Will a newer model engine work?

[t10096]

I have a 96 t100 and the engine has 185k on it. I've had a lot of trouble with it recently and as it just started overheating again, I was thinking of just buying a newer, used engine. maybe from a 2001 tacoma. Would that work with the ECU? What other problems might I run into? Would it be cheaper just to have the current motor completely rebuilt? Oh, it's a 3.4l.

[04 Rocko Taco]

If you swap motors, you will probably find it easiest to go ahead and swap harnesses and ECU from the donor vehicle also.

[mastacox]

An '01 Tacoma will have different O2 sensors, and therefore a different ECU. However the engine mechanically should be very close to identical, you'll probably just have to swap the exhaust manifolds and possibly the throttle body depending on differences in throttle cables between applications. Overall it should swap with minimal work, and would definitely be cheaper than a rebuilt engine; however, a rebuilt engine is technically a "new" one and as long as rebuilt with Toyota OEM parts would last longer and have a well-known maintenance history.

Note: if you have a manual transmission and the donor truck is an auto- make sure the donor engine's crank has a hole for the pilot bearing, otherwise it's a no-go.