Betterbuckleup's 2000 taco build & BS

I really do not like the idea of impacting gearbox with 1050 ft lbs. torque. I think that can mess up the gearbox bad. I'd rather support the flange from spinning with pipe wrench or something.

 

I agree. I thought about that, but didn't really have many options. When I tried to wrench on it with a breaker bar, it ended up just spinning the flange even when in 4-low. Everything I have read online said to use an impact to remove the nut. I assume this is how Toyota would most likely do it as well.

 

Forgot to post some pics from my Thanksgiving wheeling/biking/camping trip with some friends that started in Virgin, Utah and ended in Sedona, Arizona. The weather was perfect outside of getting rained on for a couple of hours one day.
I definitely recommend checking it out if you get the chance. Pretty sweet terrain!


Schnebly Hill Rd.

Posted up at Broken Arrow Trail. We saved the best for last and boy i'm glad we did. One of my all time favorite trails thus far. Got to wheel with a pretty badass Hummer H1 too. He was rolling on some methods wrapped in a Toyo M/T. He also had an onboard air setup where he could air up and down on the fly without having to mess around with valve stems or gauges. Pretty jealous of that.
I was really impressed with how well my buddies 2018 Tacoma did on these trails. He ended up going down the Devil's Staircase without scraping ONCE. I was seriously blown away. Toyota really did a killer job making a really capable truck.
In case you aren't familiar with what Devil's Staircase is, here is a video for reference. I didn't really get much footage of it since I was helping both of my buddies get their rigs down damage-free.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNwmJRHKx8s

Here is a small GIF I made from some iPhone burst shots of the descent.


Wish my truck was cleaner that it was for the pictures, but it is what it is.

Fun little descent that looked a lot more intimidating than it really was.
Flexed out just before the exiting the trail

OME suspension doing its job

 

Here is how FSM shows it:



SST used is simple long flat bar with one hole for the flange bolt on. The bolt is torqued to 87 ft lb so there is no way it wold stand 2ft long breaker bar and 2 ft and 2 ft long flat bar (for SST).

Really the only way you should use tires as a leverage is when removing wheel lugs. Impact wrench is great tool for breaking rusted nuts and bolts, but I'd avoid using it for reusable parts. And I hate when oil change guys use impact guns when removing skid plates - they f-ked my bolts this way.

 

I was surprised that I couldn't get the nut off with my big ass breaker bar. Once I got it removed, I noticed that there was some sort of sealant of glue behind the nut that was most likely contributing to why I couldn't remove it. I really shouldn't have needed that much force to break it free based on what the torque specs. I doubt it came from the factory with that there, so some dummy must have done that at some point down the line before my ownership. At least now I have the peace of mind knowing that it will come off how it should if I ever need to service it again.

Do you know if it is possible to get some of the SST's that are mentioned in the FSM from a Toyota dealer? I have never needed one so far, but I have always wondered how someone would go about getting a hold of one if you did.

 

I hear you, when buying used car you never know how much the PO dicked around it.

Most of SST are simple or popular tools with fancy names. But google says you can but them for example from toyota.service-solutions.com. Just checking that t-case tool



But I'd still go to home depot and for the half price buy that:

 

Haha yea for something like that, it would definitely be more cost effective to use a piece of flat bar like you listed. Some of the tools, like for rebuilding the inside of the transfer case, would perhaps be something specifically sized that I would definitely want on hand if doing the job myself.
Thanks for listing that resource, I was not aware of that.

 

Did you check your valve clearance after the new head install?

 

Unfortunately I did not when I had it apart at the time because I didn't know as much as I do now about Tacoma engines. This is something I have been planning on doing for some time now, although I haven't gotten around to it due to weather and school. Since I installed the new head, there haven't been any blaring signs of bad valve clearance issues fortunately, but it still needs to get done.

 

Yes I would as soon as you can, mine came with a new, (rebuilt) head, should the head rebuilder have put the right shim in? Yes, you'd think,,, but I checked mine and I'd say I had to change almost half of them and most of those were exhaust shims, and the worst one was on #4 exh. It was like .002 or .003 total clearance, I can't remember, terrible.

Oh yeah, mine was running fine to, no valve train noise or popping, I was just doing maintenance and decided to check it.

 

So you got me thinking last night about my valves, and I realized something. Ever since my cylinder head replacement, my Tacoma has always sounded like a "mini-diesel" engine (if that makes any sense). In thinking about it, that is because of my valve clearances. Since i'm pretty sure that I just put in my old valve shims into the new head with old camshafts, the valves are definitely loose which causes a lot of upper valvetrain noise (contributing to that "mechanical diesel engine" sound). In addition, my engine does not rev up as easy as it should which is due to the valves not opening for long enough therefore hindering engine performance. Fortunately from what I understand, having loose valves is far better than having tight valves that stay open for too long. Having "tight" valves means that they stay open for longer than they should during the cylinder stroke which over time can burn out the valve because of too much heat exposure. This is most likely why the cylinder head I replaced had a burnt out exhaust valve, too tight of valve clearance.

