Author Topic: 4.3 Chevy Swap. (Read 5129 times)

Hottrod81 · « **on:** Nov 13, 2006, 12:35:53 PM »

I am considering doing a 4.3L Chevy TBI swap into my 4Runner. I know that there have been many to do this swap, but I'd like to hear from the ones that have done this in California. How hard was it to get smogged and if you had to do it all over again, would you? I am trying to gauge what kind of headaches that I might run into. Thanks.

toyotaexo · « **Reply #1 on:** Nov 13, 2006, 07:24:27 PM »

i have a 4.3L for sale in cali. for $500 if interested

All_Set · « **Reply #2 on:** Nov 14, 2006, 06:46:52 AM »

Surprisingly easy. I would recommend you find your local referee and discuss 1st so no surprises.

Easier if you have a complete donor vehicle. Any smog related equipment has to come with the motor into the toy, need a marked check engine light on the dash. I'd suggest buying a wire harness kit over splicing up the old one.

Friend made an appointment after putting it in over the weekend, he was @ the ref for several hours, but passed 1st time. Ref did say it was unusual for these to pass the 1st time. This was done around Sacramento.

Friend LOVEs the power, Gas mileage is close if not the same as the 22r, he'd do it again.

Hottrod81 · « **Reply #3 on:** Nov 14, 2006, 07:13:31 AM »

Thanks for the info. I never thought about going to the referee and speaking with them first. I heard that some are a real pain in the butt.

4XFlyin · « **Reply #4 on:** Nov 14, 2006, 07:58:51 AM »

I totally agree with what all_set. You should also research what year 4.3 you want to use. Do you want a TBI or SFI? I have a 2000 4.3 with 4l60e tranny. Have had it in since late 2000 and now has over 70k miles on it. has been a total dream. Awesome power.

Hottrod81 · « **Reply #5 on:** Nov 14, 2006, 08:29:30 AM »

I think that I am looking at a TBI. I am not worried about the swap. I know I can do that. I am just worried about CA's smog rules.

alwayzbroken · « **Reply #6 on:** Nov 14, 2006, 10:01:55 AM »

What parts are required to complete the swap? Bell housing, clutch, clutch slave, starter flywheel or what? How much do the kits for downey and Advance Adapters cost?

4XFlyin · « **Reply #7 on:** Nov 14, 2006, 10:06:12 AM »

You want to get the straight story, so call the California Air Resource Board. They are very helpful in telling you what you will need to be SMOG legal.

In general you will need the following:

All SMOG equipment from the donor vehicle must be installed on your truck. The parts may vary from year to year and model to model. Obviously if you have a donor car than you can just take everything you need off of it. If you have just a motor than you will run into issues with the referree.

Y pipe and catylitic converters.
Air pump if equiped
Exhaust manifolds or CARB approved headers
Oxygen sensors
Maf or Map sensor
Parts of intake
Computer
EGR valve and pipes
AIT sensor
ECT sensor
TP sensor
EVAP canister purge solenoid and valve
Charcoal canister
Knock sensor
DLC Data Link Connector
MIL light Malfunction Indicator Light

Some referree's will have a cow about the routing of your exhaust which can't be duplicated like the donor vehicle.

When using a 4l60 tranny make sure it came out of a 2 wheel drive vehicle or else you will need to change the out put shaft.

In some applications you can get a harness as long as it has all the smog connections on it, so be careful. You can also get the donor harness and send it out to get reworked for you. On some computers you will need to have things like the Anti Theft Programming taken out or you will not be able to start the vehicle. If the donor vehicle had a VATS theft system in you can just buy a module to over ride it, but if it had a Pass Lock system then it needs to be programmed out. You may also need to have the fuel level sensor DTC removed along with the Fuel tank pressure sensor DTC. Most of the above refers to a SFI engine and not a TBI motor. The TBI would be less complicated.

4XFlyin · « **Reply #8 on:** Nov 14, 2006, 10:13:15 AM »

Call Advance Adapters first to get correct parts and part numbers. Once you have the part numbers you can shop around $Beer Chug\'n$

There are many variables and needs depending on your drive train choices. AA will be able to answer them.

