Project NoRunner: 2000 SR5 4x2 Resto

[STI_MECE]

New addition to the family today. 2020 SR5 Premium with the 3rd row. 2x4. Got it for 37k

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[ReconcileUs]

37k for that?

Bleh. I can think of of endless better choices in the Toyota/Lexus lineup. Landcruiser, GX, LX.... Can get a perfect condition FJ40 for that price.

Personally if I had to get a 4Runner for that type of money I would've got a 2016/17/18 for 10-12k less though.

 

[STI_MECE]

37k for that?

Bleh. I can think of of endless better choices in the Toyota/Lexus lineup. Landcruiser, GX, LX.... Can get a perfect condition FJ40 for that price.

Personally if I had to get a 4Runner for that type of money I would've got a 2016/17/18 for 10-12k less though.

Yes but it's for my wife. And we wanted a third row. Although the third row isn't the most spacious, since it's fold flat it's a winner. We will have kids within the 2 years so wanted to get her something safe and reliable.

BUT those things come with way more miles and way higher prices for a used vehicle. I think a 2018 GX with around 36k miles was around that same price. She wanted it new. Happy wife happy life. Hell I traded my race car Miata in with track equipment for it loll

If it were for me, I'd buy another 3rd gen lol the next vehicle for her is going to be an LX.

There is also a difference between buying what you need in cash and buying what you want with financing. We buy cash. Couldn't justify the extra bells and whistles that caused another 3k jump.

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[ReconcileUs]

a difference between buying what you need in cash and buying what you want with financing. We buy cash.

Well let me shut the hell up. I did see like a 2016 2x4 with a third row with under 35k miles for 25k though after looking for only 1 minute. Depends on where you're located though of course.

 

[STI_MECE]

Well let me shut the hell up. I did see like a 2016 2x4 with a third row with under 35k miles for 25k though after looking for only 1 minute. Depends on where you're located though of course.

I don't buy used leased vehicles lol that's typically the mileage they got for leases.

I am in Houston. We were looking at 28-30k for a used one. With around that same mileage.

We were planning on buying a 2019 one base SR5 with just third row for 32.7k which was the deal I was working on for a week. That price was a steal. But my wife didn't like the gauge interface and she wanted apple car play and stuff.

But to be honest, I wanted the 2020 too. Just for the active cruise control. That feature is awesome. I've used it before and always yearned for it.

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[brillo_76]

Great build thread and congrats on the newer 4 runner. If you are knee deep on one 4 runner. I am eye deep with 5 of them.

I have one a 2 PO back worked on pretty good. They cut my fender flares and bumper for larger tires. Got the bright idea to cut off the engine ground and put another one in. Fixed those battery terminals like a professional. I hate to see all of the Goodwrench fixes in this rig when I go to work on it. It has a Bad TC , Head gasket and possible transmission. So its down a few years in the future to restore it. Solid frame though.

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[STI_MECE]

Great build thread and congrats on the newer 4 runner. If you are knee deep on one 4 runner. I am eye deep with 5 of them.

I have one a 2 PO back worked on pretty good. They cut my fender flares and bumper for larger tires. Got the bright idea to cut off the engine ground and put another one in. Fixed those battery terminals like a professional. I hate to see all of the Goodwrench fixes in this rig when I go to work on it. It has a Bad TC , Head gasket and possible transmission. So its down a few years in the future to restore it. Solid frame though.

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Yikes yeah that looks a bit rough! I'm glad I am not alone in the world of fixing the mistakes of others.

I put that oil cap gasket on along with a TPS. Gunna finish rebuilding the driver drum brake before I can test drive. I hurt my shoulder working on runner so I gotta take it slow. And I'm only 26. But got the knees and shoulders of a 90 year old lol

I gotta question, where does the phrase Mr good wrench come from? You know oddly enough my coworker said to me "hey Mr good wrench how is the 4runner coming" this morning. I've never heard that before and I was perplexed by that funny coincidence lol

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[brillo_76]

Yikes yeah that looks a bit rough! I'm glad I am not alone in the world of fixing the mistakes of others.

I put that oil cap gasket on along with a TPS. Gunna finish rebuilding the driver drum brake before I can test drive. I hurt my shoulder working on runner so I gotta take it slow. And I'm only 26. But got the knees and shoulders of a 90 year old lol

I gotta question, where does the phrase Mr good wrench come from? You know oddly enough my coworker said to me "hey Mr good wrench how is the 4runner coming" this morning. I've never heard that before and I was perplexed by that funny coincidence lol

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Ah 26. Completely understandable as not hearing that term.

The Goodwrench brand was born as Mr. Goodwrench in 1974, as part of an initiative to promote vehicle service and maintenance performed by franchised GM dealerships. In the late 1990s, GM dropped the formal title from the name, simply referring to the service organization as Goodwrench Service Plus.Nov 9, 2010


As you probably figured out I am not 76. I am one of the bicentennial baby's born in 1976. 43 years young. Wrenching on Toyotas since I was about 15 years old.


