Engine rebuild

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alltrac801

New member
Just picked up a used gen 2 3S-gte from a buddy that he pulled out of his 91 MR2 with about 200+ thousand miles on it. He said the motor ran fine but smoked at 2k rpms and above. I'm just looking to rebuild the motor and slap it into my 91 All-trac. I've never rebuilt a motor so just looking for a little advise on what definitely needs to be changed and what I need to do to get like 400 horse out of it?
 
FC Zach

FC Zach

Active member
If it were me and I didn't want to put a lot of money into it by replacing every component, I'd disassemble and inspect everything but it's very important that you keep everything in order so that whatever is reusable is placed in the exact spot it came from (bearings/caps for example). Based on the condition of the pistons/cylinders, you may want to have these done by a shop. . regardless, it'll be best to have a professional gap the rings even if that's all that's needed. I'd also replace the water pump and timing belt, tensioner, and bearings. As far as crank/cam seals go, some might suggest that "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" because if there isn't any sign of leaking and you replace them, it's obviously a PITA to get to them later. . I found this out the hard way with the cam seals, which was a royal PITA! ! (Granted, the seals the parts store gave me were not correct) :doh:

With that said, when buying replacement parts from anywhere, especially RockAuto, pay close attention to what you are buying because they have component kits for Gen1 that are mixed with Gen2 3SGTE as well as substandard seals that are not compatible with our engines.

If you are not comfortable working on the head and lapping valves, I'd leave that chore to a shop too. The valves may be reusable but the stem seals should be replaced regardless.
 
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alltrac801

New member
This is some very solid advise because I don't want to dump a lot of money into this engine right away. I usually order my parts on Rockauto because they are usually a damn good deal but I didn't know how accurate they were on what gen 3SGTE you order for. I've also read that 3SGTE motors leak and you should just live with a little leak :shrug:
I really appreciate the advise. I want to learn a lot from this experience and my brother-in-law builds drag cars all the time so he can help me with some of the more technical stuff that I'm not up to par with.
 
FC Zach

FC Zach

Active member
alltrac801":3k82t83g said:
I've also read that 3SGTE motors leak and you should just live with a little leak :shrug:
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LOL, when I had mine out for a clutch change I did a lot of preventative maintenance and tried very hard to seal any possible leak/s. Damn thing leaked more after than it did before but that was because of the incorrect cam seals Oreillys gave me. . fast forward to now, it has a small engine oil/power steering (PS is recent) leak and I don't even care. Actually I do but I don't even know where the engine oil is coming from (I've looked all over, multiple times) so I can't fix what I don't know is broke. The PS leak is a whole other issue. . from what I've read, if they aren't leaking, just give it time and they soon will. In fact, I prided myself for having a leak free pump until months ago.

Quotes from my build thread:
msanders2":3k82t83g said:
The only way I was able to get all the leaks on my Gen2 to stop was pull the motor and completely rebuild it. Used all brand new Toyota gaskets and all the oil leaks stopped..... then the power steering pump started leaking lol.
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underscore":3k82t83g said:
That's what happens when you interfere with the patented Toyota Constant Rustproofing System (tm).
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underscore

underscore

Well-known member
I think Toyotas leak because they actually last long enough to outlive the rubber in the seals, a lot of brands don't have to worry about fluid leaks when the motor grenades at fairly low mileage. For the power steering make sure you put in the correct fluid, I put the wrong stuff in one of my cars and it leaked out like crazy, once I put the right stuff in it slowed down and then stopped (I assume as the last of the wrong stuff came out). I think they call for Dexron ATF (double check the fill cap) and not standard PS fluid.

As for what to replace it depends whether time or money is more important to you. When I had my engine rebuilt I was paying someone else to do the labour since I was having less and less time to work on the car, and I definitely don't have the time to pull it out again later myself if something I decided not to replace later failed, so I elected to throw out the cash to do everything. If you've got the time to DIY and want to stick to a budget do what Zach said and take your time, inspect everything and reuse what you can. Also check the cost on some of the parts, stuff like the HFH are cheap so there's really no reason not to do it anytime you're in the area.
 
