Rjsimeon's SC'd 99' 4Runner Highlander build thread

Rjsimeon

New member
As of 26SEP15:

232378a7fe9fb7542b10b4821156119f.jpg


A short background:

I came from a hand me down 93' Toyota Camry that ran me up till 350k miles and since then I have never turned my back on Toyota. After three years of college, I joined the Navy as an Aviation Structural Mechanic (AM). Since then, I've familiarized myself with all sorts of tools and have become more and more of a wrench turner to my vehicles. I'm no vehicle master mind but with research (thanks to this site and others) I feel confident in working on things that need/want to work on.

I previously had an 07' Tacoma Prerunner (OME suspension, Satoshi grill, nothing special, but I loved it). In 2012, wife and I had a baby and needed a vehicle that would fit the baby and two dogs comfortably. She wanted leather and more "luxury" and I wanted 4WD so I convinced her with the 07' Limited 4WD 4Runner. There's a short build thread of that one somewhere floating around. Radflo suspension, shrockworks bumper, and a few minor things done to it, loved it just as much as the taco, but time came and I wanted something else which lead to this:

91e67d4bd476852da87f2cd1354f9d76.jpg


Purchased off a buddy that only had it for 1k~ miles (got orders to WA, which is across the country and needed a truck to haul his other toys). He had purchased it from the original owner who had something installed that really caught my eye other than the lower mileage and overall condition of the vehicle. The supercharger.

8992b4fd71d716ad7c3e87317e484c45.jpg


My new to me 3rd gen and old 4th gen:

9561b13cff9c3a8d9e4b5a9f3f9b727e.jpg
 
Last edited:
Register to hide this ad
First things first...maintenance.

The previous owner had receipts of maintenance done, but at 153k miles, it wasn't enough for me to be satisfied so I started a list of things that I wanted to replace and started with the plugs. Looks like this guy was running OEM plugs rather than the cooler plugs that are suggested and replaced them with Denso IK22.

99568ba135332ac1686dc692681a9d42.jpg


Looked like they really needed some fresh plugs. One plug did have a wee bit of oil on the top but didn't reach into the threads so hopefully that isn't much of a concern.

Other things that were completed:

-Throttle body cleaned
-MAF sensor cleaned
-Fresh synthetic 5w-30 oil and filter
-A little bit of oil seeping through the valve covers so I reTQ'd them to 53 in lb
-B&M Transcooler

Still on the maintenance list:

-Spark plug wires
-Front/rear diff oils
-Fuel filter
-Grease zerks
-aFe air filter
-Nose cone rebuild (SC)

Previous owner says timing belt was changed 1k miles before I purchased the vehicle, but did not have any receipts. I want to take his word but I'm a little skeptical. I don't have any timing issues so far, so that's a plus. Still something I'm looking into. Anymore suggestions are welcome.
 
Last edited:
Fighting the P0171 code.

Checked vac lines
O2 sensor is brand new
Cleaned MAF
Cleaned TB

Buying a used MAF from junkyard this week to trouble shoot. Any other suggestions?
 
Last edited:
Fighting the P0171 code.

Checked vac lines
O2 sensor is brand new
Cleaned MAF
Cleaned TB

Buying a used MAF from junkyard this week to trouble shoot. Any other suggestions?

Backtrack everything you took apart. P0171 after working on the engine is 99% chance there's a gasket on wrong or a vacuum hose misrouted/missing. A vacuum leak will throw a P0171.

Can also check doing this:

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/9CPqbaSgcok" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
 
Backtrack everything you took apart. P0171 after working on the engine is 99% chance there's a gasket on wrong or a vacuum hose misrouted/missing. A vacuum leak will throw a P0171.



Can also check doing this:


I'll look into it but I'm pretty sure it's the MAF that's bad since it turned off after resetting codes. Came back on after about 50~ miles. Cleaned the wires inside the MAF so I'm confident I cleaned it right. Will check vac lines before I drop money on one though. Also, 4wd actuating lights won't illuminate on dash. I feel it actuating when I shift down to 4H. Bad dash light or something else? Sensors bad?

Edit: P0717 code comes up after hard acceleration. Anymore suggestions?
 
P0717 seems to be a bad transmission speed sensor or wiring. I've never heard of that code before but it makes sense after punching it. I have no help there, sorry. Might want to start a thread for it and see if anyone has some suggestions.

Search for the 4wd light issue though, you should find some answers there since it seems to be a common problem.

As for the P0171, if there's no vacuum leaks (checking is free so might as well) then replace your upstream O2 sensor if it's old. Usually not the MAF unless you have a reason to think it is for sure bad (starting issues, rich fuel mixture, etc.).
 

Members online

No members online now.

Forum statistics

Threads
278,309
Messages
3,554,075
Members
248,016
Latest member
Advally Service

Trending content

Back
Top