jim

Yes Ive thought of that but not seriously, when on holidays I am not in a hurry and I try for the most part to go places less travelled, like up to the Yukon last summer, highways not busy and I just let it go at its comfortable speed, gets better fuel economy that was too. I am quite happy with it now because it has more power and yet the fuel economy has not changed. I see trd now has a supercharger for the newer 4.0 tacoma/ 4runner engine,,,303 hp. Maybe some day when Im retired I can try that swap!! Jim

As for performance cap and rotor I agree with Derek, as a Toyota tech for over 20 years I have seen more people throw away the good Toyota caps or wires and then have trouble or short life out of the aftermarket one. Toyota oem parts are very good and will normally go life of vehicle which can easily be 2-300,000 miles. If I wanted to make sure all is good I would buy the Toyota parts. Just my opinion based on my experience. Jim

Did mine last year, put 5000 miles on it last summer. If you drive the same as you did with old engine I found mileage to be the same. Power is nice, doesnt feel like its straining all the time but could still use another 40 horse, but all said am glad I did it and would not go back. Much more pleasant to drive and can get out of traffics way is you need to. Jim

Hi Andrew Just ran out and looked at my belt for alternator,,, it is from Napa,,,,MICR V-AT 25-040405. Hope this helps you, any other questions feel free to ask and I will answer if I can. Jim

Yes I used the original radiator, I had read that the 4by4 guys have no heating problems with it, infact some say it has more capacity than the 3.4 rad. Anyways the rad from my donor T-100 is too wide. I have done about 1000 miles since transplant and temp guage stayed same as before. I do not run transmisson cooler lines through rad, didnt before either, I was using factory air to air cooler plus a smaller after market one, but during the swap I replaced them with at 18000gvw aftermarket one. You see I have installed electric fan, just did that other day, however you can use the 3.0 rad, shroud and clutch fan and all fits as before. Just for interests sake my customer with the most km on a 3.4 was in today. Its a 96 tacoma and has 653000 km, not even a valve cover has been off, I know as we sold it to him new and I have done all work on it, only timing belts etc. we have 4 or 5 others who are past the 500000 and none have had anything other than normal maitenance so these are really good engines, trd also has a supercharger for them, now wouldnt that be nice!! I installed a supercharger on a 2008 tundra 5.7 a couple of weeks ago. What a blast to drive, over 500 hp, think 13 sec quarter mile at about 105mph for a 5600 pound double cab. I would be in trouble all the time! Jim

Hi, Your write up of conversion very good. In my reply above yours I had forgotten about the tach difference. The problem is that the 95 T-100 used the 3.4 engine with coil on spark plug ignition and so the tach signal is different. If you go on the 4by4 web sites about the swapping of 3.0 to 3.4 they show that you need to solder in a resistor to make tach work with 3.0. Maybe you overcame that another way sounds like. I forgot that because I swaped the 3.4 in to my motorhome as well as the cluster. Sorry for the confusion my post may have caused. Jim

As to your question about changing the odometer, I started to take mine apart and then decided against it. Some of these are pretty tamper proof, not like the older ones. You can see by the way its put together it is not meant to come apart. Even so I think swap is worth it, you not only get tach, but guages and trip odometer. I just put origninal mileage on vehicle, starting mileage on new odometer and date installed on piece of paper and taped inside glove compartment. This is what we do at dealership if we install new speedo assy in a vehicle. Jim

If you want to have your transmission range indicator you will need cluster from a T-100, if you can get by without that then the cluster from a 4 runner or truck of same years will work. There was a change to electronic speedometer about 92 or 93 so stay with the 89-91 cluster if using from a truck or 4 runner. Instrument cluster from T-100 and truck and 4 runner all will be plug in for you, however some trucks with no tach do not have the tach wire in cluster harness, mine did not, had to run a wire from igniter to back of cluster, I first used a 4 runner one so was not having trans range, so I cut off and moved the pin from one of the prndl21 wires. Now I have the cluster from a T-100 as I bought a T-100 to do my 3.4 swap. Jim

