Strider7

I am so jealous, lol ... I never got to hear mine run, let alone drive it.

Good going!

Elvota

Seems like you have made it past the first major hurdle... finding a 3.4 that runs

mt_goat

Oh you got a K&N intake on it huh, you may want to know Amsoil makes a good filter for those now (without the oil) some kind of nanofiber filter. Here's some more info about it: http://www.customtacos.com/forum/showthread.php?t=70984

You may want to clean your MAF just in case the K&N oil got into it. Don't touch it with anything though, just spray with electrical contact cleaner.

That was smart pulling the plugs and cranking it over first, never know about a roll-over.

breknraj

Good info, Mt. Goat -- I'll look into the Amsoil filter, for sure. I had to remove the intake from the throttle to move it enough to get to the middle plug on that side, and it looks to me that the filter oil has migrated that far back, so I plan to clean that up, as well as the MAF. By what I've read, I'm figuring to use electrical contact cleaner, unless someone has a better suggestion.

After I looked the Taco over (and got the hood open!), I figured that pulling the plugs was going to be a formality, but that 1% doubt, and the fact that it is REAL CHEAP insurance made me do it, anyway. I'd do it again, just for the confidence factor!

I am impressed at how much simpler the layout is under the hood of the Taco than my Truck was. Nowhere near as many vacuum hoses, valves and wiring. It looked comparatively empty in there! I'll be taking a lot of pictures of it, since I pretty much plan to replicate that set up under the hood of my truck.

mt_goat

Yeah that is amazing isn't it, the 3.0 had so much unneeded crap it isn't even funny, until you get rid of it

BTW there is a special product out there for cleaning the MAF, but I've only seen pics of it.

thefallman

LOL i was also impressed with how much simpler my layout is under my hood now that i have the 3.4 in

breknraj

Today's fun included removing the bumper, grille and lights to gain better access, and avoid banging them up during the project.

Then I turned my attention to the great fun of removing the plenum, so that I could get at the rest of the wiring harness. I thought I had all the connections removed to pull it off - riiiiight! I missed the back passenger side vacuum hose that goes up under the plenum. I just had the best time trying to get a pair of pliers onto the hose clamp for that turkey! (s)

After I got the plenum off, I pulled the rest of the wiring harness connectors, and then pulled the harness clear to the firewall, except for the stuff going down to the starter.

That's it for today. I have to do a little household cleaning up before my fiancee gets here for the weekend! lol!

Have a great holiday weekend, everyone!

breknraj

I didn't get a lot done this weekend (took advantage of some time with my lady).

I did remove the alternator, power steering pump and starter, and started removing the exhaust. I was going to remove the engine wiring harness, but there appears to be a hold down on the top of the transmission, going to the oxygen sensor, so I will deal with that when I get the engine and tranny loose, so that I can get my hand up in there.

I'm planning to head to Denver on Wednesday to give Mike at ORS some money to start my conversion kit, and pick up some parts for the 3.4. Until then, I'll keep going after the disassembly. I'm not too far from being able to pull the engine out of the '90!

breknraj

I've had a heck of a time since my last report. I got held up by not having enough stuff to crack the driveshaft bolts loose, and then the rain moved in for a few days. The break did give me the chace to visit my Dad, do a few chores for him, and raid the tools for more stuff to do this job with (icluding the air tools!)

I also had the great fun of a Murphy's Law transfer of money, so I had to delay going to ORS to pay for my conversion kit and crossover pipe.

I finally got that squared away, and got Mike the money, and gave him the info about the two trucks, so that he can start to work on the harness.

After my discussions with Mike, I have shifted to working on the Taco, because he will need the flanges from the crossover, and the body harness plugs for the ECU. So I worked in between the rain showers today to start removing the engine from the Taco. Im planning to pull it out with the engine harness still attached to it (and disconected everywhere else). I got most of the stuff off of the fender wells, and disconnected the fuel lines, vacuum hoses, throttle cable, ect.

I also drained the engine oil, and will drain the coolant as soon as I get another bucket for it. I transferred the front engine hook from the '90 to the Taco, since it did not have one. I'm wondering if the previous owner took it off when he put in the K&N (or if it even had one at all).

I'm hoping to get underneath tomorrow, to remove the rest of the stuff (weather permitting - and it's not looking good!).

Sorry, no pics today, due to rain.

mt_goat

Oh he needs the body harness plugs now? He supplied mine.

Good idea, be sure to take LOTS of pics before disconnecting/removing stuff. I've found you can't have too many pics to go back and refer to later.

