Finally getting an engine for the 4runner!

[87yota4runner]

So after leaving the 87 sitting for months waiting for me to rebuild the motor, i found a "running" 22re out of a totaled 90 4runner. He already pulled the motor so its a bit of a gamble since i cant hear it run, but hes letting me pick it up at his house for only $375 so I'm going for it.
He said it ran great and only had 115,000 miles, has a rebuilt head with new timing chain and guides(didn't specify if they are steel or plastic) and it comes with all the accessories and wiring.

I've been doing some reading and everyone says that the engines are the same from 87-90 but that the fuel injectors changed, so i think I'm just going to swap all the accessories and wiring from my 87 to be sure that it will work, unless someone on here has a reason not to.

My main questions are;

1) Is there anything i should do to the motor before i swap it in aside from doing a rebuild? I plan on doing the swap on Thursday because we are going to start getting some snow up here before long and i need it going to get to school and work. Thursday is also my only day off for a couple weeks.

2) I will be using my 87 ECU and exhaust manifold, so i should use the 90 motor just as a long-block and swap all my wiring/injectors/accessories from the 87 like i mentioned earlier?

3) Anything else i should know?

Thanks in advance
Brian

 

[Chuckles89]

I know the 89+ fuel injectors are different than the 85-88, but I don't know if the ECU matters

 

[87yota4runner]

Whaaat?

Ok so I got my motor yesterday and it looks like it's in pretty good shape, to start, its a lot cleaner then the one I am replacing so I have some high hopes. One thing that is puzzling me is this round metal tubing coming out of my exhaust manifold, running around the back of the motor and going into something below my intake manifold?

Now I'm wondering if I should use the 90 exhaust manifold to retain that pipe or not?

 

[sam24th]

Thats an air injection tube for the exhaust. Im not sure what the laws are for California, but around here a lot of guys just remove it and not worry about it (blocking it off). It is considered part of the emissions system. Or you can just take your old manifold and bolt it up to that block instead. You could also just run it as is, Ive heard that it is something Toyota designed into the engines to lower the temps down and also comply with emissions (hearsay). It shouldn't hurt to run as long as it is functioning correctly.

 

[87yota4runner]

Thanks for the reply sam
Have any idea why the guys out there remove it?
If it cools the exhaust down then I will remove it since I live in Cali and get lower numbers on my smog tests when I let my exhaust get hot before testing.

 

[sam24th]

Thanks for the reply sam
Have any idea why the guys out there remove it?
If it cools the exhaust down then I will remove it since I live in Cali and get lower numbers on my smog tests when I let my exhaust get hot before testing.

Just remove the tube and use a few block off plates to eliminate the passage. You need 2 for the manifold side. You can either make them (really not that hard if you have access to some scrap and a drill bit or 2) or you can just buy a kit from trail gear or LC Engineering has them aswell.

Toyota Air Injection Blockoff Plate

Performance Toyota Block Plates

 

[87yota4runner]

Ok, It looks like there are block off plates on my 87 manifold so I will just use that. Is that all I have to do? Do I need to block off where it enter on the intake side or just remove tha little metal box it runs into and the black plastic canister that is connected to the metal box?
Once that is blocked off do I still need to use my 87 injectors and wiring?

 

[sam24th]

Ok, It looks like there are block off plates on my 87 manifold so I will just use that. Is that all I have to do? Do I need to block off where it enter on the intake side or just remove tha little metal box it runs into and the black plastic canister that is connected to the metal box?
Once that is blocked off do I still need to use my 87 injectors and wiring?

You should block off the metal tubing where the flange is going into the intake. It actually splits off into 2 tubes. This thread ahs some different pics at different angles that show the stock configuration for the engine.
22RE-C Rubuild Question - YotaTech Forums

I'd leave everything else there and not worry about it unless someone else here has some opinion on the matter. I don't actually have a 22re only have worked on them briefly. As far as harness and injectors go, Id transplant what you can from your 87 to make the swap a lot smoother so long as everything on your previous engine is in working order.

 

[87yota4runner]

Ok so I decided to say screw the pai.
So today I pulled my 87 22re and sealed the full intake and exhaust onto the 1990 as well as the ac compressor.
Then while tightening the two 10mm bolts that hold the metal heater tube into the bottom of the intake, I twisted the head off one of them. So I drilled it out and then snapped a reverse thread easy out in the snapped bolt. Now I can't get that to drill out and the hole is really close to the threads in the intake.
So now I'm wondering if I can use the 1990 lower intake to avoid the bolt problem?
Will my 87 injectors fit in the 1990 lower intake?
Everything looks the same to me, but I'm wondering if there is something im overlooking since everyone always talks about doing a late model "upper" intake swap instead of a full late model intake swap.

 

[sam24th]

The late model intake and early model lower will be almost identical. Ply difference I recall is that the early one has 2 temp sensor ports. The later model only has one. You should be able to run the lower intake without issue.

 

[87yota4runner]

Thanks so much for actually replying to my questions Sam. I'm going to start the 90 full intake swap after work tomorrow and will hopefully be installing the motor on Thursday. I'll let you know how it goes.
Hopefully I won't have more questions in the meantime haha