Toyota 3MZ-FE
3.3 L · V6 · naturally aspirated · petrol · 2004–2014
Also known as: 3mz, 3.3 v6, rx330 engine, es330 engine
The 1MZ-FE bored out to 3.3, at 225 to 230 hp, in the Camry, Sienna, Highlander and the Lexus ES 330 and RX 330. Read its predecessor's page first — they share an architecture and most of a fault picture.
What Toyota fixed here was knock detection. The earlier MZ's knock sensors were a known weakness, and the 3MZ took a new flat-type sensor and electronic throttle control. A knock-sensor code on this engine is therefore worth taking at face value, where on the 1MZ it was often the sensor itself.
What it did not fix is the sludge, and that is the point worth carrying across. The warranty extension and the class action ended with the 2002 cars, and this engine is later — so an owner reads that the problem was "taken care of" and finds no coverage and the same gelling. Treat the oil history of a 3MZ exactly as you would a 1MZ's; nothing about the larger engine drains better.
Cars fitted with this engine
7 generations, across 2 makes. From the authored catalogue — an absent car means the catalogue has not reached it, not that the engine was never fitted.
Information, not instruction
CarGeek is a reference, not a service manual. Its pages are written from public sources and from what other people have found, never from a manufacturer's own service information, so they can be wrong or incomplete for your particular vehicle. Some of what they describe carries real risk: high voltage, fuel under pressure, stored energy, hot and moving parts.
Have anything you intend to act on checked by a trained person against the manufacturer's own procedure for your vehicle. Nothing here replaces that procedure.
Posted about this engine
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Nothing posted about this yet. Whatever you found is worth writing down — even a dead end saves someone the same afternoon.
What makes one worth reading:
- The car — make, model, year and engine. The same fault behaves differently on each.
- What you measured, not only what you replaced.
- What actually fixed it — or that nothing did, which is worth knowing too.
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