First Gen 4-Runner. European family adventure wagon.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯ said:

In reply to Hungary Bill (Forum Supporter) :

Seems totally normal in the context of this place- and enjoy meeting your teammates!

Because I like this stuff, I want to talk spares kits- here's the one in our rally car, only missing some hardware:

So, the tools and zipties and whatnot are obvious, but some other basic stuff in there has come in incredibly handy and I didn't know about it when I first started.

• Self fusing silicone tape is really awesome when a hose springs a leak
• Foil tape, similarly awesome for other stuff that needs to be sealed, especially body holes that are letting a ton of dust in
• Stash zipties all over the rig, like a bundle under the hood, a bundle under the dash, etc so they're at hand when needed
• Quick splice things are the devil in terms of permanent wiring but incredible for quick fixes
• Baling wire comes in handy more often than it should

If I were embarking on a journey like yours, I'd add loctite 5 minute epoxy and JB weld to the kit- the only reason they're not in our rally kit is that we don't have time to let them work.  They stay with the service truck instead.

You'll probably want to carry other crucial engine/drivetrain parts too, but I bet you have a plan for that already.

Man, I can not get over how simple and complete that kit is!  I am 100% copying that (well, to start with.  I have the tendency to over pack )

java230 said:

In service Blackhawk Note, zip ties, linesman pliers, and rando screw driver.

You guys are awesome.  I am 100% stashing tools and zip ties in every possible place I can think of! 

This whole time I've been thinking I'll make a "tool box".  Making "tool stashes" makes much better use of the whole dang truck and not just the boot.

solfly said:

That timing doesn't seem right. Whats the cam manufacturer suggest? Is the distributor timed right? Plug wires in the right spot?

100%  Cam is spot on, and the manufacture gave exactly NIL with regards to lash or timing (just grind specs).  Dizzy is spot on where I had it when I pulled things apart (which I can confirm was set correctly then).  Plugs were double checked...

I spent some more time googling "22re ignition 40-degrees advanced" and there's a fair number of hits.  Apparently that's what the ECU kicks timing to soon after you take it off idle.  Without my jumper installed the ECU is still in control of advance so I can only assume that that's what's kicking it so high.  I've had it "up to ping, and back to happy" now twice and the darn thing just likes it here.

When I get more time, I'll adjust the TPS and put my jumper back in to have at things correctly.  It's just right now there's so much going on with shaking things down that "good enough" needs to be "good enough" until I have more time to play.

Going back to yesterday, here's what I pulled out of my overflow tank after the day trip to the fields:

That crap is some straight up corroded MUD!  Holy crap, I cant believe I pulled this out of my brand new radiator!

High idle and hot temps:

Well, it's today today and unfortunately I was asked last night to come in for day shift.  That means no afternoon wrenching time to flush the cooling system...  Boo.

I know the system needs flushed because my idle was sitting at 2500rpms last night for the trip home from work, and I had the idle screw screwed all the way in.  To eliminate a few variables that might be affecting the idle speed, I pulled off the dash pot and adjusted the throttle blade 100% closed and then made a little air gap between the stop screw and the linkage (the spec for the stop screw is "touching the linkage, + 1 quarter turn" to keep the throttle blade from sticking closed), so I'm 99% sure that some rust-mud in the coolant made it's way to the IACV again and I need to blow it out.  But how to make that happen on a school morning when I have to go to work AND get the kids ready?

I've got an idea:

Letting the truck sit overnight should let whatever rust-mud is in the radiator settle to the bottom.  When the boys eat breakfast, I'll pop out REAL quick and open the radiator drain and catch the coolant until the mud stops.  Then I'll use my lung power blow out the IACV (takes 3 seconds with a pair of pliers for the hose clamp, I figure there's no need to use a compressor when we're in a hurry), THEN I'll top up the rad and be good.

