9-3-20 - Spark Plugs, Wires, Cap & Rotor

I had some free time when I got home from work last night so I cracked open a brewski and dove right in. I started with the hardest spark plug to get to, which is #5 and everything went pretty smooth. I extended my vacuum lines and formed a nice little pocket to be able to access the passenger side manifold area. The plugs I pulled only have about 13,000 miles on them. You be the judge on how they look, they seem fine to me.



After I swapped the spark plugs, I moved onto the wires. I pulled the #3 & #5 spark plug wires and found they were both damaged. From the looks of it, they were burning on the EGR tube. This could definitely explain why the 4Runner isn't passing smog.





All that's left is to confirm timing at 10 degrees and she'll be ready for another smog attempt.

 

10-13-20 - Few updates.

4Runner still isn't smogged. I replaced the TPS and have it adjusted properly. I used this as a guide: https://lcengineering.com/throttle-p...or-adjustment/. What a pain in the ass the TPS was because both the screws stripped out so I had to pull the throttle body.

The truck is running but I still can't get it timed to 10 degrees, which is the only reason it's failing smog, at this point. Each time I insert the pins into the diagnostic port, shine the light, loosen the distributor and try to get it anywhere remotely close to 10 degrees the truck dies and I have to set it back at 12-15 degrees to even get it running again.

The ONLY thing I haven't replaced or touched yet is the timing belt, which i'm starting to think has jumped a tooth (or two). The 4Runner has always felt a bit sluggish but I figured 1-2 teeth on the belt would be very noticeable. Guess it's hard to tell with only ~90 horsepower (mileage considered).

For now, i'm putting the timing belt on hold because I have to wait for the parts to come in.

On Friday (10-16-20), i'm taking the truck to WFO concepts to get the new steering box relocated/mounted and the flat pitman arm installed. Pretty stoked to have that done finally since it's been an issue in the past.

Also picked up another Toyota. Coworker came up to me asking if I could help her sell a car because she's handling an elderly woman's estate. I asked her what kind of car it was and she dropped an owner's manual on my desk and it said 2000 SC300/400. Long story short, it ended up being an SC300 and now it's in my garage. It's pretty tired, paint is cooked but I got it for cheap enough that I might be able to save it or flip it. I haven't decided just yet. All i know is the 2JZ in it runs great.

 

10-13-20 - Another Update.

Confirmed, the timing belt on the 4Runner is 1-2 teeth off. /facepalm.

No idea how it happened. It passed smog about 2-3 years ago and in those 2-3 years it's moved about 1200 miles. Must've happened within that time frame and I never noticed it? I did the top end at 197k so the timing belt only has 53k on it.

 

Props to you for keeping this thread updated!

The timing belt can't slip off the teeth because of the grooves.

Must have been installed wrong.

 

What else could it be, then? Back when I did the top end, i installed the distributor and the timing belt myself when I did the top end and I had no problem setting the timing at 10 degrees and passing smog.

Currently, the distributor physically wont turn to 10 degrees right now. It's not in the window of movement, what so ever.

Ideas?

 

double post.

 

2-22-21 - 4 Month Update.

All kinds of **** has been going down at Casa De Miguel. The last post I mentioned that the timing belt is the culprit on the 4Runner not passing smog and I haven't touched it since then. I did manage to get the Trailgear Steering Box installed and what a huge difference that's made on the 4Runner. WFO Concepts up in Auburn did a killer job and while they were super busy, they still gave me the time of day and squeezed the install in and had it back to me within 24 hours. Here's pictures of the finished product:





On this post: https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/mak.../post-13425347 I mentioned that I bought a 2000 Lexus SC300. I did some odds and ends to it that made the car more whole again but I eventually came to the conclusion that it's better off in someone else's garage. Posted it for sale and it was gone in about ~2-3 weeks. Since then, i've added ~3? or 4? Vehicles to the stable. I think I already mentioned that I bought the Camry back from a friend that no longer needed it so I wont count that one but here's a list of what's in my possession now:

2003.5 Mazdaspeed Protege - Pretty unique little car. I dig the quirkiness of this car. It's bright yellow, turbocharged and has a manual. Miles are a little high but I bought it on a whim from a good friend of mine and a fellow forum member @space-junk Not sure what the plans are but for now it's just hanging out in the garage.


2003 Chevrolet Tahoe - Nothing special, it's 2wd and has a plethora of issues. I'm currently working on the transmission because the pan was leaking. Unfortunately, this truck has been maintained by JIffy Lube it's entire life and both the oil drain and transmission drain plugs were abused by an air impact. I was fortunate enough to get the oil drain plug off but the transmission drain plug was stripped before I even touched it. I had to drop the pan the dirtnasty way, which worked well, surprisingly. For now, this thing is living on the ramps until I get everything dialed in. This one is gonna be sold.


