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Hey every one it's been a while. Today I traded a old VFR for a clean but high milage 95 2nd gen. The rig came out of New Mexico and seems to be in decent shape for the year. The last owner replaced both CV shafts on the front and dropped completely new brakes on the front to include calipers. AC works and she has a brand new set of 31x10.50 duratracs. She is a 5 speed rig with a 3.slow in her for now. Supposedly this truck came with 31s from the factory and has a small junk yard lift but I have not determined from what.
One of the strange things I noticed is the gearing. It has a 252 axle code so I would assume it should have 4.56 gears from the factory. However at speed on highway RPMs seem a little high so I tested it and at 75 mph she is turning 4000 rpms in 4th gear with a 1:1 ratio. This makes me think it could possibly be 4.88s.
Hard to say. "31 inch" tires have an effective rolling radius of about 15" - varies somewhat with brand.. That works out to about 78mph at 4000 rpm with 4.56 gears, so you're not too far off. How did you measure your actual speed?
4.56 gears and 31" tires is a standard stock configuration.
The speedometer doesn't know or care what the actual rear-end ratio is. It is calibrated for a specific ratio (probably 4.56 in your case), but it would read the same at 4000 rpm whether you had a 4.10 or a 5.29. You'd be going different speeds in each case, but the speedo wouldn't know that. You have to check your speed with an independent source like a GPS.
I would guess your speedometer is within normal tolerances for being calibrated for 4.56 gears and 31 inch tires. If you put the 33's on your truck, you'll definitely want to recalibrate with a GPS - otherwise you'll be doing an actual 80mph when you think you're doing 75.
One thing I will say is it feels like a dog. At times in lower gears she will feel peepy but on the highway 5th gear is definitely struggling to maintain speed at 70 mph. I don't know if it's just tired or maybe or what the issue might be. With the 4.56s and 31s I assumed it would not be a total dog but we will have to do all the normal 3.0 free mods and see where that takes her. I figured worst case I will just do a OM617 swap.
What I don't want to do is throw the 33s on there and have no use for 5th gear lol.
Mine runs fine with 33's and 4.56 gears. Do a good tuneup, and while you've got the plugs out run a compression check on all cylinders. It should easily do 75 mph on flat ground and up mild hills in 5th gear.
The last owner dropped a good bit of money into her it seems. New plugs, wires, cap and so on. The head gasket and water pump have about 20,000K on them and the cat was recently cut out. The owner also did a home made intake that's not to horrible but I would have done it different.
One thing I have noticed is it seems to be running very rich. No check engine lights are on but I am thinking 02 sensor possibly. I will pull the plugs and check compression in the next day or so.
What should compression be at? Around 160 psi cold ?
I really don't care for the intake set up. So I took what was already there and got rid of one of the sections. Maybe I can find a stock air box in a bone yard or somthing.
This is how it looks now. Before there was another section that ran it down lower close to the headlight. The silicon connectors are cheap and not sized properly so this is a shirt fix.
Nice looking runner you have. On the 2nd gen runner the gear code should be listed on the door frame by the latch assembly if I recall right. I got these codes from my local salvage yard and they seem to be correct. Most correct way would be to count the teeth.
I forget where I found a site but you can put in your VIN and it will tell you what options came with your truck. I had a 91 and the Steering Relay Rod was still under warranty. You can run it to your local Toyota dealer and see if the recall has been done and they could tell you if it came with factory 31's.
I am trying to get a stock air box m assembly and other misc parts from a local guy on CL so keeping my fingers crossed.
Timing was off a little bit. It was set to roughy 6 degrees at 800 RPMs with jumper wire in place. After some testing and tuning I set base timing to roughly 13 degrees. 5th gear is now usable and the truck runs a lot smoother. Starting is also better and it doesn't sound like a tractor or at least as much.
I did notice the clutch on the fan doesn't have a lot of resistance even when hot and long periods of sitting still will cause the yota to start getting hit. I have some spare E fans in the garage so that may be the next project.
One thing I have noticed is it seems to be running very rich. No check engine lights are on but I am thinking 02 sensor possibly. I will pull the plugs and check compression in the next day or so.
What should compression be at? Around 160 psi cold ?
Assuming you're near sea level, 160 psi is reasonable. If you're in Denver at 5000 feet, your target should be more like 130 psi. Less if you're even higher.
You can check the O2 sensor operation by getting the engine hot, then idling it at 2500 rpm. In the diag port, connect TE1 to E1 and monitor VF1 with a voltmeter. It should cycle from 0 to 5 volts and back a little slower than once/second. If it's stuck one direction or the other, you have O2 sensor control loop issues.
You can also monitor VF1 with the jumper removed from TE1, again with the engine warmed up at 2500 rpm. VF1 should be fairly steady somewhere between 1.25 and 3.75 volts. If it's stuck at 0V or 5V this also indicates a control loop issue.
Perform both tests, let us know what you find out, and we can advise further.
Thanks for all the information. I am roughly at 600 feet above sea level.
I picked up a stock intake system today and will hopefully get that fully installed tonight and all the vacuum lines set up correctly. Also going to try and pick up a fuel filter and new exhaust gaskets that way it's hopefully running correctly when I test the O2 sensor.
So I have been doing some small things to make a little progress on the 4 runner. She definitely runs a lot stronger now with the stock intake and timing slightly advanced. I am working on getting the EGR working properly and the exhaust system fixed.
The next project is going to be the valve cover gaskets. There is a nasty leak coming from the rear of the drivers side gasket and a slight leak coming from the passenger side. I guess I should probably do a valve adjustment and plugs while the intake manifold is apart.
Any way here are some updates
Hood mounted light bar removed.
EGR temp sensor has been by passed but the old owner put connectors on each side with one male and one female connector per side.
Resister on the ECU side. I removed the resister and hooked every thing back up so hopefully the EGR is not faulty.
Working on replacing this mid section
And this was creative. I don't know if I should shake my head at some one or shake thier hand because it's not leaking.
Found the correct rear vent fan switch and replaced this one.
So lots of changes happening right now with the 4Runner. She is definitely improving but we have a long way to go.
So here is the run down of what's happening.
Installed stock intake system
Removed light bar from hood
Removing the horrible rear spring block spacers.
Replacing and lowering the maxed out TB bolts.
Building 2.5 inch exhaust system from the 02 sensor back
Replacing both valve cover gaskets
Replacing PCV valve
Cleaning upper intake and replacing upper manifold gasket
Maybe some powder coating on the intake and valve covers
Looking at new rear bumpers.
Working on EGR system troubleshooting
Plans are to get her running good before I start really wrenching on her. But I think a set of manual hubs may be in the future plans.
Updated picture. I need to raise the front TBs a little more to level her but they are much lower then before. She rides a lot smoother and is no longer pulling as hard to one side.
05-29-2016, 12:26 PM
