Geolander's '95 SR5 4WD Build Thread

[Geolander]

Got myself a '95 SR5 4WD V6 manual this week and discovered that it needs some work done on it. Being a college student and, as such, inherently short on cash, I've decided to do most of it myself. This will be a very mild build thread for now, mostly focusing on repairs. I do have a few small mods/upgrades planned though. And once I have a more steady source of income...well, who knows?

It has 220,000 miles, but every mechanic I've taken it to has said that it's in phenomenal shape. The head gasket was done in the last 100 miles, as was the oil cooler seal. I'm not sure when the timing belt and water pump were done, but my mechanic says that they look new. Only rust is a few tiny spots in old rock chips.

As she sits:

When I picked her up:

Completed:
- Steering relay rod recall
- Rooftop bike rack
- Shift seat bushing replacement
- Fixed ignition lock cylinder
- New head unit

On Deck:
- Full exterior detailing
- Install replacement running board end cap and end cap seals

Planned:
- Miscellaneous interior replacement parts
- New interior lights
- Possible small lift/stiffer springs

 

[Geolander]

Got back late on Friday and set to work on Saturday morning.

Got my TRD shift knob (+30HP):

Old shift knob for reference:

Bike rack (Inno ForkLock II):

 

[Geolander]

Marlin Crawler Shift Seat Bushing Installation

This was my first significant piece of auto mechanic work. Not all that difficult, though it doesn't seem to have made the dramatic difference that other people have said it does.

Tools required were a large Phillips screwdriver and a pair of pliers. I also used a small slotted screwdriver and a wire brush to do some cleaning while I was in there

First, disassemble the center console:

Then remove the inner and outer shift boots:

Push down and turn the collar around the base of the shifter to remove the column, exposing the old bushing. Some people have trouble getting this to work, but mine turned pretty easily. Pull the old bushing out and replace with the new one. Mine was all in one piece, though a bit deformed, which is probably why changing it didn't make much of a difference.

Here's the new bushing in place. It's polyurethane instead of rubber.

The shifter assembly removed from the transmission. You can see the old ball seat and bushing on the right - the new Marlin Crawler ball seat is on the end of the shifter.

Reinstall the shifter. I learned the hard way that it's best to have the shifter in neutral when you do this (meaning before you pull it out). It's a royal pain to get that ball back in if it's in gear. The exterior of the transmission and transfer case were also coated in a thick layer of dust and grime - some simple green, a wire brush, and a small screwdriver managed to get most of it off.

Replace the boots, reassemble the center console, and you're good to go.

 

[Geolander]

Some other purchases - tools and a Viair 70P air compressor:

I also installed a new head unit (Pioneer DEH-1300MP). I'll post a picture of that tomorrow.

While I had the dash apart, I fixed the wiggly ignition lock cylinder. It turned out that the bracket holding it to the steering column was loose - I tightened up the bolts holding it in place and it was rock solid.

When I originally got it, I was going to remove the running boards because i prefer the clean look. However, they proved to be too useful to remove. I'm short, so it's a lot easier for me to get up using the boards rather than stepping directly into the front seat. It's also impossible for me to get my bike on the roof without the running boards.

At the same time, I discovered that the LED behind the AC controls was dead. Anyone know the part # for this? There are quite a few other dead bulbs around the interior, so I've been considering switching to a LED light kit. Any recommendations there?

 

[Geolander]

New head unit (Pioneer DEH-1300MP):

Installation was pretty straightforward. There was an extra piece of plastic trim around the bezel that needed to come off before it would fit, but that was the biggest snag I hit.

After two washes with a clay bar in between, plus some touch-up paint in the rock chips, we have this:

Wax has to wait until tomorrow due to the paint.

