bbrideau

Hey everyone,

Been kinda lurking in the shadows the last 2 years, been a member for a year made a few comments blah blah blah.

So the history.
I bought my 88 runner last fall, was told it had a fresh rebuild at a shop about a year or so prior to me buying it and it had sat that whole time after that. picked it up for about 1500 back window didn't work and it has a little bit of rust in the usual spots otherwise it was in pretty good shape.

So i drove it all winter long, the first day i had it brought it on a 800KM journey back home (sorry for the crazy canadian measurements) drove like a champ, seemed to chug on the hills but i played that off as it being the tiny little power plant under the hood. Get the truck home back to the rockies through the snowstorms and it trucked along pretty good, was about 11pm when i got home so i parked the truck.

Wake up the next morning figure i'd take it through the back acreage and see what i can do in the snow. Start it up truck overheats and steams away. I popped the hood and low and behold upper rad hose came off, stupid me i never checked the rad mix to see what it was rated for. Needless to say she was frozen solid. after 2 days of sitting under blankets and thawing out i got the truck back together and it ran fine after that. Did the sr5 gauge cluster swap (think i have a v6 cluster tho cuz my tach doesn't read properly) put a body lift in (was only 40 bucks for the performance accessory one brand new in box from a buddy)

Start truck up i have a CEL. So i jump wires to find code 52 and Code 22. Took me about 2 weeks to find a new knock sensor in a junk yard about 350km's away (wasnt paying 300 for a new one) went over wiring for temp sensor to find PO had hacked the harness and spade connected the water temp sensor in along with a lot of other hack wiring throughout, including my fuse block power wire.

So for the last year truck has run great has gotten me everywhere i needed to go and I'm sure will continue to do so.

Now here comes the bad again. 2 days before a really good friend of mine was getting married we decided to go for a little bush cruise, Come across this creek named Rock Creek, we had gone through it before in his 77 fullsize chev many times so i figured it was time for the little yota to swim. WRONG, truck made it through fine actually despite water up to headlights and it made it back through no problem. Alternator didn't enjoy it to much cuz its fried now. Parked the truck at his place for a few days while he got married and we had a drunken party etc. Drive the truck home, drive train locks up i left skid marks for 70 feet down the highway. Blew up my t case, had to limp home in 4 low. Crap....

The to do list, will be adding to it on occasion as i remember what i need to do and want to do.

1)Ignition switch - been acting up for a while now, sick of living with it
2)Alternator - They dont like swimming - DONE
3) Wheel bearings - DONE
4) Idler arm - DONE
5) pitman arm - DONE
6) Tie rods - DONE
7)Steering box - Done along with pump and reservoir
8)EGR delete - Done, was stuck open but passages were getting pretty blocked up
9)Header install - Current exhaust is trail fixed together after smashing it on a rock - Not Going this route anymore
10)Gap guards - been showing my underside for to long now since the BL - DONE
11) Fix wiring on the harness and get some new pigtails for sensors - DONE
12)Transfer case - I have 2 others to spare along with 2 w56 trannys if anyone needs - DONE
13)New t-case mount - Ideas on that one? OEM or Heavy duty replacement
14) Motor mounts - Ideas
15)Restud front pass - DONE
16)fluids all around + greasing - DONE
17) pull intake and clean it out - DONE
18) BJ and shackle lift - could change my mind on that might wanna go bigger
19) Battery/maf swap
20) Mount my bumper
21) Sound deaden interior of truck

Sorry for the long opening thread just figured some background information would be good to have. I don't have pics of the BL install but i will get some pics posted up of the truck and the little mods i have done.

Comments and criticism are more than welcome, suggestions on what to do or helpful hints would be greatly appreciated too.

So heres some pics of the truck as she sits today








V6 Rad, my 4cyl rad had 4 holes in it =[




Sorry forgot to take some with the hood closed, will do that when i get it driving under its own power again. Hard to tell with the mud but theres not to much for rust =] considering its a north-western truck where it rains snows for long periods at a time and our roads get salted/sanded lots.

bbrideau

Driveshafts disconnected. cross member out. t case removed.

