I found "The One", 2001 Sport Ed. TRD SC'd

[ALBPM]

You definitely have 'No Fear' to dive into such an intricate project...:hungry:

Excellent documentation and photos as always..:rockon:

 

[rideexileex]

Ahh you should have sent me the old ecu to fix!

 

[smkd13]

Loved the review of the IPT valve body and definitely looking forward to the long term review. I was reading a blog the other day about a guy that literally burned through 2nd because of the power from the S/C. Have you any plans for a high stall torque converter?

 

[BigFishAllDay]

[MENTION=56396]Hepar[/MENTION] [MENTION=56044]downpour11[/MENTION] [MENTION=65379]00_4runner[/MENTION] [MENTION=69868]LittleCaesar[/MENTION] [MENTION=71653]ALBPM[/MENTION] [MENTION=81047]farmerjon[/MENTION]

Thanks for the "likes" and for reading the updates. It's good to know that some people around here appreciate information on the more technical aspects of these vehicles, rather than just the aesthetics.

Nice BFAD. I am curious if you will notice a change in ATF temps (higher or lower), the range in ATF temps while driving, etc. The valve body looks 10x easier to install than the ones I have played with from Chevy and Ford.

Gadget from URD loved his IPT transmission. I think that John had recommended in the past (via a YT thread maybe) the use of Lubegard black after his transmission rebuild. I don't know about the VB upgrade though.

Being on uncle duty at the moment, I am bookmarking this thread to read for the weekend.

I'll be monitoring the temps, so I'll definitely follow up on that. I suspect they'll be quite a bit lower with the torque converter lockup coming on sooner, and the higher line pressure through the cooling circuit. The install wasn't a peice of cake, but it wasn't what I'd call difficult either. Like you said, you just have to pay VERY close attention. I'll look into the Lubegard product.

Geez, that's a lot more tinkering with small pieces than I'd ever hope to have to do!!! Great job man. I hope you see some gains out of it!

Thanks ARK! I think it's fun to play around with this stuff. If I ever get my hands on a spare transmission and some time, I'd like to attempt a rebuild on one of these. Also, the gains are already evident!

You definitely have 'No Fear' to dive into such an intricate project...:hungry:

Excellent documentation and photos as always..:rockon:

Thanks Paul! It's nothing you couldn't handle... just a bit messy.

Ahh you should have sent me the old ecu to fix!

If you're serious, I'll gladly send you a PM about that. I still plan on getting the old one fixed, and if you're willing to volunteer some time then we should work something out. Did you miss the valve body posts? I thought for sure you'd have something to say on those.

Loved the review of the IPT valve body and definitely looking forward to the long term review. I was reading a blog the other day about a guy that literally burned through 2nd because of the power from the S/C. Have you any plans for a high stall torque converter?

I'm not doing any drag racing with this thing, and that's where the torque converter upgrades really come in handy (off the line performance). That being said, I have no future plans to have the torque converter upgraded. If I had just the S/C alone I might not have had the valve body done, but with the smaller pulley, the 7th, the headers, etc. I felt it was a needed upgrade. Thanks for the feedback!

BFAD,

Thanks for confirming that the 4wd's solenoids are Aisin. No need for access to the pic gallery. I think the 340Es uses ones made by Denso. I have a couple of things I want to do before I drop the pan on mine again for a possible solenoid replacement.

I thought there are only three solenoids total; I don't know about the 4th one. I will look forward to a pic of it. Maybe it is the mysterious electrical connector that prevents shifting from 2nd to 3rd until the ECT reaches 130F.

Confirming that some of them are Aisin, I guess, huh? If you're reading this, I'm sure you've read the write-up, and I can definitely confirm that the 4th solenoid does not control the 2-3 shift. That seems to be a function that is governed entirely by the ECU. I'm now pretty sure that the ECU simply prevents the solenoids from initiating the 2-3 shift until it sees a high enough temp from the ECT sensor.

