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Had some time before Thanksgiving dinner, so I adjusted my valves. I did the "cold" method, .009 intake and .013 exhaust. I definitely had a few that where gap was too much. I started it up after and it's definitely quieter.
Also, I think I found the issue with my alternator...looks like the power steering pump is leaking onto it. There is some oily residue all over the alternator. Hopefully I can find and fix the leak and the alt just needs cleaning.
I fixed a truck that had a power steering leak to get down on the alternator and catch fire. Luckily there was nothing on that side of the motor to really get the fire going. Also it did cause the 80 amp fuse to blow which may have saved the fire from getting any worse. Depending on how bad your alternator got soaked, I would be tempted to tear it a part and get it good an clean.
For a very minor leak from the pump, add a few teaspoons of brake fluid to the power steering fluid and it will soften the seals back up and seal the leak. It will last for years. May take a week for it to soften the seals.
Since I'm planning to put some vinyl flooring down, I need to do something about the rust in the drivers floor pan. There are 2 small holes completely through the metal, one maybe the size of a quarter, one a little smaller. I think welding them up is really what I need to do, so I started chiseling up the Toyota factory floor insulation to make sure I clean up all the rust. The rust, while not bad in most spots, is more extensive than I thought. I'll probably end up chipping off most of the factory insulation to get to every rust spot. I'm clean it up, weld up whatever I need to and then POR-15 everything.
man our trucks have so much in common! when i installed my new carpet last year i found a bunch of rust holes in the floorboards. I just finally finished sanding and welding them all this summer. Ton of work but worth it in the end to have everything sealed up nice. Since mine was getting carpet anyway, i just used rustoleum Professional Undercoating. I've actually used that stuff on several things underneath he truck and it holds up better than any paint i've found. just FYI, por15 is pricey!
man our trucks have so much in common! when i installed my new carpet last year i found a bunch of rust holes in the floorboards. I just finally finished sanding and welding them all this summer. Ton of work but worth it in the end to have everything sealed up nice. Since mine was getting carpet anyway, i just used rustoleum Professional Undercoating. I've actually used that stuff on several things underneath he truck and it holds up better than any paint i've found. just FYI, por15 is pricey!
Yeah our trucks do have a lot in common, other than those giant 37" tires and that awesome engine you have! I have finished chipping all that factory floor insulation off in the driver's floorboard, I guess now I need to get some sheet metal and start cutting out the little rust spots. I have 3 spots I think that are holes clean through. I might take a look at that Rustoleum Undercoating you mentioned, I believe I still have some POR-15 left from last thing I did with it, so if I can find where I put it, I'll use it. I'd love to see some pics of your floor repair work if you took them before you covered it all up. I've been so busy with the holidays and now I have this alternator issue/power steering leak and other little todos...I feel like I start 1 project on the truck and 2 more pop up.
Unfortunately i was in "go mode" and didn't stop to take any pictures of the floor repair. It wasn't pretty, i'll tell you that. welding thin sheets is not my specialty. I was thankful that the undercoating is super thick so it filled in all the crappy-looking welds.
Ray - I know you are busy with this windshield, but do you have any more insights into your warm start issue? ... Anyway, just wanted to see if you have managed to solve your issue.
Hi Cory,
Sorry about the delayed response. Did you clean all your temp sensors like I did on my build thread?
Need those very clean to accurately send temp info.
Yeah, been busy... Short trip to Salton Sea and surroundings, did my cooling system and those temp sensors, flew to New Jersey with friend to pick a RAV4 given to him and drove back to So Cal partially on route 66 ...
Originally Posted by coryc85
Found one video of my truck at Windrock (I'm at 40sec into video)...
Nice one! I went wheeling with San Diego folks but stopped when when my stock truck did not have enough clearance and traction at one obstacle. Fun though.
Originally Posted by coryc85
And finally here is the seat fully assembled.
Good work! I don't like the Yota seats; they make one slouch. I like the Recaro-style ones on Honda's especially on the late 80's Preludes, so while I was originally planning to do like you did, I'm not leaning toward finding good Honda seats at the Junkyard.
Originally Posted by coryc85
... I Might be starting to have some alternator issues, have to investigate that a little bit.
I'll read your thread further regarding this.
Originally Posted by coryc85
Since I'm planning to put some vinyl flooring down...
Wanna do that, too. I like low-maintenance floors and panels; spray and wipe or use a counter brush, instead of a vacuum to clean. I already got rid of my velour door panels. The popular ACC brand vinyl is nice but I'm really like the utilitarian/industrial diamond-plate pattern PVC roll like this at O'Reillys. When I took out my carpet to wash it, I found out it's actually flat - no contours - so I think a flat sheet could be easily trimmed to fit our floors.