Smells burnt. and there wasnt very much fluid that came out. and it was brownish black with water in it. Will post pictures as soon as i figure otu how to.

bbrideau

Hookay,

So got some shots of the "shop" ... just a shed that holds all my crap



sucks i dont have a garage, oh well play the cards your dealt i suppose

Here is the Header im installing some time in the next day or two might have to wait til next days off who knows. Hedman header, picked it up for 140$ new in the box




New 1 Gauge Ground wire, Got another one to go to starter. Gotta go pick up 2 others for my other grounds.


got a few other little things to snap pics of when i have the chance. on to the yota porn!

okay so didnt get any pics of the removal because the camera in her car while she was at work
here is underneath all empty

The oil that came out looked like chocolate milk with some black in it. and looks like water mixed in there too
And heres the bad apple

and heres the "new to me"

got the wife to clean it up a little bit so it didnt slip out of my hand while i man handled it into the truck



heres the "new" t case in the truck


Oh and i almost forgot to upload some pics of the rig, maybe i will post them in the original post so it doesn't get all confusing.

Tomorrow drive shafts go back on, might replace rear drive shaft as there is some play in the slip yoke in the center think i have a few d shafts laying around. then x member fill the t case with some royal purple and then drain trans front and rear dif of their fluids and refill with some more royal purple.

ChefYota4x4

iTrader: (5)

YEAH, that's what I'm talking about! COOL! Nice work(and you have plenty in store, I can see, lol..... BUT YOU GOT THE RIGHT ATTITUDE! I'm sure it'll be pristine when you're done!)

Love seeing T-cases and trans out and engines on stands, etc... Gives me hope in people! hahaha.

Gotta crash, but I'll read through more when I have time in the NEAR future, k?

bbrideau

Right on man thanks!
Gonna try n get the drive shafts on later and get the shifter back in and bolt everything down, but i might be going to a friends place to fix her rig. She has a 84 yota pickup flat bed with a 2l diesel in it. Been doing a lot of work on it for her. had to redo the whole braking system. ie. cutting bending flaring new brake lines rebuilding rear brake system and front calipers rotors etc. New MC and booster. it sat in the weather for 4 years not running. now it runs like a dream thanks to me haha. but she blew a u joint in the front drive shaft so im gonna swap one of my spares out for it so she can get back to wheeling.

ChefYota4x4

iTrader: (5)

WOW, a 2L Diesel SFA 84 PU????? Sighhhhhhh, ....... us 'below you'-North Americans always envy hearing how many diesels are up in the GWN and South Africa and Australia! haha.

Very nice of ya... Hope she's SUPER-Grateful lol. I hope you at least had her handing you wrenches haha.

bbrideau

she was handing me beer. only 2 or 3 tho i don't like to get even buzzed while i wrench, don't wanna forget things.

Today i swapped out her drive shaft for a newer one. put in a bigger t case mount that i had laying around. think it was off a v6 not sure either way hers had separated completely from itself.

On top of that i got my front drive shaft hooked back up got the cross member back on (had to reuse old transmission mount should hold up for a little while until i can afford to order my new one. put in a "new to me" rear drive shaft because my other one had a lot of wobble in the slip yoke. Didn't have the wife's helping hand today just the dog trying to stick his nose where it didn't belong HAH. will throw in a picture of part of the fleet as well. will have to get them all lined up for a photo shoot once i get my baby rolling again.

Here it is all buttoned up


Royal purple. 30 bucks a quart jesus.


My DD on the left (91 v6 4runner) soon to be the wifes DD when winter hits, parts truck in front of that and my baby on the right

bbrideau

It's the first one I've seen in a very long time. It's a beautiful truck, will get some pictures of it when I'm over there tomorrow

bbrideau

Hookay, so no pics today everyone knows how to change an alternator, although it did point out ho bad my steering box leak really is, i will get some pics of that tomorrow evening after work.

