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So I have been away from Yotatech and having a Toyota in general since 2017. I sold my 99 4runner for money to put a down payment on our house. I was a wise move but I severely missed that thing and actually tried to buy it back a few years ago with no luck.
Fast forward to this Saturday. I brought home a 1994 4runner 3.0 Automatic. The vehicle was originally from out in Arvada Colorado. It was brought to Ohio back in 21/22 and now here in Pa. It is in really great shape with minimal rust. I only have to fix the rust on the dog legs behind the little plastic cladding. It also had a reman engine installed, in Wyoming, sometime around 20-21. I guess the install was sloppy as there was and still is exhaust leaks, small oil leaks, etc.... There are a few other issues that I am currently working through. It did however make the 142 mile trip back to My home from Northern Ohio!
I found this 4runner last year but did not have enough funds to purchase it at the time. I actually had to purchase, fix and flip another vehicle so I could afford to buy this one. We usually get a vehicle, fix it up, and take it out to see my parents who live in Southern Utah. Just south of Moab. I have always wanted to take a Toyota out, do some light wheeling and just build another solid vehicle. I am really hoping I can get things sorted out in the next month so we can take it on our trip.
Heres a picture of it the day I brought it home.
The guy had all kinds of parts in the back. I am guessing from when they had the engine installed. Which is still a mystery to me because the guy I bought it from had minimal information on what exactly went down. And I have been trying to get more information but I keep striking out.
The first few things that I noticed were that the Brake rotors need replaced because they are warped. It's easier to replace them not rather than machine them. The passenger side upper ball joint needs to be replaced and its could use some shocks.
It also runs very sluggish. And I mean very sluggish. From a stop it acts like it has a stall speed convertor. I know these things are slow as ever but this seems excessive. And it also does not like to downshift when going uphill. More on that later......
It has 33's on what look to be 15x10 rims. They look decent but it could sure use a lift. I was thinking about going with ball joint spacers up front and some LC springs in the rear. But that will be later on.
My wife requested that I try and get the AC working. So the first thing that I did was pressurize the system to check for leaks. Passed!
So I pulled a Vacuum for 45 minutes then charged it up. Well.... Needless to say that after that the Ac still didn't work. I had the Light on the dash but no power to the Compressor Clutch....
So I started the painstaking process of digging through every Relay, Fuse, Module in the circuit.....Only to come up with nothing. I decided to try replacing the ECT and the Gauge sender on the coolant block. I wasn't sold on the fact that they were the issue. Especially since the gauge worked fine the entire way back. Heres a picture I snapped while driving. You can see the Location of the temp gauge..... it never moved.
I had to order the gauge sender from my local parts house. When it arrived, I tested is per the FSM and it tested correct. Went to install it and...........IT snapped........ Thank the heavens I have a good set of extractors.
So I scrambled to get another sending unit to install...At this time I was still thinking that the one I pulled out was not working properly. The 2nd one that I picked up didn't test like the one that broke. It tested .535 Ohms......Where the One that broke was 2.3K Ohms like the FSm stated for the current temp.
So I get this one in and the AC starts working. I realized that I think the AC started working more because I may have had a loose connection or the fact that the ECT was broken..... It still tested good but you could spin the plug on the sensor...Which shouldn't happen.
Fast forward to today...... I wake up and see a small puddle underneath the 4runner.....A closer look and I see that its coolant. So I climb up and take a look at the coolant block and see that its seeping from the Brass 1 wire sending unit. Right at the base. So after messing with it a few times.....IT sealed up. However......Here is where things get weird.
After the install of the current gauge sending unit.........The gauge reads slightly higher than before. And it has a lot of movement. Which freaks me out knowing the HG history of the 3.0.......
I drove it down to the gas station to fill it up and upon starting it back up, the temp gauge started to climb.... but then came back down once I started driving. Here are a few pictures. of the initial after startup, then about 30 seconds to a minute, then after I started to give it some gas.
So.... I don't trust the Factory Gauges and really want to put a Mechanical Coolant temp gauge on it.
When I take it out and step on the gas to climb a decent hill around me, it will sometimes downshift, more on that in a bit, and then the temp gauge likes to climb a little making me paranoid......Because I can't actually see the degrees and not certain that its actually climbing. Although it seems to run very hot. More on that later.
After more poking around today, I tried to check the Base timing....... And After jumping the Pins in the diag port, it would not go into base timing. Only remained advanced. I was going crazy trying to remember what causes that......Remember......I have been away for some time......After some searching and thinking I remembered that it was tied to the TPS.......
After refreshing my memory reading through the 4crawler write-up, I decided to test it out.....And it failed.......
