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

Replacement only part.

Or totally gut it.

But im guess you have to meet emissions

 

I do have to meet emissions.

No way to test it I assume?

I'll just keep running Ol Red as is if it's the cat. No harm otherwise, correct?

 

no not really. It can screw up the o2 sessors a bit but that takes a long ass time.

 

Wheeled it.

 

Wheeling in Tahuya WA

 

Man those are sharp. Those just got added to the "list".

 

4WD PRERUNNER SWAP DAY 8294
What year is it?


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So I've been slowly working on this swap since last year - no pun intended. I've lost track of time at this point, I have mostly everything done. The knuckles, differential, transmission, shifter, and 50% of the fluids are in. Only thing keeping me from driving this damn thing is not filling the transmission fluid to spec - the A340F I bought did not come with the upper dipstick assembly, so the tube and dipstick from my A340E provide an inaccurate reading. Ordered a new one for the A340F from gunny1005, should be here in a couple days. After all that I also have the wrong front portion of the rear driveshaft - so I can't really use 4WD until I get my PreRunner one shortened, or I find the correct one with the right length and flange. I'll probably be the only "4WD" FWD PreRunner Tacoma in the world for a couple days.

Almost got my cool 4WD dashlights working. Unfortunately the way the transfer case position sensors work is that when it reaches a certain mode (like 4LO) it will keep all the previous sensors activated thus making my indicator lights inaccurate. If I'm in 4HI - the 4LO and N indicator lights would be on so somehow I have to figure out some kind of logic with relays and diodes or something to prevent this. The ABS light blank I'm using for 4LO utilized some kind of internal circuitry in the flexible circuit board of the instrument cluster, so I bypassed it by soldering a wire from the connector solder joint and the other end to the bulb end of the solder joint effectively bypassing the ABS circuitry.





My spaghetti of a 4WD position sensor wiring harness, I kept it nice and tidy with Molex connectors. I can plug the original A/T P and A/T Temp indicator wires I cut to use for the 4WD lights if I ever need to make it stock again. My cluster never came with A/T bulbs from the factory so I presume the A/T system was never hooked up on this truck. I tried to make the original stock 4WD indicator next to the CEL light turn on with 4HI/LO, but I got my logic wrong with the wiring and used unneccesary diodes so it doesn't work as of yet. Interesting because I have a PreRunner and that 4WD light was wired and hooked up, just no bulb socket.



Yeah most of you guys would say "Just look at the 4WD knob to tell what position you're in!" To that I say I just like being extra - thought it would be pretty damn cool to have the cluster tell you what mode of 4WD you're in. Also a unique feature of this truck as I don't think any 1st gens in the world have this feature. I mean I don't have a RR DIFF LOCK or ABS so might as well make good use of the sockets.

 

If you plan on keeping it i would consider it but paint is expensive now days so if you don’t plan to keep it i don’t think i would. Maybe you could buff it and make it look a little better

 

Those look nice! Hard to find good seat covers that fit and look that good.

 

Noticed I was leaking some oil and I checked the dip stick and nothing was registering, added some oil to it so I could get to school but I will be taking a look at it tonight. Anyone have any ideas where to look first? I know the valve covers are pretty common on these trucks and maybe even the oil pan. I heard the valve covers aren't difficult just time consuming but I have heard the oil pan is kinda a PITA.

 

Could check the filter or drain plug

 

Good call. Just did an oil change so that's a good place to start. I didn't have a new crush washer so that is a good possibility.

 

I never replaced mine lol but I do the it feels tight then smack the wrench for good measure. I'll probably replace it next oil change

 

I normally don't but this one is getting old lol. Guess I will find out later today, hoping for the best since I don't really have the time to do it and I really can't afford to pay a shop to do it.

 

Get this! It’s awesome.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003UT822G

 

Being in the Construction Management field has taught me not to trust valves. They are great until they go bad and they will go bad.

 

These may last forever but I feel the same way. If that was on my truck I would never be comfortable, I would be checking it constantly.

 

Same I like having a plug

 

How long ago did you do the oil change? If it hasn't been long, I highly doubt anything on the upper engine (valve cover etc) would cause enough oil loss that you aren't registering on the dip stick.

The filter is kind of a pain in the ass to get to on our trucks. You may have felt like it was tight when it actually wasn't. I had a oil change shop leave my filter loose one time. Fortunately I check my oil pretty regularly. There wasn't a whole lot of oil that showed up on the ground, a lot of it got caught by the skid plate. I'll bet the filter is your problem.

 

It was just around 300 miles ago. It very well could be the oil filter or plug since I did it while up on a lift and I hadn't that with this truck before, seems dumb but being unfamiliar with the space I'm working in annoys me and I tend to screw things up then lol.