Lookin for some info on the 3vz-fe - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

suprathepeg · 12-06-2005, 12:07 PM

I am thinking of swapping one into my truck which has a 3vz-e (no DOHC). here are some of my questions.

-Know of anyone who has done this?
-being tat they have the same short block will a FE bolt up to an R series tranny with the stock bellhousing?
-How much performance can you get out of one of these engines?
-Can you seperate the auto tranny and motor on the 3vzfe with the stock ECU?

There are probaly more questions but these are my big ones at this stage. Thanks in advance for all your help.

Axel Kain · 12-06-2005, 02:32 PM

id just check if you could do a head bolt on/swap, if thats possible, it'd be alot easier, you'd get the 24 valve, with out the engine swap...but im not sure about the resemblance of these engines tho.
look up the specs on both, and compare.

Luckynumber5 · 12-06-2005, 08:57 PM

^ wont work the coolant and oil passages are different (even though the block is pretty much the same). The 3vz-fe will swap over fairly easily with a few minor modifications, the tranny will almost certainly bolt right up but its my bet you will need to move some bolt holes around on the tranny to get it to mount to the engine block properly. Its my understanding this is a common swap for the truck people so maybe try some of the truck forums

as for performance a low mileage 3vz-fe can easily handle 300 bhp and do really well with a turbo because of the cams.

Axel Kain · 12-08-2005, 05:16 PM

^^wait...300BHP!!! how tough would this be to do...id love a 300bhp camry!

Luckynumber5 · 12-08-2005, 07:33 PM

Gotta do some reading man, unless you are gonna pay a performance shop a LOT of money and have you car down for a few months. Cheapest way to add some good power is a nitrous kit, by richening the fuel curve a bit you could run a 75 shot. As far as a supercharger or a turbo well turbo is much easier to do to get any really great gains. The 3vz-fe has some seriously strong internals for a stock n/a engine, and the cams are made for low and midrange torque, great for spooling a turbo and if you compare dyno graphs for n/a vs. turbo you will notice the n/a 3vz-fe just runs out of steam in the top end (1mz has a much better top end but not quite the same low end) but a boosted 3vz just keeps pulling!

Axel Kain · 12-08-2005, 09:30 PM

where could i get some more info like that? man! it seems that its tough to turbo tho, unless you reroute the exhaust (relocate bat.) to where the bat was...$,$$$

Luckynumber5 · 12-08-2005, 10:57 PM

Its pretty tough starting out with no experience, you need to get familiar with your car. I know a lot about the 3vz-fe because I replaced the headgaskets myself and have been under that hood quite a bit. Once you know your way around that engine you can start thinking about forced induction

Axel Kain · 12-09-2005, 01:30 PM

understood, but i have been under the hood a bit, replaced... front struts, all brake pads, front rotors, steering rack, both window reg.s drivers door handles, intake (sri), attempted y-pipe (it was too rusty for me), and i always do my own oil.

Luckynumber5 · 12-09-2005, 04:15 PM

Cool! Well I will help you get started.

Just to let you and anyone else who reads this thread know, I'm not gonna walk you through this but I am going to point you in the right direction. The stock automatic transmission can hold some decent power even with high mileage, Toyota really built these things and they last if you keep up the maintenance but for a stock auto with a good size aux. cooler on it set your sights around the 230 bhp mark for a reliable driver if its got higher miles.

As far as turbos go, dont find the biggest you can (even though it will spool them like bat outta hell) find something like a T3/T4 OR a Mk3 Supra CT-26, both will work but the CT is going to be an easy find.

A turbo needs oil, you said you change your own oil right, well take a look at where the oil filter goes... notice anything funny? It's a stock oil filter relocator! the downpipes from the manifold and the front engine mount wont allow for the filter to be placed directly into the block, the reason I point this out is there is a tapped AUX. port on the relocator, perfect for a turbo! You will need to figure out how to run the return lines too but remember to make sure the return line is pretty big and runs downward all the way back into the oil pan and that the line is above the oil level of the pan, otherwise that turbo is gonna die fast.

If the turbo needs coolant simply tap into the coolant lines around the throttle body.

Now the 3vz uses the largest air flow meter of any other toyota engine, you need to remember a few things since we have an AFM. First a normal BoV will cause this thing to run like crap when it opens, it needs to recirculate in order to keep from stalling out.

The stock injectors are dinky 200 or 220 cc, using a 1:1 rising rate fuel pressure regulator and some method of tuning, you can use some dsm 400+ injectors.

Get ready to have you car down for a few months if you decide to do this, its not a weeks job at all.

Axel Kain · 12-10-2005, 09:19 PM

awesome, now i have some ideas for the future, would i be able to put in the higher flowing injectors w/out a turbo...like 280-300cc and not have problems, but get some performance? and i have a "new" used tranny, got it when i had 129xxx, and tranny i got had 90xxx. id like to do a tranny swap to manual too...but thats prolly gonna be a little farther down the road too.

suprathepeg · 12-13-2005, 03:29 PM

I've looked at the truck forums (yotatech, offroad.com, 4x4wire and pirate) and I haven't found anyone who has completed this. I need more info on what is exactly different with these engines. I have a SOHC core to play with and could prolly get a DOHC pretty easy. So are the blocks really that different? could the whole Fe be used in a rear/4x4 application using the R series tranny and bellhousing and what about the motor mounts? I could probably work around the rest f the problems. What would really help is if someone has an electronic copy of a camry FSM from that erra.

suprathepeg · 12-14-2005, 10:31 AM

BUMP, what no takers?

Luckynumber5 · 12-14-2005, 10:53 AM

Honestly you would be better off with a 3.4L 5vz-fe, they are cheaper and you get a lot more torque, I cant tell you if either bolt up to the R series but having new tranny bolt mounts welded to the bellhousing isnt too much work, and you could get an adapter made for the clutch setup. Go with the 5vz, its that much better for a truck application.

suprathepeg · 12-27-2005, 01:07 AM

Pretty much impossible to find a 5vz here just a motor with some miles on it is gonna be close to $3000 then comes the swap so at that point I'd be in to it for close to $5000. Can't afford that, not even sure it would be worth it if I could. I just gotta know if I can put the DOHC heads on the block also need to know if I can use the DOHC timing belt? I will probably be getting a core with a bad head soon so it would be a prime candidate. Someone here must be able t help me. Even a link to a FSM would help. TB isn't a big deal I can work around that.

***zoni*** · 12-27-2005, 12:20 PM

people have done the 5vz swap into the trucks... search on those truck forums about that.