 

[Geolander]

Some post-trip updates:

The day before I left, I was working on my washer bottle and forgot to re-secure the battery strap. This resulted in about 15-20 miles of driving with the battery rattling loose in the engine compartment while I went to go pick up some parts from the dealer. When I opened the hood back up I found that the battery had slid into the fan belt pulley, which ground away at the plastic to the point of causing a small leak. There was a ~3-5 inch wide band of battery acid sprayed all across my engine compartment. :dammit::dammit::dammit:

Fortunately, it hadn't been going for long. All I lost was some paint off the underside of the hood and a few spots of paint on the radiator, and the battery of course. The spark plug wires are pitted, but the insulation is still intact, and there's some staining and etching in other spots, but it appears to have held up ok.

At the same time, I also lost one of my washer pumps because I hadn't removed it from the tubing. The stealership wanted $120 for the pump, but fortunately I had picked up a bottle from an early '90s Toyota pickup as a back up while I was looking for parts to fix my original bottle with. Since those don't have rear washers, they only have a single pump. So I just plugged my remaining pump (along with a new seal from the dealer) and it fired right up. No rear washer for now, but I can live with it.

So after that debacle, I loaded up the truck and drove from California to Kansas. Loaded down at Bryce Canyon:

As you can see, the rear was just a tad saggy. So now I'm looking at possibly getting some stiffer springs. Reading around, the Moog CC255 springs seem like a good choice for keeping it roughly at stock height, though it seems like most people just use them for taking care of sag. Mine doesn't sag much, if at all, when unloaded. I'm just looking for something a little stiffer so that it won't drag quite as much when fully loaded and to maybe get rid of some of the body roll I get when it's unloaded. Has anyone used the Moogs for this? Or is there something you'd recommend more? I'm looking to keep it roughly stock height, maybe 1-1.5" lift at most. I don't particularly want to deal with cranking torsion bars, panhard drops, and possibly new shocks.

 

[Geolander]

Some updates:

After driving around a little longer and reading up a bit, it seems more likely that it's my shocks that are the problem rather than my springs (I also crawled under the truck the other day and noticed that the rear shocks are OEM Tokicos - 50/50 they're the originals ). I can't really afford new ones now, but I'm looking at putting in OME shocks and Moog cc255 (stock height) springs next semester. Only question on that is whether the OME shocks would be too long for the springs since they're designed to work with the OME lift springs.

While I was under the truck looking at the shocks, I also took a look at my breather plugs and saw this in the front:

and this in the rear:

Eww...

I cleaned them off as best I could, but I highly doubt that they'll be doing much breathing. Fortunately I haven't noticed any leaking axle seals, so thank god for small favors. In the mean time, I've ordered the parts to do an extended breather for both differentials, so that should solve the problem. I'm hoping they come by next weekend - I foolishly decided to order from DiscountToyotaParts.com instead of through the dealership - the price worked out the be pretty much the same with shipping factored in ($10 for 5 dinky little parts that can't weigh more than a quarter pound!) and the dealership could have had them the next day whereas these have been on order since Tuesday and still haven't shipped.

In that shipment is also a second replacement washer pump gasket so I can have rear washers again. I'll have to hard-wire in the pump since the connectors don't match (the replacement pump i have is from a Toyota pickup of unknown age), but at least it will work (and not cost me $120).

Finally, I was browsing for easy mods to do and ran across 4x4 Wire's Minute Mods section. My driver side seatbelt hadn't been working that well, so I decided to see if I could tighten it up based on the instructions in this link: Minute Mod- Fixing Seatbelt Retractors

The instructions are pretty simple, but they did neglect to mention a few things. First, you have to pull out the molding around the door sills and the seat belt retractor (obvious, I know, but it briefly stumped me). So before you start with the Minute Mod directions, your car should look like this:

Second, they tell you to remove the plastic cover, but there are two of these on the retractor. They are referring to the clear cover, not the black one. The one in the picture below is what you want to remove.

