Weird update...

I had my truck parked at work when a snow plow driver exited the giant tractor plow and forgot the park brake. The truck slowly crawled its way to my tailgate...Luckily the damage is very minor and will be repaired by the body shop we use at the dealership. I only noticed it because my alarm beeped three times meaning my alarm went off while I was working. The driver did not care enough to tell anyone about the incident and didn't even bother to look at the damage on the truck...just drove away like nothing happen. We checked the security camera and sure enough the whole thing was recorded. I recorded the footage with my cell phone and made a quick crappy video to post on the thread. In the end it's a little upsetting but not a huge deal....would be a different story had that been my 4runner... Here's the vid.

<iframe width="640" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/hLe3cMekJn4?feature=player_detailpage" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

-RONI-

 

Still getting me from point A to point B in the snow....and lookin good doin it!


-RONI-

 

My truck sucks in the snow.. Even with studs on and a 22r block in the back

 

Hahaha dang that's sikk! Right now I'm riding with 300lbs of sand and a set of tires in the bed. The tires I currently have on are summer tires with like 3/32 of tread left. So yea I still slide around but if your careful and pay attention it's fine. My job is only .4 miles away anyway.

-RONI-

 

looks sweet man got a nice stance going on

 

Thanks man. This summer I'm gonna be removing the weight in the back...then I'm gonna need some new tires.

-RONI-

 

-RONI-

 

CEL was on due to o2 sensor. Replaced it the other and also finally Installed a fender liner on the driver side fender. The snow was getting all over the door jam before. I used a denso o2 sensor and aftermarket cheap fender liner. Not a perfect fit but it was 100$ vs 20$. Its doing the job...



snaped a pic with my dads 87 cruiser. He will be selling it this spring.


-RONI-
:banger:

 

Replaced spark plugs, wires, dist. Cap and rotor the other day. I used Toyota parts. I love the feeling....



OLD


NEW






I really need to get a bike rack.


-RONI-

 

Shortly after the tune up I decided to bring it into work and clean the throttle body along with a full EFI Service. Ever since this It's been idling rough. When driven it feels great, as soon as you idle it starts backfiring every few seconds. Compression test good...Throttle position sensor tested good...o2 sensor tested good...vacuum tested good. Pulled 4th spark plug and found it wet with what looks to be fuel. I started the truck and then unplugged one fuel injector. It started to run much smoother with less backfiring.

My thought here is the EFI service causing the injector to get clogged? It seems as though the fuel injector is not pulsating correctly and to be totally honest my injectors could very well be original, old and brittle. I already got some new gaskets from work just waiting on some $$ to order some new injectors. I'm just going to go ahead and replace all of them. 22RE Performance seems like a pretty straight forward no BS company and I been wanting to give them a try so why not start with injectors?

I'm hoping I'm correct on this but if not that's OK because new injectors never hurt anyone. The way I see it squash the bug with a sledge hammer...

In other news I've installed a new amp. It's an Alpine to match the deck. It sounds great I just have to figure out a way to mount it...Right now It's staying on with "velcro" but I don't think that's gonna hold for long.

Summer is here so while I have this leaking injector issue on this truck I've been driving the 4runner. Witch also got a tune up along with an EFI service and throttle body cleaning. Has no issues...runs great actually. I miss driving it cause oddly enough I drive my 2wd in the snow while the 4x4 sits and waits for summer.

GOALS for the pickup this summer....Dynamat...3m sound deadening spray behind the seats...tires...and aside from a really good detail that's about it. Nothing to big on the pick up this year. But then again maybe something will come up who knows...lol

-RONI-

 

Roni: with the truck running put the tip of a screwdriver on the injector and ear on the handle. You should hear it ticking. Come pare it to the other three. If it's clogged will sound different. Lightly tap the injector to try and clear the clog. You could also soak the injector over night in a small tub. Forget what to soak it in though.

