Betterbuckleup's 2000 taco build & BS

I actually haven't gotten around to checking my valve clearances yet. I have the valve cover gasket and feeler gauge, I just need to find some time where I can be without my truck for a few days at most so that I can get any shims I might need if any of the valves need to be adjusted. If I do need to pull out the shims, I will probably just remove the exhaust camshaft.

That sound could also be largely due to a slight exhaust leak. After replacing a few studs that came out of the collector down tube of my exhaust manifold, I discovered that one would not thread in because there was a large crack that vastly enlarged the threaded hole. As a temporary fix, I just used a bolt through the hole and double nutted the other side.
It actually completely eliminated the "ticking" sound that my 3rz has made ever since I did the cylinder head (which I had always assumed was normal for these engines).
After driving around some, the "ticking" came back confirming my suspicions of where the noise has been coming from all these years.
In researching replacement header options and ways to replace my shitty cast exhaust manifold, I decided the best route would to replace it with the "mini-header" that came on 2000 CA emissions Tacomas. (the factory cast exhaust manifolds on the 3rz motors have been known to crack and develop exhaust leaks)
After finding nothing online, I called around to various scrap yards and found one that claims to have what I am looking for. Im going to hopefully pick it up sometime tomorrow. Then I will ceramic coat it and bolt it on with all new gaskets and studs in the cylinder head (some are missing where I have used bolts).

On the other hand, your engine could be making a very similar sound due to the valve clearancing as well. Depending on how many miles you have put on it since you did work on the cylinder head, I think it would definitely be worth poping off the covers and probing around with a feeler gauge to see if your valves are within spec.

 

So I picked up a "mini-header" to replace my leaky, most-likely cracked, cast exhaust manifold.
I got it from a really sketchy Salvage Auto re-seller in Berkley for a decent price (a hell of a lot better than the quoted $300 from the dealership new).

I am planning on blasting it and putting a ceramic coat on both the heat shield and headers.
Although I just discovered that one of holes for the studs on the collector side had been drilled out off center. Most likely because someone broke the stud off and couldn't get it out.
So now in order to get it to bolt up to my down-tube before the catalytic convertor, I will most likely have to drill out the corresponding bolt hole to a much larger size to get it to line up and bolt together.

Or maybe try and drill it out as close to the original position as possible and then weld a nut on the back side to thread into?

Does anyone else have any ideas on an alternative approach or solution that may be better? I was hoping it was gonna be a nice and easy bolt up after I got it pained, but now its a bit more involved...

 

Why not just use a nut and a bolt? Not like any of them are terribly hard to get to

 

I might try that as well. That didn't work out so well on my stock manifold though since the back side of the flange on the manifold side is contoured rather than a flat surface.

 

Popped off my valve cover and checked the clearances of all my valves (after rotating to TDC and appropriate timing positions).
The good news is that everything is really clean from regular oil changes, although my valve clearances aren't looking good....

I measured with a feeler gauge and found a majority of my valves to be tighter than the FSM specs. (the intake side is pretty bad, see my pictures)
Fortunately I have a commuter for the time being so that I can garage my truck and work on getting this resolved and finishing the exhaust.

Since so many of them are out of spec, I think I will just be pulling the camshafts for easier access to the shims.
I thought that the valves of these engines wore loose rather than tight. In hindsight, I really should have checked the clearances when I installed the replacement cylinder head.

 

Holy shit! Just went through your whole thread front to back, looks like you made some big improvements on the truck since you first got it! I wish I had the money to do all the stuff you’ve done, I need a lift on mine! Too much snow here!

 

Looking good! I've been doing a lot if the same projects you've been tackling.

I'm in the process of swapping in a mini header too - also with a stripped out stud. I'm planning on a helicoil.

I am going with the Eastwood header coating. I priced ceramic coatings and was a little shocked!

 

You'll notice a difference in the power and responsiveness in your motor with those valve adjustments. It's essentially restoring lost HP.

 

Thanks man! I've learned a ton in the process. When I lived in Montana, it was definitely a struggle to motivate myself to work on anything. Even with a garage haha.

Right on! I thought about a helicoil, but I decided against it since it is on the exhaust and was afraid that it might pull out or lose it's hold with the constant heat cycling. I got an attachment for my dremel to bore out the hole on the mating flange so that I can get the holes to line up.

Fortunately I used to work at a powder coating/ceramic shop so I was able to do it for cheap. If I didn't have access to that, I would have just paid someone to lightly sandblast it and then get a can of ceramic aerosol and coat it myself. Other people have done the same with the mini headers and have had good success and longevity (as long as you have fender liners and aren't going mudding all the time).

I am looking forward to feeling the difference after the adjustment! With that in combination of the new exhaust manifold, it'll almost be like I swapped in a new motor!

