I was hoping to get one for an engine swap in my Suzuki sidekick.I hear that they are putting out 210 hp ......any experience with these engines...things to watch out for?

I was hoping to get one for an engine swap in my Suzuki sidekick.I hear that they are putting out 210 hp ......any experience with these engines...things to watch out for?


Serpentine belt. I remember something about that. Most people recommend using Synthetic oil also in these engines.

I have the engine itself, actually. Just a crate engine (new), not a pull, but if you're interested you can PM or email me.

And the timing belt is the major issue.

Hard engine to keep working right in the vehicle it belongs in. Would suck in a shoehorn application. I'd go with a V8 400 small block if you really want to scare yourself.

The more I thought about this, I'm wondering if you misread something you saw. The FWD 3.4DOHC would not work in your truck, the castings of the 3.4 are made for FWD mounting, no way to convert it for front to rear orientation.

The 4.3 V6, however, is a doable and not too uncommon engine upgrade for your vehicle. And as they are found in just about any GM S-class truck, they are very readily available, where finding a running 3.4DOHC with no issues is virtually impossible.

When you were done, you'd have basically reverse-engineered yourself a two door Suzuki Grand Vitara. :grinyes:

I was looking at a forum on Pirate 4x4, they were talking about a 3.4 swap for jap trucks. It wasn't clear if they were talking about the standard 3.4 or the DOHC 3.4. The HP you quoted is that of the DOHC FWD engine. I know there was a 3.4 RWD available in the Camaro and Firebird, but I am pretty sure this is a SOHC design. I don't remember the DOHC being available as a RWD engine, but it may have been available with a casting that would allow that, I'm not 100% sure. If it does exist, that's the one you want.

Just did some more looking. The Camaro V6 was the L32, SOHC 3.4, 160 HP, 220 Ft lbs torque. No mention of the DOHC 3.4, 210 HP available in RWD config.