1) Drain the mud:   I open the drain valve and catch about 1-tsp of mud before precious green fluid starts coming out.  "woo-hoo", thinks I.  "looks like I'm finally getting somewhere!"
2) Blow IACV out:  Done.  No resistance at all, it just lets me blow right through.
3) Top up:  I add half a liter of green coolant, and top up the overflow with deionized water.

Done and done.

Dropping off Hungarling #1 goes fine.  The idle speed still wants to be at 2000rpms but I don't spend a whole lot of time with the clutch in or with the trans in neutral on our 3km trip to the school so engine speeds while in gear are more normal.  From there it's only another KM or so to the youngest Hungarling's kindergarten.  Except I don't make it...

I got stuck behind a trash truck on  the main drag and the temperature gauge started to creep up.  It made it about 7/8ths scale before I got to a spot I could pull over.  The youngest and I watched an 8-minute Fortnite video (his request) to let things cool a bit before I checked the gauge again.  Half scale.

Thinking the fluid in the rad would circulate as soon as the t-stat opened up (and would cool things further), we started the truck back up and headed back off.  I made it 1 block before it was back up at 7/8-scale again.  Through a combination of shutting it of to coast, and starting it just long enough to make a turn, we get it to my new house which is very much under construction (total distance was about a block and a half).  We again shut it off, and let it puke for a bit.  Once every 5 minutes or so I'll start the truck for a 10-count just to try to keep things circulating.

The tap water is still on at the new place and I find an old camping pot we left there for the odd occasion we need to heat something up.  The water here is super "hard" and I don't like using it in my cooling systems, but I figure some water is better than no water.  I fill the pot and head back to the truck.

The first thing I notice is the upper rad hose isn't warm at all.  Neither is the IACV hose that also feeds off the thermostat.  I think the darn T-stat might not be opening!

The second thing I notice is my overflow tank is AGAIN full of this RUST-MUD!!!

I have a pair of pliers with me so I use those to remove the expansion tank and dump it inside the house.  It's gross.  I put the tank back in, safely remove the radiator cap, and start topping up.  Once full, I start the truck to circulate fluid and the coolant level in the radiator drops.  I add some more and more and more (about half a gallon, maybe more) and shut off the truck  with the cap still removed. 

Holy smokes!  What happened next I wasn't expecting, but I got a pretty decent fountain of overflow out of the top of the rad!  A good 3 or 4 inches high!!!  And oh my gosh was it gross looking!  It wasn't "mud" but it wasn't far off.  Something far beyond "rust orange" this stuff was so thick, it ws BROWN!  Where in the heck was all this crap hiding in my engine???

Seeing the potential benefits of this "side of the road flush" I start the engine again.  Add a half gallon of tap water.  Shut it off, aaaaaaaaand "BLOOP"!  Out comes more orange fluid!

Rinse, repeat.

So, after about 4 times of doing this, the neighbors start looking at me funny (who is this guy starting his loud truck, and why is there orange fluid all over it and the ground?) so I decide I should be good enough to continue the 4 block trek to the youngest's kindergarten.

Nope.

When I started the engine again, the scale was normal but it didn't stay there for long.  I made it half way to school and it started to creep to the half-mark, so I shut it down and parked it safely on the side of the road.  We finished our trek on foot.

Well heckbeans.

It's no big deal, I call in to work and tell them I'm overheating and will be "a bit late".  The youngest Hungarling and I enjoy the walk and when I get back to the vehicle,  things seem normal again.  I fire up the truck and have every intention of driving it home to swap with the Mazda, but when I get to the "do or die" roundabout I choose "die" and take the exit that takes me to work.  I almost made it too!  But alas, 4km into the 7km journey that needle is climbing again.  Just over the half mark, I shut it down at a safe location (I was planning ahead this time, I had several spots in mind)

I pop the hood and nothing is leaking.  The cap is holding a fair bit of pressure, and this time the upper rad hose was hot (but I had been sitting for 5-minutes here before I checked it)...

What in the world is going on???

