I have to come in and tell my experiences with my runner and S/C...

As stated, keep your eye out... I got the S/C (never installed) smaller pulley (more boost), bigger injectors, and a piggy-back computer for $1800 from a fellow YT'er. I was too excited and I coudn't wait to get the injectors flow tested so I went ahead and slapped the S/C on there and see how it went. I was living in Savannah at the time and when I put it on everything was gravy. I could put the pedal to the floor and could not hear (though hard to hear anything with all that s/c whine! ) any pinging what-so ever. Doesn't mean it wasn't there but nothing bad. Two things that I think helped was the fact that I still had the stock exhaust (drop in muffler) and the stock airbox (amsoil filter/deckplate). The thing ran great!

Sorry if you don't like rap, but here is an old vid I made - Click Here

NOW,
That said, I believe TRD's headquarters is in FL, so it would make sense that it would work well in the same conditions where it was developed. Its a Toyota branded part, they wouldn't sell something they didn't believe in. It had to work well at some point!? I live in Savannah GA (sea level), and my parents live in Asheville, NC (mountains). You can probably guess where I'm going with this but my first trip home with the S/C proved to be quire interesting. The minute I started heading up the hill I couldn't bring it over 2psi w/o getting some pretty nasty pinging. After driving it around town for a few days it did get better, but the pinging never totally went away while under boost (a boost gauge is a must as well). When I went back to savannah it went back to normal and I could drive it like normal. One thing you can tell in the video though is that the tranny is slipping at WOT. Had I kept the truck a VB upgrade was in my near future. As for the fuel mods, they could have come later.

SO,
The moral of my story is that if you at sea-level and don't dog it, you could get away with the S/C, cooler plugs and a tranny cooler. You just would have to watch yourself and not be mario Andretti every day. Then when you save up some more cash, then go for the fuel mods and put an even bigger smile on your face, because even with just the S/C I sure was a fly in poopoo If you read the directions, read all the writeups people have done and have do you homework before the install it is not a hard install at all. If you find it not working well, you can always take it off until you can afford the fuel mods. Heck, if you lazy you can always just take the belt off and put the stock belt back on . Its a great way to get a lot more power out of the mighty 3.4L.

frodin1,
75hp might not sound like a lot but its not just 75hp, its 75hp from just above idle. Also, HP isn't that much of an issue with a truck, you want torque because thats when you need the power, down low... not up top.


I have post whore'd the heck out of this pic and its actually in the banner cycle now, but I can never get tired of seeing it. It also might help you put some positive atmospheres through your engines and that always makes me happy. Boost is GREAT!!



I also might add that my motor had 140,000mi on the clock when I S/C'd it after it had been sunk into a mud hole where the timing belt had slipped two teeth (our engine luckily isn't a valve bender ) oops

 

I'm not really good at installing stuff especially when there is wiring involved. I can turn a wrench and have decent knowlegde of how thing s work but when it comes to what certain things are called I'm clueless.lol I would really prefer to do the work myself but I might need help. Soda, pizza and beer for the beer drinkers would be on me. So, who want's to help?

 

Don't be scared of a little soldering work, this will help: http://elitecaraudio.com/tips/car_au...ldering1.shtml

 

Honestly, once I find the wire, I can cut, slice, solder and shrink wrap for water proofing. It's reading those darn wiring diagrams. Sometimes the diagram may say green b ut the wire you are looking for is brown because of some changes. Also, Knowing where all the equipment and sensors are would probably be a good idea.lol

 

The S/C is bolt on... no soldering/wiring work involved

 

I was referring to the S/C upgrades, piggyback, fuel mods etc.

 

All though this thread we have been chating about piggyback computers and fuel upgrades, that's what requires the soldering/wiring work.

 

I'm a brand-spanking new newb here. I just bought a 97 5VZ Taco with TRD SC already installed by a Toyota dealership. I pick it up this evening, but I don't think it has the blackboxes or the 7th....so I'm in the exact same boat....afraid of this leanout and pinging that I'm hearing about here. Trying to determine what to do.

Kevin

 

Save up for a URD kit, it'll fix all those problems and make your rig overall more reliable with the S/C.

 

Yeah, that is my delimma though. I wasn't looking to get into all that and I had assumed that since the stealership did it, they had a totally conservative setup packaged and warranted I would have expected an ECU reflash.

I have done the whole Standalone EMS, full tuning, Upgraded turbo, intercooler, injectors, water injection kit to my MR2 and the thing is a blast, but I wasn't trying to go that route with the truck. Right now, I would be OK with knowing there was some performance left on the table and that I could do the mods to unleash it....I just didn't think "Toyota" would let you walk out the door with lean/pinging, detonation prone setup that they installed. I'll either sell the truck, the SC, or do WI (or 7th injector) before I really push it to limbo-land.

This is a great site, much like the MR2 board.