 

beyondspexj good advice and thanks for the feedback man. I did this and was having a hard time hearing any pulsating at all. I know it has been a while since I've posted but i have since then replaced the injectors. I used 22re performance OEM injectors. The old ones came out in pieces all broken and flaking so even though it DID NOT fix the idling issue I still feel like it was a necessary purchase.

Unfortunately I lost all the pictures I took from the day I installed them so here is the only pic I found lol...


So with that being said at this point I was pretty stumped. New injectors, compression check good, vacuum test good, fuel pres. good, tps good....the list goes on....

I decided I wanted to do a valve adjustment and thought it would be a great opportunity to get in there and check the timing and timing chain/guides while I'm in there. Yesterday I finally got down to it. (mind you at this point the motor has been popping/missing for about 10 months ) I was pleased to find that not only was timing spot on but timing chain guides where in tact and looked brand new. I adjusted the valves to FSM specs...threw the cover back on with a new gasket and although the valves were a lot quieter it was still "backfiring".

quick pic while doing valve adjustments.


At this point I decided to check ignition timing one more time. Whipped out the old school timing light and what do you know... it was set at around 30 degrees! So according to the FSM while the diag. terminals are jumped the timing should be set at around 5 degrees. The test drive at 5 degrees was although idling perfectly with no backfire or miss fire was very sluggish with no power. I noticed that with the terminals jumped or not there was no change in RPM or ignition timing. My understanding is that once the jump in the terminals is removed the idle goes back up and the timing mark would move to about 10-12 degrees. this was not happening....so I set the mark at about 10 degrees and it still idles good but driving is still sluggish with no power. Not as bad as it was when I had set it to 5 degrees but still very noticeable.

This is where the truck stands now. Idling normally with no miss fire or backfire but with sluggish acceleration. My number one suspects right now are the TPS and the ECU. Something is not telling the computer to advance the timing as I'm accelerating.

If any of this makes sense to anybody I would love to hear some feedback! I will be testing the TPS (again) and swapping out ECU with the one in 4runner (IF they are compatible).

Thanks in advance guys. I'm glad to be back posting.



-RONI-

 

That's exactly what I was gonna say. That if there's no change between the terminal jump or not then it means that the tps is misadjusted. That the idle contacts aren't closing.

 

Xs5875 Thanks for the reply and yes we were right!

Today I removed the TPS, cleaned it and installed/adjusted it to spec. Went for a test drive and still no power. I noticed that after cleaning and installing the TPS my idle would change when I jumped the terminals just like it's supposed to. So I hooked up the timing light and it read about 8 degrees retarded. Set the timing to spec. Which is 5 degrees while terminals are jumped. After removing the jump on the terminals it rose to around 10-12 degrees. Test drive was great! Has not ran this good in a long time.

The theory behind this is that after I did the EFI cleaning some build up may have caused the TPS to go out of adjustment. With that out of adjustment the ignition timing went out of spec. As well?

So in the end the truck got an EFI cleaning, injectors, valve adjustment, valve cover gasket, countless tests....when what was really needed was a TPS cleaning and ignition timing adjustment.

Truck runs great with plenty of new parts...I'm happy.

-RONI-

 

Excellent. Good job.

 

Thanks man. Truck feels great.



-RONI-

 

GF took the truck out the other day and I get a text; "CEL came on!"

My first reaction ...

My second reaction... Time to play with the 22re!

GF's reaction...

Anyway... I grabbed the handy dandy jump wire from the glove box and get code 71 EGR valve. I began my investigation with the EGR "vacuum modulator" Which is the disk looking item the sits next to the EGR. Here is a quick picture with some arrows.



I removed the 4 vacuum lines (3 easily visible and one underneath) from the modulator open it and cleaned the filter. Did not find anything alarming like heavy debris or a clogged line. I then tested the EGR VSV that sits on top of the valve cover. I believe VSV stands for vacuum switch valve. Here is a pic.



All I did to test the VSV is remove the pig tail and applied power by connecting wires from VSV to the battery. While it is connected to the battery the VSV is open so air blows right through. When you disconnect from the battery it should be closed.

