Shifter base maintenance and upgrades:

The W59 trans and J-shift transfer case have little press-fit breathers. I wanted to see if I could create breather extensions similar to what is done for the diffs.

There's one breather at the front of the transfer case and one on the transmission shifter. They are simple on-way spring loaded valves with a rubber seal:



I went ahead and removed both shifter bases to regrease while I was in there. Marlin shifter seats are still in great shape. I did find that the transfer case spring got out of place and caused a little weird damage. I'll have to get a new deflector shield and replace this later. (Note I was experimenting with brass tubes in the breather spots but it didn't really work out)





Deflector removed



Trans shifter removed, cap removed from breather



After studying this I realized I would do better to just upgrade the new OEM breathers vs trying to retrofit a tubing system. Others have tapped fittings but I didn't want to mess with this. Also, my short shifter causes the trans seat to be higher and there's not much clearance to work with.

Remove breather cap, overdrill to 13/64", tap to M6-1.00, and insert brass muffle breather. Now it's a true breather with filtration. Put cap and spring back on without the rubber... the cap is now just a dust and water deflector.







Same treatment for the transfer case breather. I also trimmed a bit of sheet metal to help the shifter base slide in there.

Proactive AC evap cleaning getting ready for the start of warm weather.

Put a tube in the AC drain to catch the runoff. Pull the fan and blast some coil cleaner in there.



Do this a few times. Finish up by putting a mild water + alcohol solution in a spray bottle and spritzing it a few dozen times.

Before:


After:


You can see a little difference but not a ton. Way better than its first cleaning which was about 2 years ago. But the fluid coming out shows its certainly doing some cleaning.

At some point in this 4Runner's prior life (up to 225k when I adopted it) it must've gotten hit in the rear passenger door. The door was obviously replaced with a junkyard unit and repainted. The seams are kind of cruddy and some clear coat is peeling here pretty exclusively. When the guts of the door were transferred over the shop cut off the plastic moisture barrier and haphazardly stuck it on with painter's tape. I noticed it when repairing the stopper on this door. What a hack job!



Pulled all that goofy mess off and wiped it down. While the plastic was off I put some aluminum-coated foam stuff that should help a bit with sound and insulation. Not as good as Dynamat but much lighter and cheaper.



The OEM sites list this plastic piece for about $12 but it is discontinued unfortunately. @JROTN was kind enough to peel one off of one of his part-out vehicles and ship it to me -- thank you!! I added a bit of my leftover gray headlight butyl sealant around the perimeter and hit it with a heat gun in stages while pasting it back down. Got the wires routed correctly this time too, yay!



Much better but certainly one of those messy, thankless projects that only OCD owners like me appreciate

On your seat rail extension...

@JZiggy - so how long are the stips that you cut and welded on in the front? It looks like you just zipped off the floor bracket from the rail?

When the welds & rivets are drilled out the floor bracket just comes off.

I think that piece was about 4" or a bit more to allow the 3" total extension.

Engine front circa early 2017:



Engine front now:



I did reseal the oil pan in late 2018 but it looks like the front crank seal and/or the oil pump gasket are finally giving up. I guess since we're past 275k I'll allow it.

Planning a front engine project in the not too distant future:
- Harmonic balancer
- Oil pump
- Front main seal
- Drive belts
- Radiator hoses

3rz is a timing chain motor, right? At that mileage, it is probably worth doing a full check of the tensioner and guide system while you are in that deep.

Good job handling this before it gets bad. Maybe do a clean-up and see if you can pinpoint the leak location more closely?

-Charlie

Hey Charlie,

Yep it's a timing chain motor. I get a look at the tensioner when I adjust the valves. Most recent look:



Haven't seen the tensioner change position in a little while. I am loath to pull the timing cover (which would necessitate pulling the oil pan again) if I don't have to. But we'll see what else the inspection reveals.

Got my Spiker Engineering phone mount installed! I also added an adapter plate to angle the phone exactly towards me (6 degrees was all it took). A variety of 8-32 tapped holes from both sides let it fasten to the bracket and hold my magnetic mount + torque stoppers (keeps the phone from rotating when on a bumpy road). Once I'm sure I'm happy with it I'll paint that bracket.

Nicely done @JZiggy ! One of those labors of love that is very satisfying.

For those without the needed patience, perseverance, and tools to make something like this, the mount was designed to accept off-the shelf adjustable angle mounts, like the Steelie or practically anything else you have your eye on.

Looking forward to seeing the final version!

Looks great!

Looking at doing the same. I have the smaller 15" S12WE calipers now. Are you still happy with the S13WE calipers? Any regrets not going with larger S13WL's? What pads/shims did you use? I only see part numbers for the larger calipers, unless they both uses the same pads.

No regrets at all. I still love them.

Those two caliper styles use different pads. I either went for OEM or Akebono pads. Pretty sure you can look up an early model Tundra like 00-01 and that will be the right part.

Thanks Jordan! Regarding your wheel cylinders... I'm having trouble finding the WCT-068's locally in San Jose. Where did you get yours?

Rockauto or Amazon