2000 Tacoma 3.4L - Motor Swap Completed

nice job guy. Looking good.

 

Well my plan fell apart when the dealer didn't have the flywheel bolts in stock. So I spent time hosing down the interior (I'm almost serious) and shampooing what I could. The interior was pretty dirty and still needs more work, but it won't take much to make it back to nice condition.

I also took the opportunity to remove the old release bearing and fork. Cleaned up the surfaces with a little 320 grit sandpaper, grease in the right places and put it back together.

 

The flywheel and clutch are installed. I paid close attention to get the clutch disc nice and centered so that the alignment tool goes with zero resistance. Pics show the new flywheel, clutch, pressure plate and all new bolts from Toyota. Everything is torqued to spec with a dab of Loctite Blue. I also took a couple pictures of the interior. I had to rebuild the drivers side head rest since the foam was all ripped up. I used a little Toyota FIPG and packing tape to hold it all together. Came out 90% better than it was, so I'm happy. I also fixed the drivers seat since the back of the seat wasn't bolted on on the outisde of the seat. The seat was loose when bolted to the cab and the outside seat trim was ripped off. I installed new bolts on the seat back, patched up the trim with some large fender washers and a bunch of hot glue and got it all put back together. MUCH better now!

If you have MOON MIST colored interior parts for sale, please contact me via PM! I need:

- Steering Wheel
- Console Lid
- Drivers Side Arm Rest for PW/PDL trucks
- Floor Sill Plates for Xtra Cab
- Drivers Side Door Seal for Xtra Cab
- Exterior Lower Window Trim/Window Wiper, Both Sides

 

This afternoon was a big day because I was dead set on getting the motor back into the truck. All told it took me about 40 minutes from the time I hoisted it to the time I had the motor and bell housing seated. I did it by myself, so I'm pretty happy with that. I'll get it bolted in tomorrow, for now it's just resting on the engine mount perches (holes are lined up) and I have a few bell housing bolts in. However this saves me a lot of time tomorrow, so once it's light outside I'll get it bolted to the trans, then bolted to the frame and then get the exhaust bolted up. From there it will go back together pretty quickly. I had to take the slave off and put it back on after I forgot my buddy had removed the rubber dust boot, so that took me a solid 25 minutes of contorted hand movements to get that sucker back on. If all goes well, I should have it fired up this weekend.




In this picture you'll notice the addition of a small ratcheting strap. With the engine leveler, you have full control front to back but not the twisting of the engine. Since I was not on level ground, I got the input shaft into the clutch assembly, kept checking my front to back tilt and then checked the dowel pins. I noticed the left side (drivers side) of the motor was about 3/8" too low, so I used the ratchet strap to rotate the motor to align the dowels. Then a little wiggling and they went in. After that I rotated the motor a little with a breaker bar, installed two bell housing bolts and tightened them down a little at a time, left to right, left to right. The resistance was really light and the motor and transmission seated without any issues. I thank my buddy who was an ASE Master Tech for telling me to really take your time with the clutch alignment tool to make it go in and out of the pilot bearing with little to no resistance. I also thank a couple of the guys here on the forum for recommending the engine leveler. The fact this is the first motor I've pulled/installed and I got it in by myself that quickly made me VERY happy.




Notice the OSB/Plywood over my A/C condenser. Really helps prevent any damage, especially if you're doing this by yourself.

 

I started at 6:30 AM this morning, made really good progress, met a forum member who was looking at my 95.5 that I'm selling and then resumed my work. I finally got it fired up around 4:15 PM. I removed the EFI fuse and cranked the motor a couple of times for about 10-15 seconds each to get some oil flowing through it. I then put the EFI fuse back in and it fired right up. The motor idles glass smooth, no noises, nada. Sounds like it's brand new.

