Well... after our 1997 SR5 manual was in an accident and deemed a total loss by their insurance... we were on a hunt for a manual but needed a 2nd car quickly.

We bought an 06 RX400h as it fit the bill and was very close in price to what insurance gave us.

We were pretty sure we would just fix our SR5 and just leave some of the damage.... but then a 97 limited, in white, with lower miles and very clean (but with a rod knock) came on the market at a good price.


So, instead of half fixing the body (I dislike body work) I'm going to swap the mechanicals.


The plan will be to pull the engine, trans, and J shift transfercase(and the driveshaft, most peripherals, and even our new/perfect radiator) and drop them into the limited.

Before I sell anything (locally) I'll compare some of the harnesses. There are some splices into the engine harness on the limited I don't like so I plan to swap the engine harness/ecu from the sr5.

I know that the limited probably has some variation due to the AT and the partially electric transfercase but is the body/ecu plug completely different?

I'm by no means new to electrical/swaps, especially with Toyotas so if there is some wiring I'm not concerned (a few examples... had an 86 more that I swapped in a 91 mr2 engine/trans without so much as cutting the 86 body harness and making it plug/play, an 87 MR2 on megasquirt that was built in 2004.. a 1990 corolla that had a smallport 4age running quite well on a modified 4afe ecu/jdm 4age bigport dizzy and some ignitor tomfoolery). I've also had more cars (mostly Toyota) than I like to admit.

Is there links for some electrical diagrams if there's much variation? I wouldn't mind taking a peek as I'm just in the disassembly of the Limited phase.

Thanks.

Since you have both trucks, the swap should be doable.

The '97 Limited will have the push-button transfer case (push-button 4H, mechanical lever for H/N/L) that you will likely be eliminating for the fully manual case on the 5-speed... The extra wires/control between the dash and engine/trans harness and 4WD computer guarantee there will be at least some differences.

I'd suggest buying the '97 EWD from eBay or similar so you can study the physical diagrams and take notes. PM me your email and I can send you a digital copy of the '97 diagrams too...

-Charlie

The issue will be the 4wd. The limited also has 6 ends on the engine harness and the SR5 and the base model have 5( I am guessing that ithe 6th plug is the transfer case 4wd wiring) The plugs that don't go into the ecu on the engine harness are the same on both the auto and manual. My suggestion would be to run the manual engine, transmission, transfer case and engine harness. Then take the wiring to the 4wd button on the limited transfer case shift lever and run it to a button on the dash. 4wd will be engaged with the dash button and the only thing the j shift transfer case will do is low range.

I'm confused. The J shift is mechanical high 4wd and low 4wd, is it not? I can always wire a switch or even wire the (assumen it has one) 4wd switch (which is common on landcruisers) which is just a 2 wire on/off that tells the electronics it's in 4wd....?

The 4wd switch engages the front diff on the limited and the 2001-2002. The j shift engages the front diff when you put it in 4 high. The limited and j shift are always locked at the transfer case but the 2001-2002 is unlocked at both the transfer case and front diff until you hit the buttons. Because the front diff is engaged by the switch on the limited it is easier to move the switch to the dash than trying to get it engaged off the j shift transfer case. There is probably also more than 2 wires as it also activates the light on the dash. It will be easier just to keep the system intact and just move the wires that run to the transfer case 4wd button

That doesn't make any sense to me still, maybe there is something I'm missing.

Both rigs are a 97. When the J shift is shifted from 2wd to 4h or 4l, does it not 'engage' to output to the front diff mechanically? There's no locker in the front, so what is there to engage in the front?

The 80 series (93 triple locked) I had used a basic 2 wire switch identical to reverse switches. It's a roller ball switch that would be "switched" when moved to 4L - which was a basic way to send a looped signal to the locker computer (and the dash) to indicate 4L was engaged, thus the lockers could be engaged. I'm 90% sure I had to remove/inspect/clean similar switches on my 2001 LX. The 1988 AE95 had a front diff lock switch that was a simple 2 wire switch on the dash that controlled 2 VSVs thatbused vacuum to lock the center diff and when the transfercase locked, it had an internal 2 wire switch (same roller ball/reverse type) that would tell the dash it was locked. I'm pretty sure my old FJ62 had the same VSVs to engage the front as it had a separate switch to engage 4wd (but that's internal on the tranfercase).

Point being I'm not sure why Toyota would reinvent the wheel on the J-shift 4Runner.... I could be wrong but I assume the 4wd switch on the Limited is a switch that tells the 4wd computer to engage the motor and when it engages the motor in the transfercase- there would be a switch that translates back (a 2 wire roller ball type) that the motor did its job to engage the front drive in the transfercase.

I'm under the assumption that the J shift does something similar, but I could be wrong.

Are you stating that by moving the J shifter theres no mechanical linkage and its electronic?