roblvgn

hey everyone, I just bought a 1986 4-runner and I want to put a newly rebuilt motor out of a 1988 P/U with EFI and injectors already installed, into the 1986 4-runner. Will everything just plug and play? I heard that the ECU has to be the same year as the injectors? any help would be greatly appreciated! thanks

khat toy

last year i swapped the engine from an '86 4runner into an '88 4runner, and it runs fine. i didn't move any of the electronics, just plugged her up to the stock harness and turned key. i wasn't sure if it would work until i did it, i looked for info on it and some people said the cpu had to move too, others said no. i checked the numbers on the cpu cases and they matched, so i tried it and it worked fine. she's been runnin a year no probs. i think as long as they're the exact same motor, it should work, just check the serials on the cpu's to see if they match. good luck!!

roblvgn

Thank you so much for the reply! A couple questions if you dont mind! CPU or ECU? Same thing or not? Where is it located and what numbers have to match? Is there a number on the motor that has to match to the cpu or ecu? The 1988 motor is on a stand- no truck I just know the donor vehicle it came out of before it was rebuilt so i wonder how to tell if a 1988 cpu or ecu is the same as an '86? Do you think it would fry anything just to try?

khat toy

i think ecu is the proper name for the cpu. it's located under the panel in front of the passenger side door, under the dash. there is a serial number on the lower side, if the two ecus are the same, there should be no problem. if the engines are both 22re's i can't really see how there would be a problem. the only thing i can imagine would fry would be the injectors, or maybe the tps. but both are fairly cheap and relatively easy to replace. and if they do, then you just have to replace ecu, too. i think if all the plugs match up you should be fine, tho.

xxxtreme22r

the ecu has to match the year. well all of the electrical accessories anyway, ie injectors, tps, afm etc etc. ask chef about what we encountered with trying to find him a replacement one. the reason being the injectors, afm and all that have different electrical components (resistors etc) and have to match the impedance specs of the ecu. somewhere on here I posted a link in chef's thread with the ecu years and cross reference.

Hadmatt54

It's true that the ECU should match the sensors that it controls, but there are lots of people who have used ECU's from other years and their engines worked just fine. You are swaping an 88 motor into an 86, depending on when that motor was manufactured in 88 you might have a problem. Up until mid 88 the 22re's had low impedence injectors and a solenoid resistor wired into the efi harness. After mid 88 toyota went to high impedence injectors and they elimimated the solenoid resistor. An ECU from a 22RE before mid 88 cannot control an engine that was built after mid 88. The injectors also use different clips, so the easiest way to check if the two engines are the same is just check the injector clips on the pickup harness and the 4Runner harness. If you really want a no worries swap move the 86 harness over to the 88 engine, if it is a newer engine you will have to swap the injectors as well.
Good Luck!