Kevin

 

There is no reflashing of these ECUs. Short of going with a whole new engine management system, our only recourse is to use piggybacks. fwiw, the TRD 7th injector system is a piggyback.


Okay, then the 7th injector is the right option for you.


Umm, think otherwise. Toyota/TRD is STILL in denial about the issue, even though they released their own bandaid in the form of the 7th injector.


Well, adding WI will still put you in a spot of having to add things which will require tuning on your part. If you want a plug & play system, then that's the 7th injector.

The biggest downside of the 7th is that it won't be able to handle anything more than the stock S/C pulley - i.e., you won't be able to go to anything smaller. Past that, with the tuning out of your hands, you can't tweak for altitude, general atmosphere things, or make tighter tweaks to get the most out of the S/C.

 

As far as I know, the 7th injector costs just as much as the URD kit, and the URD kit is a much better option IMO with better overall results and bigger upgrade possibilities.

You may do what you wish.

 

Yeah - after putting the 7th on, I'm feeling the urge to go with the URD 7th upgrade. I don't think I really got my $$$ worth out it - and I can tell there is still some power and stability lurking in there!

Anyone here have any first hand info on URDs 7th upgrade? Specifically someone who popped for the timing board?

This is the path I'm leaning towards once the $$$ becomes available. I'm hoping i'll be able to bribe Midiwall into coming down to BotHELL to help out with the tuning

Of course, then comes the issue of the VB upgrade --- it just doesn't end

 

Remember, Kevin (spike) said that he didn't want to mess with stuff on the truck.


I'll meet you at the DQ at Thrasher's. (I may be closer than you think. PM me...)


Ahh, and while you're buying me a Blizzard I can remind you that this should have been the FIRST thing you did! (i.e., don't follow in my footsteps!)

 

Gadget blew his tranny too, (second gear clutch). http://www.gadgetonline.com/Transmission.htm

 

Yeup, me too... Then I replaced the tranny, and am STILL dragging my feet to get the VB work done. This is why I push so hard for folks to do this. I'm living/breathing proof that this is an issue.

 

Yeup, I want to do a VB upgrade ASAP as well, but that's another thou AFTER the URD kit's $1600 (with install), so I need to save up some. I figure I can go a little easy on the throttle until I can save it up, and the URD was more important to the truck's health IMO. Problem is too, I won't have a second vehicle, so I need to wait until my gf comes to visit or something.

But on the plus side, with the supercharger, URD, and VB upgrade, I should be good until I get the itch for long travel IFS... :pat: THEN I really will be good (until ...)

 

Yeup.. that was my excuse for two years. In fact, when people asked about the cost of the VB work, I'd always remind them to factor in the cost of a rental car for a few days, plus overnight express shipping for 13lbs to the East coast.

But now, I don't have that excuse, because... (check out this segue!) ...MY OLD TRANNY (the one I had to replace from trashing it) IS SITTING ON THE SIDE OF THE HOUSE AS A VB DONOR!

It would have been a LOT cheaper to pay for a rental car.


peh... headers, new exhaust, 370cc injectors, methanol mister, spark kicker... Dude, you have a LOT more money to spend before you can worry about suspension!

 

Okay,
I'll toss my hat into this. I spent $1100 for my TRD re-built SC i put in myself in about 4 hrs. Other than premium fuel, no additional changes to my rig. Its a stock 5 Speed. Its good enough for me. IMHO, if you want to race other cars, burn out for show or do serious off-road, or what have you, do all the other mods people are talking about spend the thousands people are talking about. If you want to haul dirt bikes through the Colorado high country, and pass people in the mountains, or just pass people in traffic, the SC is enough. Forget the rest. Again, just my humble opin. As I noted mine is a manual tranny, if I had an automatic, I'd look into at least adding a tranny oil cooler, but would think long and hard before dumping twice the value into it. In case people notice on the classifieds, I'm selling my 1996 SC 4Runner because I got a killer deal on a 2005 4Runner - Otherwise, I'd still be driving the 96.

 

I have to disagree with you. I have the same rig as you and what you said is a dangerous position to take. As I have said time and time again, I have 10 degrees of timing retard dialed in to my tuning map in places just to get rid of the audible ping; and that's with all the tuning mods (sans injectors). With the Walbro fuel pump, colder plugs, cooler thermo, and free FMU, my engine sounded like a tin can with marbles rolling around in it between 1600 and 2800 RPM under pretty much any throttle input greater than 30%.

Far greater of a concern for those running no fuel mods is the complete leanout problem at the top end. Sustained WOT will result in dramatic losses in power as the stock pump tries to keep up and properly feed the stock injectors; it simply isn't up to the task. Passing a big rig with friends and family in the car is exactly when I don't want to lose power.

And as many of us have said (time and time again) just because you don't hear pinging doesn't mean you aren't damaging the engine. Sure, catastrophic failure is rare, but it has happened. Why chance it?