T100NewMexico

I’m starting this thread to share ideas to improve performance and fuel economy for the T100 3.4L engine.

Last spring I bought an 18ft travel trailer and drug it with my T100 all over the western USA. When I first hooked up to my trailer and started towing I thought I’d made a huge mistake. My truck would barely pull the weight…if I was climbing a hill forget it! I had purposely tried to find the lightest trailer I could, knowing that I my pulling ability was limited. Even so, at the end of the first outing it was clear something had to change; I was working my little V6 to death. I found a couple simple solutions that seemed to really help.

Hopefully some of you may have a few tricks to share as well.

T100NewMexico

The first thing I did to improve performance was add a K&N cold air filter kit (FPKI) Part number 57-9024. The kit went on in about an hour with no significant problems, I had to bend a little metal here and there to get it to fit the firewall. But overall easy, I actually installed while we were camping so I could check it out and compare on the way home.


This K&N dyno chart shows an improvement of 9.06 Hp. I think it’s a little better than that. When they performed the baseline test the outside air temp was a hot 98F degrees. By the time they installed the kit and ran the second run the temp had climbed to over 104 F.

Anyway, this kit seemed to make a difference in both fuel economy and performance. Right away I was able to keep my speed up without having to downshift as much.

One downside, the intake noise is significantly increased; it gave the engine a very throaty sound. I didn’t mind but others might.


Here's a photo of my install

Hey 10 Hp for about $250 with no major modifications, it was worth it to me.

Elton

thats nice but to save some money go with a deckplate mod and and the isr mod

04 Rocko Taco

EXACT same thing with a deckplate, an ISR, and even go as far as an amsoil filter if you want...spend WAY less than $250. You can home-brew the deckplate and ISR for under $75. (together). I'm not sure on prices for an amsoil filter, but I bet it doesnt come close to the $175 it would take to equal the cost of your FIPK.

Localmotion

75 bucks..wow

I thought a deckplate was only 10 bucks so about 15 total.

I guess the ISR mod is $$$

Elton

you can buy a short ram intake for 60 bucks and just use the tube and drop 10 bucks on the deckplate

CJM

Can someone explain me what exactly the ISR mod is? I searched a few times and only get posts talking about people doing it, but not how to do it.

Greg_Canada

http://www.gadgetonline.com/AirInduction.htm
Sorry to burst you're bubble, but it didnt really give you any more power, and is worse for your motor....

Elton

here you go https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f130/intake-silencer-removal-mod-installation-96-97-3-4l-engines-74837/ you can do that or buy one

CJM

Thanks, after checking it out it seems all I have to is remove that dumb box those lines connect into and make a small pvc insert..seems simple enough..

CJM

Ok I bought what the other thread said, went with the endcap screw on piece 2" is to big, its more like 1.5" for the t100 (or at least my intake is)

Also forgot to get the vacuum line hose too..

Not bad for about 15 minutes of work..gonna get the vacuum line tommorow and the corect cap.

04 Rocko Taco

search for Tony4Runner's homemade ISR...his is the cleanest looking homemade one i have seen to date. I think it ran him like 60 bucks to fab up, and the other $10 or $15 on the deckplate, thats where I was getting the $75 from earlier, you can buy an ISR for like $120 or something, sometimes they are like $60 on ebay....or homebrew it...whichever. deckplate is easy though, and cheap.
EDIT: I went ahead and looked it up for you. You should really check this out. https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f2/my-custom-made-isr-mod-93620/

CJM

I think I will be happy with the pvc fitting and whatnot. The pipe is nice and all but comparing the T to the 4runner and taco my intake it alot less restrictive

SoiledGreen98

ISR or just buy an Airaid Jr. for about $100.00+/-. I got mine on ebay for $99.95 free shipping. It only took 3.5 weeks to get it.(sarcasm)

Bazooka_cow

yeah i have the airaid on my taco with the deckplate. however, i couldnt find any of the boots i needed from that yeah runner. but anyway, the airaid will only run about 100 bucks like said above. get rid of the elbow, do the ISR and deckplate. you should be good in the millage department. i noticed the really difference on my 3.4 in my taco. now the 3in lift and big tires put it back to where it used to be haha. j/k

T100NewMexico

Good discussion all, :bigclap:

WOW, I haven’t seen such a response since Sinead O’Connor tore up a picture of the pope on SNL.

I’m certainly not trying to sell the K&N option so dont shoot me. And I can’t speak for the 4Runner community and their experiences I can say the air intake was slightly different on my T100 (possibly more restrictive) than it was on my 98 4Runner and I would have to say that my 4Runner had more power. I also can’t speak for the K&N drop in filter comparison since I don’t have a drop in filter, I have the can type. Kudos to Bob 98SR5’s deck plate mod is an awesome Idea.