And finally (and I cannot stress this enough), always make sure you keep pressure on the spool so that it doesn't unwind. If it does, it's a royal pain in the ass to get back together. You have to take off the black plastic cover to expose the clock spring, get the tab on the end of the spring back into the slot on the end of the spool, then put the cover back on without letting the spring pop out or letting the spool unwind again and rewind the whole spring. As you've probably guessed, I did let the spool unwind and had to reattach the spring. And in the process, the clock spring fell out and I had to re-wind that too. In all, it took about 30 more minutes than it should have.

The seatbelt seems to retract a little better now, though still not perfectly. I suspect that if I'd had the time to wash the belt too it would have helped more, but I was in a hurry and didn't have time for that, especially after my goof-ups. Perhaps next weekend...

Also, this morning, I cut the corner coming out of my driveway just a little too much and dropped off the curb onto the street (about 3-4"). Immediately after that, my engine and muffler got a lot louder, especially while accelerating. Any ideas on what it might be? Bad muffler perhaps? Or something worse?

 

[SUBTEGRAL]

Did you look under there and make sure everything's okay?

 

[Geolander]

Did you look under there and make sure everything's okay?

I looked, and nothing obvious was wrong. My muffler was always a little loud, but I thought one of the previous owners had just put something aftermarket on it because it had a bit of that rumbling note you get in some of the Flowmaster and Magnaflow exhausts. But now it's louder and sounds more like a fart can, so I'm not sure sure anymore. Maybe I knocked something loose inside the muffler coming off the curb? It wasn't much of a drop though and I was going pretty slow, so it doesn't seem like it would have done anything. I've hit plenty of larger bumps a lot harder without any problems before.

The engine's also picked up a new noise apart from the change in the exhaust note. It sounds like it's coming from the engine bay, right in front of the steering wheel or maybe slightly to the left of it. I'm not really sure how to describe it, but I only hear it when I'm accelerating; if I'm going a constant speed, it goes away.

I just drove around the block to see if I could get a better description of it, and it may just be the exhaust noise leaking into the cabin. I have a video of the sound that I can upload on youtube if anyone thinks they can diagnose it.

 

[Darrie]

Firstly confirm you were not playing with any rubber grommets in the firewall. If any of those are not placed back in correctly you will hear new engine noises coming back into the cab.

If you have sat on the exhaust and broken something you may have stressed one of the support brackets and cracked where it welds onto the exhaust. A quick test is to get a friend with a big thick rag. With you underneath and vehicle idling get him to bunch up the rag & hold firmly on the tailpipe briefly so nothing is coming out and no exhaust noise just until the motor idles down a little. It will presurise the pipe & you will hear a leak. Just shift your position along the exhaust system each few seconds he holds it on, and concentrate on where support brackets are welded onto the exhaust. Only needs to be held on for a few seconds, but make the rag thick as it will get hot.

If its not leaking, the next step is to sit in the cab, rev slighty to the RPM you hear the noise and have someone place their boot on the top of the tailpipe just placing pressure on the exhaust system but not stopping the flow. If the noise disappears then check all your mounts as possibly one is loose, broken or become unsettled. Their boot pressure is just acting like the rubber mounts, and if a mount or rubber has failed this will help identify it.



Good luck.

 

[Geolander]

Firstly confirm you were not playing with any rubber grommets in the firewall. If any of those are not placed back in correctly you will hear new engine noises coming back into the cab.

Nope, haven't touched them. When my parents picked it up for me, it was apparently pretty quiet. It got louder a few days after they got it (all before I ever saw it), but it was still at an acceptable level - like a slightly louder aftermarket muffler. It never got louder in the 6 weeks or so that I've had it, including a cross-country trip, until this past weekend.

