Gatorgrl's Grand Gen2 4Runner makeover

And thanks to the Almighty Amazon , my new rear ends parts are finally here.

Now I just sit and patiently wait for my mechanic to return from NY for assembly.
I am pretty handy but even I know not to try and set up the new ring and pinion gears myself.

 

Have you put a resistor into the connector that is for the temperature sensor that threads into the EGR casting? LC-Engineering has the kit/values in their web page needed to fool the ECM.

Nice go on the headers and the wrapping (luv the vet). Gonna have to find 50' of that stuff! It's killing me that I had to spend a small fortune for DougThorley's to be legal in CA.

Ditto on the sunroof wedged mine up with some wood blocks to flush it out with roof line.

I just replaced my test pipe (CAT delete) with a 2-1/2" x 16" long glass pack for a diesel and that has removed the tinny ringing in the exhaust note. Also the Summit version ($220 tax/free-shipping) of the K&N cold air intake (57-9006) is now installed and my does it howl at 5K RPM. I can't get enough of that induction roar in the upper rev range. Sounds completely different from the $45 eBay aluminum copy cat. Also I can't wait to find a good place to see what the top speed it will pull at WOT! I'm expecting it will pull 4th to 5,500 and might do it in 5th, we will have to seeeeee!

As for tires 31 X 10.50-R15 Cooper Discoveries are what I went with and seem a good alternative to the BFG All-terrain. Lets see I have been through 4 or 5 sets of BFG's in my life time . I got the Coopers through TireBuyer.com and had them balanced and installed for $50 which was amazing to me in OC!...

Denso or Toyota OEM ($$) plug wires and Denso O2 sensor there are no alternatives for the 3VZ-E and make damn sure the ground wires are new wire with dielectric grease on the ring terminals (plenum to firewall, head to fender near coil/igniter and block to battery(-) to fender inner panel).

Awesome thread.

 

Should of swapped the motor for a 22RE. I would love to have mine back. I used to tow my boat with it!!! With 33’s!!

 

OK, I'm back. Today I was working on changing all the exterior lights to LEDs. Already successfully did the interior lights. Ran into issues with the turn and braking lights. My guess is I will need to put resistors on the lines that have flashers. I installed a resistor to the front turn light and it mocked me. I followed the directions which said to hook it up in parallel. Well clearly that didn't work.
Anyone else tackled this and succeeded?
Please share.

 

This thing fixed yet?!?!?! I feel like I’ve been really patient

 

I'd love to see some updated photos of the truck.

 

Your wish is my command.
Today we finally tackled that pesky rear end failure.


Time to take that failed rear apart.



Yep, that ring gear is toast.



But luckily the 4 pinion center section was fine and undamaged.

So then i go and unbox my Yukon ring and pinion as well as my Yukon master rebuild kit, only to discover the All Mighty Amazon has fornicated with me. They send me the wrong parts in both shipments!

So now its all apart and ready for re-assembly, just as soon as I can find the CORRECT parts to do the rebuild.


Thanks for watching.

 

SON OF A CHICKEN!!! Glad ya got it apart but DAMMIT Amazon

 

@ the shirt!

 

Hahaha picked up on that also

 

Thank you. I love buying him inappropriate shirts to work in.

 

lol... Only to work in he looks man enough to wear it out to dinner.

 

Well, once we get the rear end fixed and take it out for a good test run we will hopefully stop working on it. If the test run is not satisfactory, we may just pull the 3VZE and replace it with a V6 chevy engine we have that we took out of our 1980 Camaro and call it a fuckin day. The V6 would be far easier to work on with less crap that could go wrong. Go ahead and throw hate on me, I already know.

All I can say is you can't say we didn't try and do it the Toyota way. I feel we went far and above anything anyone else would have done by this point. Just cross your fingers the test ride is a success.

 

I don't blame you! I have a 4.3 vortec rebuilt on an engine stand that's going in my pickup once the 3.0 gives up the ghost. I'm hoping everything goes well with your 4runner. It's been a long ride for you guys!

 

Well put and good luck!

 

Ok, update time. Just got back from NAPA and ordered yet another ring and pinion as well as a rebuild kit with bearings and such. Cost easily double ($525.00) what I got them on Amazon for but whatever. Also found out we have to have a spline adapter to make the new pinion work cause they don't make one to directly fit in our application anymore, apparently. Good to know! Ran by Toyota for shits and giggles (and brake pads for my Rav) and they could get us a ring and pinion for $1200 and we would have to buy each item in the rebuild kit separately which would double that total easily. Call me crazy but I am not putting a $2500 rear end in a $5000 Runner, that is still going to go down the road like a herd of turtles, on a good day.