I have the same issue with shifting from 2nd to 3rd until the trans warms up a bit. I can however get it to shift if I hit 2500rpm in 2nd. It pains me a bit to run it that high when its cold but otherwise its 26mph until it warms up enough to shift. Is this something that happens from the factory? It's pretty annoying really especially when the speed limit is 35

Yeah, Toyota designed it to operate that way to help get the engine and transmission up to normal operating temps quickly. Even when temps are below freezing at startup, mine will upshift into 3rd before I even get out of my neighborhood. I usually let the truck warm up for a few minutes (remote start) before I head out, so I'm sure that helps.

Just another tip to add BFAD: use a tiny dab of Vaseline or better yet assembly goo (such has a low disintegration/melting point) to keep the check balls in place on the VB.

My buddy is putting in a shift kit in a C4 at the moment and even with outlining the VB on cardboard and putting everything where it is supposed to go, he lost a check ball in his garage by not using any goo. It took him two days to find it.

Good tip. In fact, as I showed in the write-up, IPT includes some of that exact stuff to aid in the re-assembly process. I understand the challenges your friend is facing... when I pulled the donor VB off the truck @ the salvage yard, one of the springs and the check ball shot out, and it took me a while to track them down.

old post but just what i was looking for!!! and if I am ever down your way gotta go fishing with ya.

I'm glad the pinch weld post helped you out. And thanks for editing your quote. I'm always glad to take people out, so send me a PM if you're ever here on vacation.

 

[4-Ripcord]

Damn that was a long read, but a good one!

I definitely want a ride to see how these shifts feel.

I remember one time when I was at your house, I think when it was when I first got the supercharger and you looked it over for me. Anyway You asked if I was ever planning on the 2.2" pulley and I said I would do the VBU before I ever did the 2.2... then like 2 months later I had the 2.2 haha. Anyway its still on my list

 

[smkd13]

I'm glad the pinch weld post helped you out. And thanks for editing your quote. I'm always glad to take people out, so send me a PM if you're ever here on vacation.

Not a problem bud, and thanks again for the detail write-ups. You thread is now a goto for me. and likewise on the fishing. We got white sturgeon up in these parts

 

[Dirtco]

Thanks for the detailed write up Nick!

Dropping the valve body is not as bad as people make out, you just have to be extremely careful and attentive of what your doing. A clean work area and limited distractions are key.

You may have confirmed a fear of mine. I bought a used IPT valve body over a year ago (new but not installed) and was promised that it fit a 99' 4Runner, but after looking at your pictures I'm not so sure. The one I bought has pick up tubes (they are in separate bag), and your pictures of the mid-model does not have them. I will need to take a closer look, but I have a bad feeling. That was the reason I have not tore into mine yet, looks like it might have been a good thing I did not.

How cool was Josh at IPT to work with? I might need to call him and figure out what I have, and what it fits, but I hate doing that on used/pre-purchased parts.

 

[downpour11]

Thanks for the "likes" and for reading the updates. It's good to know that some people around here appreciate information on the more technical aspects of these vehicles, rather than just the aesthetics.

Definitely - I may not always leave a comment, but I read all your write ups. You don't learn if you don't read! Great info man! I try and read as much as possible and bookmark stuff especially since I know I'll be tearing the entire truck apart one day. When I SAS I will be addressing all leaks etc underneath the truck. SAS may come sooner than I expect too...

 

[rideexileex]

If you're serious, I'll gladly send you a PM about that. I still plan on getting the old one fixed, and if you're willing to volunteer some time then we should work something out. Did you miss the valve body posts? I thought for sure you'd have something to say on those.

sure thing - I'll definitely take a look at it. No promises, but I wouldnt mind giving it a shot!

Ha.... Well I kind of skimmed it at first and then got the idea that it was a really positive review, and then knew I should quit reading - I'm trying to quit spending money on the 4Runner!! Ha, but it is quite an impressive bit of work. I'll like to see how it works out for you in the long run. I've known that there is a little, little bit of slip in my own from 1st to 2nd when hammering the throttle, so I've turned into a 3/4 throttle kind of guy, but it has helped my MPG's lol.

 

[Hepar]

Thanks for the "likes" and for reading the updates. It's good to know that some people around here appreciate information on the more technical aspects of these vehicles, rather than just the aesthetics.

