TYetti's 2.7L Rebuild/FULL SEND/EAF build

The teardown has begun.

Day 1
I got a late start. For having blown rings and sitting for 3 months she fired up first crank. Gotta love that even when they go bad Toyota's still fire up. Anyways the cold finally reached the west coast with a daytime high of -8 I'm really glad there's heat in the shop now. Keeping it a cozy 15 degrees. This whole thing is a test of patience. So first things first I took the hood off, then it was time to get the drive shafts off. Once completed I took the exhaust off since I wont be using it again. As part of the disassembly I jumped in the cab and took apart the console so the shifter could be separated from the cab. This meant the OEM unit was removed and the new core/Hurst unit was installed. Then it was onto the bellhousing bolts. I started on the passenger side and worked my way around the two top bolts required some creativity. I ended up losing patience and calling it a day on those. Before that though I pulled the starter and the slave cylinder. I pulled the cylinder without removing the hard lines. This way no bleeding and I tucked it out of the way.



Super shit photo but it appears my power steering pump is leaking



Day 2

What I really needed was a 5 ft 17mm wrench. Instead 80 extensions made it work. The drivers side I used a combination of breaker bar and wrench it really was a bitch. Originally I wanted to drop the trans/transfer case with the x member attached. Turns out it's super bent and it was never going to happen so I removed the xmember while bracing the trans then slid a cart under with a motorcycle jack and jacked the trans I used a ratchet strap to secure it and a 6x6 on the cart. Turns out the was seized on the dowels so it took some doing to get it off.. also a lot of the little clips to get the wire harness free took forever I'm trying really hard not to break them. After that I disconnected the wire harness from the back of the block and decided I needed some food and a beer.

 

So I took the clutch off and disconnected all the wires from the back of the engine. Clutch wasn't actually in that bad of shape. Even though it was slipping when I was backing into the garage. Calling this a day smashed my head against the trans xmember

 

Good to see you making progress. Looks like an awesome work space you have there! A lift is worth its weight in gold!

 

A heated shop is a godsend when it's -8c outside lol... But ya this would be a massive pain in the dick if I were doing it on the gronnd. This way I just roll around on my little stool and pick away at it

 

Day 3

Had a buddy come by for the day which made things easier. Took a very slow and methodical method to taking apart the wire harness and getting the engine out. I just need to remove some brackets and pick up my flywheel bolts before sending it all over to the machine shop

 

Called it a day on day 3 it's dropped to -12 c and I'm hungry. Currently soaking the exhaust manifold bolts in tri flow. Machine shop said leave the flywheel on and they'll turn it for me so one less thing to do. I'm back to work tomorrow so I'll probably have to wait until Tues to get the engine over there

 

Looks like a lot of work!
Kudos man!
Not something I’d take on.

 

This actually has been one of the easiest disassembly jobs I've ever done. Some things took time because I was trying hard not to break shit. Overall nothing was really seized up that a hammer wack couldn't fix.

 

I’d had thought stuff would have been stuck like chuck!
Sucks it had to be done but it’ll be better than before!

 

The transmission got stuck on the dowels and some of the electronic connections weren't fun to get apart, but it's very had vehicle's where everything you touched was a battle

 

Quick after work session, snowing outside and -8 but 15 and comfy in the shop. Got the exhaust manifold off and the flywheel. Found a slight weeping on the rear main seal. This is insignificant as if I'd been loosing liter upon liters of oil this way the whole bottom of the truck would be covered. The pic doesn't show very well but the exhaust side valves are nasty as fuck. I know they're supoosup to be covered in carbon but this has thick goup all over them and the chamber's, to me this confirms where my oil was escaping.

 

I’m still curious if mines doing this also.
Still cold here but I’m close to an oil change so I’ll see how much oil it gives up then.
You think your oil rings were just weak or sticking?
Were all the exhaust valves sludged.
Have you looked at the pistons?

Looking forward to more pics!

 

My understanding is they stick at first and Eventually fail. I stuck a scope down the spark plug tube and it's just as nasty in there as the exhaust valves. The valves are still caked in a crusty mess. I understand there should be carbon on the exhaust side but I would call this excessive. Like I said mine was gradual. Less than half a liter between oil changes to 1L every tank of fuel. The engine was 2L down when I pulled it.

 

Had a buddy come by and we dropped the engine off at the machine shop. They'll send me some carnage pics once they get into it. I had to phone and make sure they were still open it's been snowing for almost 2days straight. Lots of places have shut down. I don't know why it's under 2ft



Barring any delays I should have the engine back in 10 business days not including today

 

Today was a test in patience. The dual pillar pod I ordered from LC Engineering which is advertised as direct bolt on for 05-09 Tacoma/4runner odd combo but ok. Well boys and girls I can tell you it is absolutely not bolt on not even close to direct bolt on. It requires not serious but enough time consuming modification for me to contact LCE and also write a couple negative reviews including this one, another on BCTOYOTA4WD, my own instagram when I have a moment and their website. The reason behind the reviews is the handling of my issue. I understand that mass produced aftermarket interior panels may not fit correctly and that's fine. When someone comes to you with a legitimate issue with a product don't just tell them to bend it and it'll fit. Ok that's enough ranting. Basically you'll have to Dremel or file the area for the grab handle. Also I suggest adding foam to the backside of the lower panel area where it meets the dash as there's quite the gap there as well. You'll also have to hone the gauge holes a bit. Actually that I'm not upset about I'd rather have tight gauge holes than loose. Anyways just be aware that this piece is not direct bolt on and you'll need to modify it. But for 65$ it's not bad





You can see in the last pic how much I've taken out of the circle hole section. To get the grab handle to fit. Unrelated the shop furnace froze up so there's no heat in there so I moved into the house, too dam cold!!! Lol making up some wire harnesses for the sensors and the gauges, this will require me to tap into the dimmer/cluster harness and yet another battery connection. I don't want electronic interference messing with the gauges. I really need an aux fuse panel

 

Turned out ok

 

Small update

I got a call from LC Engineering yesterday, they were asking about the pillar pod. I told them what I thought and my frustrations and they called up the company that makes them on their behalf. Turns out they're all hand made, and they intentionally make them a little smaller at the grab and handle and the ID of the pods themselves. Better to be safe than have big gaps. So sounds like LCE will make an amendment on their product description to avoid this type of issue in the future. It wasn't a big deal but for me it was just one more thing I had to do on top of my huge list of things

 

Nothing to report, I'm at the boring stage just waiting and waiting and waiting for the machine shop to call. I slept in this morning and didn't catch my landlord in time to remind him to leave the alarm in the shop off I was gonna finish wiring harnesses for the gauges and install my arp wheel studs but I suppose that's gonna have to wait till tomorrow or later tonight as long as the furnace in the shop in unfrozen. Oh ya the furnace in the shop froze which hasn't helped my motivation level

 

I should be doing my English homework right now but this makes me wish i had some trails near me! Edit: i just skipped from page one to forty-one and holy chap dude, the progress is crazy! Hoping my stock Taco can look this cool in a few years!

 

you're missing the meat of the build... honestly go back to the early adventures. I actually miss those days I was out in the truck way more often. my work schedule has a lot to do with that now I have a shit shift. I was you 4 years ago drooling over all these crazy trucks, some of it was good timing getting some deals. Most of it has to do with my fiancé and here amazing abilities to organize finances.