All hope is not lost, I did pick up a LED flasher module so now I can replace those lights with LED and they should work, damnit. (also coincidently working on the same project with my bus). The parts should be here by Wednesday and the Runner should be back on the road by the weekend!

 

Ok, got my LED flasher relay and after an exhausting search found the original relay and replaced it. Gee...that was easy. Not! In any event now I can run LEDs in the sides and rear lights and all function as they should. Only lights that are not LED are the front turn lights and that is only because my LED 1156 bulbs simply do not fit in the light socket. Oh well. We are more concerned about lighting up the rear anyway, to hopefully scare the cell phones right out of the driver behind me, before they do something foolish, like go to the hospital.

 

So the parts showed up this afternoon with the adapter needed for the pinion gear. The hubby worked on hammering it all together and pressing the new bearings into place. What a work out!
Here's a pic of todays progress:



Hammering on that bastard ring gear that didn't want to fit. That's my baby Camaro in the background.

 

Ok, today we were back at it. Took some pics, cause I know how much you guys like pics!
Here is the completed center section with that pesky ring gear finally seated. That was a bear to hammer into place.


Next we move on to setting the pinion gear Another good trick to getting it set to the right depth and getting that nut set to 300 foot pounds torque.


And now its time to marry the two lovebirds.


Oh but the fun doesn't stop there, no sir. Time to screw in those bearing cages, oh what fun.


After they were happily married, it was time to set the back lashing to 6 degrees. More fun, kept bouncing between 10 and 4 until we finally got 6 degrees!



Now we are back home, where the Runner is. Gonna have some dinner, then it's assembly time!

 

I LOVE WATCHING THIS THING COME TOGETHER!!!

 

And we have it back home where it belongs!



The skeeters started having us for dinner, so we had to stop. All thats left is to connect the drive shaft, hook the brake lines back up and fill it with gear oil. Hopefully be test driving her in the morning!

 

Ok, so we FINALLY take her out for the test run. Still going into fuckin limp mode!!!!!!!!!

This is far beyond funny at this point. All that's left is we haven't replaced the temperature sending unit on the back under the plenum. Also didn't do the ERG delete. New spark plug wires are not Denso, but are not cheapos either. No way to check fuel pressure to see if it's the fuel pump. My poor hubby has a growing hatred for my precious Runner and it breaks my heart. Took us forever to get the brakes to bleed properly and they are still not right. Going to drain the whole system and start with fresh fluid and HOPE TO GOD, this fixes the issue. Very furstrated this wasn't the successful ending we were all hoping for.

 

Fawk!!!
Are there no codes being thrown? Dammit I want this thing to run right already

 

We can only guess it's the damned ERG and temp sending unit. If it's raining, it runs as it should, but if it's not, then it goes into limp after it gets hot, but it's not running hot. on a side note the friggin A/C compressor decided to take a pause while we were driving it. Stopped cooling for about 7 blocks, then kicked back on for no apparent reason. This Runner is going to be the death of me.

 

I don't recall of it was throwing any codes but this thread has a couple ideas of things to check

 

Thanks for the link, taking the day off from this maddening project and focusing on our bus today. Will look once the bitter taste of disappointment has left our mouths.

 

Honestly, I’d just give up on that thing. It’s not worth putting anymore sweat and money into. Right it off and find a new, less finicky, more fun project.
To help easy the burden of the work and expenses you’ve already put into the turtle I’ll take one for the team and take it off your hands for a grand or two.. sound good? Ok, cool, deal?

 

If this vehicle sat for a long time before you bought it, there may be loose corrosion in the tank and or fuel line. Also, believe it or not, bacteria and some kind of weird algae can grow in the tank and lines,
that can plug fuel pumps, fuel filters and fuel lines. This is a common problem for diesel and jet fuels. Make sure your fuel tank and lines are clean, and if your fuel pump is inside the tank, clean it as well. You have to remove the tank to get it steam cleaned anyways.....

 

Um, yeah right.....this damned thing will likely be my coffin one day....in the distant distant distant future......


I don't think it's the tank. We have gone thru several tanks of premium fuel since owning it. And we ran it almost empty the first time to clear the tank. It runs fine in the rain and just after a good rain, when the air is cooler. if it hasn't rained, then we can almost pinpoint where in the trip it will drop into limp mode on us. if he turns the ignition off, while still rolling and restarts it, the code is cleared and it runs fine again, for awhile. this tells me it's a electrical/temperature issue and not a fuel issue. I find it too coincidental that the new ECM would have the same issue as the original one so it HAS to be that damned EGR and temp sending unit.

Anyone know what value they use on the resistor to do the EGR delete?