Lol. For sure. I love this thread. I know that by reading through all of your updates, if I ever do a similar mod I know right where to go to get all the intel I'll ever need. It's very comforting. I'm too lazy and not nearly articulate enough to give similar updates to my thread. People are lucky to get a pic and a sentence or two out of me.

 

[BrianSD_42]

The transmission work is very impressive (at least to me!) - I haven't seen anyone else delve into on this forum and personally I am far to cautious to do anything like that with my transmission. I'm just happy mine has no slippage even at 217k.

A couple of months ago I bookmarked an excellent comment you made regarding the eLocker wiring. I have had some issues with my eLocker, mainly that it stopped fully engaging in 2011. Well it turns out that the only problem was the sensor (or ECU?) which makes the dash light go from flashing to solid. I recently went wheeling in San Diego and someone on the trail helped me diagnose my eLocker. We discovered that it actually LOCKS / UNLOCKS 100% but the dash just stays in flashing mode. It has been fully op tested on the trail and works fine. :car:

 

[Fishwerks]

Great write-up on the valve body upgrade, glad to hear it was worth it! The detail in your write-ups is crazy.

 

[BigFishAllDay]

Damn that was a long read, but a good one!

I definitely want a ride to see how these shifts feel.

I remember one time when I was at your house, I think when it was when I first got the supercharger and you looked it over for me. Anyway You asked if I was ever planning on the 2.2" pulley and I said I would do the VBU before I ever did the 2.2... then like 2 months later I had the 2.2 haha. Anyway its still on my list

Yeah, I remember that conversation. If you look back at the first page of my build thread, in post #6, I said: "The first thing I'm going to do is pull the valve body and send it off to IPT to have the upgrade done."

Here we are 2.5 years later and I finally got it done. So don't feel too bad about procrastinating. I drove it easy, and my transmission survived, but those 2.5 years would have been alot more fun if I had followed through right away. If we don't catch up before Moab, you can count on checking it out on that trip.

Not a problem bud, and thanks again for the detail write-ups. You thread is now a goto for me. and likewise on the fishing. We got white sturgeon up in these parts

You're welcome, thanks for reading them and putting them to good use. I'd love to catch a sturgeon. They had those in the Rio Grande here in town back in the 1800's, but not these days.

Thanks for the detailed write up Nick!

Dropping the valve body is not as bad as people make out, you just have to be extremely careful and attentive of what your doing. A clean work area and limited distractions are key.

You may have confirmed a fear of mine. I bought a used IPT valve body over a year ago (new but not installed) and was promised that it fit a 99' 4Runner, but after looking at your pictures I'm not so sure. The one I bought has pick up tubes (they are in separate bag), and your pictures of the mid-model does not have them. I will need to take a closer look, but I have a bad feeling. That was the reason I have not tore into mine yet, looks like it might have been a good thing I did not.

How cool was Josh at IPT to work with? I might need to call him and figure out what I have, and what it fits, but I hate doing that on used/pre-purchased parts.

You're very welcome man. I remembered you had that VB on standby, so I figured you might get something out of that info. You're right about the job not being difficult, just messy, and it definitely requires that you pay close attention to what you're doing. I'm not sure if you noticed in the pictures, but I got a 12' x 9' clear plastic dropcloth (for painting jobs) and put it down on the garage floor to keep the dust down, help find missing parts, and keep the trans fluid from getting on the concrete. That helped alot.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news on your VB. If you've got the pickup tubes on the upgraded VB, I'm pretty sure you're going to be out of luck.

John was very helpful, but he's got a busy shop so he's sometimes in a bit of a rush. One thing I should mention is that he does not recommend or like to perform the upgrade on any VB other than the one that comes out of your vehicle. I think that is a result of these mismatches occurring in the past. We talked about it up front on mine, but I had the spare in hand so I could accurately describe what I had. I was still leery of whether or not I'd see a match when I dropped my trans pan, but it all worked out.

Definitely - I may not always leave a comment, but I read all your write ups. You don't learn if you don't read! Great info man! I try and read as much as possible and bookmark stuff especially since I know I'll be tearing the entire truck apart one day. When I SAS I will be addressing all leaks etc underneath the truck. SAS may come sooner than I expect too...

