Background Info

This article covers swapping a 3.4L V6 (5FZ-VE) from a 4WD manual transmission Tacoma into a '95 4WD 4Runner with a 3.0L V6 (3V-ZE) and a manual transmission. Any variations in year/model may mean that this information is not entirely correct for your application, but it will give you a rough idea of where to start and what is involved in the swap process.

If you are thinking about swapping a 3.4L V6 into the stock (not modified) truck you just "stole" for $1500 with a blown engine because you believe that it could possibly be easier or significantly cheaper than finding another 3V-ZE engine, think again! I say this because this is why I decided to do my swap. This swap is not extremely hard, but it is time consuming, a tad frustrating because of tight spaces, and not particularly cheap.

If you are looking at this swap because you have a truck that you dearly love and have spent thousands of dollars on a solid axle swap, gears, lockers, tires, crawler, etc. but your trusty 3.0 V6 has given up the ghost, this IS the swap for you - read on!

This swap can be done more cheaply than some people might lead you to believe, and you don't need to buy more than a handful of specialty parts. The engine is significantly more powerful, and it typically gets better fuel economy than the old 3.0. There are not many down sides to this particular swap.

With the price of the engine, accessories, computer, wiring, and exhaust, I have somewhere around $2700 into the swap. This is probably on the very low end of what you can expect unless you happen to find a very good deal on the engine and electronics. This is a cost savings over a replacement 3V-ZE, but your milage may vary. I bought the engine and all of the accessories from the guys at Woodward's near Philly. You can find them at http://www.woodwardtoyota.com/. Update 3/17/08 - Woodward's no longer specializes in Toyota parts and is probably not a source for tough to find Toyota parts!

This is my second engine swap, the first being a 5M-GE Supra engine into an '84 Toyota pickup . That swap was a little easier than this swap, and much cheaper. The upside to this swap is that the final result is a much more reliable, drivable truck.