Hi guys I still havent got pictures up of my 3.4 swap as you can see. My wife has been working 6am to 8pm for the last while and not had chance to take and post pictures. Just finished putting electric fan on today, maybe get .1 mpg better!! Am planning trip from Medicine Hat to Bella Coola BC this august so it will get a real workout going up the 17% or so grade out of Bella Coola. Got nice quiet exhaust put on so can hear myself think in it now. Jim

Yes I am in Alberta, Medicine Hat down here in the hot corner of Alberta. I am taking it to a muffler shop next week to get an exhaust system (proper) put on and my catalytic converter too off the T-100. What I rigged up was temporary, no converter and is very loud which gets annoying on long drives which is the kind I usually go on. If wife has some time I will post some pictures in a day or two. Jim

Hi will try and get wife to take pictures this weekend. For the crossover best way I could figure was with engine on engine stand and crossover mounted get a acetalene torch and heat both pipes red hot and then with a big bar in pipe bend then towards engine bellhousing area until they are about 1/4 inch from engine. I set engine in before bending crossover and it missed clearing frame by about half inch, bending as described makes it clear, need to move fuel line away a bit and I put shielding between exhaust and fuel line. For alt I used 3.0 lower bracket and shortened it and mounted it from top bolt on thermostat housing, then you need to find a shorter belt. You will need the evap canister and vsv also or it will set a check engine lite. Will try and answer your questions, I had researched the 4 by 4 forums alot but as I said before there are some differences with 2wd. Jim

Hi guys I have just completed a 3.0 to 3.4 swap on my 1990 (chassis) winnebego itasca 22 ft. I put nearly 1000 miles on it this past weekend. I bought a 1995 T-100 and used everything from it, that is engine, ecu and transmission. Changed the tail shaft housings from trans to trans as speedometer cable went out opposite sides but I believe you could use present trans as as you say they use the same speed sensor type. You would have to cut off the connectors to trans and hard wire as they are different. Had to heat and bend crossover pipe to clear frame on pass side, it comes right on top of torsion bar but enough room to clear. Had to modify lower alt bracket to tuck alt closer to engine as it would hit P/S box. I had read the swaps done on 4 by 4 web sites but there are some differences I found on 2wd as mentioned already. I just cut 2 pieces of bracing out of hood and it closes ok, did not need a hole in it. Am very pleased with it, it drives much easier, not feeling like it is struggling all the time, makes it hard to keep speed down so mileage will not drop. Seemed on this trip mileage was about the same, maybe a touch better. Out bound trip had about a 30mph tail wind and it was getting approx 23 to 24 mpg (imperial gallon, I am Canadian), coming back mostly no or light wind and it was around the 20 mpg driving mostly at 55mph. The 3.0 gave me average for whole trip from Alberta to Nova Scotia and back 2 years ago 19.5 mpg (remember imperial gallon) Hope this helps some of you who are looking for more power. The 3.4 is one of the best engines ever, they last forever it seems, have seen many with 3 to 4 hundred thousand miles as I am a Toyota tech. Jim

Hi 8 foot 8 inches would be about right on for that motorhome without a/c that is. I have a 1991 winnebego Itasca 22 ft and built a garage with 9 foot high door and it goes in with 3 or 4 inches to spare. Jim

Hi Assuming you have the full floating axle I got the seals at Toyota dealer a couple of years ago. If its not the full floating axle then seals are for sure readily available at Toyota. Jim

Whether you think its right or not it is true, there is a seal at the end of axle tube to stop oil from entering hub past axle shaft. Bearings are to be greased,,,how do I know,, because I have had my 1990 22ft winnebego apart and done it,,,also I am a 20 year Toyota tech. Jim

As to going up the Alaska highway I went up as far as Whitehorse, Yukon in 1996. Did not have my Toyota Itasca then but a Chev pickup pulling a 23ft trailer. I would not hesitate to take my motorhome up there. The road is all good pavement, only a few really steep climbs and most of the time you cant see another vehicle in sight so you can really drive your own pace and relax. With our limited fuel capacity I would recommend stopping and topping off fuel wherever you can and also carring some extra fuel. Was not an issue with me because my truck was dual fuel propane and gas with a 300 litre propane tank so I was good for over 400 miles on just propane. However my motorhome better be finding fuel shortly after 200 miles for peace of mind. That is the only issue I would worry about, otherwise a great drive. Suggest return by coming south at Watson Lake on Cassiar highway and then east to Prince George BC. a very senic drive. Jim