Next was applying vacumm directly to the EGR itself. With the motor running I applied vacuum to the EGR through the port right on top. The motor should start running rougher/die immediately which mine did not do. There was no change in idle what so ever. I turned off the truck and applied vacuum again to find that the EGR was not holding any pressure. Using a pick I pushed up on the diaphragm inside the EGR (with truck idling) through one of the small openings underneath. This time the motor ran rough and died. Basically I'm thinking after 21 years of opening and closing the diaphragm inside the EGR finally failed and began to leak not allowing it to open and close. Needing a new EGR, I walked into parts with the part number and ordered it for arond 165$ plus the 3$ gasket that goes between the EGR pipe and back of the intake manifold. Since I was getting a new EGR i figured well....my 4 runner is far more important to me than the mini so why not throw the brand new OEM EGR on the 4runner (which has no CEL) and place the older (but working) EGR in the mini. Well it turns out I check the part numbers and they are DIFFERENT! And why are they different????? APPAAAAAAAARRRRENTLY the mini is a California emissions vehicle! Stupid California emissions....

Here is the part number directly from the old EGR. Again this is CALIFORNIA EMISSIONS PART NUMBER FOR 22RE EGR



Here is the new EGR...Cali. emissions part number




Here is the part number for the gasket that goes to the EGR pipe behind the intake.



When installing the new EGR transfer the EGR pipe to the new EGR but DO NOT tighten the 27mm bolt until the EGR is in place other wise you will have a difficult time getting it all to line up. Just turn the large bolt on a couple turns so it can move freely with out coming off. Also when removing the old EGR you should be careful not to tear the gasket that is between the EGR and the head. That gasket is actually apart of the whole intake manifold gasket. Here you see the holes under the EGR where you can physically push up on the diaphragm....carefully.



Here is a couple shots of the finished install. CEL is gone for good and I have noticed a much smoother idle. Not that it was so rough before but it is noticeably smoother.





Btw I guess it's worth mentioning that having a nice magnetic LED light helps tremendously. There's 3 bolts connecting the EGR to the head and with poor lighting they can be a bitch.




-RONI-

 

Nice fix man, and some good tech.

I also have a California-spec truck, and for anyone else reading this if you're not sure what you have the easiest way to tell a California truck from a federal one at a glance is by the EGR temp sensor which you can see sticking out of the elbow from the valve to the intake manifold. The federal trucks did not have that sensor. There are also some different vacuum valves and lines, but the sensor is the dead giveaway.

FWIW I think the California system is much better designed. The federal vacuum system is fairly rudimentary.

 

...the mis-adjusted TPS happened to me too. but i didnt spend all that money for it lol sorry

the EGR... here is a trick i learned from an old school guy. u pretty much jump the connector terminals. what i did: took some wire (audio cable or whatever) strip the insulation to expose the metal filament. cut small strands. bent some strands into a "U" shape, inserted into the connector terminals, reconnect the connectors. no more CEL. no more EGR equipment. no $$$ spent

 

Thanks aaron_sk. I did not even realize the EGR temp. sensor was MIA in the 4runner. Good info.

Jumping the terminals using stripped speaker wire is not a permanent (or even temporary) fix. What I write about on my build pages is how to correct mechanical issues the best way that I know (or learn) how. Although your idea may remove the check engine light it does not fix any issues. At that point you may as well remove the bulb for the CEL and never worry about it again yeah?

As far as spending money on the mis-adjusted TPS... I did not spend one penny on something that did not need to be replaced. Plugs, Wires, valve cover gasket, Injectors....These are all things that at 175k are considered regular maintenance items.

With that being said I hope I did not offend anyone visiting this page. I know I have been asked in the past in this thread about spending money on parts and buying OEM parts from the dealership and the only reply I have is that I like to do things the right way. Now of course it helps that I get an employee discount and a full shop to work in (sometimes).

Again no offense to anyone trying to save a dollar...but this page is just my ramblings of what I find works best to fix issues with my truck. As they say..."To each his own"


-RONI-