I'm kinda or torn between them.
The 4 cyl in my old Chevy Vega was a total POS, while the 258 I6 in my Jeep was great, tons of torque.
The 3.0 V6 in my Maxima had plenty of power yet decent MPG, bu the Buick 231 V6 in my 83 Toyota p/u is a gas hog.

 

i mean between the 22re and the 3zve...i have a 4 cylinder now and in my opininon becuase of the timing chains they aren't as tough as i thought. However the V6 apparently has head gasket issues? Which motor of the two is better?

 

22re's blow up when they have 450,000 km on them, and they blow when you suck up a few gallons of water - run them upside down afterwards at redline for an hour, then fill them with sand.. And even after they have 2 pistons outside of the block and new vent holes they still run.. 3vze's blow up when you pick up your groceries..

 

You are better off with the smaller engine if it has enough power for your purpose. Bigger engines cost more, weigh more, consume more gas and the extra weight adversely affects the handling, especially in corners. They are usually harder and more expensive to work on as there is less space in the engine compartment.

 

Depends on what you're doing with it. All out power: no replacement for displacement. If you want something that'll run forever, simple is better. 22re beats 3vze for economy for sure. in-line engines also tend to be easier to work on, from my experience with the 22re and what I've seen of the 3vze, it certainly holds true here.



best of both worlds: I6

fourwd1: gear it to run 1500 rpm at 65 mph lol. my moms lesabre with that motor gets 16-18 mpg in town...on a good day...with me driving. her driving and 1.5 mile commute are even worse BUT it gets 35 on the highway doing 70 w/ 800 lbs in it. smooth sedan cD helps but jeez... I am intrigued how you have it set up, mounts, trans, etc. sounds fun.

 

best of both worlds: I6

fourwd1: gear it to run 1500 rpm at 65 mph lol. my moms lesabre with that motor gets 16-18 mpg in town...on a good day...with me driving. her driving and 1.5 mile commute are even worse BUT it gets 35 on the highway doing 70 w/ 800 lbs in it. smooth sedan cD helps but jeez... I am intrigued how you have it set up, mounts, trans, etc. sounds fun.

True, I6's are great. Had a carbed 258 I6 in my CJ5 and the EFI version in my XJ.

Dropped the Buick 231/TH350 in my 83 mainly because I was on my 3rd L52 5 spd and wasn't going to put any more $ into that POS trans. It's based on a Downey conversion, but taken further. I'll dig up some pics.

 

I think the 7mgte is the easiest I6 to put in if I'm not mistaken .. Bolts to the R series turbo tranny from the 22rtec.. Nothing else works as straight forward..

 

22re is a bit easier to work on, 3vze is easier to live with, imo

Keeps up with traffic much better than the 22re.

 

Back in '01 when I was changing my head gaskets, I would have agreed that the 3VZE is a risky, problematic motor.

But now approaching 290,000 miles 10 years later, and the damn thing still runs smoothly and reliably and burns no oil with the original rings and valves and no further head gasket failures, it's hard to find much to criticize, aside from the gas mileage. If could go back in time to 1995 when I bought it, I would still choose the V6.

BUT. Many owners have had lots of trouble with the 3VZE; the poorly conceived exhaust crossover coupled with a poor block/head design make the head gaskets prone to blowing. Some veezys (almost entirely the ones made in the U.S. in 92 and later) have troubles with multiple head gasket failures. That would put me off a motor in a big hurry.

On the other hand, it's not real unusual for a 22RE to need a head gasket now and again, either.

So I guess it depends. Feel lucky?

 

The 22R-E is generally more reliable than the 3VZ-E. There's a reason why the R series motors have a repuation worldwide for being indestructible. I'd pick the 22R-E, though if this was against the 5VZ-FE, that's another story.

 

durability, ease to work on, and feul mileage means more to me then a little bit more power

 

imo it's noticeable power, thats for sure..

 

The 3vze had TONS more low-rpm torque than the 22re. It develops @ 85% of it's max torque all the way from @ 1900 rpm to over 4000 rpm. Use ONLY Toyota Red coolant & NEVER overheat them...if you do, expect to blow a head gasket at some point afterward. Otherwise, a very reliable engine.

 

As Exist so eloquently stated, the 22RE will run forever. As for power, I go everywhere with my 22RE, beach, sand, mud, hunting, hills, etc, etc. Never had a single issue. I guess the question is, can you find a decent Toy with 22RE that is not on is last chapter of life, i.e. 300K+ plus miles. They are slowly becoming the last of the mohicans. I was very fortunate to find my '90 22RE with 77K original miles. In our Toyota world, that is equivalent to winning the lottery Search hard, and do not give up. 22RE is unquestionably the way to go........

 

As Exist so eloquently stated, the 22RE will run forever. As for power, I go everywhere with my 22RE, beach, sand, mud, hunting, hills, etc, etc. Never had a single issue. I guess the question is, can you find a decent Toy with 22RE that is not on is last chapter of life, i.e. 300K+ plus miles. They are slowly becoming the last of the mohicans. I was very fortunate to find my '90 22RE with 77K original miles. In our Toyota world, that is equivalent to winning the lottery Search hard, and do not give up. 22RE is unquestionably the way to go........

I feel the same way, thats why I had a new motor installed when I lost my timing chain. It's a 1991 22re 5 speed single cab short box 4x4, new motor, transmission, all new brakes and lines, I don't have much left to change now!

 

I have the 3vz in my yoda, but if I had the choice I'd had picked the 22re instead, when I bought it new.

More modifications to be made (hp increases) and much easier to work on. Being I lived through 2 HG changes and one major failure, while only using toyota red blood in the block, IMO, I think I would have preferred the 4banger instead.

Fun truck, either way..... hard to go wrong.