01 tacoma?

[Rexsname]

It's time for the second timing belt on my Tacoma (203,000 miles) and I was wondering about engine swaps. The 4.7litre V8 in the newer 4Runner looks good as does the 4.0litreV6 in the new Tacoma.

I've heard urban ledgends of japanese take out engines that have only 100,000kms 60,000 miles on them. Do they exist? Would anyone trust one of those with a TRD supercharger? We pull a face painting trailer and 60 mph is about as hard as I choose to stress this well worn engine. I've re-geared to 4.88s and that helped alot but I guess I'd like even better freeway performance.

Would one of the toyota turbo-diesels from that fellow down in Texas be a realistic option?

I know next to nothing about all of the computer interfaces except that I know that I dont know anything!


REX

 

[ntsqd]

Unless you feel like having a project/driveway queen truck, as opposed to having a truck that you can jump in and go run the Dusy with ( :sombrero: ) and then drive home I'd leave it alone.

 

[Rexsname]

Ahh yes... the Dusy. I'd sure like to do that trail sometime! With this driver, my truck is not up to the challenge. So is it your opinion that a new (used) engine is better than anything else on the market for a daily driver?

REX

 

[FurthurOnTheFly]

Rex that is true about the Japanese and the engines at 100k miles. We had a friend who owned a tuning shop in Tucson that specialized in Subarus and later Mitsubishi. He used to import whole STI engines from Japan because they would be done with them, some with pretty low miles. Josh actually has a transplanted STI engine in his WRX wagon from Japan that only had about 50k on it. But they have really cracked down on the imports now from what I hear...the cars are supposed to be cut in half and un-driveable and customs was finding way too many containers with whole cars in perfect running condition. Whoops!

 

[CA-RJ]

Is something wrong with your engine? Have you pulled the valve covers to see what it looks like inside? I ask because I wonder why you would put a used engine in until you start having problems with your current one.

 

[Rexsname]

Nopey, runs just fine!

But at 203,000 miles I think that I should be considering my options. The only times I feel underpowered are when I'm towing. I think that if I could find a good crate motor I'd be happy with it. This is not something that will happen soon, but I have a need to know these kinds of things :smiley_drive:


REX

 

[toy_tek]

Have you considered purchasing a dedicated tow vehicle? I imagine you could get a decent Ford or Chevy 1/2 ton for under 5 or 6 grand. It will be better for towing with a larger engine, also bigger brakes, longer wheelbase, etc. You'll spend close to that in a conversion/swap and then still have bugs to work out.

Just something to think about.

btw: how big & heavy is your trailer?

 

[shawkins]

You should have atleast another 150K left in your 5VZ-FE.

As for diesel swaps, there is a Toyota one that will bolt right into your Taco. I forget which one it is, but it is found in '96-'02 Hilux Surfs and Hiluxs. IIRC, they have about the same amount of torque and less HP than the 5VZ-FE. I have read about people easily getting around 300ft-lbs. of torque out of them though, that would be pretty cool.

 

[Rexsname]

The trailer is a 7' x10' Wells Cargo concession trailer. It has a single axel and a detachable tounge. I doesn't really weigh that much but it's like pulling a parachute or a big box kite.

We just got rid of our tow vehicle, we had a 3500 Dodge. It pulled it just fine, thank you. But we just couldn't afford to keep it.

Depending on what happens in court we might not have to worry about pulling it for a while.

REX

 

[toy_tek]

Ah man sorry to hear about that... I know what its like... just sold my F350 two weeks ago for the same reason.

 

[chet]

do some checks on your current motor like compression and leak down. this will tell you if its down on power or not. You can do a few little things to help with power. Personally I would upgrade the whole truck to a newer tacoma rather than an engine swap to the newer 4.0 V6. And I doubt the v8 would fit very good.

JDM engines are very popular as they almost always have low miles on them.

 

[Cackalak Han]

People have tried to do the 4.0L V6, 4.7L V8, 4.0L V8 swaps, but it takes a lot of custom work. 3.4L V6's are great engines. I'd stick with that. Less headache, less $$. Slap on a supercharger if you need more power.

 

[sami]

I agree that the 3.4 is a great motor, and to just focus on having yours rebuilt, or replaced with a fresh 3.4..

 

[dieselcruiserhead]

the costs are borderline insane. But a good option would be www.dieseltoyz.com, which is even relatively "local" for you.