Some Histoy of the Toyota trucks 80s and 90s

The Electric Fuel Injection didn't come out in Toyota trucks till 1985 made famous by back to the Future movie.


Those trucks had solid axle front ends { differentials like your rear end} only had 4 cylinder engines 2.2 liter [ no V6 until 1990]

Most 80s Toyota trucks were carburetorated yet. EFI was a big jump.

Also all Toyota trucks were manuals until 1987. The first automatic transmission arrived and they also went to the half shafts front ends on the 4wd as well. This was very similar to our 3 gens front ends. Just slighty different design.


All 4wd in the 80s and early 90s were J style transfer cases and lockout front hubs. Were you could spin the inner hub to have your front hubs freewheel.

No ABS was common at all during the 80s. No air bags until I believe 1992.


They did have the turbo chargers in the mid 80s and after the EFI became common by 1990


The 80s trucks also had the option on wing windows. They had a standard cab and extra cab only.


In the southern states. I am sure they are some 70 and 80s Toyotas still around. In the rust belt states. Very few survived.








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[STI_MECE]

Ah 26. Completely understandable as not hearing that term.

The Goodwrench brand was born as Mr. Goodwrench in 1974, as part of an initiative to promote vehicle service and maintenance performed by franchised GM dealerships. In the late 1990s, GM dropped the formal title from the name, simply referring to the service organization as Goodwrench Service Plus.Nov 9, 2010


As you probably figured out I am not 76. I am one of the bicentennial baby's born in 1976. 43 years young. Wrenching on Toyotas since I was about 15 years old.


Some Histoy of the Toyota trucks 80s and 90s

The Electric Fuel Injection didn't come out in Toyota trucks till 1985 made famous by back to the Future movie.


Those trucks had solid axle front ends { differentials like your rear end} only had 4 cylinder engines 2.2 liter [ no V6 until 1990]

Most 80s Toyota trucks were carburetorated yet. EFI was a big jump.

Also all Toyota trucks were manuals until 1987. The first automatic transmission arrived and they also went to the half shafts front ends on the 4wd as well. This was very similar to our 3 gens front ends. Just slighty different design.


All 4wd in the 80s and early 90s were J style transfer cases and lockout front hubs. Were you could spin the inner hub to have your front hubs freewheel.

No ABS was common at all during the 80s. No air bags until I believe 1992.


They did have the turbo chargers in the mid 80s and after the EFI became common by 1990


The 80s trucks also had the option on wing windows. They had a standard cab and extra cab only.


In the southern states. I am sure they are some 70 and 80s Toyotas still around. In the rust belt states. Very few survived.








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Dang that was a good history lesson. I appreciate the knowledge dump.

There are quite a few down here. And the prices are good especially on 4runners. But I still consider it a flop.

Down here you either get a 4runner that is held together with duct tape and bubble gum (like mine) or you have the die hard yotas guy asking for an arm and a leg for them because they have all the history and maintenance to back them up.

But yes, the frames here are solid. Unless you drive it in the saltwater and don't wash it:gun4:

 

[brillo_76]

Dang that was a good history lesson. I appreciate the knowledge dump.

There are quite a few down here. And the prices are good especially on 4runners. But I still consider it a flop.

Down here you either get a 4runner that is held together with duct tape and bubble gum (like mine) or you have the die hard yotas guy asking for an arm and a leg for them because they have all the history and maintenance to back them up.

But yes, the frames here are solid. Unless you drive it in the saltwater and don't wash it:gun4:

Well its from memory. I am sure we have a few wiser men then me on the forums here that can go back into the 70's and give you the complete history.

That's the problem I have is rust. I have to have all my used replacement parts shipped in from the south and the southwest.

Correct: They are worth a lot more if you have all the maintenance and records like I create to backup whats been done to them.



Good News:

Yours rebuild is now worth more as you can prove what was done to it. So be proud of your accomplishment. I am glad to see some younger folks getting into the rebuilds. Its a fun and great hobby.

 

[STI_MECE]

Random Update

So hurt my shoulder tightening the fuel filter nuts (Get flare nut wrenches!!)

I updated the front page to reflect what I done so far. Its sad lol

This weekend I am going to degrease the engine bay. Should be pretty interesting....I got a steamer, meguiars super degreaser, and been doing detailing work for about 10 years now.

This week I am planning my timing belt service wife wont let me work on car with my shoulder. :moon:I dont have access to my nice air compressor and air tools to make this job a breeze. Got the harmonic balancer holder, and waiting on the cam gear holder. I am going to break this service down over a couple of days because I am planning on running into shit what was fixed with band aids, broken timing covers or some crap like that. At the apartment, i gotta take it all apart the good ole fashion way.

I also don't have a torque wrench to hit 217 ft-lbs so lucky for me my B day is in a few weeks and that's something I plan on getting.

I will on November 4th or 5th. The first step will be to flush the green coolant out of the system with distilled water. After that, I will start tearing the drive belt system down to get to the timing belt.

