Porsche projects have been put on hold while I've been working on this project. The truck is a 1997 4runner that I have had for about 5 years. The old V6 was low on power and was a gas guzzler. Not to mention, it had 204,000 miles on it so I was looking for replacement options. V8 swaps are common and relatively easy to do. That would have satisfied the power needs but not the fuel efficiency.
The solution was to import a toyota diesel motor and 5-speed transmission and do the swap. There are a few places online that talked about the conversion but no-where near the amount of info that is available here on Pelican for our Porsche projects so I had to re-invent the wheel on a lot of the details.
Here was my starting point... 1997 4Runner with some minor modifications.
The old V6
The "half-cut" I ordered from Japan. Its like getting all the goodies from a wrecked 911 instead of just buying a motor and then trying to figure out where everything goes. Surprisingly this little bugger fired right up on the pallet and ran like a champ!
First things first, remove the diesel motor...
Next step was to remove the old V6 and prep the engine bay for the transplant. We had to reweld the transmission mounts as they were different on the diesel.
Then the transplant...
First impressions were....ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!!! The 3.0L diesel has gobs more torque than the old V6. The 5-speed transmission really helps to take advantage of all the torque...and makes it a lot more fun to drive. Oh, and the sound...WHOA!!! It sounds like a miniature semi truck, the diesel whine is addicting!
So, more power, much more fun to drive and preliminary MPG tests show at least mid twenties which is a far cry from the 14 or so, I was getting with the V6.
Off for a drive again! The Porsches are probably wondering whats up...its sunny, why isn't he taking us out? Yep, this thing is that much fun to drive!