2003 4Runner Limited 4wd V8 FJ tcased overlanding rockcrawling do-it-all build

Discussion in '4Runners' started by xtremewlr, Feb 8, 2020.

  1. Feb 25, 2020 at 6:11 AM
    #21
    xtremewlr

    xtremewlr [OP] Well-Known Member

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    So the first intake manifold ended up being junk. The 4runner it came off of must have overheated which melted the mating surface of the intake, rendering it useless. Ebay seller was great and refunded me the full amount and also told me to keep the intake. It came with fuel rails and injectors, so I can still use the fuel rails and maybe resell the injectors or just junk them with the intake.

    Couldn't post pics from work but here they are of the melted mounting surface.

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    The first throttle body is decent and probably usable but I wasn't completely happy with the condition once I cleaned it up. I'll hang on to that and use it as a backup if needed.

    Ordered a new intake and throttle body, both from the same seller on ebay. Looks like these should also be off the same vehicle which is a 2005 Sequoia. Pics of the intake also showed the mounting surface which was perfect and even had the o-ring style gasket still in place. TB looks dirty but should be in much better condition than the first one I got.

    Also ordered the new 12 hole injectors from Dirty Deeds. Now I just need to get gaskets and such gathered together. I'm planning on doing the timing belt and related stuff, replacing the intake, injectors and TB, along with doing valve cover gaskets and painting the valve covers. This will hopefully all get done starting in about 3 weeks.
     
    Last edited: Feb 25, 2020
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    #21
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  2. Feb 25, 2020 at 6:15 AM
    #22
    six5crèéd

    six5crèéd Shop Time

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    In for more. That is a nice 4runner!
     
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  3. Feb 25, 2020 at 6:22 AM
    #23
    xtremewlr

    xtremewlr [OP] Well-Known Member

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    4th gen T4R with a few mods
    Thanks! It ain't bad for almost 283k miles on it. Still runs great, very strong. It's overdue for the timing belt but not by a ton so I'm confident driving it daily until I have all the parts for the intake swap gathered up. I'd rather do all that all at one time if I can.

    Once that stuff is done then I can fix the interior. Driver's seat has holes and tears in the leather and the rest of the leather kinda looks shitty. Carpet is also destroyed from years of kids growing up in it with the PO. So new leather seat covers will be getting ordered from Leatherseats.com and I'm still debating on whether I'm gunna go with new carpet or go with vinyl flooring instead. Either way, seat covers and carpet/vinyl will be black or a dark charcoal grey. Getting rid of the mostly tan/beige interior!
     
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  4. Feb 25, 2020 at 11:34 AM
    #24
    4BYTOY

    4BYTOY Well-Known Member

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  5. Feb 25, 2020 at 11:52 AM
    #25
    xtremewlr

    xtremewlr [OP] Well-Known Member

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    Thanks!
     
  6. Feb 25, 2020 at 5:08 PM
    #26
    xtremewlr

    xtremewlr [OP] Well-Known Member

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    Just some things that I haven't posted yet.

    ATOTO A6Y Android head unit finish installed. Works great other than being a little slow sometimes. But I've had that experience with Android tablets in general and this is based off one. Overall, I'm very happy with it. Ignore the crappy looking part under the ATATO lettering. I got impatient with the paint and managed to fubar the paint there. Nothing wrong with it otherwise and I'll repaint it again at some later date. Maybe.

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    Yes, I painted the bezel black.

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    I also replaced all the window belt moldings on both sides and the hatch. The originals had torn at the window squeegee part and were pretty much useless. I know, it's dirty.

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    And this is why I want to replace the seat covers. The driver side is the worst with holes and torn stitching but the passenger side isn't great, nor are the rear seats. They are all cracked and dirty, even after a thorough cleaning. The carpet is stained, dirty and plain ugly as well.

    [​IMG]
     
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  7. Feb 26, 2020 at 7:57 AM
    #27
    Wishbone Runner

    Wishbone Runner Because 4R

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    Need to do the window molding on mine too, did you use OEM ones or aftermarket?
     
  8. Feb 26, 2020 at 7:58 AM
    #28
    xtremewlr

    xtremewlr [OP] Well-Known Member

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    Belt moldings are all OEM Toyota.
     
  9. Feb 26, 2020 at 7:59 AM
    #29
    Wishbone Runner

    Wishbone Runner Because 4R

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    :thumbsup:
     
  10. Feb 26, 2020 at 8:33 PM
    #30
    HoustonMike

    HoustonMike Well-Known Member

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    Like seeing this older 4runner being restored since the power train likely has many more miles left. Thanks for posting!
     
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  11. Mar 9, 2020 at 5:09 PM
    #31
    xtremewlr

    xtremewlr [OP] Well-Known Member

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    Rearranged the garage in prep for the timing belt, accessory belt and intake manifold swap coming up. Just waiting for the injectors to arrive now. Should have them in a couple days. Took some pics of the Taco and 4runner together in the driveway. Think I will redo the matte paint on the hood of the 4runner after the TB/intake work is done and extend it all the way the the leading edge of the hood like on the Taco.