On SMOG conversions you should get a motor that was in front of the type of tranny you want to run. ie. If you want to run a Toy manual get a 4.3 that had a manual behind it. This can run into some wiring and SMOG issues if not done.

Don't take advise from someone that has not personally done a conversion!!!!!!!!! Especially a SMOG conversion.

Hottrod81 · « **Reply #9 on:** Nov 14, 2006, 11:58:45 AM »

Thanks for the information, I appreciate it. I have heard, like you mentioned, it can depend on the referee you visit also.

NeverEnough188 · « **Reply #10 on:** Nov 14, 2006, 09:45:16 PM »

the cpi motors are the powerhouses for the 4.3. they have the most power potential of any of the stock 4.3's. but the tbi model in my s10 has some pretty good low end torque which i suppose is more important to you rock crawling boys.

alwayzbroken · « **Reply #11 on:** Nov 15, 2006, 08:29:45 AM »

The added mess of swapping the Vortec motor is what intimidates me away from it. Not to mention TBI motors are cheap and have plenty of power. You got to remember we are replacing 4 cylinders that are most likely operating at less than 100 HP.

Unless I am mistaken wont a TH400 transmission bolt up to a 4.3?

FIREBALL · « **Reply #12 on:** Nov 15, 2006, 08:45:04 AM »

My 93 vortec conversion was pretty easy. I bought the motor from a wrecking yard that specializes in complete motors for engine swaps. It came with the ecu, wiring harness, y pipe and intake tubing as well as being complete with all the sensors etc. In the end I didn't use any of those parts though.
I bought a harness from www.howell-efi.com. They were very helpful and the price was very good too. My motor came from an auto blazer so howell also hooked me up with an ecu for a manual.
I had my exhaust all custom done at a local shop with a new cat and I ended up scraping the intake parts for a K&N FIPK.
Aftermarket parts for the CPI Vortec motor are just about non existant but it's got plenty of power to begin with and living in Cali it's not worth messing with too much anyway.
The throttle bodies are a dime a dozen and have great parts availability.
I used a downey vss, retrofit the chevy high pres. fuel pump into the yota tank and used the yota charcoal canister. I also bought a yota wiring manual and spliced the remaining wires fromt he howell harness into the stock tach and check engine light.

alwayzbroken · « **Reply #13 on:** Nov 15, 2006, 08:49:47 AM »

Emissions and smogging is not a issue for me. Just ease of install. I can get a complete vortec blazer or truck for very cheap.

I take it you are running a manual yota transmission? Would it be easier to run a SM465 trans that would bolt up and allow use of all the original GM parts? That would work wouldn't it?

FIREBALL · « **Reply #14 on:** Nov 15, 2006, 09:02:47 AM »

Oh ya, as for as the referee goes, I just made sure that I had all the smog stuff there (c canister, vss, approved intake, cel, etc) and took it in. I even brought a step stool cause it was so high and I didn't want him getting in a bad mood trying to see things.
Anyway, it passed the visiual inspection the first time. It failed the smog test just barely. Hydorcarbons at an idle were just barely too high. Problem is they sit for an hour or so while they do their inspection and the cat cools off.
The next time I went in for just the smog part, I changed the oil, adjusted the timing, ran a full tank of injector cleaner, put in some additive that helps reduce hc's and ran the piss out of it before I went in so the cat would be good and hot. This time it passed no prob and obviously I wasn't taking any chances.

That reminds me, don't forget to make sure it's timed to factory specs, they do check. Also any aftermarket parts must have the CARB sticker with the number stamped on them so they can look it up.

The ref I had was pretty cool. He's got a bronco that he does some mild wheelin with. He said he felt really bad for one guy. He came in with a jeep (already a reason to feel bad for him) that he had done a really nice V8 conversion on. Only prob was it was an OBD2 motor and the gas tank is part of the emissions system. There's no place to put a chevy truck gas tank in a jeep so the guy was screwed.
So if you go OBD2 do your homework first!!

FIREBALL · « **Reply #15 on:** Nov 15, 2006, 09:06:33 AM »

You would still have to adapt back to the yota t-cases if you're running crawlers. So it depends on where you want the adapter to be and what trans is the most available to you. I ran the stock yota trans, but mine started with a V6. If I had an early truck and I could find the right chevy trans easier and cheaper than a later model yota trans than that would probably be the way to go.