Ray - really appreciate your response. To sum up, no I have not cleaned my sensors yet, but I plan to do so, I did clean the cold start timer several years ago, but I never thought to clean the threads. With the holidays, I have not had much "truck time". I did adjust my valves on Thanksgiving, and about that time I discovered that my Charge and Brake lights were on, and my power steering pump seems to have leaked. So I need to remove the alternator for a good cleaning, address the PS leak (I added some brake fluid as Terry suggested to soften the seals), hopefully my alternator is not toast. Once I get that resolved, I wanted to do a good fresh tune-up with new plugs & wires, cap & rotor since it has been 5 or maybe 6 years since last tune up (although not many miles). And then I wanted to clean my intake out as Terry always does. Maybe I'll skip the tune-up and go right to the cleaning...clean the sensors while I have it all apart.
The ACC vinyl floor was the one I was looking at, we don't have O'Reillys here in FL but I might investigate some other options. I definitely don't want carpet in my truck. I'd love to see what you do with a flat roll of vinyl.
As for seats, I've only done my drivers side, and that extra foam made a huge difference, seat is firm now and I like it. I really wanted some SR5 seats from a 90's 4Runner, but the u pull it yards here are terrible, very limited selection.
Yeah some of the offroading at Winrock made me wince, there were guys in the group with 35" tires locked front and rear and they had no trouble at all. I have only a rear locker and some of the obstacles were a bit challenging. Also I would not even attempt those trails in a 22re with stock 2.28 transfer case gears, way too steep for that in my opinion. With the 4.7 gears I could just let the truck ease its way over and down some of the trickier parts, and going down a steep trail with stock gearing the truck keeps accelerating and you have to ride the brakes, but with the 4.7s, you can just let the engine hold you back.
Ok well, since Ray prodded me , I decided to get that alternator out and cleaned up. I wrestled the alternator out of its mount, but to get it out of there I had to drain the coolant and remove the lower radiator hose, I didn't see any other way. So I got it out, dissassembled it, removed the brushes, the regulator and the rectifier. I cleaned everything as good as I could using a toothbrush, some degreaser, and water. I hosed the alternator body out numerous times. Then I scrubbed all the contacts with a brass brush and a scotch-brite pad. I have replaced the brushes in the last few years and they looked pretty good. I also brass brushed the rotor and cleaned all the built up carbon dust off it. Then I reassembled everything, I think I'll have it tested at Autozone before I put it back in...it's a lot of work taking it out, so I don't really want to do it again if it ends up being bad.
Also, since the coolant was already drained, I took out the CSI timer sensor...it really did not look too bad, nor did the threads, but I cleaned it all up anyway with the brash brush and scotch-brite. These are the before shots showing how they did not look too bad at all.
Good luck with the alternator, Cory.
My older one also went bad from the oil leaking from engine before the rebuild.
Originally Posted by coryc85
...they did not look too bad at all.
Yeah not bad at all, but make sure you get those thread down to shiny metal. I used battery terminal/connector steel brush. Also do that bi-metallic vac switch valve right above the CSI thread/port.
So after all that cleaning of the alternator, I took it to Advance Auto for a test, and it failed. It failed almost immediately on their test machine, didn't even get to the part where it spins the rotor. So, I went home and tore the alternator down and ran all the tests in the FSM on the stator, the rotor, and the rectifier...my rectifier failed one of the diode tests. Swapped out the rectifier with one from a scrap alternator I had which tested good. My brushes are only a few years old and look to be plenty of life left, so only the regulator was remaining to be tested. Someone here on Yotatech pointed me to a YouTube video on bench testing a regulator...basically connecting a bulb across the brush contacts on the regulator and then applying a voltage less than 14.5V and then a voltage greater than 14.5V. The regulator should cut off the flow of current to the brushes (i.e. the rotor circuit) when the voltage gets above 14.5. I used one of my cordless drill batteries and my regulator failed to regulate! So I grabbed the regulator from my scrap alternator (this scrap alternator is starting to seem not so much like scrap) and it tested good, meaning that it shut off the bulb when I applied the 18V. So I slapped the alternator back together and took it to Autozone this time for a test. It passed! So I put it back into the truck, and truck is now running, Charge and Brake lights are off.
You said you did the FSM tests. http://web.archive.org/web/201102051.../2onvehicl.pdf
Did you ground the F terminal? As I understand it, that bypasses the voltage regulator asking the alternator to put out as much as it can. If the voltage rises with the terminal grounded, the regulator is suspect.
However, you have the operation of the "L" pin (Lamp? aLt?) backwards. The "other" side of the Alt light is connected to 12v with key-on. When the alternator is not turning, the L pin is GROUNDED, which allows the Alt light to turn on. When the alternator is producing (sufficient) power, the L pin is at 12v. The Alt light has 12v on both sides, so it does not light.