If you have sat on the exhaust and broken something you may have stressed one of the support brackets and cracked where it welds onto the exhaust. A quick test is to get a friend with a big thick rag. With you underneath and vehicle idling get him to bunch up the rag & hold firmly on the tailpipe briefly so nothing is coming out and no exhaust noise just until the motor idles down a little. It will presurise the pipe & you will hear a leak. Just shift your position along the exhaust system each few seconds he holds it on, and concentrate on where support brackets are welded onto the exhaust. Only needs to be held on for a few seconds, but make the rag thick as it will get hot.

I haven't hit the tailpipe/exhaust system on anything, though it's possible that the previous owner did. Thanks for the tip on checking for leaks.

If its not leaking, the next step is to sit in the cab, rev slighty to the RPM you hear the noise and have someone place their boot on the top of the tailpipe just placing pressure on the exhaust system but not stopping the flow. If the noise disappears then check all your mounts as possibly one is loose, broken or become unsettled. Their boot pressure is just acting like the rubber mounts, and if a mount or rubber has failed this will help identify it.

Don't think it's a mount since it's more of an exhaust-y sound than a rattle. It's most likely either a hole in the exhaust that was plugged with dirt or something (the whole underside of the truck is pretty dirty; I bought it that way and haven't had time to clean it yet) or just the internals breaking down. I wouldn't be surprised if it turns out that it's still on the original cat and muffler after 226k miles.

 

[Geolander]

Did the extended breather install today. I routed the rear up through a hole in the frame, so it's now sitting between the body and the frame over the rear axle. My original plan was to route it next to the gas cap, but mine doesn't have a soft rubber boot in there - it's all hard plastic. The front proved to be impossible to do with the materials I had. The breather was frozen in place (though that could be fixed with some WD-40), but more importantly, the union joint won't fit into the available space with enough room for anything on top. There's just not enough space between the differential and the oil sump. So I ended up just cleaning the old breather with a wire brush until the cap could jiggle freely. I'll keep my eye out for something that might work as a replacement for the union, but I'm not holding my breath.

While I was under the front of the car, I also noticed this:

I'm not entirely sure what part this is, but it's on the drivers side, just above the oil sump and about 6-8 inches behind the oil filter. Is the presence of oil on the outside any cause for alarm? I checked my oil levels and they didn't seem low. The previous owner said that they had a small oil leak in that vicinity fixed before I bought it, so I'm not sure if it's just residual oil from that or if the leak wasn't fixed/restarted. Could this potentially be the cause of/related to the increased engine noise I'm hearing?

 

[Geolander]

I said in my last post that when I checked my oil, it looked fine. Well, I guess I checked it while it was still warm because I checked it later and it was down below the hatch marks on the dipstick. I haven't done an oil change on it since I got it, so I had no idea what oil was in there. I decided to just do a full oil change and switch to synthetic.

I stopped by Autozone to pick up supplies and discovered that they're having a special: 5 quarts of Valvoline oil and an oil filter for cheap. Synthetic plus a Bosch DistancePlus filter was only $31, plus an additional $12 in mail in rebates. Conventional oil with a Purolator PureOne filter was only $24 with at least an additional $7 in mail in rebates (don't know if the Purolator filters had a rebate on them like the Bosch filters did). Heads up for anyone looking to do an oil change right now.

 

[OCMike]

Save up and install OME all around. I just had them installed and the Beast looks awesome. Now more sag and it added a few inches to the height. I picked mine up from
Offroad products for the serious offroad enthusiast!

It took about 4-5 weeks for them to deliver, so be prepared to wait.

 

[Geolander]

Save up and install OME all around. I just had them installed and the Beast looks awesome. Now more sag and it added a few inches to the height. I picked mine up from
Offroad products for the serious offroad enthusiast!

It took about 4-5 weeks for them to deliver, so be prepared to wait.

It's not the price - full OME is about the same as OME shocks and Moog springs. I just prefer keeping it at stock height for now, and the Moogs are the only option that does this. I don't really need (or want) a lift at this point. At the same time, if I do change my mind about a lift, the Nitrochargers would be able to support one down the road, unlike OEM shocks.