I will come back the following week and with my new fancy pants torque wrench and finish the repair up along with replacing other items I don't like.

 

[STI_MECE]

I had a change of plans.....instead of just doing the timing belt, I'm doing the valve covers too.

I got the valve cover parts from dealership for 179 which was a steal of a deal.

Gunna try and rewrap the harnesses running over the valve covers. It's all brittle and most of it is already gone.

Stayyy tuned. Gunna degrease the engine bay as well with some Meguiars super degreaser and a steamer.

And now I got a garage [emoji3060][emoji3060][emoji3060] no more working out of buckets and cleaning up after myself.

Valve covers should be done on Thursday. Timing belt starts on Monday.

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[LittleCaesar]

If you plan to replace the cam seals, leave the VCs off in case you need to put a wrench on the cams to hold them in place while breaking the bolt that holds the gear in place. Those suckers can be stuck in there.

 

[STI_MECE]

If you plan to replace the cam seals, leave the VCs off in case you need to put a wrench on the cams to hold them in place while breaking the bolt that holds the gear in place. Those suckers can be stuck in there.

Yep im going after the seals too. But I have an electric stubby impact, and a cam pulley (gear, maybe? lol) holder. If that doesn't work ill get another warm body and my 3/4inch 40inch breaker bar. :rockon:

 

[LittleCaesar]

Large chain wrench and someone with considerable girth works well. I think the torque spec on those bolts is around 80ft/lbs. Breakaway torque needed to remove them, add another zero to that number at least in some instances. They can approach Honda crank bolt lore status to some degree.

Good luck.

 

[STI_MECE]

Well so far so good. The entire valve cover assembly was put together poorly.

Here is one way to remove the half moon plugs ...loll literally came out attached to the gasket.

On a more positive note the cams loook gorgeous. No lol sludge.


The valve covers were put together with some white sealer. Well, chunks of it were stuck near the half moon areas. I had to pick it out with a pick. It toook surgeon precision otherwise I would have chunks get into the oil passages then clog my pump then boom.

Luckily that's not gunnna happen. I tokkm my time.

Mating surfaces are clean gaskets tomorrow throw everything on and that will be it. I got to do this in 3 hours tomorrow. It's gunna be tight

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[STI_MECE]

So close! I had four hours of wrench time today. I wanted to drive it back home. All I have left to do is the out the intake tube back on [emoji24]

Wife wants me to head straight home after work.

I wrapped the engine harness with some tesa tape too and mounted the harness with some AC clamp mounts from Napa. 1/2 would work best I had 1 inch and it was lose.

But overall it came out super clean. I got some M6x1.0 to bolt the back of the harness to the intake manifold it was missing originally.

And the fuel line that comes the charcoal canister was missing bolts to. That's all mounted now.

This job was definitely needed for this engine! Glad it's done.

Torque the valve covers took the longest. Quadrupled checked the values

And some tips for anyone doing this. Scott Professional Glass towers which are lint free great for cleaning the mating surfaces. 3xbrass brushes (just get the same brush) the bristles get out of whack after continued use. And a 3/8 drive Quinn digital torque wrench. It only goes as low as 60inch lbs. But the torque wrench will start registering values at 45 ft lbs.

If I didn't have the torque wrench I would be a sitting duck. I have both Quinn digital torque wrenches and I highly recommend those to anyone building engines or repairing tthem. It gives you degrees of swing, and it can jump between all the different units of measurement for torque values.and because it will show you the value you are currently at as you keep tightening up to the torque spec, it's really easy to pre torque everything to whatever value you want then go back around and torque to the final value.

If you haven't checked them out already you need to!!!!!!!!! Christmas is around the corner!

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[STI_MECE]

Well I was going to start my timing belt job today. Popped the radiator cap off.

Strong smellll of fuel. Opened up the coolant resivoir, and same thing.

I closed the hood shut the garage down and walked back inside.

Does anyone wanna have a party and watch me light this thing on fire? Lol

I won't be replacing the gasket on this engine which has obviously been beaten eight ways to Sunday. At a big Cross road here.

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[brillo_76]

Well I was going to start my timing belt job today. Popped the radiator cap off.

Strong smellll of fuel. Opened up the coolant resivoir, and same thing.

I closed the hood shut the garage down and walked back inside.

Does anyone wanna have a party and watch me light this thing on fire? Lol

I won't be replacing the gasket on this engine which has obviously been beaten eight ways to Sunday. At a big Cross road here.

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What area are in? Northern United states?

Your antifreeze smells like fuel???

It does not take much of a seep to stink up your engine compartment.


Check your fuel lines and injector rail. Could even be an injector leaking.

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[STI_MECE]

I am in Texas

It's definitely coming from the coolant.

I ended up draining the coolant out and sure as shit the coolant smelled heavily of fuel.

It's a dark brown/green color.

I did find out Toyota still makes made to order 5VZ-FE engines......dare I do it....lol

It's 10k I believe. 500 for shipping. 2-2.5 months build time.

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