Engine Swap 4Runner

It would be useful if you also posted the model year, engine type, and where you are located - U.S., Europe, etc.

Installing a different type of engine from the one that originally came with the vehicle involves a lot of modifications.

For example, if your generation 4Runner was not offered with a V8, then you will have to modify the engine mounts and cooling system and change the engine control computer and transmission. If you change the transmission, you will probably also have to change the transfer case if it is a 4 wheel drive. This can easily spend $10,000 on modifications on top of the price of a new engine.

Even if 4Runners were offered with both 4 and 6 cylinder engines, you will probably still need to change the computer and transmission, so plan on spending at least $5,000 on top of the price of a new engine.

If your engine is rebuild-able, then rebuilding it is the least costly option.

What are your goals, your budget, your (his) skill level?

The least expensive and easiest is to directly replace what's in there already with a certified used engine. The next alternative is to get a "long block" which are usually sold on an exchange basis. If you use your truck as a daily driver, both are "weekend" projects and will get you back on the road soonest.

Rebuilding your blown engine might or might not be cheaper than the long block swap, depending on mileage and what parts were damaged when it "blew." The advantage is that you can make your own decision on marginal parts - replace them for increased life and reliability or run with them for reduced costs. You can also make any mods that you may feel are appropriate for your use - different cam, high volume oil pump, etc.

Swapping requires more knowledge, skill and money. If yours is a 4cyl and you swap in a V6 from a 4Runner so equipped it may be fairly painless as far as swaps go, but you may have to upgrade wiring, computer, suspension, radiator, charging system etc - and maybe even the transmission - to the V6 model. I honestly don't know what it would entail not having done this swap but it could be anywhere from "drop it in and go" to requiring some fairly significant modification.

As far as a V8 swap goes, this is most complicated yet. Depending on what engine you want to put in (Toyota, Chevy, ??) you may need adaptors, upgrade of the entire drivetrain, suspension, brakes, cooling system, firewall, frame... and what you end up with, again depending on the skill level of the one doing the work - will either be a professional, safe and clean looking installation, or it may be a total hack job. I have to warn that I've seen far more of the latter than the former, when done by people with little or no experience, and if your state requires inspections a "hack job" may not be certified as safe.

-- Mike Harris

OK Here's more info-

Ray O wrote:

OK- this helps alot, BUT which is the best route to take! We've got the money to do it all but what's the best one?? Is he better off to just rebuild? He's planning on swapping out the tranny too to a 7R4 Tranny! He's just hung up on "what's the best way"

Mike Harris wrote:

We've got the money, He's got the skill, and we've got time! Thanks for your info! Anything else you can recommend???? Thanks!!!

snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com wrote:

Top posted, but she did it first ... sorry folks.

(sigh) That question can't be answered without knowing what your goals are for the truck.

Are y'all happy with the truck in its stock configuration? If so, rebuilding the existing engine or replacing it with the identical "crate" engine is the "best" way.

Do y'all want to turn it into some wort of fire breathing dragstrip eater? Not *my* first choice of vehicles for this but whatever floats your boat. Dropping in a blown 454 rat motor, TH400 and Ford 9" rear end is the "best" way. Get out your checkbook.

How about towing? I'm kind of partial to the Detroit Diesel 6V-92 Turbo with the Allison HT transmission. With 1100 ft/lbs of torque you could climb trees with it - that's the "best" way. *Really* get out your checkbook.

If you don't want to go to these extremes, as Ray O pointed out, swapping a V8 - even a Toyota V8, might end up costing $10K or more. For that kind of money, the "best" way would be to rebuild or replace the existing 3.0L engine, sell the nice, stock 4Runner, and buy yourself a Tundra with the V8 already in it.

-- Mike Harris Austin TX

Well Mike- Our goal is to have a vehicle that will go to and from work, and also on the weekends climb some hills, do a little crawling.................But still have some power too! As it was... it was so POWERLESS on the road! My husband has been getting into this whole 4x4ing thing, and it has to have the power to make it uphill, he had also been talking about making it into an automatic.

If you want to go crawling, think about the FJ Cruiser, new 4Runner with V8, or Land Cruiser. For what it would cost to change the V6 to a V8 and change the transmission to an automatic, you could probably fix or replace your current engine, sell the vehicle, and then get a brand new vehicle and then you will have everything fresh from the factory instead of something that will be difficult to repair or sell later.

