GAH it looks like you forgot your dust shields!

On another random note I think you can swap engines andd get them going wayyyy faster than me lol I am going to have go to back and look at the time i got into doing these swaps then all the prep work.

I 110% agree the longest part is all the small stuff. I made a list of stuff to check off but i still got half a full list, but it includes stuff like change timing belt, to swap TPS sensors, so big and small stuff. Got 2 more major things on my swap.

You make me wanna call in sick and go to my apartment garage and keep going! lol

I didn't realize you were doing it yourself. How long did you vacuum the system for and what pressure did you reach? The FSM procedure for charging the ac system requires the engine to be running and looking at the eye glass. When I recharged my AC I filled from the low pressure side. I'd still be willing to bet it's an electrical issue rather than a pressure switch malfunction.

well, i cut into them with my grinder anyways so i could reinstall and remove as needed...so when I when to press the bearings in I decided to leave em off! This isnt a DD anyways, but all it does is stop your brake dust from getting all over stuff...guess Il see how much I hate it later. Race cars dont mind!

Vacuum was at 24-25. the pump I was using wasnt the best. kept it there for about 30 minutes...then closed the valve, removed vacuum, attached refrigerant, opened low side, and opened refrigerant valve. I will probably go in the garage and do it again today.

I had the vehicle running and the tank open to try and allow the charge to continue, but it just stays stuck at 30. I am using harbor freight regulators, so the gauge could be broken.. I could try and service the low side with the high side gauge to verify pressure.

I believe I read 35-40 low was enough, but im going to dive back into the books if I can find the correct figures.

haha I totally get it. I have a job where im on shift for two weeks and off for two weeks, so I get a good amount of free time at home!

Ive done about 4 engine swaps total...5 if you count removing an engine out of the 4runner as a "swap." id argue the engine/trans was the easiest part if you have the right tools and arent dragging an engine hoist through the gravel..the reason I say this was because its all one unit and once its dropped in, a few motor mount bolts and youre good!

then you get the fun of connecting everything else. lol.

Not as low as most people like, but it should have been sufficient vacuum to at least get it charged with minimal moisture left in the lines. I'll try to look into this today if I have time to verify, but I think our system only has a high pressure cutoff switch to protect the system from over pressurizing and blowing up.

Edit: There's only 1 pressure switch. It monitors low and high pressures. Here's a link to the 2000 FSM that I reference: 2000 4Runner FSM - Printable - Google Drive
Section 35 is HVAC. AC-14 is diagnostics page and AC-79 shows the pressure switch and diagnostics for it.

Alright, so I went to the FSM and followed those directions. I attached everything again, opened up the high valve and filled . then i closed the high, turned the car a/c on, and opened the low side fill.

This time it kicked on and started working right away. I also started to see bubbles in the system followed by smaller bubbles and then no bubbles....So I think its adequately serviced now. Low side was reading around 45 psi and high side when all valves were closed got to about 250.

Hopefully the vacuum was enough and theres no leaking in any of the lines. Il find out im sure when 1. the a/c constantly shuts off, or 2. it doesnt work at all when it starts to warm up again!

At least that problem is fixed. I think i had the hoses backwards on the reg so refrigerant wasnt able to get into the high side correctly. it has a small check vaalve on one end and I think it needs to go on a specific side of the manifold...apparently I did it right this time.

Thanks for the help by the way.

Next target is the power steering pump which I think can be resolved with a fluid flush and new mobile 1 synthetic (atf?).

I'm glad you got it figured out!

As for the power steering pump, I would take the reservoir off the pump and clean the screen out, reassemble, then flush the power steering system with new Dexron III compatible ATF. mtbtim has a good youtube video to reference: YouTube I'm waiting on a new o-ring before I attempt to do mine. 90301-11016 is the o-ring part number in case you want to know.

Don't swap clusters - just use the blanking plate from the MT cluster on your auto cluster. The 4WD light is already there on your 2WD cluster...

-Charlie

That's actually about the best you can do for vacuum at 4500-5000ft elevation.
Should be good to go. When I picked up my 2nd Runner a few months ago I had to evacuate the A/C system and with a good vacuum pump I was right between 24 and 25 which is just about dead on based on the altitude in Reno.
When I had to do some power steering work on my '98 last year I had some of the same issues. Thing was squeaking and screeching every time I turned the wheel and couldn't figure out what the issue was... Tried cycling the wheel back and forth hoping to get any air out of the system and nothing seemed to help. I finally decided to go for broke and took it on a long freeway drive and it hasn't made a peep since. I think the combination of the higher rpm's and working the wheel while driving at freeway speeds got all the trapped air out of the system.

I saw California and didn't think he would be that high in elevation. Good point about elevation affecting max possible vacuum.

just picked up where i had left off at page 4 and man, you are ambitious. it's really impressive how dedicated you are to this. sorry if this sounds like a stupid generic compliment but i mean it. wow.

Thanks a lot! I've really been trying to get it done before Christmas. I'm close now...just need another 3 days or so of work to get some final things taken care of. I need to swap the whole interior and all four doors so that will be a days work most likely.

When I set my mind to something I try to do my best to get it done!

Didn't even think of that....elevation will definitely make a difference. Use to live in the valley but now I'm up in Reno at around 4700 ft.