And then it hit me: 

I started the truck for 10-seconds to circulate the fluid (like I usually do) and I just happened to hop out immediately afterwards with the hood already opened...

I snapped that picture of the collapsed upper radiator hose JUST before it popped back to its normal shape...

I think I found my culprit.

I don't know if something is plugged, or if the T-stat isn't opening, or what, but everything here is new (radiator, rad cap, t-stat, fluids).  Well... Nothing to do now but let things sit, I'm afraid.  I call Mrs. Hungary and she takes me the rest of the way to work.  After work I'll try a "wham-bam" flush tonight in an effort to get this thing ready for its trip to Bratislava tomorrow morning.

Fingers crossed.

So Friday night, and man does it get dark quick.  I'm out there around 4:30 or so, and it is a fight against daylight.

Normally I'd take my truck to a garage for this sort of thing.  Reason is, I've already mentioned that the tap water here is ultra hard.  But I didn't mention that there aren't any tap hookups/faucets outside of the house.  Instead we all have wells with electric pumps.  These aren't like the wells I'm used to in the US where there are filters and you can drink it.  No sir.  These are holes in the ground and if you didn't put the lid on all the way, you're bound to be greeted by 2 or 3 decaying rat carcasses...  Exactly the stuff I don't like running through my cooling system (not to mention the sediment that's always present, etc)

BUT it's a little late for a garage appointment now, and I really want this running to show off in Bratislava ("Pozsony", if you're Hungarian), so well water it is.  I fire up the electric pump and disconnect the upper hose.  I'm going to run the water in through the radiator cap, and catch it from the t-stat housing.  What I do is wait until it fills, crank the engine over for a minute and see what pours out:

 

That was probably the 5th or so time I started the truck.  I STILL cannot BELIEVE how much CRAP has been flushed out of this engine!!!  The whole dang block must have been filled to the brim with this crap!  How in the world is it just appearing now???

Anyhoo, it's getting dark now and the water's getting clearer.  I'm going to wake up early and re-fill the system and do some 'round the town tests before we go.  Since I'm headed inside, I decide to grab the t-stat for an in house op-check.

It works!

Ok, so the overheating issues were probably from bad/low coolant.  I can live with that.

The next morning I'm up at 4am, and out tinkering:

The idle coolant circuit was plugged at the t-stat housing this time.  I blew it out with compressed air, and hit the rest of the system for good measure.  I used my hose again to back-flush the heater core, but I'm not sure how well I did as I didn't have the other line removed so I couldn't see what the liquid coming out of there looked like.  After that, i topped the system up and drove around town.  100% good to go!  It's idling where it should, it's not overheating, and I'm not bringing any tools or fluids (we break down like real men!).

Time to head to Bratislava!

So how was Bratislava?  GREAT!

Man, it's great to get out of town.  Even if it is just for one night.  We drank hot (mulled) wine (the kids had hot cider), we walked across a bridge going over the Danube and had an amazing view of the castle, many good times were had:

And the truck ran like a champ.  I still think it's guttless and will do some more looking into things (timing, mostly) but it did 110/120kph no prob.  The idle circuit did get plugged back up, so I had to deal with that when we got home, but the two things I noticed most were:

1) a wandering temperature gauge.  Only on the highways, it'll climb to 2/3 scale and then drop back down to normal operating temps.  I'm thinking I got a bunk thermostat.

2) some pulsing under low speed braking.  No feedback through the pedal, and it doesnt do it at higher speeds, so I'm thinking it might be a bent rim.

But other than that, it was a good weekend.

Being back now, I've had some time to look into things and I was able to get the idle coolant passage unplugged (again, at the t-stat housing).  But most of all, I found a TSB relating to the wandering coolant gauge deal:

Basically it says that running the heater could trick the t-stat into thinking the engine is cooler than it is (because the outlet dumps at the t-stat housing).  To fix this, Toyota has a 2-stage thermostat that will continue to allow coolant to flow normally when the heater is on.

