bigcat84

i just bought a 1996 tacoma 3.4 with the trd charger 4.88 gears on 33s.it is gettin VERY poor mpg.i know i need exhaust bc its rusted to peices so imma get new cats and o2 sensors and it also needs a knock sensor if that could hurt the mpg idk.anything else i could do to improve my mpg???also when the boost meter hits around 5lbs it dies down looses its power and kinda stumbles.could that be bc of the knock sensor???i really need help on this guys i dont know much about it so all the info i can get will be helpful.thanks

j2the-e

Your post is difficult to read and understand. Try using some punctuation and capital letters.
Does your truck have a 97 or newer computer in it? I don't think the charger's compatible with a 96.

bigcat84

i am not to sure about the computer.Is there a way i can check that?Is there anywhere in or around louisiana i can take it to get it tuned for the charger??

250000_yota

The knock sensor being bad would definitely cause it to run terribly. Basically the bad knock sensor is fooling the engine computer into thinking that the engine is pinging/knocking. As for the compute issues, they say that the pre 97 ecu's aren't supercharger friendly because they can't quite keep up with the changes that the the engine needs to handle the supercharger.

bigcat84

ive been reading on this and seen people talking about gettin a 1997 4wd ecu.im thinking i wanna go with the udr 6 injector fuel and timing upgrade.would i still need the 1997 ecu if i get the udr kit???

Texas_Ace

Honestly with a 96, best bet is to remove the supercharger if you want it ti live long term. The ECU doesn't like the supercharger at all. The engine itself also has head gasket issues.

You can work around these problems but it is a lot of work.

bigcat84

i been readin alot about what gadget has been saying about charging the 96.him and several other people say its possible to sc it but u gotta get that fuel and timing upgrade for it not to ping.then theres other people sayin i just need the 1997 ecu.so idk.the truck is goin to be a every day driver so i would like to do it right and not just throw abunch of stuff together.

Texas_Ace

You need the URD fuel and timing mods for sure, that is why your knock sensors and O2 sensor are gone.

It is knocking bad and the ECU was trying to pull out timing, combined with it running lean it knocked bad enough to blow the knock sensors and EGT' got to ~2000f degrees + and cooked your O2 sensors.

Get the fuel mods ASAP and stop boosting until you do. Once you have that taken care of then you can worry about the other stuff.

bigcat84

and when i order the 1997 ecu does it have to for a the 97 supercharged v6 or can it be just a regular ecu??

Texas_Ace

There is no such thing as a supercharged ECU. The supercharger was a dealer installed option.

j2the-e

Toyota did not produce a supercharged tacoma that I'm aware of. Even if you go with a 97 ecu, you'll still get the best results with the fuel upgrades in addition to the newer ecu. Keep in mind that Toyota likes to change things every year. I am running a 98 ecu with a 2001 engine harness and had to replace the connectors at the ecu as well as move almost every single pin to a different location. I also had to swap injectors and re-pin the MAF sensor. A lot of time and research, but it works very well.

j2the-e

Beat me to it! HAHa!

Texas_Ace

Yep, pretty sure it is more involved then just swapping the ECU. Plus you will still need the fuel and timing upgrades to keep it from just knocking and running lean again.

bigcat84

I forgot to mention my 96 has the split second esc1 and apexi safc.will they be compatible with the 97 ecu and urd injector and timing upgrade or do i need to pull it all off??

westjohns yota

pull it all off, your going to cook the SC and your heads, youll need to upgrade everything basically which is going to cost a good bit, the ecu mod, fuel, timing, air intake and exhuast, replace the o2 sensors and all that, alumin melts at 1250, taching the SC out at 1500 your really going to do some damage

bigcat84

I dont really drive that hard to be tachin anything lol.ive got brand new exhaust on the way.i just dont know if i wanna go no cats with dummy o2s or what?im goin to put that on and the 97 ecu and see how it does but i am for sure ordering the fuel and timing upgrade from urd.i already have cold air intake.

Texas_Ace

While you are right that Aluminim melts a lot lower then the EGT's. Normal EGT's for a high performance engine are ~1500f. The aluminim doesn't melt due to the coolant and some other laws of fluid dynamics.

In this case his EGT's are much higher then that, around 2000f from what past testing has shown. That can start doing some damage to all sorts of things as he has seen.

donomite49

couldn't you change the engine wire harness, ecu and maf setup to the 98 and up to the 01 or so?
you might have to repin the body harness plugs to the ecu.

bigcat84

Yall think i should run cats on it or no cats and dummy o2s??

Texas_Ace

Whatever you want to do. Depends on your local inspection rules I guess.