The only thing I need to check is it didn't start with a high idle and instead was running at about 700 RPM. All of the work I did to the motor seems to have been solid - no leaks, no codes, no missed connections. In all fairness, this isn't that hard of a job. It certainly went back together a lot faster than it came apart. Also since I used good quality parts, I didn't have any issues except one. I bought the wrong radiator - it's about 4" taller than the original so the lower radiator hose would not reach. I cleaned up the OEM Harrison and put it in the truck since it wasn't leaking. Bled the cooling system and power steering - no problems at all.

Took it around the block a couple of times and the clutch worked well. It was the first time I had driven the truck since we trailered it when I bought it. It runs just as good as my 95.5 but it doesn't drive quite as good. I'm going to swap wheels/tires and see how that goes because it has well worn and cupped front tires on it now.

I'm very HAPPY. Glad to have it running again and to find the donor motor was in good shape.

Bad Motor:
http://youtu.be/y4OONyPFLck

Good Motor:
http://youtu.be/LSHDVaWzC68

 

Congrats! I felt the same way the 1st time i fired up my donor motor.

 

I got the hood and grille back on, so it looks like a normal truck again! Putting the hood on by myself was a piece of cake.

I did hit two mechanical problems. Some of you may have seen a post about a lack of high idle after the motor swap. I used the 2000 4-Runner throttle body but it turns out there are design differences between the two units. So this morning I pulled the IAC from the original throttle body and cleaned up everything. Put it all back together and then swapped the upper plenum. That fixed the lack of high idle issue. I should have known something was up when the cruise control cable had extra slack and I had to adjust the throttle cable.

Got a trouble code today for the upstream O2 sensor. Before I bought the truck I checked it for codes but my guess is the shop who inspected it and determined the engine was toast cleared the codes. I found the correct Denso O2 sensor at a local parts house ($$$$$$$$$$) and got it replaced. Whatever genius came up with the idea of putting the O2 sensor connector on top of the transmission, clipped into place should be smacked around a bit. After taking out the console and shifter boots, I was able to get to it. They certainly could have made the job a lot easier than that.

Anyhow, 12 miles later I no longer have a code. I've put about 30 miles on the truck now and all is well. No noises, no leaks and it runs great.

 

I've been following your thread because it was similiar to my truck project. So what's the verdict, keeping it or flipping it? I have 2 4runners and my taco and i might be buying a 3rd 4runner, a 2001, that was just towed into my work with a failed lbj. Owner isn't sure if he wants to dump any $$$ into it because it has 222k miles. I buy'em and fix'em but find it hard to sell some of them. I've been called a hoarder, lol.

 

Ouch! What's the estimate to fix that?

I'm not sure if I'm going to keep it or flip it. I bought it to flip it, but with my 95.5 now selling, who knows. My buddies want to go to Moab, so maybe I'll use the truck for that trip and see how it goes.

I swapped over the wheels from my 95.5 to the 2000. This was not the plan but the tires on the 2000 were shot and sounded like it had Flintstone wheels on it when driving down the road. Now it's at least drivable.

1. The front end needs some work. End links, possibly front shocks and maybe the rack slide. I need to check things over including the ball joints and wheel bearings.
2. The truck has a noise on deceleration while in gear and the clutch is engaged. It's either the transmission or the transfer case from what I can tell. If I shift into Neutral, clutch engaged the noise stops instantly. If I leave it in gear and disengage the clutch, the noise goes away. It only does it under engine braking. Probably a worn bearing somewhere.
3. I need to check the U-joints just to make sure they are greased and solid.
4. I have no working radio in the truck, so that's not helping matters since the only thing I have to listen to is the truck itself. However since my 95.5 is in such good shape, I can tell what's normal and what's not.

I put another 10 or so miles on it when I took the old wheels to my storage unit - no codes or pending codes. Looks like the O2 sensor fixed it. I also did a full inspection for any leaks and found zero. Pretty proud because it runs like a top.

I also installed a new window regulator in the drivers door so I have a working window. Gotta hand it to Toyota on that one, they made the regulator replacement pretty dang easy compared to some I've done.