Looking at Ebay examples I see they hall have little side valves in theirs:

I ordered one from Lithuania, but until it gets here I'm just going to drill a small hole in mine and see if that'll farm fix things "good enough".

Good times.

Awesome!!! Glad it worked out for the weekend.

You're making me think I need to visit Hungary.

java230 said:

Awesome!!! Glad it worked out for the weekend.

 

You're making me think I need to visit Hungary.

Heck yeah you do!  There's no overlanding like there is in the states, but we're smack-dab in the middle of Bratislava, Budapest, and Vienna.  Not a bad place to be

Hungary Bill (Forum Supporter) said:

java230 said:

In service Blackhawk Note, zip ties, linesman pliers, and rando screw driver.

You guys are awesome.  I am 100% stashing tools and zip ties in every possible place I can think of! 

This whole time I've been thinking I'll make a "tool box".  Making "tool stashes" makes much better use of the whole dang truck and not just the boot.

And stash the tools near the parts that will need them. 

Woody (Forum Supportum) said:

Hungary Bill (Forum Supporter) said:

java230 said:

In service Blackhawk Note, zip ties, linesman pliers, and rando screw driver.

You guys are awesome.  I am 100% stashing tools and zip ties in every possible place I can think of! 

This whole time I've been thinking I'll make a "tool box".  Making "tool stashes" makes much better use of the whole dang truck and not just the boot.

And stash the tools near the parts that will need them. 

Good call, and will do!  I've got a few ideas

solfly said:

That timing doesn't seem right. Whats the cam manufacturer suggest? Is the distributor timed right? Plug wires in the right spot?

I wanted to come back to this now that the emergency of visiting Bratislava was behind us.

So first things first is the dang Throttle Position Sensor (TPS).  This dang thing caused me so much headache the last time I tried to adjust it, I really didnt want to go back at it again.  Short story long, last time I attempted this I broke a screw and had to order a whole new Throttle Body to make things work again (I mean, who saw that coming!).  But the idea is simple:

1) set the TPS so the ECU knows the throttle is closed.
2) jump two pins on the test port (idle drops to 500rpms)
3) adjust timing to 5btdc.

Setting the TPS started off bad, as no amount of twisting or swearing brought the resistance value into spec.  But then I remembered I was dealing with a second-hand TPS that came with the throttle body I had to order, and it needed a couple love taps to "settle" where it should:




Boom!

Once that was settled, I scrounged for local resources (going from where I park, to my garage to get things is sometimes the long way to do things) and installed the required jumper:

As soon as I had that in I heard the idle drop (WIN!!!).

Now this is where I should tell you that I set the idle to 5btdc and was done, but you know I never do anything that simple.  No sir, when I put the timing gun on it, I saw we were sitting at a static setting 15btdc (so 10-degrees advanced compared to spec) and adjusted the distributor to 8btdc because the interwebz assured me that aftermarket cams need to be advanced.

How did it go?

Well, I lost a little of what I call "lunge" (this thing would JUMP off the line in first gear from about 15000-2000RPMS if I was aggressive with the clutch) but was MUCH smoother in the mid-range (Between 2000-35000) and actually may have pulled a little harder in that section.  Acceleration to 100kph is smoother and improved, and the exhaust sounds more consistent.

My butt tells me that the ignition might still be a bit too advanced, but I'm going to go out on a limb and bet that backing it off another 3-degrees (to it's spec setting) is going to be about right

Butt hey!  (pun intended)  I'm calling a butt-dyno setting of "15btdc" pretty damn good for my uncalibrated ass.  If I were on a trail, that setting would have got me home no prob.  I'll get her set tomorrow when I mess with her again.

Good times.

Speaking of "messing", I think I mentioned that the brake pedal was low.

It originally went to the floor under hard braking, but bleeding it a dozen times seemed to sufficiently (but only barely) fix the situation.  Well, it's worth mentioning that the clutch wasn't much better.  It would engage and release REALLY low.  Both masters have been changed through all this maintenance, but neither pedal changed as a result.

