BrianSD_42 Photo Journal Build Maintenance Thread

[T4R2014]

Sorry to hear about your engine trouble despite all the care you put into it. Interesting how your babied 3.4 gave you trouble, yet I've come across some with 300k and zero maintenance records running totally fine. I guess these engines like neglect. I'd look into a JDM engine from a reputable dealer.

 

[snivilous]

I have the same thing it seems, well different but similar. Replaced the heads and everything seemed fine, then the engine over a few hundred miles went from fine to terrible. I have yet to do a proper diagnosis, but it seems like the block was jacked up from when I replaced the heads, and didn't properly seal so eventually the head gaskets took a massive shit, at least that's my guess of what's wrong with mine right now... Hope you get it going quickly!

 

[BrianSD_42]

I do think it is a bit much to say I babied it lol.

I don't jump it in the air and I avoid body damage whenever possible. I change the oil, the fluids and I dont redline at all or for it for minutes on end like an idiot. But this truck has certainly been around the block, hit plenty of miles on the trails, and spent a good amount of time above 4000 RPM in 4LO rolling around the wilderness.

I don't think I'll ever know if anything i did contributed to the death at 240K miles.

 

[fourfive]

Get rid of the R.I.P sign man, it's depressing...just needs to go under the knife is all.

 

[BrianSD_42]

Well the engine is RIP. I plan for the truck to live on. I just haven't figured that part out yet.

 

[smallfry]

V8 swap. :bounce:

 

[BrianSD_42]

V8 swap. :bounce:

Not likely on my budget lol

 

[TheHoneyBadger]

Nice build man, sorry to hear about your motor tapping out on you!

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[Road Bull]

Sorry to hear about your luck Brian. That totally sucks. Your build is still one of my favorites on this forum man. I would say get it back, regroup, start researching engine swap options and make it happen. You have enough time, energy and money invested in your 4runner to still have it make more sense to fix what is wrong rather than jump ship entirely. Good luck man! I hope you find a nice solid replacement for the engine.

 

[solsnowbarger]

Sorry to hear about all this man. I know it's small consolation, but you've been a huge blessing to a lot of guys, and I know that we'd all love to this your truck brought back to life. Heck, even if it gets down to small, one piece at a time updates, I know we'd all love to follow along for the knowledge. Good luck brother.


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[JBurt]

So I saw you posted you're swapping in an engine from a 99 next week w/ 110k miles. Are you doing anything to the new motor before the swap?

 

[BrianSD_42]

So I saw you posted you're swapping in an engine from a 99 next week w/ 110k miles. Are you doing anything to the new motor before the swap?

Thanked for bringing my thread back to life haha. The engine is my mechanics and he has had it sitting as an extra (stored in the parts warehouse) for awhile now, like a few years. He pulled it from another costumer who did a complete swap to a totally different type of engine and decided to keep this one as a reserve.

It will be a stock engine swap (everything above the valve cover gaskets stays) but with many new Toyota parts:
* Timing belt
* WP
* Valve cover gaskets
* Main seal
* Tstat
* Plugs

Injectors will be from my truck and will be cleaned. Can't be transferred. My headers will be kept for the new used engine.

 

[4Running Daily]

Glad to hear you're getting it back on the road!


Still driving that Lexus?

 

[JBurt]

Where's the blower?

 

[BrianSD_42]

Do you mean the SC? I can't afford one.

Still driving that Lexus?

She drives the Lexus. I drive the 08 Acura TL. No-one drives the 4Runner cause it only has 5 CYL. Hopefully that is fixed soon.

 

[LittleCaesar]

Glad to hear you're getting it back on the rode!


Still driving that Lexus?

I guess spelling isn't a requirement at ASU to graduate. Ha.

Nice to hear such Brian. I was going to PM you if I hadn't heard anything by the end of the month. I'd also look into replacing the oil cooler gaskets and hoses, oil pan gasket, oil filler cap gasket, dipstick o-ring. I'd also replace the injector O-rings. The freeze plugs will probably be OK.

In my experience any engine whether it sits in the car or is on a crate/stand for longer than a year without being run needs as many gaskets replaced as possible to avoid leaks later on.

 

[fourfive]

It will be a stock engine swap (everything above the valve cover gaskets stays) but with many new Toyota parts:
* Timing belt
* WP
* Valve cover gaskets
* Main seal
* Tstat
* Plugs

Injectors will be from my truck and will be cleaned. Can't be transferred. My headers will be kept for the new used engine.

^That is encouraging to hear. May want to consider new engine mounts if you haven't put it on your list already since it'll be easy access.

 

[BrianSD_42]

Some updates.

The new to me used engine seems to run great. I was told it has 110K miles on and it feels and runs really well. The entire swap cost me $4000 including taxes. This is with the Toyota parts and labor mentioned earlier included.

I've put about 3,000 miles on it and so far so good. I should be driving it a lot more in January.

Since the last major update to this thread I've:
* Gotten married
* Visited Alaska in Sept; pics coming soon
* Visited Sedona area in Nov; pics coming soon
* Redone all my previous custom electrical wiring in the engine bay, more on that below

During the engine swap they clipped a wire providing power to the relay that powers my Hella supertones. This blew the fuse in my BlueSea fuse box, no big deal. Upon further inspection I realized the whole electrical accessories wiring was a huge mess. For example, I have always powered on my LEDs by a parallel branch off the corner lights. This was cool since they came on with the headlights but it was messy. So I just spent several days (a few hours at a time) pulling out all my previous custom electrical wires. I now have 5 clean custom circuits all going to my BlueSea fusebox. Plus the PIAA HID and the Amber LEDs are now both triggered by separate OEM Toyota switches on the dash. The other 3 circuits are the Horn, Head Unit & Glove Box, and the HID Headlights. All the wiring (+ & -) is now cleanly run back to the BlueSea, using spades and sealed/taped-up ends featuring proper labels tucked cleanly. Night and day difference from before, especially with peace of mind knowing there aren't any old stray wires dangling around.

In addition my Photography may (or may not) get a boost from the Sony a6000 that I got as a gift/bonus from my work team. I haven't shot much with the a6000 yet but I've read great things.

I don't have any major 2017 trips planned yet with the truck but I'm hoping to do 4-6 trips this year at a minimum. I will also be going out to Savannah GA in the spring for a weeks vacation. We'll be staying with friends in the city for 7 days.

 

[BrianSD_42]

Here are the pictures from my November Sedona & Flagstaff camping trip.

First up Martannes in Flagstaff. Really amazing breakfast. We ate breakfast in Flagstaff one day and Sedona the next. Dinner was at the campsite.

These pictures were taken with my Nexus 6 phone and edited on the phone.


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[LittleCaesar]

Happy 2017 Brian. I take it the 4runner isn't still the 5cyl machine? New/used engine?

Love the photos. Lived in Flag and Sedona back in 1999/2000. Fun times. Seems like forever though.