Now things started to make sense... Poor Acceleration, Crappy downshifting, Crap fuel mileage ( I know these aren't great), won't go into base timing, feels like it it a tooth off of timing.........All leading to the TPS.
So I have a lead on one from a local guy that I met the other day. I need to head out and test it to see if its better than mine, then swap them out. I am really hoping that It will clean up most of the issue that I just listed.
Tomorrow I am headed to get the windshield replaced...300$..... It won't pass inspection here with the current crack that It has.
So the Coolant Temp Climbing has me a little baffled. I know that there cannot be an air bubble from swapping out the sensor........ I verified the level of coolant and its perfect. I also used a laser temp gun on the upper and lower Rad hoses and they are where they should be. The upper intake seems to stay around the same as well. The heads are hard to get a reading from because of the exhaust. They read scary high.. Which doesn't help the anxiety of fear of overheating. I realize that the surface of the cylinder head, inches away from the exhaust will read significantly higher. Here was one I took after I just drove it hard for about 15-20 minutes.
Not sure you can see, but if you look close you can see the red dot is just outside the Exhaust heat shield on the cylinder head. If I stick the Laser on the Head bolt it will read 212-215. But I think this is normal considering the method and placement of the laser. Maybe someone else can chime in on this.
Another thing I found was a frayed detent cable heading to the transmission. I ended up ordering another one from my local Toyota Dealer. It will be here tomorrow. I initially though that my shifting issues were attributed to this, but the more I found out about the TPS, I am leaning more towards that being the root of the problem.
I am hoping that the delayed throttle response, slow acceleration, Slow to downshift, or no downshifting, it also causing the Coolant temp to rise. Especially if the tranny fluid temp is rising as a result which in return would up the coolant temp in the radiator also. This isnt an issue when causing on the interstate when you aren't climbing long nasty hills. At least not when I brought it home. I am also wondering If I should grab an OEM Gauge sending unit.
Oh well..... Thats enough for tonight. Feels good to be back in the saddle of another Toyota.
Welcome back, sounds like a lot of stuff in a short amount of time. Bit by bit, it's hard to undo 30 years of neglect or abuse. Nothing raises the hair on the back of your neck like seeing that temp gauge climb. I have a TPS89452-12040 off a 94+ 22re, don't know if it same as 3.0 TPS or not, but if it is you can have it. I did ohm it out and it passes the FSM checks.
Welcome back, sounds like a lot of stuff in a short amount of time. Bit by bit, it's hard to undo 30 years of neglect or abuse. Nothing raises the hair on the back of your neck like seeing that temp gauge climb. I have a TPS89452-12040 off a 94+ 22re, don't know if it same as 3.0 TPS or not, but if it is you can have it. I did ohm it out and it passes the FSM checks.
That’s it man. Freaks me out. I need to somehow adapt a mechanical gauge to the system.
I believe they are the same part. Especially if they are from 89+ I will gladly pay you for it! I will definitely take it
So pulled out the Aftermarket sender and Ohm'd it out to see were it was against the OEM one I pulled out.
At 82 degrees, the aftermarket one read .487 ohms......
At the same temp, he OEM one read .681 ohms....
I tossed the poem one back in and the gauge works as it should. It takes a normal amount of time before it reaches operating temp and it does not bounce all over the place like the other one did. The Aftermarket one would be at operating temp with only a minute of runtime from cold....
I also picked up some used Aisin hubs yesterday off a great guy that I met. Had to extract one broken bolt.
I Cant wait to get these on to see how many MPG it frees up!! Right now I am getting about 12-13 around town.
I also was able to get the exhaust sorted out over the weekend. Man is is tough working on exhaust on the ground. especially after having access to a shop and lifts daily for 15 years........Its definitely taking some getting used to.
I had my one son help me hold everything while I tacked it in place. I am not very happy with the outcome of the tailpipe but there was really no other placement option. It was listed as a factory replacement but it didnt match up exact to the one I took off. I ended up having to cut off about 4" of the tailpipe. Made some exhaust hangers also. Its going to work for now, and allow me to pass inspection and emissions this week
I was able to score some OME 901 coils for the rear from a guy in CA. 127$ shipped!! They should be here this Thursday. I also ordered upper ball joints and BJ spacers to install as well. The drivers side CV axle has both boots torn, so I ordered a replacement axle and I will rebuild the one that's in it and stick it on the shelf for a just in case.
I am excited to get this thing a tiny bit higher to help clear those 33's better.
Hey Mark, nice to see you're back with a new 4runner. I finally saw your pm last night, I guess it was about the time you started this thread, glad to see you got the 4 runner you were talking about, and that you started a build thread! Sorry I'm responded about a year late!!! Hope you update soon, I missed all the OG members from back in the day!
06-06-2023, 06:07 PM
