What have you done to your Tacoma today? 1st Gen Edition

thanks for that info! This thing looks really cool! Similar to an Arduino, but specific for EFIE control, pretty sweet, gonna look more into it…

as for what an HHO system does for any engine… As far as I’m aware, the purported benefits include increase in horsepower, increase in fuel economy as well as a cleaner engine ei a more complete burn during cylinder combustion cycle. The more HHO you burn the more water you get in your exhaust. These are the supposed benefits, however, getting all of them to work well at once is not a walk in the park, there’s a lot of tuning involved. So far with my 3RZ I have achieved an impressive horsepower increase, and I do feel like my engine is running better in general, however, I have not yet been able to increase the fuel economy by very much. I’m not sure if it’s better or worse at the moment. This will involve installing the AFR gauge so that I can monitor it as I richer out my O2 signal to the computer, allowing for a more lean mixture overall. Obviously, I don’t want to burn my valves…
At this point, I feel, I still have some headroom to adjust my analog EFIE and lean out my AFR even more. However, some feedback on this specific truck says that it’s hard to gain fuel economy, perhaps due to the way the ECU is programmed. Therefore, I thought I may end up running some sort of OBD two chip. That was at least up until I saw your post about the mega squirt unit which I am excited to explore. Thanks!

 

Replaced my fan pulley bracket, cam shaft sensor, and thermostat. Fan pulley bearing was making a bit of noise and I have read those tend to fail pretty dramatically and my radiator is too new to risk. Replaced cam sensor and thermostat just as preventive maintenance. Timing belt still looked like new. PO replaced it at 120,000 and I am sitting at 263,000. I know the recommended interval.

Lagrange seemed to have the best deal.

 

Finished up. Install Saturday hopefully. I’ll take some sort of paint stripper to get the last little bits of paint on the emblem that the sand block couldn’t get.

 

Nice! Want to do another? lol

 

I do have leftover paint lol. I’m almost thinking about doing the same to the plenums that are on my truck now. Maybe keep the ones I did a better job with and sell the other set.

 

I imagine there would definitely be some interest. should check the local salvage yard. ya never know.

 

Paper's Please!!
Looks like a nice option. Getting the registration out of the visor holder sucks.

Started putting my truck back together.

 

I changed out the crappy rubber front eye bolt bushings in my dakars. They were already shredded and the vulcanized rubber was delaminating after only 3 years. What a pain in the ass of a job. Thought it would maybe take me a few hours, the bushings ended up fighting me for a day and a half. It does feel as though it has less axle wrap now though and seems like it can't move as much side to side with the poly bushings.



I also added a carrier bearing drop from trail gear to hopefully reduce some driveline vibes I've been having.



And I ordered the wrong ARP bolts to swap out for the LBJs, I got the 30mm bolts, but read from @SpikerEng that they don't have enough engagement if you're using the washers, so time to order the correct 35mm ones this time: 673-1004

 

It took about 300+ miles of driving but my ECM apparently finally got itself situated and my idle RPMs are back down to a healthy 700. Before they were at 1700-2000 and bouncing on deceleration. This is after a cat and EGR delete, adding long tube headers, CAI, and heavy flywheel and getting my injectors serviced.

 

Also ordered a new ac compressor clutch and idler pulley from Toyota bc mine is screaming bloody murder

 

that's weird as hell. pretty sure it shouldn't take 300 miles for idle issues like that to become "learned" from the ECU.

 

The 35 mm bolts would be my first choice too, they have better engagement than the 30 mm bolts. Just be sure to use the ARP washers supplied with the bolts.

 

Sometimes draining the capacitors by grounding the positive terminal (battery disconnected obviously), can lead to quicker learning cycles. However, I’m applying information I learned while working on a Mazda 3 throttle body. I have since used the method on my tacoma while fiddling with sensor replacement, but not sure of it’s efficacy.

 

And just to clarify your tests were done without the dust boot? I'm not running one so wanted to be sure. Thanks!

 

A few months ago I spilled gas on my rear fender flare and it destroyed the paint. In addition the rubber trim between the flare and the body was rotten and falling apart from age, so I decided it was time to freshen up all four fender flares as part of my 25-year classic plate refresh.

The flares came off easily, just 5 or 6 screws holding them on. I washed them down with detergent and wet sanded some rough spots with 400-grit and cleaned them up the best I could.

Hit them with some expensive auto store spray paint. This stuff worked really well in light coats and dried really fast. The finish is exactly like the original. My painting skills aren't great but it looks great to me.


The OEM gaskets are peel-and-stick, very easy to apply. I hit them with the heat gun for a few seconds on medium heat to soften the adhesive and hopefully get a stronger bond.

Bolted the flares back up and they're good as new! (Still need to fix that saggy valance)

 

This is on my to do list. What kind of paint and prep did you do for this? Did you sand any of the surface rust or just encapsulate?

 

What's the part number on the OEM gaskets for the fender flares?

 

Y'all know what model this computer came in?


Looks a lil funny


Well if it fits it rips!

 

I have been looking for the same part. This is the closest I could find. I’m not sure why it’s only specific to the rear.

75696-35020

 

1998-2000 Tacoma fender flare pad part numbers:

Front: 53851-35061
Right Rear: 61783-35071
Left Rear: 61783-35091 (has gas door shape)

Sorry to say, but they're expensive. List is $28 each, I paid about $22 each.