This weekend I plan on checking the clearances and replacing shims as needed. My only concern is being able to get a hold of the shims I need. I am going to call around to some shops and my local stealership to check the availability on shims. If a lot of the shims need replacement (which I anticipate), I will just take out the exhaust camshaft to make it easier. Although i'll leave in the intake cam since I don't want to have to deal with the timing chain. After watching lots of videos and guides online about how to do valve clearance adjustments, it definitely seems do-able despite being tedious and time consuming.

EDIT: after looking through my pictures of the new head install, I forgot that the new cylinder head I got included new camshafts and valve train components. This means that the head would have come with new shims, buckets, and all. The valve clearance may not be out of spec as I thought because of this. This also reminded me that I have the old head sitting around somewhere back home with the shims still in it (Im really glad I didn't throw it out). Regardless, I will still pop off the valve cover and check them. I ordered a feeler gauge and the tool to remove the shims if I need to. I also have a new valve cover gasket and bolt grommets on the way as well. No local parts stores can even get a hold of any valve shims. The Toyota dealership said they would have to order the shims if I need them and that they do no stock them since there are so many sizes. The fellow I spoke to told me that they come in 0.05 increments.

 

Great build so far! Buying trucks that need some work is fun stuff. What did you use to remove the old headgasket material off of the block?

 

Thanks! It definitely is, but sometimes wish it wasn't my daily driver for that reason. Keeps things interesting though, that's for sure.
Pretty sure I just used a paint scraper, some brake cleaner, and whatever other scraping tools I had laying around to get it as clean as possible. I had a buddy hold a shop vacuum up to where I was scraping so that the flakes and scraped material didn't go all over.

 

Discovered that my water pump has sprung a leak.
The whole oil pan and lower half of the block is a lot wetter than it should be. A small pool of water below the water pump is also indicative of this.
Since I doubt the water pump has ever been changed, I will be ordering a new pump and gasket to do when I change the oil soon. I would much rather do it this way than just buying a bottle of coolant stop leak.

 

Got the new water pump installed.
From appearances, it looked like it was the gasket that failed rather than the pump. The pump seemed to be still in good condition and had no leaking from any of the ports. Kept it as a spare just in case.
Although after filling the system and bleeding all of the air, my temps move around a lot more than they ever had before.
When the truck is moving and air is being forced into the engine bay, water temps are around 185-188F. Although when stopped idling in traffic or wherever, I will see temps anywhere from 195-210F
After doing some more research, I replaced the fan clutch fluid coupler just in case the fan isn't fully engaging and moving enough air.
Although even after replacing the fan clutch, the temps did not change a whole lot.
I am still driving it in this state since most of my driving to and from work is highway and temps do not get that high, but I am planning on soon ordering and installing a 180F thermostat from LCE to keep temps lower overall.

On another note, I did a steering wheel swap for a Lexus IS300 wheel I got off of ebay for just under 100 bucks. A massive improvement from the wheel I had before. It was a really easy swap too. A matter of only 3 bolts and a few plugs to remove and replace the wheel.

Unfortunately I did lose cruise control since the resistors in the CC stock are different than the ones in my OEM wheel.
When I have some time, I need to do some more research and try and see if I can in fact desolder the resistors in my old wheel and replace the ones soldered into the pcb on the new wheel.

 

Nice build so far! I had the exact same thing as you with my '96, and needed to replace the head. Cyl 2 intake valve stuck open and broke the shim and some other stuff so I put a reman head on. Nice to be able to do all the work yourself.

Question...when you replaced your rear main did you just pull the seal out, or that whole retainer it's mounted in?

 

Thanks! Yea doing the work yourself is a great experience (not all the time though hah).

I did not have to pull the cover off to do the rear main. I believe all I did was just use a pick or something similar and stab into the seal so that I could get some leverage behind it and slowly pull it out. Just be careful and don't go apeshit on it. It'll come out eventually.

 

Lol yeah, theres definitely times when its a pain, but its rewarding in the end.

Ok cool thanks. Was wondering about that as I may replace the clutch in the future on my truck, and would replace the rear main while I am in there as well.

 

I too had to have a head redone. I didn’t replace mine, but the original head was machined and two of the valved replaced. For over a month I’ve had it back and it makes the same sound as you described...almost like a mini diesel. Funny thing is the noise seems to come more from the head that didn’t have any work done. I specifically asked the mechanic about the valve adjustment and I was told that 1) the machine shop would have checked the valve clearances to make sure they were in spec, and 2) that the valves on the 5vz are really adjustable...which I know isn’t true.

 

Yeah, might want to pop your valve covers off and check that. The 5vz is like the 2/3rz. They are adjustable, but it's a pain. That may be what he was trying to say.

I made the same mistake and didn't adjust the valves when I was in there. But thankfully they were all more or less in spec. I checked after 4k miles, and a few had actually loosened up a tad. All the valves are good, though a few are on the bottom end of spec. Firguring I can drive the truck another 5-10k, then recheck and adjust as necessary. It's a pain to do.

OP, did you remove the exhaust cam to adjust your valves? Did you use the valve pliers or lever tool to depress the buckets??