 

I think the deceleration noise is actually a bad pinion bearing. The pinion has a little movement to it. I checked my 95.5 and it's tight without any slop. Swell. lol.

 

Well I'm buying a used E-locker rear axle assembly with 110k miles on it for $750 with everything drum to drum. I'll probably swap that this weekend if I can swing by to pick it up tomorrow after work. The truck is running great with over 150 miles on it. Not a single hiccup after replacing the O2 sensor.

 

The truck already has an E-locker rear but the pinion bearing is shot. I really don't want to swap a lower mile carrier into a housing with 227k on it since it will probably need wheel bearings/seals soon anyhow. So I'm just going to swap the entire rear axle, drum to drum which is a lot easier and faster with the benefit of actually being the cheapest route outside of me fully rebuilding the rear axle myself which I don't have the tools nor time for right now.

 

Excellent job!
For a first time remove and replace, you did better than some professionals.

 

Here's my next project - swapping the rear axle assembly. I picked up a used B03A Locking Rear Axle today with 112k miles on it for $750 + tax. Inspected it - no leaks from the axle seals or the pinion seal. All bearings are in good shape with no noticeable slop. It's from a 2001 Tacoma DC. I'm going to install a new brake line and fresh fluid. The brakes look good, so I'm just going to clean them up to remove any dust and call it good.

 

wonder if the 2nd gen 4.0L engine can fit in a first gen tacoma without to much fabercation?

 

I unloaded the replacement rear axle assembly, cleaned it up, checked the brakes and got it ready for paint. I then gave it a fresh coat of low gloss engine enamel on the housing and used high heat black on the drums. Looks pretty good.

This morning I started at about 7:30 AM and was completed by 10:00 AM. Pretty easy job, though two people would have made it go a bit faster. I used a Vacula to bleed all four corners so that I had fresh brake fluid throughout the system and also changed the gear oil with fresh 75w90. The gear oil looked pretty new, so the donor vehicle had probably just had a recent service prior to it's accident.

So did it fix the problem? Yup - perfectly quiet now. I will be pulling the driveshaft and checking all of the U-joints. The rear one is a little notchy, so I'm going to grease it for now and plan to install new joints as soon as I get a little free time. The truck has 227k and the donor differential has 112k. The engine I put in had 86k. The transmission and transfer case are absolutely silent.

Donor axle:


Out with the old:




Good on the left, bad on the right:


In with the "new":

 

Nice job!!!

 

Thanks for the support!

 

Awesome job on the 3.4! If I ever have to swap or rebuild mine, I will refer to this thread for info! These trucks are still able to be worked on by the average joe, the new ones, not so much.

 

Thanks. I've been wrenching on stuff since I was like 10 years old, but it's not something I do very often these days. It felt really good to make it happen. Today was the day I took the truck on it's longest journey to date. About 100 miles round trip on the highway - 65-80 MPH - no issues at all. I do feel something loose in the front end when hitting large bumps. I will get under there with a pry bar one of these days to find out what's up. However it drives pretty good. I put the front skid plates back on this morning and greased the driveshaft prior to my trip. I also spent some time going around the truck with some touchup paint and took it to the car wash for it's first bath. I'm ordering a new front bumper and clear turn signal lights since my attempt at painting the front bumper cover did not turn out to my standards. Too many contaminants in the plastic from all of the years of use. It was worth a try, but it will now be replaced.

Anyone have any tips for buying new flare seals/gaskets and also painting the flares? I want to use some glazing putty to touch up any imperfections, lightly sand them and give them a coat of paint. The rubber seals have seen better days - they are usable but if they can be replaced for cheap then I'd like to get some new ones.

I'm still trying to get the Catalyst monitor to set (anyone have any tips?). I also figured I'd share a picture of the twins. 02 Tacoma Double Cab 4x4 TRD Limited and the 00 Tacoma Xtra Cab 4x4 TRD SR5, both in Lunar Mist.