4XFlyin · « **Reply #16 on:** Nov 15, 2006, 10:01:50 AM »

It is interesting that you mention the gas tank when using OBDII motors. I have done 4 OBDII conversions without the tanks and had no problem getting them certified. I have heard of some people running into this problem though. Wonder if it is dependent on the ref? The Chevy tank does have a fuel level and fuel tank pressure sensor in it. Both these signals can be programmed out of the computer so that no DTC comes up. I guess calling the C.A.R.B. would be the best place for a correct answer. The fuel tank pressure sensor can be installed into a toyota tank though.

Hottrod81 · « **Reply #17 on:** Nov 15, 2006, 10:38:47 AM »

Thanks for all of the information Fireball. If I would have had the money, I would have just bought your old 4Runner.

sam2145871 · « **Reply #18 on:** Nov 15, 2006, 01:12:28 PM »

For all the people that have done this, which company do you think is better for the adapters. Downey or AA? Thanks!

FIREBALL · « **Reply #19 on:** Nov 15, 2006, 01:20:23 PM »

Couldn't tell you who's better, but I used an Advance Adapters bell housing for my conversion.

BLACKDOG · « **Reply #20 on:** Nov 15, 2006, 06:00:33 PM »

you can also PM trackvino as well, je did the swap in his runner almost 2 years ago

8D3TOY · « **Reply #21 on:** Nov 15, 2006, 09:13:41 PM »

I would try to make an appointment with a ref and see if you can talk with him first. I did a swap on a Ford a few years back and tried to go in without the truck to get info and I was denied, they are more after the fact kind of people. the good thing is all the rules they go by are available for you to read.

NeverEnough188 · « **Reply #22 on:** Nov 16, 2006, 01:54:07 AM »

Quote from: alwayzbroken on Nov 15, 2006, 08:29:45 AM

The added mess of swapping the Vortec motor is what intimidates me away from it. Not to mention TBI motors are cheap and have plenty of power. You got to remember we are replacing 4 cylinders that are most likely operating at less than 100 HP.

Unless I am mistaken wont a TH400 transmission bolt up to a 4.3?

any trans that will bolt to a 350 will bolt to a 4.3.

vortec or tbi you are still swapping in a fuel injected motor. there isnt much difference. maybe an extra o2 sensor in the exhaust or something but thats about it

Ferg · « **Reply #23 on:** Nov 16, 2006, 06:46:39 AM »

My d/d is a 4.3 swap. I live in Hanford. Email me and we can meet and discuss your issues. Then you can look over the task and see what's involved.

Hottrod81 · « **Reply #24 on:** Nov 16, 2006, 10:25:55 AM »

Ferg, is your truck a white extended cab?

Ferg · « **Reply #25 on:** Nov 16, 2006, 07:24:59 PM »

Yep. Bed shortened in the front. Tire up behind the driver.

TrackVino · « **Reply #26 on:** Nov 16, 2006, 07:54:49 PM »

I used the 700r4 behind mine, just how it came out of my s10 blazer. It wasnt that bad of a job, I didnt have lots of tools, and started with a frame and cab from the junk yard, the wiring was work, but not too bad. After doing it, I would love to do it again.

I actually like the automatic. I did Dusy this summer and it was a breeze driving all day without having to use a clutch.
Mine doesnt have the greatest power on the freeway, only goes up to 85mph. But on the rocks, has tons of power.
PM me if you have any questions, if your local, we can get together if you like.

Hottrod81 · « **Reply #27 on:** Nov 17, 2006, 07:21:41 AM »

Thanks guys. After doing a lot of research, I have decided that I am going to stick with the 22R. This rig is not my daily driver and I just don't think I would benefit from it that much since I have 2 22R's and 2 transmissions. I probably only put 500 miles a year if that on it. Thanks for all of the info.

Hottrod81 · « **Reply #28 on:** Nov 17, 2006, 07:22:38 AM »

Quote from: Ferg on Nov 16, 2006, 07:24:59 PM

Yep. Bed shortened in the front. Tire up behind the driver.

I've seen you around there a few times. I work there in Hanford. Nice looking truck.

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