Also did a bunch of research, thinking i'm going to do a blazeland LT in the front and do a T100 Rear end with lift springs in the back. After reading about all the Blazeland lifts done (not just YT'ers, other communities as well) i just cant bring myself to deleted my IFS, I dont care what anyone says. SAS is nice if you never want to drive on the highway, but i do about 30 miles of highway driving a day. But i digress, pics of the little things i have gotten done over the last few days. Damn working 12-14 hour days sucks when all i wanna do is wrench

bbrideau

Nothing done on the 4runner this set of days off. Went camping since our weather is going to ˟˟˟˟ in the next few weeks i seized the opportunity to go but even that decided to screw me over too. My 2nd gen runner i use a hitch carrier for my dirt bike and i snapped a strap and it shattered the back window haha. oh well. 40 bucks at the wrecker

bbrideau

Well after grinding down the bottom of the alternator i got the new alt in truck runs and hey i can actually do burnouts on gravel now with this new t case! never could before, guess my t case was hooped since i bought the truck... didn't think it put that much drag on the truck... oh well.

But I have a new problem i noticed and its got me kind of stumped, trucks done this before but it cured itself for the longest time.
So my Temp gauge will go up when i turn on anything electrical, be it headlights the heater hit the brakes, put it in reverse. Anything causing a drain on the battery causes my temp gauge to go up, and if I'm at idle and i crank the head and headlights at the same time my truck will almost die... I know the the alternator is small and doesn't put out a lot of power but still find that kind of funny no? Not that there's a lot of people even reading my thread but hopefully someone venturing through can help me out.

snobdds

Sorry...double post.

snobdds

I like your rig, I kind of like the 88's. Keep up the good work.

As far as your problem goes…start with the basics to find the problem. It's always a good idea to get a base line on volts with your battery. Get the following.

Resting Volts at the battery - should be 12.5
What are the volts with it running - should be 14.5
Check all grounds to make sure there good and there are no rubbed wires. I know you replaced one of them, but there are 3 total.

If those check out, proceed from there. It sounds like your gauge is grounding out and making the gauge spike. So you’re going to have to check the wiring from the temp sensor on the intake (between cylinders 2 & 3) back to the ecu. Toyota mostly uses a switched ground switch on its sensors, so somewhere something is making contact to ground.

Keep us posted and good luck.

ChefYota4x4

iTrader: (5)

Interesting, Snobdds, hmmmmmmmmm

I have always had a 'MIND OF IT'S OWN' Temp Gauge.... DONT LIKE THAT! lol... I swapped in another from another SR5 gauge cluster I found at the yards.... Seemed to work ok, but now, instead of just falling off the map at times... it seems to ALWAYS be at 1/4~! lol... I can see it head up from the bottom some times... BUT, others, it seems already to be there and then climbs the rest of the way to 1/3 as it warms up... That CONCERNS me only cuz I can't know it's not getting hotter and just not telling me hhahhaha.

I'ma look a lil deeper into the wiring.

bbrideau

Yea gonna look it over tonight it was dark when I finished the install of the alt. And of course my 2nd gen ˟˟˟˟ the bed this morning. Either charge fuse or the alt went. Not happy, seems everytime something goes good something else goes bad lol.

bbrideau

Thanks for the info, I'm hoping its something stupid. I know my t stat was leaking for a few months. Wonder if the temp sensor got a lil screwy from that. Guess I won't know until after work. Hopefully I don't have a long day.

bbrideau

Alright! Got my gauges in from lordco. Volt meter oil pressure and water temp. My brand new oil pressure sensor (oem) crapped out after 4 months that was 42 bucks. So the gauges paid for themselves already they were only 53 bucks. Just need to buy that pillar pod from lce before I instal them

bbrideau

So i think my battery is pooched. truck sat for a few days battery reads 12 volts on the dot. go to crank nothing battery drops to 7 volts then back up to 10. gonna pick up a new battery and see how it goes from there.

ChefYota4x4

iTrader: (5)

What kinda battery? If you're going for a lil 'cheaper' end but not junk, I've had GREAT luck with Duralast Gold... Only had 2 in 12 years.... This one is 6yrs. old and NOT A SINGLE problem. Left my dome on the other night ALL NIGHT, AND the key on, "Pioneer" flashing by on the ready, not on though... Not a TINY bit of hesitation.. 'VROOM', first click. 90$. Probably a coupon around for Autozone too, maybe? If you're going higher end... curious what you choose.

bbrideau

Might go duralast depending how much cash flow i have at the time. I really want an optima yellow top deep cycle tho. They're great for stereos and lights... all the extra goodies i have or wil have in my truck would do good from a optima.