The OP is using Google Groups, so their being in the USA is a fairly safe assumption...

The way the US laws are written, it is very difficult to swap a different size or year engine and still pass the biennial emissions checks if you live in the areas where they are required. The California laws are fraught with a whole system of special referee inspections, CARB Exemption inspections for aftermarket exhaust manifolds and cat converters, one-year exemptions...

It is possible to go through a series of special inspections and hearings, and be told to either (Pick One:) put the car back the way it was built, make impossible modifications to bring an older engine up to the newer emissions regulations that go with the vehicle, scrap the car, or sell it out of the area.

They enforce the laws by denying you the tags.

If your engine is NOT rebuildable - for instance it threw a connecting rod through the side of the engine block - the next best thing is to get a matching year and model good used engine from a junkyard, and have that used engine rebuilt and installed. Or pay the engine rebuilders the "core charge", they will go find another good block to use for the next person.

If you or your mechanic rebuilds the same model year and type engine, and restores the car to factory specs as originally built, the State can't make trouble for you. As long as the emissions systems are complete and function properly, and the tailpipe tests come up as clean as they require or better.

The "Low mileage Used Japanese Engines" they sell can be trouble - they may be the same basic engine model, but there are slight differences between the Japanese-market cars and the American-market cars - often they do not "just drop right in and work" as advertised, your mechanic will end up modifying things to fit.

Installing any used engine in your car is a crapshoot - you never really know HOW used it was until you get it bolted in and running. And if the replacement engine turns out to need a rebuild, then you have to take it out of the car again to do the work.

Better to have it opened up and gone through before installing it the first time, then you should get 100K plus miles without a hitch.

Oh, and don't just decide to sell it As Is unrepaired - I can almost guarantee that you'll take a financial bath. Better to put in a good engine and repair the car, drive it a few years, and then sell it while it is still in good running condition, that's when you'll get top dollar for the car.

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WHERE Are You Located? If you are in the Greater Los Angeles or Bay Area of California, or certain areas in New York or New Jersey, there are rather draconian Smog Laws to navigate through.

Make big changes to the car that don't fit inside those laws, like dropping a V-8 in where a 4-cylinder used to live, and they take away the license plates at the next smog-check inspection.

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Another reason to live in Florida....

I agree.

-- Mike Harris Austin TX

Oh no we're good we live in Eastern Washington state

Bruce L. Bergman wrote:

WELL THANKS TO EVERYONE!!! THIS HELPS US! Thanks again for taking the time to answer my questions!!

When you install an engine other than the one that came with a vehicle, besides the engine, you would also need to change the computer, engine wiring harness, transmission, transfer case, transmission wiring harness, transmission computer, front and rear driveshafts, frame, firewall, floor pan, exhaust, and evaporative emissions sytem just to avoid serious drivability problems. It is very likely that you would also have to change the radiator and front suspension. Since your vintage 4Runner did not come with a V8, every one of those modifications woud require custom engineering and fabrication.

If you can get everything to even work, as Bruce mentioned, you have to get the vehicle to pass emissions if you want it to be street legal.

I've seen some Toyota trucks that had V8 engines installed in place of the stock 4 cylinder engines, and while they had lots of power, they were poor performers off road and on slippery surfaces because the extensive modifications needed to fit the V8 made the the front end so much heavier than the rear that the rear tires had only marginal traction. Those projects took between 6 months and a year to complete, which is not a problem if you do not need the vehicle for transportation, but whoever is doing the work will have to give up most nights and weekends during that time.

HERE'S WHAT WE ARE DOING! WHAT DO YOU ALL THINK??

I think you're shouting at us. Try turning off your caps lock.

Oh, you mean the truck. I think that you're getting in over your head. I think you'll also need a transfer case plus whatever else Ray O listed. I think that you're fixin' to create yourself a nice, costly, time consuming hobby and I hope that you don't expect to recoup anything close to your costs at resale time.

But... I also think it's not my truck, so if you're dead set on that swap, have fun with it. Far be it from me to try and prevent folks from going to hell in the fashion that most pleases 'em.

-- Mike Harris Austin TX

Sorry About the Caps lock! I'm new at this Forum stuff! Well thanks for the information! Much Appreciated!