Thanks for the response man. It encouraged me to do a little more digging. See my response to Randy. Cheers!

Trans and Transfer case are out! I was 2 clips away from having the entire engine harness out from under the hood until I learned I wont be needing it. I will have to reassemble everything I removed to get at the harness, but that's okay with me. Hopefully, I can salvage a trans to get the 1998 driving. Would be a greater winter beater.

For some reason, I only had one trans bolt on the very top to the left of the shifter. I believe the transmission has been removed at some point because there are some blue marks on it like it came from a scrapyard? Also, I dont know what the clutch should look like after 190k miles, but it looks almost identical in wear to the brand new one. Maybe the PO replaced it? Also, the trans fill plug had a ton of silicone around it. Not sure why, but thankfully I saw no cracks when I picked it all off. Very suspicious...



I snapped a photo of me removing the top trans bolt for reference. Using a 3/8 Universal joint and a 10"(?) extension, I was able to angle my ratchet from the middle of the trans up towards the bolt. I could not reach the bolt simply straight on over the top of the trans. If I remember correctly, I did not have enough room to use 1/2 extensions/sockets.



I decided to go with the upgraded Marlin Crawler 1200lb. Clutch Kit. It seemed like the perfect compromise between performance and not being a hassle to drive on the road. The kit is essentially OEM replacement clutch disc, pilot and release bearing, but with an upgraded pressure plate. OEM clutch replacement from AISIN costs $231 on RockAuto at this time and the kit cost me $360, so essentially an $130 upgrade.

Also pictured is the Haynes Manual I figured I should just have, rear main seal + gasket from Fel-Pro, and transfer case seals from Timken.



Also picked up a Beck Arnley valve cover gasket with spark plug seals. I'll need to see if my 2001 has the half moon seals. The guy at the store I called was absolutely convinced that some 5vz's came with them and some didnt? I dont know much about this so...



Old clutch and pressure plate, doesnt seem too worn out... I'll be reusing the clutch fork.



Finally, I purchased a new trans mount from Westar EM5908 (#1237162110), which specifically says it is for 4wd, manual trans on RockAuto. I'll be honest though, this thing does not look like it will work... it seems like the mounts are long enough, but not angled correctly.



Pictures of the 2001 4runner are coming shortly!

I’m glad you decided to search for the Tacoma ecu instead of trying to swap all the 98 stuff over, while it’s technically possible, having just removed a dash and body harness I certainly wouldn’t want to attempt it on a vehicle that wasn’t just being stripped for parts. To put it into perspective I had to depin the entire engine compartment fuse box to keep the harness intact

I would also recommend you get an oem rear main seal from the dealer or one of the online sources, I don’t think it was super expensive but being that it’s such a pain in the ass seal to replace I wouldn’t want to take any chances with aftermarket. I’d say get oem valve cover seals but they aren’t too hard to replace and I have aftermarket ones on mine that work fine

YIKES. Yeah, I would probly abandon the entire project if I had to do that. When I removed my gauge cluster, I saw that enormous bundle of wires back there and started sweating bullets wondering if I would have to pull all that out.

Thanks for the tip!

All 5vz engines have half moon seals. Parts store guys are only as good as the computer's they are using.

^^^^^ 100% this. There have been NUMEROUS times I've taken over their computer to get what I need
That's what happens when the store is staffed by kids who think they know cars because they bolted on a used Garrett to their 97 Civic

A beat civic with a junkyard turbo from a duramax or something is one of my dream cars

good luck

Yes as I am the owner of the limited Randy and I pulled the body harness out of. I can assure you the entire rig has to come apart. The entire dash all the interior the fuse box. So heed that warning.

Sent from my SM-J337V using Tapatalk

Been a while, but here are some pictures and an update on my progress...

Introducing my 2001 Limited...



I dont have any pictures of removing the auto transmission, but it went fairly smooth. The bolts behind the torque converter and flywheel were tricky, just gotta have nimble hands I guess. Overall, there was A LOT less rust than the '98.

Next, I fit a new rear main seal and my Marlin Crawler Clutch Kit up. The valve covers are awful on this truck... oil is caked everywhere.



Aaaand, its in! Was tricky getting it at the same angle as the truck, but we stacked 1 1x plank across the Harbor Freight Trans Jack so it would sit level, then 2 1x boards under the front of the transmission to get the right angle. After feeling it get lodged into the clutch splines, it just needed a little back n forth love to get it through the pilot bearing.



No more progress pictures at this time, but I will be mounting up my master cylinder and clutch pedal next. I went to a local auto performance store and picked up 36" stainless braided line instead of running solid like OEM - made things a lot cleaner and easier.

Items I need to learn/test:

1. How to neatly and safely cap off all unused plugs.
2. I am putting my J-shift t-case in, which has 2 plugs on it, but the auto harness only has 1 plug that will fit. So, I guess I'll need to learn which plug I need most? I am assuming one is 4-Hi and the other 4-Low
3. Will my 98 cluster work in this truck? Would be nice to omit the PRND.

For the retention of the J shift you'll want to see how I attacked this in my 97 limited 5 speed/J shift swap.

I kept all of the limited 4wd electronics/wiring but made a couple small changes. Don't follow my wire color/pins as they've probably changed between years.


In short the 4wd button switches to ground, tells the 4wd computer to engage the transfercase motors to go into 4wd, when the transfercase successfully goes into 4wd it sends a signal (ground) to the 4wd computer, which turn tells the ADD relay to engage the front axle.

So - the workaround is super simple. Make sure you have the J shift connected to the proper 4wd and 4wd low switches/wiring to the limited.

At the 4wd computer connect the ground signal from the 4wd button to the ground signal from the 4wd switch in the transfercase. Keep both connected to the computer but jumper them.


What, in short, happens is when you shift the J shift into 4wd, the 4wd computer receives a ground as if the button was pushed and the 4wd is engaged. At least in my 97 there's absolutely no issues without the transfercase motor not existing. It then tells the VSVs for ADD to run (and it works).

No, not without *major* modifications (like, swapping over all the interior wiring with it).

You should be able to modify the stock cluster so the PRND21 is not visible. The manual trans cluster from '99-'00 just has black pieces in those locations. There is a small chance you can order those parts from Toyota, they are cheap if available.

-Charlie

Thanks to both of you for your responses! I will use your advice once I am to that point in the process and am buttoning up the details.

With difficulty, I mounted my master cylinder and clutch pedal. Not sure if everyone else found this part of the process easy, but there was simply no precise way to measure where to drill the holes. Even my pops had trouble with it and that dude is a genius. Without going into too much detail, I drilled way too many holes and I am not proud of it, but... it's done.


Currently, I am focusing on identifying which of the wires on my main AT plug I need to jump in order to start this shitbox. Here is my plug, wires, and colors. I'm thankful I pulled back the plastic wire wrap, because the wires changed colors at the plug from being saturated in oil over all these years. I believe I need to jump wire 1 (black) and 4 (black and "faded?" white/yellow).

Jump wires 5 & 6 to complete the starting circuit, jumping these two wires will tell the ignition that the transmission is in park or neutral and will allow the ignition to turn over.

That does not seem to be the pattern of the plug I am looking at... could easily be I am looking at the wrong one. I was following this thread where he shows the plug I am looking at + the jumper he made (near the 3/4 of the page): 2002 Toyota 4Runner 5sp swap