little extra power

[ClassicYoda]

Does anyone know any simple tweeks that can give my 22RE a little more power?
My get up and go seems to have got up and went.

 

[Hyde802]

If you had power and lost it, maybe start with a compression test and or a basic tune up.

 

[Park]

And after that tune up, dont waste your time with cold air intakes, or electric superchargers or "highflow" fart can mufflers, or...... you get the idea

 

[SV_Dude]

And after that tune up, dont waste your time with cold air intakes, or electric superchargers or "highflow" fart can mufflers, or...... you get the idea

Electric superchargers and fart can mufflers are a waste, yes. As far as I know, no one makes a cold air intake for our 4runners. But... you can improve performance with not a lot of money by massaging a few little areas such as air intake and exhaust. Take a look at Toyota Performance Parts | LCEPerformance.com. They are a bit on the pricey side but it is well worth it. You can use their top end power package which will bump you up 20-30hp. It's about $900 but if you don't want to do an engine swap, it's well worth it.

 

[KidVermicious]

What Hyde said, maintenance first. Little things like fresh plugs and wires, clean the injectors, hit the crankcase with some seafoam. Clean out your throttle body. Lash your valves. Check your vacuum hoses for leaks. If your block is dirty with caked on mud or oil, clean it, a clean block sheds heat better. A proper tuneup has made a huge difference in every 22RE I've played with (on number three and counting).

Little things you can do after that ... Bump your timing. Factory is 5 degrees, you can generally get to 10 or 12 before you start pinging, more if you're willing to run higher-octane gas. Disconnect the AC belt, it's a slight drag on the crank pulley and might free up a quarter of a HP . Adjust your throttle cable and make sure it's snug. You already have a factory cold air intake (cone filter =/ cold air intake!), but a high-flow air filter will give you little more throttle response - if you ditch the air box and go with a cone filter, for gods sake build an enclosure to insulate it from the engine bay, or you'll have a HOT air intake. Also insulate the air tube that runs across the front of the engine bay, or look into an airbox/battery swap. The AFM from an '82 Celica Supra is plug and play with the 22RE harness, and guys that have done that swap say it helps, I'm skeptical it helps much but if you can find one cheap, go for it.

If you ever have to replace the head, it's probably worth spending a little extra coin to get a built head. Engnbldr, 22REPerformance, and LCE all sell built heads that'll add a little horsepower - I don't know if they're worth it by themselves, but if I needed head work anyway that's what I'd do. As long as you're in there a better cam will help wake things up too. Ditto for the exhaust - I wouldn't rush right out and buy a new exhaust, but if you're ever needing to replace it, the upgrade can't hurt.

Any more than that, and you'll quickly reach the point where you're putting more money into the motor than it's worth and you should start thinking about a swap. I feel the best thing you can do for a 22RE is keep it in top shape and love it for what it is, an insanely reliable and utterly gutless little workhorse of a motor.

 

[92-SR5]

I feel the best thing you can do for a 22RE is keep it in top shape and love it for what it is, an insanely reliable and utterly gutless little workhorse of a motor.

This. I couldn't agree more with this statement.

 

[fourwd1]

Does anyone know any simple tweeks that can give my 22RE a little more power?
My get up and go seems to have got up and went.

How many miles on it?
Have you done a compression test on the engine?

If it's a lot, the loss of power could be due to wear on the engine.
Bolting things on (headers, performance head, etc) would be a waste of $ on a worn engine.

Also, have you checked the cat converter?
A clogged converter will strangle an engine.

 

[jrod777]

Lack of Horsepower fix.

I'm thinking that I would like to do a 5.3 liter Chevy swap for my 89.

 

[KidVermicious]

Will it fit? That's a lot of liters for that little engine bay... over twice the displacement of the 22re.

 

[BURNINGAIR]

I've had a 454, 350, and 262 in my 1st gens... I saw a write up on the 5.3.. and if I can get a 454 in there no doubt a 5.3 will go.. but really.. I'm happiest with the 22r I have in this one. but the vortec 262(4.3l V6) was a great match all around for the truck and if you'll just NEVER be happy with the power from the 22r its what I would suggest using. Be sure you don't get in over your head before you tear anything out as there is a ton of stuff that goes into a good swap job; in many cases it requires changing the whole truck. I found that with the 22r you may not get to the trail fast but you also don't normally break anything The 454 and 350 break anything drivetrain fast..:redbrick: the 262 had plenty of power and the stock drivetrain could actually live under it.

 

[fourwd1]

...the 262 had plenty of power and the stock drivetrain could actually live under it.

That's only slightly larger than the 231 V6 (3.8L) in my 83.
And it looks like it came in the truck it fits so good.

 

[BURNINGAIR]

That's only slightly larger than the 231 V6 (3.8L) in my 83.
And it looks like it came in the truck it fits so good.

For sure! and there is actually room to work on it! not to mention that the weight balance is nearly perfect too... I had the R151 behind it (youd never beleive I got that little gem for $50) but otherwise the tcase and axles handled the punnishment just fine, even with 38's (I only use solid axles for anyone wondering if the ifs would work out.. dunno)

 

[ClassicYoda]

Little extra power

Thankyou all for you're advise, now to answer questions....Yoda has 190,990 miles and I've just had the whole head,valves,cam etc. redone, I've also done a tune up and timing set, replaced the entire cooling system entirely oh and can't forget the harmonic balancer too. I've advanced the timing as far as it will go and played with the idle speed a bit and cleaned the intake out as well and run fuel injector cleaner in the gas as well as octane boost but all the boost did was drain a full tank in 180 mile when I normally get about 250 to a full tank. Oh and as far as my exhaust....there isn't one its just a straight pipe with a 90 degree pointing out under the driver side front leaf spring shackle in the rear.

 

[mikebontoft]

I couldn't agree more with this statement.

And what statement might that be, Mr. Spam Bot?

 

[KidVermicious]

Thankyou all for you're advise, now to answer questions....Yoda has 190,990 miles and I've just had the whole head,valves,cam etc. redone, I've also done a tune up and timing set, replaced the entire cooling system entirely oh and can't forget the harmonic balancer too. I've advanced the timing as far as it will go and played with the idle speed a bit and cleaned the intake out as well and run fuel injector cleaner in the gas as well as octane boost but all the boost did was drain a full tank in 180 mile when I normally get about 250 to a full tank. Oh and as far as my exhaust....there isn't one its just a straight pipe with a 90 degree pointing out under the driver side front leaf spring shackle in the rear.

Might be time for a compression test. I'm no mechanic, but I understand ring failure is very common when you combine old rings with a fresh top end. I just replaced my head and injectors too, and I've got my fingers crossed the rings don't go next...