Looking online I found a seldom recommended procedure of backing off the adjustment nut, and spinning the rod to the right a few twists to adjust such things.  Of course there were eleventy billion disclaimers that came with all of this, but we're not dealing with a 30-year-old question mark here!  I've quite literally been ALL THROUGH each system, I know the other parts are good.

The nut in question is similar on both pedals:

So back went the B-nut.  "spin spin spin" went the rod, aaaaaaaaaaaaaand WOO-HOO!  We're shooting darn close, fellas!

She's out in the work parking lot now, but I brought the required wrenches with me.  I'm thinking two more twists and I'll have the confidence inspiring pedals that I'm used to stompin on!

Deep down, I know this winning streak can't last... But I'm-a going to enjoy it while it does!

Good times.

Ok, simple stuff first:

Brake and clutch pedals have been adjusted.  No longer are they "long traveling levers of questionable squisheyness".  They are now "confidence inspiring actuators of awesomeness", and I've got them set JUST how I want them.

Next up, and equally simple yet important.  I received my spare tire and had it mounted on Tuesday.  Today it's vacated the cargo area of the 4-runner, and now resides in its happy home underneath:

And "yes".  Operating that hoist with that little 13mm craftsman wrench was just as uncomfortable and complicated as you would expect.  Hoist operation is simultaniously "notchy" and "slippy", and I'm happy its done.

Good times.

Next up today actually started yesterday.  I brought some steel into work and figured I'd get ahead of the game by making some bends to use for my CB installation.  I need a square U to mount the CB radio itself, and I need something that I can use to mount my antenna.  To do so, I logged in to my favorite CAD program (CAD = Cardboard Aided Drafting)

(That last photo looked like LOTS of room between mount and fender when I was in the CAAD program)

So, that all seems simple enough.  Now to have a go at the finger brake:

Done and done.

I really need to get one of these for my home garage.  When you need one, there's just nothing else that works this well (and you'll never go back to a hammer and a vice if you ever have the pleasure of using one).  After that last photo, I trimmed the high side on the band saw and called it good.

Up next was the little antenna mount.  I chose to do this last as I've never had good luck with small objects with multiple bends:

Meh.  not as good as the radio mount, but good enough for me.

That being done, there was nothing else to do but attempt the install the next day (today)

Test fitting went well enough.  It clears the hood, looks like it should, and all the holes are drilled.

Unfortunately, when I went to test the final install I realized that I had WAY too little room to account for the antenna cable 

Boooooooo!

I spent the next hour or so trying to bend it so it would work (I got darn close too!).  But in the end there was no saving it.  SO, on the seat a new slab of metal goes. 

Rinse and repeat later tonight.

The radio was simultaneously easier and more difficult.

It was easier in the sense that it needed fewer holes that were smaller in diameter (so, less drilling) and the mount was pretty much good from the start.  But it was more difficult because I tried like the dickens to avoid drilling holes in my transmission tunnel.

At first I tried to attach it to a screw that held my (broken) center console in place....  That didn't work, and only served to break my center console further.

next I noticed that if I pulled out my din cubby, there were two mounts under the radio that seemed PERFECT!

Missed it by that much!!!!

Anyhoo, it all took a fair chunk of time out of my morning.  But in the end, out came the drill:
 

Looked good enough for me, so I gave the sharp corners a bit of a radius and then out came the primer:

We'll just leave that there to dry for a moment

 

If you make an adapty-doo to run the hoist with an impact gun it might pay off big time at some point.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯ said:

If you make an adapty-doo to run the hoist with an impact gun it might pay off big time at some point.

ooooh, now that's thinking with your dipstick!  Good idea!

In reply to Hungary Bill (Forum Supporter) :

How many languages will you need to learn "Breaker one-nine" in before your adventure?

How permanent does your antenna mount need to be?

Pete Gossett (Forum Supporter) said:

In reply to Hungary Bill (Forum Supporter) :

How many languages will you need to learn "Breaker one-nine" in before your adventure?

