LS Swapping a Tacoma - Chasing 100mph

2GR - AKA 3rd gen tacoma motor

This LS Swap is exponentially cooler!

 

Yeah but from what I understand no one's using the one that comes out of the 3rd gen Tacoma because it's got the direct injection system on it and oiling issues

 

Would it be anything other than direct injected? Carbs been out of cars for a long time haha

 

I didn't mean it wasn't fuel injected, it is fuel injected but it has two fuel injection systems fitted to it on the 3rd gen tacoma. It has indirect injection (fuel injector sprays into an intake port) and direct injection (high pressure, 2500psi or so, fuel injector fitted into the head sprays directly into the combustion chamber) and it uses the two together to provide the fueling strategies for different situations. Whereas the 2GR in the Camry and Sienna just use port injection.

 

Ah okay interesting. I’m going to look that up because I’ve never heard of it before. I wonder what the differences in performance are between the two. Thank you for clarifying btw haha

 

I think Toyota's proprietary name for it is D4S, but plenty of other manufactuers are using direct injection and port injection together for their engines, and a good many are using exclusively one or the other still too. Lots of magical power making things you can do with direct injection with regards to mitigating knock while keeping timing advance super high. But it's more complex with needing a high pressure fuel pump and sealing directly into the combustion chamber.

 

Way more support on the aftermarket with a lot more headroom for power l.

The direct injection can be more fuel efficient from my understanding, but prone to carbon build up on the valves. The port injection essentially washes the valves with fuel to prevent the build up so running both is advantageous.

 

Build update: I haven't ripped the guts out of the truck yet, still want to nail down the transmission situation before I am down without a truck. Currently leaning towards a Tremec TKX 5spd trans that can handle 600ft/lbs. I am waiting for a response from summit on some questions I had before I commit.

 

Had to take a bit of a detour. Noisy valvetrain. Had a lifter stick a few weeks ago so the daily is going down to get a cam and lifters replaced. I guess it's a good thing I hadn't pulled the 5vz out yet ...

 

bummer. Bet those parts are spendy.

 

Yes and no. The cams aren't much different in price than that for the LS. $700 vs $500. But there are 4 of them. The lifters are spendy. The kit from FCP euro is $700 vs the LS parts being only $150. There is a kit that replaces both exhaust and intake cams and lifters that runs $2k which is probably what I'll do just to do it "all" at once. Then I'll just wait until the other side makes noise and it'll be another $2k... At least I'll save a lot by doing it myself. It can get expensive quick as each cam have adjusters (the big gears at the front) that are known to wear out with time and those are $700 a piece and again, there are 4 of them. Mine seem fine for now at least. These are known to be parts that last about 100k so I am right there.

The other piece is I noticed a bit of a misfire at idle on Friday which could be a lot of things. I'll do this and see if it fixes it. Otherwise I suspect the intake will need to come off for inspection as they are also known to corrode with time due to being made out of magnesium. One thing at a time though. This thing isn't cheap enough to just load the parts cannon at it.

Still, worth it for the comfort and power that the car provides.

 

do the lifters not need sized correctly per lobe? On my supra they were .001ths' acurate so it it was very important to place the right rocker cap back as they were all different.

 

I'm not familiar with the 7M engine. I'm still doing a bit of reading to make sure I've got everything figured out, but on my LS I just popped them into the trays and dropped them in. On the M156 they are a flat tappet style, not sure yet if there nuances but I have a bit of time before parts show up. Still trying to track down the torque specs I need.

 

If the Merc has hydraulic lash adjusters you've got nothing to worry about, if it has tappet adjustments or shims then you've got much more work ahead of you.

 

ah yes that is the difference. Couldn't remember wtf that shit was called.

 

Luckily you pop out the tappets with a magnet and drop the new ones in place, then reinstall the camshaft. It all seems straight forward other than ensuring the timing is set correct.

 

So very frustrating night attempting to work on the AMG. I cannot for the life of me get the timing tools to fit properly. Set to 40* on the crank at it should all line up but no. After much cursing, some new wounds to my hands, I walked away. Figured as long as the timing is set on the crank I can lock the cam, lock the cam adjusters and adjust the timing when I reassemble. Only to find I can't lock the adjusters as the two holes I need to lock with a pin, are not aligned. So the dingleberry that I stalled the new headbolts left the spark plugs finger tight AND the cams out of phase, so the engines been out of timing all along. Just more work for me to now have to reassembly the adjusters to fix it.

 

Well i fucked this up. I got home with a new attitude and was going to turn the motor 360, reset the crank timing and just pull the cams and fix the timing. Well i worked too fast and managed to pull a big rookie mistake. Forgot to double check that i had removed the timing locks resulting in the timing chain jumping a tooth or two.... such a bonehead move.

After calling a few buddies for opinions, i reset the crank to 40* and proceeded to pull the cams. i believe that i can still correct the timing on the cam end of things so not a big deal. Luckily, the lifters looks great. I also noticed that the cams do not appear to be original and after wiping the oil off, are actually in much better shape than originally thought. the cam adjusters have a pin that wears out and the one i took apart still looks great. So the only job to do is fix the gear lash that was setup incorrectly and then set the timing and put it back together. Hopefully that fixes the noise and the car will be right as rain again and not cost me too much. I still feel dumb but shit happens when your learning. I will double check valve clearance by turning the motor over by hand and hope that i got away with a mild learning opportunity.

 

As an update, the AMG threw a few more curve balls at me along the way, I took my time and put it all back together and it's running perfectly. No more noise and the timing is spot on.

I then went to summit to order my transmission and parts, but my AC in my house died, so again put on hold with this project for a bit. As the temps cool off I think I'll have more motivation to start pulling apart the Tacoma and get this back on track.