 

Yeah, its definitely hard to get stuff done while your living here. I struggle to motivate myself to do most things, and when the weather is good outside and i feel motivated to work on my frame or cleaning my engine bay, etc, next thing i know it turns from being 50 degress outside to either snowing or dropping to below freezing. Even when i pull it into my garage to wash it or something, i only have a little portable space heater for my whole garage, haha.

 

Got my mini header installed last night after picking up the remaining cylinder head studs and nuts I needed to get it mounted up. Turns out that I didn't need to bore out that hole in order to bolt the manifold up to the downpipe. I just used a through bolt with some washers and it seems to be holding good so far!

Earlier this week I also finished doing my valve clearances. The intake was for the most part still in spec, but the exhaust valves were out of tolerance by around 0.005 so I ended up changing pretty much all of them. Costed about $110 or so in shims from the dealership.

I also fixed the split gear on the timing gear of the exhaust camshaft since the spring was not being engaged. I never used the service bolt hole when I initially replaced the head, hence the "mini-diesel" sound that a lot of people report for this exact reason. My valvetrain is a lot more quiet now.

Although in the process of reassembly, I broke one of my spark plug wires so I ordered a new set of NGK wires from Amazon for like $37.

All in all, I am really happy with the turnout and how my engine runs now. It sounds a lot healthier and runs a lot quieter since my exhaust comes out of my tailpipe instead of my exhaust manifold like it should haha.
So far the P0420 code has not come back up so I am gonna try and get it smogged later today.

Also, I found a tear in the intake boot connecting the metal tube to the throttle body inlet so I replaced it with an aftermarket one from Orielly's. I didn't realize it was pink until I got it home and ripped it open....Oh well. I think it adds a bit of character haha.

 

NIce! That's some impressive work. Good to hear you noticed a difference with all of those changes. Truck probably runs like new now

 

Thanks! Yeah i'm stoked with the turnout. All that's left to do is clean my IACV, install the 180F thermostat, replace my drivers LCA & install my poly control arm bushings on both sides. Oh and do my LBJ's too. The list never ends....
At least until I get bored again and find something else to change or upgrade.... Been thinking about doing a turbo setup similar to yours. Sounds like a lot of fun. not to mention a lot less work than a 5vz swap which i've also been contemplating. Although the biggest issue is keeping it california legal with smog and all that.

 

I know what you mean. Having a laundry list of mods/repairs sucks after a while. THen you get caught up and you look for more things to mod/fix LOL.

Yeah that turbo set up ran really well. WIth the exception of the oil drain line the actual install and set up of it was pretty easy too. Much easier than a 5vz swap and alot more power than one as well. What took long was that I chose to fab all the IC and exhaust stuff.

 

Yea it's always something with these trucks. Especially when you have the forums to influence your decisions
The LCE low boost SC kit is also very appealing for the easy bolt-on nature of it and not having to deal with my exhaust manifold again.

@Speedytech7 explains it very well here:

 

The s/c will definitely add some power for sure. The single cab truck I had had a s/c on it and I could definitely tell a difference when I removed it. But compared to the turbo truck, it didn't compare. On a 3RZ, I would go turbo hands down any day. The install is definitely more involved, but the benefit, IMO, is totally worth it.
Plus the ECU's on these truck really have a hard time adjusting to the early boost of the s/c. With the lag of turbo spool, it makes the stock ECU run much better with it. I had zero pinging with my turbo set up on pink top injectors and a walboro 190 at 8psi. The same fuel mods on the s/c truck at only 5.5 psi and I was pinging like eff all the time.

 

Hm, you bring up some good points. If I am going to spend the money, I definitely wanna get the most I can out of it. It helps to have someone who already did all of the research and went through the process themselves too haha
I appreciate all your feedback! I may be consulting you at a later point in time if/when I pull the trigger.
It sounds like the way to go would be sourcing all of the parts myself rather than getting one of the kits that some companies offer for turbo setups like LCE.
If I can figure out a way to get away with a turbo setup while retaining the stupid emissions stuff or doing something to deal with smog, that'll pretty much make my decision for me.

 

LMK if you have any questions about either. It definitely is cheaper to source parts yourself and piece it all together. You just have to know more of what you're doing to do that. The set up I built cost about the same as the LCE turbo kit but was intercooled as well and I also swapped injectors and added the fuel pump. WHen I did mine, I deleted the EGR system and used a reisistor to trick the ECU so I did not throw any codes. How they smog your vehicles where you live will determine how easy it is to get yours to pass emissions.

 

Definitely. If I were to do it, I would most likely go the same route as yours with the fuel system just for peace of mind and "future-proofing" for anything more down the line.
I'll do some more research on emissions to determine any possible workarounds. It really comes down to if the test center uses a tailpipe sniffer or not. The last one I went to did not.

 

I just noticed you're in CA. I've heard a lot of things about emissions there being pretty wild