    [​IMG]

    Hood is popped on the Taco. I pull the positive battery cable when it's parked in the garage since I have a slow drain that I haven't taken the time to figure out yet.

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    The new (used) VVT intake is much better than the first one. Just really dirty. Even had the gaskets in place on the runners still.

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    Received all the new gaskets for the intake and valve covers as well as new fuel pressure regulator and damper.

    [​IMG]

    Getting excited to do the swap, not so much on the timing belt part tho. Haven't done one before. But there is a ton of documentation and really helpful people like @Empty_Lord and @Speedytech7 that I can ping on if I get in a bind. :thumbsup:
     
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  12. Mar 9, 2020 at 8:15 PM
    #32
    Empty_Lord

    Empty_Lord Toyotaholic

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    Remind me when your ready and I’ll get you the FSM info
     
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  13. Mar 9, 2020 at 8:45 PM
    #33
    xtremewlr

    xtremewlr [OP] Well-Known Member

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    4th gen T4R with a few mods
    Much appreciated!
     
  14. Mar 21, 2020 at 8:34 PM
    #34
    xtremewlr

    xtremewlr [OP] Well-Known Member

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    So that took WAY longer than originally anticipated. But, the timing belt is done and the new intake and injectors (minus 1, keep reading) are in and the truck is running great again! Maybe even better than before, I've only managed to put 7 miles on it during the test drive this evening.

    So this is how it started...

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    And here is how it is now...

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    Here's what happened in between...

    Keep in mind that I did a few other things besides the timing belt. Removing the intake and valve covers is not required if you are only doing the timing belt and accessory belt.

    Timing belt kit used - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008EEYWKI
    Crank/damper holder needed - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0051XDBBG
    Accessory belt kit - GATES 90K38488 from https://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo.php?pk=9118628&jsn=261
    Plastic intake manifold and throttle body from a 2006 4runner 2uz-fe VVTI motor - ebay
    250cc 12 hole injectors - http://dirtydeedsindustries.com/product/fuel-injectors/
    Gaskets, reman starter are OEM Toyota from McGeorge Toyota online parts - https://toyotaparts.mcgeorgetoyota.com/

    Started by taking stuff apart.

    [​IMG]

    Got the intake off and to answer the question on weight between the aluminum intake and the later model plastic intake, here ya go!

    31.7lbs for the fatty aluminum!

    [​IMG]

    19.2lbs for the plastic fantastic!

    [​IMG]

    So a 12.5lb difference between them. Not a huge amount but anything helps! The plastic also runs much cooler than the aluminum, which tends to heat soak after a while.

    Found a chunk of sound deadening/insulation from the firewall under the intake. Along with broken bits of plastic, what looked like a small wasp nest and lots of dirt.

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    [​IMG]

    Cleaned it all out and proceeded to pull the valve covers. I was replacing the driver's side because I had over tightened the PCV valve and cracked the original one, plus I wanted to clean them both up and paint them red like I did with my Tacoma.

    [​IMG]

    Valvetrain on both sides were nice and clean.

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    [​IMG]

    Cleaned and painted the valve covers. Looks orange-ish but it's VHT red paint.

    [​IMG]

    Cleaned and assembled the new intake since I was in a cleaning mode. This also freed up some space by eliminating loose parts. New, 250cc, 12 hole injectors that I got from DirtyDeed Industries. Keith over there is really helpful if you have questions.

    [​IMG]

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    Old intake and new intake side by side for comparison. The plastic is a little longer because of the vacuum actuated valve at the back that controls the butterfly valves inside the intake for the variable runner length.

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    Then I finally got down to the timing belt, the main reason for all this work! The belt I replaced had somewhere around 100k miles on it and they are meant to be changed at 90k. Note the crank tool on the damper pulley. BUY THIS if you are doing a timing belt on a 2uz-fe!

    https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0051XDBBG

    [​IMG]

    Water pump and timing belt off once I got the marks all lined up.

    [​IMG]

    Putting the new timing belt on. Took me a few tries to get it correct. Thanks to @Empty_Lord for catching that I had it on backwards the first time and was the reason the timing marks were messed up. The arrows on the belt should face the front of the engine. R-CAM is passenger side, L-CAM is driver.

    [​IMG]

    Make sure the timing mark is set correctly on the crank gear too! Should look like this when timed correctly, with the arrows on the cams and cma gear marks lined up with the timing marks you used there. In my case, I used the "T" marks. The crank gear has a "dot" that the crank arrow should line up with.

    [​IMG]

    New water pump installed along with the cleaned up cam gear covers.

    [​IMG]

    Painted valve covers and thermostat housing installed. Note the red lines on the thermostat housing. That was so I remembered to set the jiggle valve on the new thermostat to the 12 o'clock position. Setting it otherwise can cause cooling issues.

