Capsulated

Hello, I have conflicting info about the year of this truck and what engine should actually be in it. Even the color... I'm hoping someone can point me in the right direction.
Sold to me a few months ago as an 1988 Toyota Pickup - it has "Xtra Cab EFI" below the driver's side rear glass window
Badge on the door-jam says "Manufactured September 86" (Which would make sense that it's an 87)
Truck has 3.0 3VZ-E and is a 5-spd Manual
There are two stickers under the hood providing information about the 3VZ-E timing and vacuum hoses
The grille shows "Toyota V6"

BUT

First call to Toyota said they couldn't find my VIN
Online searches for the VIN at every website gives a different answer - some say its a 2016 Toyota 4-Runner :/ others don't find it at all
Second call to Toyota (a month later and a different person) said that based on the VIN, it's an 87 Pickup and rolled out the show-room with the 4CYL 22R-E and was Silver (Truck is black inside and out and doesn't APPEAR to me to have been painted?)

ALSO

The fuse boxes, one on driver's side kick panel and in the engine bay do not look like the pictures in the 22R-E/3ZV-E FSM I am looking at.. (93 Toyota Pickup http://www.ether3al.com/93fsm-mobile/)
The picture shows the relay block in the engine bay is being rectangular but mine is L-Shaped. Fuses don't seem to be in the right places?

AND

In the FSM the Ignition Coil doesn't look like what I have - I have a 12V Toyota canister-shaped coil with Toyota igniter sitting on top of it.. the FSM shows a different looking object

Is it possible that the engine was swapped but they kept the 22-RE fuse boxes?

I keep scratching my head because I am trying to diagnose a no-spark condition as I have started another thread for this.

Any help is greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance!

highonpottery

iTrader: (1)

Based on what I read and what I see in the pics - I would assume that over the last 30 years some changes have been made to this truck
The bed to me is a dead giveaway - I think the trucks had that exterior bed rail up until like 1984/85 and then switched to the smooth exterior profile, but not in other countries such as Canada I believe.
Possibly did a body swap and engine swap, who knows. Any visible modifications to the engine mounts?

Havent' read your other thread on spark issues, but get your hands on a wiring diagram and start tracing for power down the circuit.

Capsulated

Thanks for your reply! Yes I imagine that after 30 years she has had some changes done. Unfortunately I am not savvy enough to identify motor mounts. I am really learning a lot though this past week since no spark. Ah, the necessity to learn at the school of hard knocks when parts and professional garages are expensive

Xinorok

What's the VIN and date on the firewall say? I'd say 1988. It was the first year of the V6 and you have the 1988 only resistor pack for the fuel injectors. Door was likely swapped due to damage. The '93 FSM you're looking at is not totally accurate for '88 so there will be some conflicting information as the '88 V6 had some differences from later ones and the FSM V6 supplement is tough to find.

old87yota

The truck could have had the cab swapped out and the VIN plate from the replacement cab stayed with the cab and is now on your truck. Do the VIN plates on the door jam, the dashboard and under the hood match? Do the last digits of the VIN match the digits stamped into the frame? The bed looks to be non- U.S. because it has the rolled bed rails AND the larger flair for the wheel well; an option that was never available in the U.S.

wyoming9

iTrader: (1)

The year confusion could be as simple as the truck might not have been titled to 88

I have a truck the plate on the door says 86 it is titled as a 88 for some reason.

I find all kinds of strange and unusual things done to these truck

87hoerunner

Yeah I had a 94 pickup one time that title said it was a 94 corolla. I got pulled over all the time when they ran the tag. I used to have to keep a copy of my title and printout from toyota showing it was a pickup

Capsulated

Thanks everyone! A pickup that says its a corolla.. too funny! I should correct myself - the badge saying it was manufactured September 86 is not on the door of the door jam, it is on the inside, on the frame side where the door closes. The badge on the firewall is almost completely worn out and I can just barely make out Toyota Motor Corporation. It does not seem to have a VIN on it.The faded stenciling still visible mention model number. The strange thing is that the little badge under the front windshield on the dashboard where a VIN would be just says "Toyota Motor Corporation" all over it. I am in Canada so that would explain the wheel flairs and the rolled bed rails. Thanks for the info regarding the 1993/1988 discripencies. I did find a link to an 88 Pickup/4Runner here at http://htftp.offroadsz.com/marinhake...4runner_88.pdf but it unfortunately is not searchable because of the way it was scanned. I will refer to that one also. Thanks again everyone

Capsulated

I just noticed that this 1988 Manual does not mention the 3VZ-E anywhere. Just the 22R-E and 22R-TE but the strange thing is that the fuse relay boxes appear to be the same as what is in my truck. Also, the ignition coil listed in this manual is also the same -- a 12v canister. Is it possible that the engine was swapped to the V6 but they kept the same fuse boxes and ignition coil from the 22R-E?

wyoming9

iTrader: (1)

Who can say what might have been done you just need to deal with what you have.

just curious has this truck ever run??

May very well be the electrical end of the swap might not have been done correct and the person doing the swap just gave up.

The sad part in not having any schematics telling you just how things were merged .

89fourrunner

In the heavily road salted area, some of these things were getting beds and cabs swapped before they were 10 years old. As long as you can get it properly titled and insured, look the other way I say lol.

Capsulated

Thanks everyone - The issue with the heavy salted roads makes sense because this truck has probably seen Canadian winters it's whole life.. It's been working fine for the three months that I've owned it. I lost spark somewhere between replacing the EFI Relay (truck worked fine after I replaced it) and pulling the battery out to swap a ground cable going from the negative battery terminal to a body screw attached to the engine bay fuse box., (that's when it stopped turning over but I have another thread for that). The reason why I've been trying to find clarification is because I've been having difficulty with troubleshooting because I have been seeing conflicting info from what I see in a FSM for the 3.0 vs what's on the truck. Such as Fuse Boxes and Ignition Coil w/ Igniter (so far). But, replies here have helped me to clarify this. It looks to me that my situation is I have a 3VZE with 22RE electrical components. (Fuse Boxes, Coil/Igniter and possibly ECM). As far as this thread goes, I guess my mystery is solved. I'll concentrate on my no-spark issue.

Again, I do sppreciate the time you all took to post here. It's appreciated.
Cheers