RockAuto has reman Denso Alternators for LESS than the cost of just a diode/regulator assembly. Go figure.
I had to use a rectifier off of a parts store alternator to fix one of mine. It does seem to be the part that fails. Pulling the lower radiator hose is about the only way of getting the alternator out from my experience and it can still be a tight fit getting it in and out. Great job on getting the alternator fixed.
Your Timing Switch does not look bad, some of them can get a hard crust on them. You probably wont have to deal with the Timing Switch not working as I doubt you get below 50 or 60 degrees as when I think it gets activated. If you ever do have a cold starting issue, put the switch in your freezer and test the resistance at different tempertures. The resistance should change as it warms up.
Finally did a bit of work on the 4Runner today, cleaned up and painted the remaining 2 wheels/caliper/drum that I had not gotten to yet.
I start by wire wheeling the steel rim, then I wash it off with degreaser and water and a scrub brush. Then I air dry it with my leaf blower, and I tried a trick I read about, which is to apply vaseline to the tire to catch the overspray...we'll see how it works. Really hoping to get the truck cleaned up in 2017, make it look a bit nicer, and finish up some interior mods to make it cleaner and more comfortable on the inside.
Rim cleaned up and vaseline applied:
Same rim painted, again using Rustoleum professional, stainless steel color
Front caliper painted with Rustoleum oil based safety red
And rear drum painted with Rustoleum oil based black
- Weld up those floorboard holes, put down the insulation
- New vinyl flooring
- Better, locking center console since I frequently have top sides rolled up I leave windows down. Tuffy is probably only real choice.
- Fix up my door panels (holes from PO installing speakers) and apply insulation inside door.
- Really really fix AC, so new compressor, possibly new Evaporator, definitely new expansion valve & drier
- Sliders
- Front locker
My wish list of things for the 4Runner in 2017:
... put down the insulation
- New vinyl flooring
My thoughts on this... wanna do vinyl, too, but considering the diamond-plate pattern garage floor runner that O'Reilly carries, but I haven't actively looked or felt the material.
If you do wet trips or the get the floor wet often, how about rubbery (for sound dampening) bedliner on floor, then on top of that, heavy anti-fatigue floor mat (like they have for standing at machine shops)? You can trimto fit so they can come out quickly for hosing down/ wiping without having to remove seats, etc.
- Fix up my door panels (holes from PO installing speakers) and apply insulation inside door.
Did mine and covered with vinyl for clean look and easy clean-up.
Thanks Ray, I'm happy with the rims and the rear drums and axle hubs, the vaseline did keep most of the paint off the wheels, but it's not easy to clean vaseline off your tires. Not sure if it was worth it.
I know you've mentioned that diamond plate stuff at OReilly's before, but 1) we don't have O'reillys here in FL, and 2) I'm not too good at the finish work...I think I'd be better off buying something made for the truck. I need to take another look at your door panels, I think I recall looking at them when you posted it.
Not really build related, but me and a buddy went down to Everglades National Park for some real backcountry canoe camping last weekend. Absolutely perfect Florida weather. The Everglades is an amazing place, we chose a beach campsite which means you are paddling in a salt water bay. We paddled up into a few canals that went back into the mangroves and we saw 1 crocodile and 2 bald eagles. Here's a shot of our campsite right as sun was going down.
Also, I just drove the 4Runner to the gym, I haven't had it out of the garage in a few weeks, so I really wanted to let it breathe a little. Get to the gym and a guy coming out starts talking about how rugged it looks, how it's not just for show like a lot of these jeeps, how it could probably climb up the side of a mountain, etc. Made me feel good. Then after I come out, I'm leaving the parking lot and this nice brand new Tacoma 4 door drives up, the guy tells me my truck is badass and he loves it, I tell him that I love his, we chatted for a min about Toyotas. Here in South Florida, there really are not many older first gens...I've seen a few but it's rare. Anyway, it's nice to hear, makes you feel good about the old hunk of junk.
11-24-2016, 10:23 AM
, I decided to get that alternator out and cleaned up. I wrestled the alternator out of its mount, but to get it out of there I had to drain the coolant and remove the lower radiator hose, I didn't see any other way. So I got it out, dissassembled it, removed the brushes, the regulator and the rectifier. I cleaned everything as good as I could using a toothbrush, some degreaser, and water. I hosed the alternator body out numerous times. Then I scrubbed all the contacts with a brass brush and a scotch-brite pad. I have replaced the brushes in the last few years and they looked pretty good. I also brass brushed the rotor and cleaned all the built up carbon dust off it. Then I reassembled everything, I think I'll have it tested at Autozone before I put it back in...it's a lot of work taking it out, so I don't really want to do it again if it ends up being bad. 
