This started with a low mile, 91 V6 5 Spd Extra Cab, 3 years ago 2 days before Xmas at 5 am on the way to work, when the rear end came around on ice. I was looking the way I came when the truck slid off the road way. It slamed so hard on the driver side that it forced the passenger side nearly 12 inches beyond its factory location , and came to rest on the roof. ( Now mashed down to the head rests)
With no collision insurance to finance repairs, I brought it home and checked all systems and determined it was still a runner and because of the low miles it had on it, I figured it would be worth doing something with, some day.
I started it every other weekend and let it run for a bit to keep the battery up and the fuel burned up to avoid tainted fuel issues down the road
Ok here we are down the road. I bought a 94 3L v6 Automatic SR5 4Runner, with a bad motor in it. It also has some damage on the driver side lower door and rocker panel.I bought it from a person who had bought it to rob the motor out of it for their 4Runner with a bad motor. so it had their bad motor sitting in the engine bay.
After getting this 4runner carcus home I noticed a few other items had been robbed out of it besides the motor. The "Smart Box" or ECU was missing along with a few insignificant other peice parts.
HERE IS MY QUESTION: Will I be able to plug the ECU,and engine, out of my 91 pickup into the 94 4runner?
What issues should I expect to confront concerning the 5 speed manual into the 4speed automatic element of this equasion?
Are there any other concerns that I should be aware of?
I would be very greatful for any knowledge any of you are willing to share!
Truely, Duck Trapper

 

I think they changed something in 92. I kept getting asked if it was made before or after 5/92 by the parts places. Last weekend my brothers and I replaced my 3.0L w/ a rod knock with another 3.0L...That was a trip.

Good luck

 

I believe the change before/after 92 was the tensioner.I think they changed it from mechanical to hydruaulic or something like that (could be wrong). But otherwise they had very few if any changes. But ECU changes would probably happen every year or two I would imagine.

 

If you call a dealership, they should be able to give you a break down of changes made. When I swapped a motor from an '89 4rnr into my '92 4rnr, the TPS, throttle body, and sensor cluster at the back of the manifold were different. Right away, I can tell you that you're going to have some ECU/sensor issues. Depends on how much of the '91 system you plan on using as opposed to the '94. With mine, all I had to do was stick with the TB from the '92. Are you doing a full swap? Did your '91 and does your '94 have manual or auto hubs? Are you going to swap the five speed tranny/tcase unit over to the '94?

 

I planned to use the automaticw/transfercase that was in the 4runner.
Both units have the auto hubs. Thanks for you intrest

 

The auto tranny is controlled by the ECU, so you won't be able to use the 5 speed ECU. Plus the body harness and engine harness plugs to the ECU are possibly different between years and models. He really screwed you taking that ECU but look around on ebay and the for sale forum for another. Try to find the same year and model. Toyota has been known to change wiring around from year to year and even mid-year sometimes. And of course going from a pickup to a 4runner you could see even more chances for changes.