Mean Green build & restore

babowc

New member
Mean Green T4R build & restore

I've been lurking around here for tech info and a few things, but time to finally post up a build & restore thread! She's a 99 SR5 (need confirm), not planning anything major, possibly an addition of a custom roof rack, an e-locker rear (prev. owner took out), and some new suspension bits.

PO's picture:

T4R_zpscfd2e95b.jpg~original


The previous owner got the car in a condition with blown HG on a supercharged 5VZ engine and took some goodies out of the car before selling it to me (SC, e-locker, sport hood). I've never worked on a SUV, but have been working on cars for awhile, and I figured this shouldn't be a difficult task, so I jumped on it.

99T4R15of23_zpsebb1a224.jpg

Here she is, at my house!

First order of business was to remove the blown motor. I put in a few hours each evening after work, and I got her out in about 3 nights work from 7P-10P. The most difficult part was getting to the upper bellhousing bolts, but I used the same trick I use on every car by removing the transmission x-member and tilting the motor to gain access.

I went to undo the ECU harness and look what I find... a rat's nest from the previous SAFC install! :faint:
Snipped the lines, pulled the motor, and it was time for a new motor.

99T4R1of23_zps43e9dbb6.jpg~original


99T4R3of23_zps07da7821.jpg~original


99T4R6of23_zpsf68c0708.jpg~original


99T4R23of23_zps046d36e0.jpg~original


99T4R9of23_zps79e95a35.jpg~original


I began searching for a decently priced 5VZ and found one on local CL for $500. Turned out the engine was from an 01' and in a wrecker shop. I thought the price wasn't bad for the engine SET, but the wrecker basically took every accessories and gave me a long block :-/ . Shady business, but oh well.. I had a 30-day warranty, so I went to work on installing the motor with help from an old friend. Went to install the exhaust manifolds and apparently the 99' and 01' are different, so I switched em up and bolted the crossover pipe. Mounted all of the accessories and the motor was ready!

99T4R7of23_zpsdba70a38.jpg~original


99T4R4of23_zps377dcb1c.jpg~original


The actual install wasn't too bad, but lining up the tranny and the engine was a bit of a challenge. After a grueling & scorching 5 hours, we dropped in the engine and called it a day.

Next day, I started buttoning up the harness and bits and pieces of hardware. Took me a good few hours buttoning everything up and ran into a standstill because the when the wrecker took the accessories off, he took the belts too. :doh: I also found out that I'll need a few new coolant hoses for the TB bypass and a new throttle cable bracket. :ybrick:

99T4R19of23_zpsae8761a7.jpg~original


99T4R20of23_zpsa7863541.jpg~original


Found a few pieces of coolant hoses to rig up a bypass hose so I can start the engine and she took a few cranks to start, but started up good. Then the smoking... I kept her idling for about 5 minutes and the exhaust just started POURING white smoke. :gun5::gun5: I thought it was a bad engine and was ready to blow up the truck, but calmed down and gave it some thought. Since the previous motor had a bad HG, I assumed that there may be some residual coolant in the exhaust pipes. I let her idle for another 5 or 10 minutes but the smoke was still there... at this point, I said **** it and went to bed, haha.

Today, I came out and gave her a look over, started her, filled up some lost transmission oil and took her for a short drive around the block. She drives fine, but I have no idea how to use the 4WD "J-shifter"! Did a quick google search and found out that the 2H will be good for daily driving, so I stuck it in there and drove around. She rode O-K, but had some serious bogging issues under load. I just ordered a new fuel filter and NGK plugs, hoping it'd fix the bogging.

That's how far I've gotten in the past two weeks that I've had her, but when it's all done, I hope to go play in some mud!

99T4R8of23_zpsd7477f2a.jpg~original



Current:
285/75/16 BFG All-Terrain TA/KO
Random step bars
Unknown 3" lift

Plans (in order):
Suspension overhaul (LBJ, bushings, etc)
Interior insulation
New shocks/springs
e-locker rear end
Custom full-length roof-rack
Custom step bars(?)

Far-fetched plans:
Fab'd front & rear bumpers
Turbo setup (T3/T4) or a TRD supercharger
 
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Looks like you finished up what I'm in the middle of doing right now. Since it looks like mine, I would say you have the '99 highlander, unless somebody put the sport scoop on the SR5.

You're going to enjoy the 5vz, it's near bullet proof (coming from a guy rebuilding to a guy who rebuilt :rolleyes:). But it should last you a good long time.

Why did you get a whole new block if it was just a blown head gasket?
 
Well, I was planning on a rebuild but I saw that the PO may have possibly ran one of those radiator stop leak things.. I'll be rebuilding the old motor when I'm done rebuilding the 2JZGE motor for my SC300. It's probably going to take a lonnnnng time with grad school only a week away.
 
did you remove the mudguards from your front? the first picture clearly show them, but the next does not. i'll take them if you removed them.

clean motor swap.
 
Fixed! The SAFC must've tapped into the mafs wire. Pulled the code and saw MAFS issue, hooked up SAFC and she runs goooood. Slight slight misfire or something making her sound like a boxer engine.. need to replace a few suspension parts and she will be road worthy in no time!

bd7380ab5241d0d2b3d23063e6f71eef.jpg


Also have to deal with the crazy positive camber on the front wheels!
0ccb40f5302c6ac2809b46f28b2e9947.jpg
 
P0100 resolved!
After some research, P0125 seems to be a possible O2 issue, rather than a faulty CTS.
Still looking for a throttle bracket, though!
 
Got the TB bracket installed successfully..
replaced plugs, O2 sensor, CTS, rotors, MAFS, fuel filter, random vacuum hoses, fixed the wiring/removed SAFC and other misc stuff!

P0171 is still persistent.. not sure what to do about it, but the truck has been posted for sale :(
 
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