Gatorgrl's Grand Gen2 4Runner makeover

Here in Canuckistan, that would get you charged with assault with a prohibited weapon LOLOL

 

Well i went to my favorite junk yard today and harvested some more roof rack parts so I can extend my roof rack to cover the whole roof, not just the back 1/3 of it.
Then I went to cleaning them all up and decided to get creative with my drying rack.


Worked out great!

 

With regard to thread #535 (wheel arch flares) might I suggest: https://www.junglefenderflares.com/

They have a very nice looking solution for the 2nd Gen 4Runners. These seem to be the best one yet that I have looked into.
Aside from replacing the front quarter panels as another option this company claims they have the line on the molds for the Toyota 4Runner Hilux Surf were the Japanese domestic market (JDM) had these as an option.
The flares seem to me to be a nice compromise and look a lot better than the ABS Bushwackers!

Once I get my Blazeland long travel kit sorted out this will probably be the choice I make in getting my fenders legal again.

Cheers,
Andrew

 

And the Runner rears her bitch streak again. Drove to the shop and she wouldn't crank when we went to put her on the lift. She went wheeling this past weekend and had some grass in her undercarriage, which is why she was going on the lift originally. The new starter didn't engage. Looked and the ground appeared to be shitty so we changed it and added a few more. She then cranked right up!

Fast forward thru the day, drove from the shop to the grocery store and when we got out of the store, she again wouldn't start. Plenty of voltage and the grounds are good. We suspect the new starter is heat soaked. Thankfully we lived about a mile from this store and had to walk home with our groceries in this lovely SWFL heat. Now I am heat soaked.

Will head back to the store after dinner with tow attachment and bring her home.

 

I’m kinda sad to read this. Especially after all the work you’ve done.

It reminds me of a Dodge Magnum I bought maybe 5 years ago, OMG what a nightmare.....it hurts just typing this. I invested $7000 into that fracking car, one thing after another. After replacing the transmission ($1700) a few days later I came out to head to work, no lights. All fuses good. I completely lost it. Sold it In less than 10 minutes, $50 bucks on Craigslist.

I believe my total loss was $11,000. I remember coming home in a cab, wife says where’s the dodge ?

You did what ????? !!!!!!!!!!

I completely lost it, never had a car so possessed like that one.

Just sucks to read your Toyota leaves you stranded after all the work.

 

Gatorgrl's Yotas,
Was the the starter a new unit? I can not recall if it was one of the many parts that you have replaced. I know mine is the original OEM unit and is now pushing 247,000 miles and 29 years. But we are talking about a 4Runner in Florida not California!...

However, aside from climate differences, this is sounding very much like the solenoid on the starter motor is going south or was never quite right if it is a "new" part. I had a geared reduction starter from British Starters that I had thought was new (eBay) for my Jensen Healey. The Lucas OEM unit was really beat to hell because some idiot had put the ring gear backwards on the flywheel. So the pinion gear was smashing its way into engagement without any lead chamfers. In any case this "new" British Starter was never turing over the 2.0 L 907 the way I though to should and then I had to hot wire jump it to get it to start after a training session that was a good 2 hour drive to get home. At first I thought it was the ignition switch to blame but I had recently replaced that and I knew I had to drive the Jensen to this LA location for day two's training and was not confident of the starter doing what it should. So off it came and apart it went and sure enough the main lead for the path across the contactor was burned up and the crimped connection was a ring lug terminal that was nutted to a copper stud but it had like 3 strands left as the rest were broken, blackened and melted. As it had been getting very hot when the battery was asked to start the engine it was burning up. So once I replaced this wire with some fine stranded welding cable and crimped it correctly with all strands accounted for inside the connector the engine snaps to life with a flick of the key like it should have all along. The killer with heat soaking is that the power losses are attributed to current squared times the resistance (I²R) so that even with the right amount of voltage the power lost with the square of the current drawn very quickly reaches a non operational level of conditioning. This is also compounded be the fact that as all of this gets hot the conductors (wires) go into an elevated level of oxidation and oxides tend not to conduct electric current so resistance increases and a melt down becomes eminent. The more one tries to demand the starter do what it is intended for, the worse this gets once the oxides and localized heating are starting to happen!

The other thing to look at is the clutch safety interlock switch for the 5 speed manuals. There is an override dash mounted switch or there is the switch fixed to the clutch pedal. If either of these fails to close the circuit the starter will not operate. I know you know that, but newbies may not...

Cheers,
Andrew

 

Hubby swears it was a new starter but I can find no evidence to this effect....no receipt, no mention of it in my log book or this thread and no old starter in my pile of parts, so......me thinks it wasn't replaced. He also thinks the trip thru the waters finished it off. If the engine was cold, it would start right up. If the engine was hot, like you had just driven it, it would not restart. Plenty of voltage but no action from the starter. He thinks it was heat soaked. If it was new, then I would suspect something was wrong.

We wound up dropping the front axle to get it out from the bottom. With the header and heat shielding in place, it was really the only way. Once out, I cleaned it up and put it in the box the new one came in. O Reilly's has been good to us and just told us to exchange it as a warranty item. New one went in, and was documented in her logbook and she has been purring like a kitten ever since.