At the time I installed the K&N kit I had just returned from pulling my trailer for about a 300 mile test camp trip, and let me tell you it was grueling. I was lucky to break 60 mph and climbed most large hills in second gear off to the side of the road. I was really sweating it because we were planning a 3K mile vacation and the truck was dieing. I was close to trading in my beloved. The K&N was a last ditch quick fix which is why I installed it on my last camping run prior our big trip.

Don’t worry about busting my bubble because I don’t live in a bubble I deal with reality and the reality is I now run the same roads at 70 and 75mph and at altitudes of 6000ft to 8000ft I even have to watch my speed now, that wasn’t an issue before. I’ve added even more weight to my load in terms of camping equipment over the summer and still able to “gitter done”. I don’t know what the dyno test would be on my rig but I can tell you it’s pretty hard to argue a 3rd gear 4000 rpm, wide open hill climb comparison. And that’s where I saw the real gains, throttle wide open on a steady pull. (where the rubber meets the road)

Do I think the deck plate mod is a great idea? Hell yea. And I wish I had seen the Airaid intake sooner. But cost aside, a strait pipe is a strait pipe. And if the Airaid drops the IS box and improves performance, so does the K&N. The possible difference is in the filter element and I find it hard to believe that the K&N doesn’t at least pass as much air as the stock filter.

I do however, have a real concern about the particle contamination of the K&N. I’ve read the posts from the off roaders and it doesn’t sound good. I am a new Amsoil fan so I will probably change my K&N filter for one of the can filters Amsoil makes or maybe that true flow. When I read the posts about mass air sensor contamination and dirt entering the intake I ran out and pulled mine apart. Thank god, so far, 7000 miles, my mass air sensor was clean and dry, so was the intake tube. I did see a slight oily/grungy build up on my throttle plate. I’m not crazy about that. Most of those miles are highway so I have no idea what it would do in a serious off road condition.

So I guess we can say that there is room for improvement with the T100 air intake system. Whether you cut a hole and install a deck plate, and use a plug to fill the hole or install an Airaid or homebrew intake and an after market filter.

Still looking for more ideas outside of intake fixes?

T100NewMexico

Does anyone have an opinion on using premium fuel in the 3.4L? I believe the compression ration is 9.5 to 1, that’s pretty high for regular. As I recall regular is recommended for below 9.0.

I added it to the mix after the intake mod because i picked up some predetination when the throttle was wide open under heavy load. The predetination vanished and I felt like I add even a few more HP.

CJM

This is a great post imho, I did the ISR mod today and chose to use a 2" wide pvc endcap w/ wrench flange on top I bought. I bought it last nigth and noticed it wouldnt fit in the port. I then measured the old IS and found it to be 1.5" wide.

Went back to the depot and bought the 1.5" cap, I however found out that imho the flange compared to the 2" one is a bit on the small side and I did drill it a bit to close tot he edge on the top (no worries it fit fine). However I was annoyed by just how close the 2 fittings were b/c you have the much smaller flange on top.

I broke out a belt sander and using the handle on it, mounted it in my vise (cheap mans way) and took the 2" cap. I then cut the outside of the cap completley off using a coping saw, a dremelmight work better but I dont have one. I then sanded it down to an exact duplicate in side of the IS box using a pattern I made.

It fit perfectly in the intake and the hoseclamp holds it securely on. My only gripe is I should have used silicone and lubed up the MIP's so the lines would fit better as they were a tight squeeze-I woulda done it today but I had to run off to work.

Next mod is the deckplate and diff breather..

T100NewMexico

96' T100 SR5 4x4, ISR mod, hood fix. Deckplate and grillguard soon to come...

CJM, whats the "hood fix"?

CJM

If you havent noticed (yours may not have this problem) the hood will basically deform if your doing about 60-70+ mph on the highway. I found it to be annoying b/c as you drive it looks as if the hood is being deformed by someone pusing hard on it.

I foudn through another forum (4x4wire) that they had the same problems and found out that the subframe isnt exactly well put on the hood, it can come off pretty easy (guess the tack welds or glue or whatever stinks) to correct it they
took some polyurethane construction adhesived and basically caulked it together. I did it to mine and now realize I need even more, I used up almost the entire 12" cannister of caulk and filled in all the little dang areas around the hood subframe. It doesnt look bad, could have done a bit better job had I realized to cut the tip on an angle.

Overall in its current form it reduced the amssive "dent" as I call it to basically nothing. Now it may not help I have a lund bug guard on mine..but the massive deforming is gone and I only get a very little bit now. Buy 2 tubes of this stuff, pick a day when you know you wont have to drive the truck for about 8 hours and cover the engine bay and fenders and front with a drop cloth and get to work. It takes a bit of time and some interesting contorting but it works well.