2nd Gen Tacoma V8- LQ4/4L80E Swap plus smattering of extras

Hmmm,
I used the drop in Mishimoto radiator. Used two Gates hoses for LS7 if my memory serves me correctly. The radiator hose/s the top mounted right up the bottom was cut in half and added about 16” of pipe.

 

Are you worried about the pipe pitting or getting oxidation?

 

No the guy who installed the LS wanted everything to match in color (Black) so I paid about 4 times what it would have cost me here in the Phoenix area for powder coating plus I like the “Brushed Aluminum” look better, every part I purchase I looked for it in silver he would return it to get it in black. F**k it’s my truck!!
Just wish he would have been as worried about electrical wiring. I’m having all kinds of electrical issues with gauges and such! The engine builder is now having me drive around with a mechanical oil pressure gauge because for some reason we can’t find out why the New Innovate Oil Temperature & Pressure gauge is going haywire and the Air Fuel gauge is either Peg High or Low, I,e. Not working!

 

Very similar routing to what I did. Except the lower rad hose I had to drop down to clear the fan where as it looks like you could go straight across the engine.

 

That is hella annoying. Your truck, you decide what colour things are.

 

You Think⁉️ I told him several times the silver fine. I had the very top of the line Gates Water Pump but it had a silver pulley. So no can’t use that, he had to buy another water pump with a black pulley!



Watch the video and that’s how he left the wiring. Just grab a hand full of wires and stuff then behind the kick panel! All his wires looked like this! You should have seen the mess of wires that dropped from above my feet when I was trying to drive the truck home! I guess out of sight, out of mind! I’m surprised he didn’t use wire nuts for home electrical work. Watch the video when he’s driving look at the Air Fuel on the left and the Oil Pressure on the right. He said the sensors were bad for the gauges. When he cut up the cables for the gauges. Then he ripped the oil pickup tube O-ring so the pump was sucking air then oil all the way home. When I get the truck back I’m taking pictures of his mess incase I need to pull him into court! I paid him almost double what I paid for the truck w/ 27k miles that I purchased during COVID! Trust me he was paid more than fair! He added another $7k to his bill from what he quoted me. I thought it would be worth it but the more I look the worse it gets…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l02klXwdKcU

 

Aaaaand that’s why you don’t outsource an engine swap. Unless you’re made out of money of course

 

Boy you can say that again!!

And believe it or not the way he talked about wiring I figured that would be his strongest field, little did I know!

 

What did you end up doing for the oil pan? Have any pictures of it in the truck with relation to the diff?

 

So I cut quite a bit out of the stock truck oil pan, mostly because I had dropped the engine so low into the engine bay. The bottom of the pan sits about 1/2" off the factory cross member.

 

Do you think it was necessary to drop it so low? I currently have this pan from the Amazon link. I am just trying to see the highest I can put the engine, using minimal beating on the trans tunnel and avoiding cutting and welding the oil pan. But it looks like that might be unavoidable. What is the distance from the bottom of your flex plate to the top of the support?

$129 LS Swap Oil Pan Kit for 55-87 GM LS1 LS6 LS2 LS3 LSX 4.8L 5.3L 6.0L 6.2L LS Gen III and GEN IV V8 Aluminum

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BYZ1PMQB?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title

 

I dropped it low for centre of gravity, to best fit the bell housing on the 4l80E into the trans tunnel and to not have the drivetrain at some wonky angle. Had I not dropped it that low it would have minimized the cutting to the oil pan but would have caused other issues I'm sure. The oil pan x front diff is one of the big hurdles with this swap. I see it as unavoidable and it's part of the cost of putting a V8 into a Tacoma.

What trans are you using? That oil pan looks the same as the one I cut up.

I'll have to measure that tomorrow if I remember for you.

 

I am using the 4l60e right now on a stock 5.3 lm7 but when I turbo in the future I will do a 4l80e swap to handle the power so I also need to make sure I have space for that too. When you measure, can you see how far forward your flex plate is from the rear of the support so I can get an idea of the placement of the engine forward and back?

 

I'd highly recommend jumping to the 4l80e right away. the 4l60's tend to blow up in their stock vehicles never mind swapped ones. Plus then you can set everything up correctly the first time. The 4l80 is bigger and longer, so you'd be redoing a bunch if you swap down the road. just my two cents.

Also I used a moroso baffled oilpan and when I was going to put the engine in the stock spot with the stock front diff, I only had to cut one little corner out to make it fit. I ended up changing directions with the motor, so didn't go all the way with that set up.

 

Echoing @WormSquirts thoughts here too. Go with the 4l80e now and only deal with the fitment once. Yeah you might have to change your current plans or delay them but not worth doing it twice in my opinion. If you haven't been through @Pittsy thread then I recommend grabbing a beverage and spending a few hours reading through it. Lots to learn there.

In regards to the flexplate location. It sits approximately 2 1/2" above that rear cross-member at the moment ( this will go up as I lift the engine to clearance for a front driveshaft ). And if you were to plum a line up from the rear of that same rearward cross-member it sits 1/4" approximately forward of that line.

Ignore the oil as that would appear to be the rear main just having a blast.

 

4L80E and be done. Don’t do what I did and try using a 4L60E. It won’t work.

 

Did you end up putting it so low there is no room for your front driveshaft or is that different issue?

 

What about it won’t work with it?

 

It’s a crap trans. Mine was built too. Lasted like 2 weeks before I lost 3/4. They just can’t hold the torque in a truck, especially if your LS has any power at all.

 

I’m keeping my 5.3 stock for a bit so won’t have any more power than it already did. But I do plan on doing a turbo in a year or so after I graduate college. Also don’t have a ton of cash to be throwing around so just trying to use what I got for right now.