 

19 pages later and three days of reading later. Wow, what a time you guys have had. I'm not sure I've ever heard of someone so dedicated to a particular car.

 

Well what I can tell you is if we had to pay a shop to do all of the work we did, I would have set fire to it long ago. We did not buy this truck knowing it needed all of this, otherwise we would have walked. It was in such clean condition and was perfect for what we wanted, which was a 4x4, 5speed Toyota to pull behind our bus and do some offroad wheeling with, without breaking the bank and having to take out a car loan. There were plenty of points in this saga where we thought of bailing but at some point you think I have come this far, cant quit now. It might just be one relay away from being fixed. And I am a bit obsessive.

 

I wanted a first or second gen 4runner as my first car when I was in college. I ended up settling on a 3rd gen because my parents wouldn't allow it because they were afraid it would end up like this . Mine has run like a champ in the hardest of times (103 degree days up steep mountain passes), still want to restore it cosmetically and protect its un-ripped interior. I feel more fortunate now.

 

Well we took her on a bit of a journey this weekend. S. FL to Pensacola and still heading back now
I 75 is like Mario Cart tonight. We are happily doing 70, cause that's all she's capable of, and we are getting passed like we are sitting still. Hubby wants a newer faster Runner. I may cry

 

I don't think you'd want to get a 4runner going much quicker than that. I got the a third gen up to 104 mph once (the l4 engine), and believe me getting a 4runner anywhere near that is as terrifying as it sounds. My days of testing the limits are over, 80 is where I draw the line. Doubt your husband wants to go 104, but the 4runner isn't designed to go much quicker than what your doing. Also you cant get a 4runner with a standard transmission after 2000 .

Unfortunately the 3.0 isn't a super robust engine where you can add a turbo or mod it to make it quicker. I mean you could but I would worry about blowing the head gasket. A lot of people will swap that engine for the 3.4L v6 for better performance and reliability.

Also you posted earlier (July 22) that you got a roof rack off another 4runner. Did you repaint them or just wash them up? Mine just flaked a bunch of paint today and I am thinking about stripping off the paint and redoing it.

 

I cleaned and wire brushed any loose paint, then sanded and repainted them. He is also considering a Taco or Tuna

 

Put a Ford 289 in it, and call it good.

 

You already have headers so take the CAT off and swap in an HP-2 Flowmaster and put 2-1/2" exhaust on it with a FlowMaster-FX muffler in the OEM location. That 1-3/4 OEM crap is nonsense. Advance the timing above 10° BTDC and get the K&N FIPK that Summit offers for less than K&N. I can't believe my internal port matching is all that amazing but mine will cruise at 3,500-4,000 RPM in 5th gear on flat highway and that is well north of 70MPH and that is at half throttle or less. Make sure that darn rubber grommet at the top of the accelerators pedal arm to cable interface is not broken or else you cannot get the throttle plate to WOT.

Failing that put a 1UZ-FE in it!

 

Well today we modified two different OEM tow hooks and made a tow hook and safety chain attachment hook by cutting and welding them together.

Heading off on another 1400 mile trip.

 

Thanks again Parker. And we deleted the CAT as our first order of business. Not needed her in FL.

 

She hit a milestone today!

 

That’s pretty cool for you to catch that.
If I was to notice 20.&, I would have spaced and drove right past 22.2.

 

Well I worked on replacing her original radio with a new bluetooth/ sat. ready radio/cd player today. Once the dash was taken apart, the rest was easy.
Finally, I can hear what I want to hear and not a bunch of static or political adds.

Oh and she has never ran any better than she does now. I was actually doing 80mph on a bridge the other day and she wasn't struggling at all.

 

We actually pulled off the interstate when it got close so we didn't cause an accident. We had to stop the car before taking the pic or the speedo needle was hiding one of the numbers. The silly things we do for enjoyment.

 

Here's the before and after of the radio install.

Out with the old.....

And in with the new! I love that it looks like it was always there and not like some shade tree install of an aftermarket radio that looks like it doesn't fit or wiggles around. Take the time, buy the correct unit that will marry up to the factory brackets and get the correct wiring harness to connect the two.

 

Now how are you going to listen to all your cassette tapes???

 

That was the old one smart ass but yes I do still have cassettes in storage along with vinyl albums and even some 8 tracks. The new one is CD/ Bluetooth and satellite.

 

My point being you replaced the 'old one' that played cassettes. Didn't intend any insult.

 

Lol. Thought you were trying to be funny. Sorry. I am sweating my ass off and now working on finding the blower motor resistor so I can replace it and have a/c again. The radio was much easier.

 

You can get cassette tapes that allow you to use an AUX cable with them.
I myself am still using a VCR in 2020. No noticeable difference in quality when the TV its playing on is 25 years old.

 

Phew, finished the thread. Took me an hour and had to ignore my child.

 

Lmfao. Glad you made it through. Its quite the soap opera unfortunately. It was / is a labor of love.

 

It says a lot about character though. I helped my dad rebuild an abandoned Moto Guzzi V7, and through all the machining and parts trail hunting (so much easier with internet, might I add) I fell in love with it. I think we all need projects like this to appreciate life.