    [​IMG]

    New gaskets installed for the plastic intake.

    [​IMG]

    This is where things kinda went to shit. I tried installing the intake and it seemed to be hanging up on something at the rear of the motor, preventing me from getting it on. I mistakenly determined it was the 2 water outlets pictured here...

    [​IMG]

    The tube on the right of the pic (driver side) is a press fit and part of the rear coolant bypass manifold. Well I was dumb and tried bending it out of the way a little, causing it to come loose. So I had a brilliant (stupid) idea to shorten it and tap it back into place since I thought it was in the way. Got that all done and was able to drop the intake into place without much difficulty.

    [​IMG]

    Finished putting everything back on and started to fill the radiator with fresh coolant.

    [​IMG]

    This is when I discovered that my modification to the bypass manifold, while it did give more more room, wasn't required and had actually caused a coolant leak. SO.... intake had to come off again and I ordered a new bypass manifold from Toyota, along with the gaskets for it and new constant tension clamps for the upper and lower radiator hoses so I could ditch the worm gear ones.

    [​IMG]

    You can see I also decided to pull the starter this time. I was going to rebuild it with a new plunger and brushes but I got the wrong plunger (correct for a 4runner with the 1.4kw starter motor, I have the 2.0kw starter tho) and the brushes looked like a major pain in the ass to replace. A reman starter from Toyota wasn't a ton more money so I ordered one. Besides the fact that the rubber bits on the old starter pretty much fell apart while I was pulling it.

    [​IMG]

    So, a week later (today), all the parts from Toyota came in and I was finally able to finish the job! Here's the new bypass manifold as compared to the one I butchered behind it.

    [​IMG]

    New and old starters.

    [​IMG]

    Part # for the 2.0kw starter my truck uses.

    [​IMG]

    New starter and bypass manifold installed. Note the Tesa tape on the knock sensors. It seems like I had a LOT of electrical plugs where the retaining clip broke off after I removed tham. I don't know if the plastic used on this year 4runner is crappy or if the motor got really hot at one time or what but I've not had this issue on my 1999 Tacoma.

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    So then I reinstalled the intake again and started plugging everything back in. And that's when this little gem reared it's ugly head.

    [​IMG]

    That's the broken electrical connection on the passenger side, rearmost injector. FUUUUUUUUUUUUU........

    This was still plugged in the wire harness plug.

    [​IMG]

    So, I have to get a replacement injector. Talked to Keith at Dirty Deeds and he is trying to locate me one. In the meantime, I reinstalled one of the original injectors that I pulled out. It works fine and will keep the 4runner driveable until I get a replacement injector to match the rest.

    [​IMG]

    I also managed to break one of the clips that hold the air cleaner cover in place. Easy enough fix fortunately.

    [​IMG]

    Finished installing all the accessory parts and filled the radiator again which I had drained for the bypass manifold replacement. Checked everything over again and fired it up. Took a couple tries but it fired up and idled just fine! Turned the heater to max and started checking coolant level to make sure it was full and didn't have air pockets.

    All done! Looks much better IMO, nice and clean for now. And I have the peace of mind knowing the timing belt is good for the next 90k miles which could be 8 to 10 years for me. We'll see!

    [​IMG]
     
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    #34
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  15. Mar 21, 2020 at 9:30 PM
    #35
    Empty_Lord

    Empty_Lord Toyotaholic

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    Looking good! As the computer compensates fit all the new goodies you’ll likely get a small bump from now in power. Small but it’ll be there. Mpg according to everyone should be better
     
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    #35
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  16. Mar 21, 2020 at 9:40 PM
    #36
    xtremewlr

    xtremewlr [OP] Well-Known Member

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    4th gen T4R with a few mods
    Yeah, it's only got a bunch of idling time from filling the coolant and then 7 miles of drive time right now. I'll be driving it to work this next week so that should be around 176 miles or so over the week, assuming I only go to/from work.
     
  17. Mar 21, 2020 at 10:04 PM
    #37
    Empty_Lord

    Empty_Lord Toyotaholic

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    Too many trucks and mods to list.. check builds
    When you get that new injector take a picture of the part number on it if there is one.


    Y’all need headers now, long tubes
     
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  18. Mar 21, 2020 at 10:15 PM
    #38
    xtremewlr

    xtremewlr [OP] Well-Known Member

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    I can grab that off the broken injector for ya. Hang on for a minute...
     
  19. Mar 21, 2020 at 10:20 PM
    #39
    xtremewlr

    xtremewlr [OP] Well-Known Member

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    4th gen T4R with a few mods
    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    While I'm thinking of it... @CS_AR, These look OEM Denso to you, since you are the expert at identifying fakes?
     
  20. Mar 21, 2020 at 10:23 PM
    #40
    Empty_Lord

    Empty_Lord Toyotaholic

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    hmm.. looks like they are 1/3mz injectors.
    [​IMG]
     

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