No there is no stronger belt, they just have to be changed at the proper intervals, I have seen people go farther than recommended but I have also seen them break before time to replace. Here in Canada where I am the interval in 96000 kilometers which is about 60000 miles. You do not need special tools except maybe if harmonic balancer (on front of crankshaft) is hard to get off, you may need a puller, but you need to be fairly mechanical to do this job, remove radiator, harmonic balancer, front covers and fan support, then need to get the new belt on and timed properly. Get a repair manual or download instructions . Also if engine is high mileage or hasnt had best of oil change maintenance is a good time to replace crankshaft and camshaft seals and have a good look at water pump and timing belt idler and tensioners. Once again the 3vz engine is not an interference engine so piston to valve damage will not happen if belt does break, however it is cheaper and less stressfull to get it done at home and not in the middle of a trip! hope this helps Jim

Larry I agree that problem could have been poor valve adjust, thats why I say get someone who knows these engines well to do the work. You say you have good compression on the other cylinders and if you are using very little oil now it should not change much. Only if you have a poorly maintained engine (few oil changes) should you have any problem. My 3vz in my 22ft 1990 motorhome has about 120k miles on it and on the trip of 6000 miles I mentioned above it used only 1 quart of oil, so if yours has been good I wouldnt worry, Ive done lots of valve jobs on these engines over the years. If it was running so lean to burn a valve you should have power/driveabiliy problems, I have frankly never seen such a problem on one of these engines , not to say it couldnt happen but unlikely. Happy motorhoming! Jim

Larry I am a mechanic with 40yrs experience, the last 20 with Toyota. I also have a 90 winnie with 3l engine. I would tell you to get away from that so called mechanic as fast as possible. On older north american engines if you did valve job on high mileage engine they would sometimes burn alot of oil after but these toyota engines are good for many miles and dont normally have ring problems. Go ahead and have a valve job done and be sure the person knows how to adjust the valves properly as they are a shim type. Go to someone who does alot of toyotas, may cost more but will be worth it. I just returned from holidays with mine. Drove just over 6000 miles and averaged 19.5 mpg (this is on canadian gallon which is bigger than american). Hope this helps Jim

My experience with toyota trucks, ( I am a toyota tech for 19 years) is if you have a leak it probably will not be from the compressor. The expansion valve which is in the evaporator case is a favourite place to leak on these. Best to get dye put in and they can check with a black lite to see where leak is before you go replacing anything. If the freon leaks out real fast you may have a hose or condenser with a leak, sometimes a stone will hit condenser and cause a leak. If its expansion valve a charge will generally last a year as it is a slow leak. Hope this helps you Jim,

We have a 91 v6 winnebego itasca 22 ft and it weighs right around the 7000 lbs. I have a 40 gal (imperial) fresh water tank, no generator or roof air ( I removed them as fresh water supply was more important to us). It has an extra leaf in rear springs and no air bags. It handles very well and the brakes are very good, even in mountains Ive never felt them inadequate, however I drive accordingly using engine brakeing, but if you have to stop fast they are very good.

Get a v6, we have a 22ft 1991 winnebego itasca v6, weighs 7000 lbs with us in it . Made a trip over the mountains to Vancouver last summer, came back the southern way where there are grades of 6% or more that go on for 5 to 10 miles. Transmission in 2 gear (auto) would easily maintain about 40mph with fairly light throttle, no where near full, probably 1/3 throttle. Climbed several of these on a very hot day and saw a few other full size motorhomes that didnt make it (overheated), but we had no problem at all.

most of the toyota oil pans that used the large diameter drain plug, ( those are the older ones ) had that dimple in the pan right where the plug gasket should seal. As a toyota tech I soon learned to use silicone on the drain plug gasket, put new gasket on the drain plug, ( toyota gasket works best and use new one each time ) then run a bead of silicone around the plug on gasket, wipe oil off pan and install. Usually works.

If you are talking about the steering it is not rack and pinion but steering box. I suspect since you talk about clank when accel or decel you mean pinion as in the rear differential. This could be expensive , best to change the whole ring and pinion assy . But first check it could just be a bad u joint.