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alltrac801

New member
I've definitely got time because I still have a decent motor in the car right now. I just cant drive it yet because I need to track down some shift cables or get mine rebuilt. I want to do all the work my self with some help from my brother in law when I need it. Plus I wont put this motor is for a few years so I don't have to worry about being emissions compliant because in 2 years I can register it as an antique (30 years old) and not have to do emissions or safety.
What is HFH exactly?
When it comes to engine gaskets, should I get them from Toyota then?
 
underscore

underscore

Well-known member
If I remember right there's a part # for a nearly complete set from Toyota, I don't know if it has been discontinued though.

HFH is the Hose From Hell, the coolant line that runs to the oil cooler. It's not difficult per say, but it's time consuming. There's also the Hose From Hell On Earth (HFHOE) which I think is on the back on the motor.
 
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alltrac801

New member
I'll have to do some looking on that then. Would you guys trust Rockauto for the engine gaskets?

I knew I had heard of HFH lol I will for sure change those so I don't have issues in the future.

Thank you guys for all the advise I really appreciate it and love the hell out of both of your builds! One day mine will be decent lol
 
underscore

underscore

Well-known member
I order loads of parts from Rock Auto, the brand you pick is more important than the reseller IMO. I'd compare the prices to OEM from Lithia Toyota Parts so you can play with your budget and see what you want OEM for and what you want aftermarket for.
 
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entrax

Member
underscore":3sg97w67 said:
If I remember right there's a part # for a nearly complete set from Toyota, I don't know if it has been discontinued though.

HFH is the Hose From Hell, the coolant line that runs to the oil cooler. It's not difficult per say, but it's time consuming. There's also the Hose From Hell On Earth (HFHOE) which I think is on the back on the motor.
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there are two HFHOE's, same Toyota part number, just as much of a bitch to remove either of them.
1 goes from the oil cooler to under the thermostat housing, this was the original HFHOE
1 goes from under intake manifold by cyl 4 on the block, to the bypass pipe that is under the distributor
 
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entrax

Member
yep, pretty easy.

both hfhoe is easily accessible, hfh just needs the oil cooler to be removed (careful not stripping the big center bolt)
 
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shadow_coupe

Member
I rebuilt my motor last year and thought I'd save some coin getting a Cometic gasket kit that included the metal HG. I used about half of that kit (half of it doesn't even fit the 185) and ended up purchasing the OEM Toyota full overhaul gasket kit p/n 04111-74170. In retrospec I should've stuck with oem in the first place. Many of the gaskets are metal and designed to be reused, plus you get some of the more obscure seals you can't find anywhere. TVIS seals are a couple of those...
 
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alltrac801

New member
Thank you for the part number. I was thinking I would just go with the OEM gasket set just to be safe. I've read that a lot of the gasket sets don't have all the correct gaskets anyway. How did your rebuild go?
 
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shadow_coupe

Member
alltrac801":1ksl5y7d said:
Thank you for the part number. I was thinking I would just go with the OEM gasket set just to be safe. I've read that a lot of the gasket sets don't have all the correct gaskets anyway. How did your rebuild go?
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You bet. It went great! Go slow, the BGB is your best friend. Also, if you run into any problems/questions, there's always someone on here that's done the same and documented it in a post.

**Do check your TVIS shaft seals though... I had to remove my intake manifold 200mi. into breaking the motor in due to a massive vaccum leak. Really not fun when it's such an accessible area with the motor out :doh: Good luck man!
 
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alltrac801

New member
Yeah I'm in no hurry to finish this motor because my original motor is still fine I'm just waiting for some shift cables then I will still be able to drive my car.

I'm trying to get my hands on a 3SGE intake manifold with TVIS so I'll have the side feed intake and I think I'll buy the TVIS elimintor plate from KO racing but I'll double check all the seals.
 
underscore

underscore

Well-known member
shadow_coupe":1kmt80vz said:
Many of the gaskets are metal and designed to be reused, plus you get some of the more obscure seals you can't find anywhere.
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For the cost I'd only reuse stuff that's easy to get to. My turbo oil feed/drain got reused by a previous mechanic and it would leak oil onto the exhaust under any kind of sustained boost. That made for a very annoying road trip on a mountainy highway. Trying to stay out of boost on the long hills meant dropping gears like crazy and being passed by everyone, then going flying past them again on the downhills. Almost guaranteed everyone in that cluster of traffic must have thought I was a complete idiot.
 
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