No, the 5VZ doesn't come with one on the passinger side for some reason. Did you drill a new hole in the 3VZ hook?

Better hurry before you get snowed in up there huh?

Tragic Drive

Nice to see another 3.0 to 3.4 swap going on. It is a spendy conversion but worth every penny.

breknraj

Mt. Goat - Too late on the snow, had some this morning. I'm hoping that I can beat the stuff sticking, though (praying for a good Indian Summer!!)

Mike told me that they are having trouble sourcing the body harness plugs for the '02s, so he'll need mine.

I just have the front hook on the back bolt of the power steering bracket. I think I may end up adding it permanently, so I'll probably re-drill it to fit. The one bolt should do, to get the engine to the stand.

I should be back at it on Monday!

mt_goat

Hummm... sure would be a bummer to drop it. Here's the way I drilled mine:



I'm leaving mine on permanently too, had to remove my intake silencer though.

breknraj

Since my Taco came with the K&N kit, I don't have to worry about the silencer. One small inconvenience avoided.

As far as the single bolt for the hook - the bolt is in good shape, a 10mm 8.8, with many thousands of pounds of shear strength. The extra bolt really adds nothing more than additional longitudinal stability. I spent years dealing with bolt strengths in my old job, so this is not a big concern for me. Besides, I'll be able to get a better measurement for modification, once it's on the stand.

I'm leaning toward the idea of just adding another bolt to an unused location on the block, with a spacer to match the level of the power steering bracket.

mt_goat

Yeah that's what I did. It wasn't the bolt I was worried about so much as the aluminum threaded bolt hole and the way the hook adds a bending moment into the equation. Plus the absolute nightmare thought of dropping the thing.:cry: Maybe I'm just overly cautious though.

breknraj

I had a very productive day of demolition today!

I drained the coolant, and removed the radiator hoses. Removed the fan shroud, and thought I was going to have to take the fan and clutch out at the same time, then I saw the clips to the bottom filler piece on the shroud. Took the shroud out, then ditched the fan and fan clutch. As much as I'd like to do the Volvo fan mod, I think I'll be re-using the Taco fan clutch, at least until next summer.

I removed the A/C condensor, evac can and front tubing. I had a mobile service come by to evacuate the system the other day, BTW.

breknraj

Then I decided to start going after the ECU. Little did I know about its location! I thought I was going to find it in the passenger side kick panel. At least I know where the cruise control computer is, now! I should have figured that the location of the ECU had changed, when I saw where the wires were coming out of the firewall.

So, I ended up taking most of the dash apart - 1, to get to the ECU, and 2, because there's a lot of stuff on the dash that I plan to use on my '90. I got the call that my '02 FSMs have come in (down in Denver). I wish I had them, right now, because the passenger side airbag has me mystified as to how it comes apart. I'd also like to see the write up on how the dash pad comes off, too.

They sure stuffed the wiring to the ECU in tight. I'll try to get the plugs out, and the ECU out tomorrow. Does anyone know if there are any other bolts to contend with on the ECU, besides the two brackets that I can see from the glove box hole?

Hopefully, I'll be getting the ECU out, drain and disconnect the power steering, and getting the rest of the engine harness wiring out from underneath the Taco tomorrow. I'm hoping that I can pull the engine tomorrow, or Wednesday, so that I can get the parts that Mike needs down to him ASAP.

mt_goat

Yeah the ECU just has a couple bolts holding it in.

breknraj

Got a lot done yesterday, but not a lot on the Taco. I did manage to get some more stuff removed, like the heater hoses, power steering hoses, and the cab section of the engine wiring harness. I did get the ECU out, as well. One hassle was discovering another case of a plug or wiring hold down mounted to the top of the transmission. I think it may be the forward O2 sensor plug, but I can't see it, and can barely reach it. I'm still trying to figure out how to get it out (without destroying it), so that I can finish getting the engine harness stuff back to the engine bay.

After aggravating myself with that for a while, I decide it was time to do something else. I finally got my plywood delivered, and started working on my work platform. I got 5 sheets of 3/4" CDX, and cut one to make the joining pieces for the other four, to make an 8x16' platform that would allow me to roll the engine hoist an stand around.

With the pieces cut, I used a Flood CWP wood sealer on all of the wood, since I will probably be in need of this thing again, come next spring. I moved the trucks (towed them back a few feet with the Volvo), and assembled the platform with a box full of drywall screws (shortest deck screws were too long).

I finished the day by assembling my hoist and stand.

mt_goat

Oh I hate those things, and if you think it's hard to get them out wait till you try to put those things back in, lol.