That's good to know, downpour! I put alot of time into these things to advance the knowledge base around here, so it's always nice to get the feedback and know they they are being used. It's good to hear you're researching and prepping prior to the SAS... once you cut, there's no going back.

sure thing - I'll definitely take a look at it. No promises, but I wouldnt mind giving it a shot!

Ha.... Well I kind of skimmed it at first and then got the idea that it was a really positive review, and then knew I should quit reading - I'm trying to quit spending money on the 4Runner!! Ha, but it is quite an impressive bit of work. I'll like to see how it works out for you in the long run. I've known that there is a little, little bit of slip in my own from 1st to 2nd when hammering the throttle, so I've turned into a 3/4 throttle kind of guy, but it has helped my MPG's lol.

Right on, I'll send you a PM on the ECU in the near future. You've definitely got some big $$$ in your 4Runner. The mods in your signature cost more than alot of people spend on their 4Runners, and believe me, I can relate. I've been a 3/4 throttle guy since day 1, so it's nice to finally have the pleasure of being a full throttle guy without worrying about it. If you ever find a spare $500, you should consider the upgrade.

Lol. For sure. I love this thread. I know that by reading through all of your updates, if I ever do a similar mod I know right where to go to get all the intel I'll ever need. It's very comforting. I'm too lazy and not nearly articulate enough to give similar updates to my thread. People are lucky to get a pic and a sentence or two out of me.

Indeed, you've been one of the most consistent followers of this thread since I first started it, and I sincerely appreciate that! I'm glad it's paying some dividends for you.

ALBPM and I were talking about this thread the other day, and I was telling him that it consumes alot of time, but I do it because I've done the research and have all the info at hand and it seems kind of like a waste not to compile it for reference. It doesn't do much to benefit me, but it helps other people out and contributes to the knowledge base so.... eh... I'll do it as long as I can find the time.

I guess the side benefit is that it keeps my technical writing skills sharp.

The transmission work is very impressive (at least to me!) - I haven't seen anyone else delve into on this forum and personally I am far to cautious to do anything like that with my transmission. I'm just happy mine has no slippage even at 217k.

A couple of months ago I bookmarked an excellent comment you made regarding the eLocker wiring. I have had some issues with my eLocker, mainly that it stopped fully engaging in 2011. Well it turns out that the only problem was the sensor (or ECU?) which makes the dash light go from flashing to solid. I recently went wheeling in San Diego and someone on the trail helped me diagnose my eLocker. We discovered that it actually LOCKS / UNLOCKS 100% but the dash just stays in flashing mode. It has been fully op tested on the trail and works fine. :car:

I was impressed with myself when I got it done and it all worked right, so I'm with you. Auto transmissions are kind of intimidating. They've always been like a "magical box of mystery and intrigue" to me, so it was cool to open it up, learn about how they actually work, and see/touch the parts.

I'm glad the e-locker posts have helped you out. The motors/ecu's/wiring seem to be a common source of confusion for people. It sounds to me like your detection switch @ the e-locker motor has bit the dust. The ECU is what creates the flashing of the dash light, and the detection switch is what makes it go solid once the diff is locked. So no solid light = bad detection switch.

Great write-up on the valve body upgrade, glad to hear it was worth it! The detail in your write-ups is crazy.

Thanks man. I'm glad it was worth it too. It's one of the more rare mods that ever gets done, so there is very minimal info available in general, and almost zero info available as far as application specific user feedback. Hence the detail in the write-up, just trying to contribute to the cause.

 

[smkd13]

You're welcome, thanks for reading them and putting them to good use. I'd love to catch a sturgeon. They had those in the Rio Grande here in town back in the 1800's, but not these days.

I didn't know that, good tidbit if info. The ones we have are 4 to 6 feet. And are in the snake river up in Southeast Idaho. Three hour drove from where I am but definitely worth it. You will have to take me for a ride in you 4R so I can see how a 4R feels with the S/C. As that will be my summer project.