1987 Toyota Pickup SR5 - This one came to me unexpectedly. A family friend has owned this truck for a little over a decade and I've always wanted it but I could never justify the price he was asking for it. Well, finally he cracked and basically gave it to me. Pretty stoked to have yet another 30+ year old Toyota to work on. I'm probably gonna be keeping this one for a long time since it's nice to have a pickup to load stuff up in the bed. Definitely going to start a build thread and do a stock+ build on it.


For now, I'm wrenching on the Tahoe to get it out of my hair as soon as possible. The Camry and Pickup both run like tops so I've been alternating those two as daily drivers to work. The 4Runner is hanging out patiently waiting for the timing belt to get done. Between all the bike rides, remodeling the house and hanging with the lady my time is spread pretty thin. I should have the Tahoe wrapped up here pretty soon since I'm picking up the transmission pan gasket and filter today after work. The trick is gonna be getting the damn drain plug off that thing or just buying a whole new transmission pan.

 

 

https://www.lceperformance.com/Catal...-p/1043006.htm is ordered, ya nazi!

 

thats painful. i literally just spent that much on an alternator.

that being said...

 

Aint here yet, Troy.

 

Hey man. Sounds like you been moving some cars lately haha. The new truck is pretty nice! Reminds me of my old 87 that was the same color and decal pattern - but mine was an xcab turbo

 

lmao yeah, I've been buying and selling all kinds of crap lately. Need to sell off a couple and finish the projects at the house!

Nice, i wish this one was an extended cab but for how much i got it for, i can't complain.

 

4-1-21 - Update


Quite a bit has happened since my last post so I'll try and cover everything that's happened in the last 1-2 months.

I ended up getting the Tahoe operational and fixed. No more slipping transmission and no more leaks from the pan. All that's left to do is clean that thing up, post it for sale and get it out of the court.

The Pickup needed a new battery so the first evening with it, I drove up to Costco and grabbed an Interstate battery for ~$70 dollars and installed that. The truck was missing it's OEM battery tiedown and for some reason I had one in my garage.



When I bought the 1987 Toyota Pickup, I got it for cheap because it was failing smog and the family friend was tired of messing with it. The smog shop I take it to doesn't really care much for the catalytic converter part #. He mostly cares about timing and if it's set within the parameters, he'll run it. Anyway, first attempt was when I first bought the truck and it still had a 49 state catalytic converter on it. It barely failed so then I had the brilliant idea to swap the catalytic converter off the 4Runner onto the Pickup, put a catback exhaust on it and put a new Denso o2 sensor, cap, rotor, coil, LC Engineering Magnecor wires and an LC Engineering Spark Plug wiring loom.









When I ordered the LC Engineering Magnecor wires, they had a bunch of wire sets deliver without the coil wire and since I was one of those customers, the coil wire eventually showed up:



I got all of the above work done and it still failed smog for the 2nd time. At this point, it needed a new catalytic converter so I ended up pulling the trigger on a new Magnaflow catalytic converter from LC Engineering and putting that in. It passed.





Once I got it home and cooled off, I installed a test pipe in place of the new catalytic converter because I didn't want it to get stolen or go bad.





At this point, I was completely convinced that I would just hang onto the truck and part with my 1994 Toyota Camry XLE/V6 and use this truck as my daily so I ended up ordering a tailgate bike pad/carrier. The tailgate pad is just some cheapo solution and it works well. It's actually thick enough that you don't need to strap the bike(s) in.






I also bought the lady her first mountain bike. 2021 Marin Wildcat Trail 3. 650b, hydro brakes, 2x8 drivetrain w/ a 120 front coil strut. It's nothing crazy but it's plenty for her to build confidence on and get off the pavement and onto the dirt. She's been riding for years on pavement but she loses all confidence when she gets on the dirt. Hopefully this bike changes that for her.



Fast forward a couple days, I got the truck registered and in my name. I decided that it wouldn't be a bad idea to clean the truck up and post it for sale for a price I couldn't say no to. Since I had 90 days on the smog cert, I figured why not? I gave it a bath, yanked the cheapo seat covers off it, vacuumed it out, took some pictures and posted it.







The Pickup sold last night.





I loved that truck but like i said, posted it for a price I couldn't say no to and it sold to the first guy that came and looked at it. Win win. Plus now I have a spare test pipe and a brand new catalytic converter for the 4Runner to use when the time comes.

 

i dont understand how you do this with vehicles........

 

Whatcha mean?

 

take vehicle that you bought for X amount of dollars and sell it a few months or weeks later for 10 times what you've got into it.

 

It's really easy. Just pay attention to the market and don't get emotionally attached or financially invested into it and you can pretty much do it with any vehicle that someone just doesn't want anymore.

I'm only attached emotionally and financially to one vehicle and that's my 4Runner.

 

Bump!

 

I moved the 4Runner from the driveway to the sidewalk.