Man, I cant even understand CB slang in english!  I'm screwed...

Woody (Forum Supportum) said:

How permanent does your antenna mount need to be?

 

Classic!

Well, heck.  Despite my best efforts, the truck is running like a champ and progress is slowing down:

Skid plate got installed

and I got a new antenna mount fabbed up, so teh CB could finally go in!

My SWR meter, pinged my antenna install at about 1.7-ish (which I was pretty happy with).  I'll ping it again the next time I'm out and away from buildings/power lines/etc.

Other than that, I've just been driving the beans out of her.  I'm trying to get 1500km's under her belt as soon as possible so I can go back in and re-torque the cylinder head.

Good times!

Lots of driving being done.  I'm around 500kms away (300miles) from needing to re-torque my heads and I have a trip to Budapest for a doctor's visit on Tuesday (Malaria Medication Prescription), so that should help with that.  Otherwise, I had to do a few things to get ready for my bi-annual technical inspection.  One of them was to address my sagging bumper:

When the body lift was installed, the previous owner welded in a square tube and then two vertical flat pieces of steel to mount the bumper to.  It was a good mount, but I had to cut the bottom welds off to lower the body when I took the kit back out.  All that banging around dirt roads I've been doing (I haven't been gentle) is starting to stress things a bit.

(View is top of bumper looking down.  You're seeing the upper weld to the mount crack)





No big deal, I just outted the old ones, and boogered in some new ones (Not my finest work by far.  That was some very thick steel at the plates to lower mounts, and some very very THIN steel at the upper mount)

After I got everything together, I noticed my license plate was a bit worse for wear (and was about to drop my license plate completely) so I ordered a new one from e-bay

My subtle knod to the ever so popular Toyota 4x4 in BTTF.  I regret nothing

Good times.

Oh hey!  I finally got the thermostat I ordered all those days ago:

It seems to be the right size, but here's hoping this works, eh!  I ordered it by part number, which I got from the above Toyota service bulletin, and after I paid I got a message:  "Please send us your engine number so we can make sure this fits your 2009 Kia Sorento"  (or some stuff like that).

I replied "I'm good with the risk, send it"

Road test is next Tuesday.  Fingers crossed.

Road test to Budapest complete!  No more wandering temperature gauge (and I watched that thing like a HAWK!).  Still nowhere near time to re-torque the heads though.  I guess the capitol city just isnt as far away as I reckoned.  Anyhoo, in the spiriti of full disclosure, I do need to tell you that I'm currently "riding dirty".  I failed my technical inspection earlier this month (due here every two years) because my tires stick out too far.  When the previous owner bought 16" wheels, they didnt have the correct offset so you get a little rubber protrusion.  To be fair though, when the truck was sold to me there was a god-awful set of wheel arches installed but the body shop threw them away (and didnt fill in the holes they left in the fenders???) when the car was painted.

To fix that, I ordered a new set (to the tune of $500-stinking dollars!!!!! ) .  They arrived in the mail today.

(Obligatory nod to "Caboose" on "Red Vs Blue")  "Why are there 6-arches when there are only four tires???"

I still have no idea what the smallest arches were for, but I did get the big ones figured out:

 

These are actually for an XJ Cherokee, but I'm hoping they work.  I was initially irritated that the rears came in two-pieces, but then happy as it would allow me to cut and adjust as necessary.

No installation today though.  Too close to Christmas, and way too busy.  Instead I filled my prescription for my malaria meds (hence the trip to BP yesterday), and caught a few items in the mail.

The last picture is some rain gutter mounts for a roof rack.  Four would be needed, but I only ordered two.  There was some team talk about wanting some offroad lights, and I thought this might give us an easy option for a mount.  A gutter mount on either side of the truck, and maybe some square tube bolted in between.  Lights would bolt to the square tube, wires could be run inside, and Robert's your Father's brother.

We'll see.

Good times.