1994 4Runner 3.0 V6

Rear Bumper has a Ding, and given that I cannot find one anywhere in better shape, think I'll have to salvage the one I have..

Electrics hooked up, she was ready for the First Turn of the Key in Eight Months.. Fingers crossed..? Nah, never had a doubt.. 

Quite Throaty out back..!

Electric Fan installed in lieu of the Factory Viscous Fan, which I'm sure was faulty anyways. It would start to spin from the moment the Engine was fired up.. Parasitic drain on the Horses too, and they don't tend to come in their Hundreds on the 3VZE so any saved / salvaged is a Bonus..!



Next, on to the Tracking.. New Everything on the Steering and Front Suspension means a Big Job, but a Job that has a very happy ending nonetheless..



Looking good..

Next, Road Testing..

Tracking was perfect, as was everything but 1st and 3rd popping out, but a Gear Box Oil Flush will sort that..



MOT next..

So, the MOT..



Of course it was a PASS..!

Collection was scheduled, thereafter driving some 120 Miles back Home to North Kent..

Well, that wasn't in The Plan..

Manoeuvring at low speed after a 15 Minute drive, a Puff of White Smoke appeared, then a bigger Plume.. Instantly went to Blown Head Gasket, parked it up and turned it off..

So, any advice on a replacement Kit..? Don't want to cut on cost, so would prefer something better than OEM / highly regarded / Performance etc..

Appreciate there aren't many 3VZ-E Engines Owners in the UK, so hoping that those that do read this..

But, all is not lost, It's just a case of How Much to fix it.. So, I have ordered a rather Long List from LCE Performance in the US, with some other bits still to find..

I have booked in some Ramp Time at a mate's Garage, and with [quite a lot of] his help, I'm going to do this Top End Rebuild myself.

4Runner was collected, and taken to the Garage where it will wait until its allocated Ramp Day on February 9th for the Engine Tear Down..

Head Gasket Kit arrived too, this one from AJ USA, which comes recommended as a quality set..

Timing Belt and Idler & Tensioner Pulley kit to source.. Think I might have to go the US for that, as that is where I got the kit that was fitted only a few months ago..

Tore the Top End of the 3VZ-E a couple of weeks ago, managed it in a single day which pleasing - this was my first time, so I really had no idea how it was going to go..

Had no Bad Luck on the way down, with all the Head Bolts coming out without issue / breakage / snappage etc.

Head Gaskets still in place in the Photo above, so we could inspect the condition and failure point..

The Usual Suspect was the blame, with the Gasket failing around Cylinder Six.. Visible Signs of the failure with a nicely washed Cylinder thanks to the Coolant.. Anyways, moving on..

Heads went off to a local Machinist..

If anyone needs a Machinist in the South East / Brighton area, I can recommend Sprabuild.. Old School Perfection..

Back in the Garage, time to prep the Block to take the Heads.. WD40, Flat Iron Block and some Emery Cloth to smooth out any imperfections.. Nice and slow, steady and uniform down the length of the Cylinders..

Air blown Threads clear and clean, time for the Head Gaskets to be offered up..

Job made easier with L & R markings to correspond with the Pistons..

Lovely skimmed Heads, with new Valves, Springs, Guides and Seals.. On they go, then the Camshafts removed to gain access to the Bolts..

RTFFSM..

Speaking of which, I host the Full Service Manual on my Dropbox, made Public..

New Knock Sensor Cable, new Lower Intake Gaskets..

Tackled the Fuel Injectors at this point, with a new Seal Kit from Mr Injector UK. For the 3VZE you need Kit 109, and one of two Seal Kits depending on your Engine Spec; 14mm or 16mm. They sent me both as I was unsure, turned out to be the latter.

They came up pretty good..

Cam Pulley back Plate, Cam Pulleys on..

Cam Pulleys Cover, Fuel Rail and Rocker Covers on.. Upper Plenum Gasket offered up..

..and finally the Plenum itself.. And then Vacuum Hoses, Throttle Cable and Electric Connectors reunited..

While it looks as though it was Plain Sailing from the Photos above, I can tell you that it was not.. The Rebuild took 3 Days that were beset with distractions, interruptions, crossed Threads, late delivery of parts, Coffee Runs and a rather serious issue discovered with the Steering Column; we had to remove it to gain access to and allow movement of the OS Exhaust Header, and glad am I too that we did..

It became apparent that at some point during the disassembly or reassembly of the Body and Chassis while the 4Runner was in Somerset, the Steering Column was not attached/detached properly and was pulled, dislocating the Retainer Clip that holds the Engine Bay Column Section into the rear of the Cabin Section of the Steering Column, meaning that the section was held in by its position only; it was not secure.

When I applied a small amount of force, pulling the Column, it fell out of the Connection causing the two to be disconnected and hence No Steering. It was quite a terrifying prospect to think that this could have happened on the Open Road, or Motorway, or even whilst driving through a Town or Village jolted by a Pothole, Speed Bump, whatever. Indeed, when I used the Tilt mechanism, it fell out of its own accord. Like I said, terrifying stuff..

I haven't contacted the Garage on Somerset about this yet, but I intend to.

You can see here how the Circlip should be, in a Steering Column I managed to source during the Week between Teardown and Rebuild..

So, fitting the replacement Steering Column ate up a bit of time..

Once removed, we needed to transplant the Ignition Arm and Barrel from the old to the new unit; welding on a Nut to the Sheer Bolt and then teasing out with a Wrench..

Back to the Rebuild, it came time to address the Fluids.. First on the List was to check the Old Oil..

We knew it would be an Emulsified Soup of Oil and Coolant, but we needed to check for any Metal.. Good News again, with no Flecky Sparkly bits..

New Filter threaded on and Coolant Hoses reattached, the 3VZ-E was topped up with Toyota 10W-40 and Long Life Red Coolant, both sourced from Rough Trax..

The Top End Rebuild Saga continues..

I left the 4Runner in Brighton with Andy as he did not want to let me have it back without a decent Road Test; he wanted it to be 100%.. Good job too..

While driving the 4Runner, the Engine Temperature Gauge would sit happily at the midway, the Coolant being cooled sufficiently. However, when sat idling, the Engine Temp would rise slowly but surely, until rev'd beyond 1000RPM, thereafter the temperature lowering to an acceptable reading. It was a little puzzling..

After a phonecall and some discussion, it was decided that the introduction of the upgraded Aluminium 4 Core Radiator was to blame..

The 3VZE Engine holds approximately 9.5L [out of the Factory] of fluid in its Cooling System, but the introduction of the new Radiator upped this capacity to nearer 13L which put additional, and as it turns out untenable, pressure on the Water Pump to do its job; it simply couldn't push that amount of Coolant around the System at idle / 750RPM.

Short of the introduction of an additional Water Pump such as a Davies Craig unit, a return to OEM Stock Radiator was the only option..