 

[madbomber08]

Ok BigFish, this is pretty insignificant from what you've been doing lately and it has actually been quite a while ago, but I have a question about the satoshi mod. I'm guessing the perforated aluminum you used isn't very thick, so do the mounting bases and zip ties cause bending in the middle of the aluminum plate? Also, what stops the lateral and longitudinal movement of the plate against the plastic part of the grill? I see the zip ties are very tight, but after time won't the aluminum plate creep downwards?

 

[BigFishAllDay]

I've got 3 weeks to start getting some things taken care of before the Moab trip, so I've been working on a couple projects. One of them was building a "Stubby" exhaust for the '01. The goal of this project was to allow me to remove the tail section from my TRD catback to avoid smashing it on any rock ledges in Moab.

While the TRD catback is a very nice addition to the rig, the tip and the tail section of the exhaust hang pretty low...

On a recent trip to the U-Pull-It yard, I grabbed a stock tail section from the exhaust system on one of the 4Runners they had. For reference, it looked just like the exhaust on my '97, pictured below... I grabbed the section from the flange behind the muffler to the tip.

Notice that compared to the TRD catback, the routing on the stock exhaust is slightly different. Also, the TRD exhaust has a resonator in the tail section.

I tried bolting the stock tail section to the flange behind the muffler on the TRD catback, but things didn't line up right. I was going to have to build a new tail pipe from scratch, so I cut the spare stock pipe into separate bends and separated the pipe from the flange. Then I did some test fitting and welded up a "new" tail pipe.

It fit perfectly, and keeps the tip tucked tight behind the crossmember where it's out of the way. The angle on the tip directs the exhaust gasses down and outward, but not directly toward the tire.

Plenty of clearance between the body and the frame...

I still need to shoot it with a layer of hi-temp black paint, and there is a very small exhaust leak at the flange due to the fact that I re-used the old gasket. Since the leak is 2 feet from the outlet, and behind all the O2 sensors, I'm not worried about it. Because I intend to swap the TRD tip back on once I return from Moab, I'll probably just leave the new pipe as is until then.

Deleting the resonator made the TRD catback sound a little bit louder, and a little bit deeper, but I kinda like it. After I try it out for a couple thousand miles I may just decide to leave it like this, in which case I'll paint it and put in a new gasket.

 

[BigFishAllDay]

Ok BigFish, this is pretty insignificant from what you've been doing lately and it has actually been quite a while ago, but I have a question about the satoshi mod. I'm guessing the perforated aluminum you used isn't very thick, so do the mounting bases and zip ties cause bending in the middle of the aluminum plate? Also, what stops the lateral and longitudinal movement of the plate against the plastic part of the grill? I see the zip ties are very tight, but after time won't the aluminum plate creep downwards?

The aluminum is little more than 1/16" thick, so it's got some backbone to it. That being said, it does not bend under the tension of the zip ties. Re the lateral movement, it is prevented by the way that I shape the grille material around the frame. In the attached image below of the grille I did on my '97, note the areas circled in green... at each of those corners I carefully shape the grille material to precisely fit between the two mounting points on the lower corners. In addition, the grille material is folded around the frame at each side, further preventing movement. It is VERY secure. If you tried to move it side to side, you'd break the frame of the grille before you got it to move.

 

[BigFishAllDay]

I also bought some 3/16" steel to play with. I got a 4' x 8' sheet for $139. I picked it up with the '97, so I had to have them cut it in half in order to fit it in the back....

You'd be surprised how much this stuff weighs... a little over 7 lbs./sq.ft. according to the guy at the metal shop. The 4' x 8' sheet was about 250 lbs.!! :shocked:

This is what I started with when I got home.

I already got started on the project, so as of now this is what I have left... By the time all is said and done I'll have used about 75% of it...

 

[farmerjon]

Absolutely cruel, to leave us hanging! Cruel, cruel, I tell you!

Exhaust looking good, I like how high up the pipe is and that it's out of sight. Wouldn't mind doing that to mine.

As always, awesome Satoshi! I think that style is easily my favorite! Looking forward to seeing the results of your project - don't leave us hanging for long!

 

[TCMach]

I already got started on the project, so as of now this is what I have left... By the time all is said and done I'll have used about 75% of it..

Full set of skids in your future? Either way I'm looking forward to seeing whatever dream up with all that steel!