1986 4Runner TDI

[BUNNYLOVE]

I was going to put up a post but I figured a link is fine. The truck is on the road today. Maiden voyage after work! :eek: Hopefully its not raining cause the tires are really bad.

http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=158587


Looks like my new wheels and tires might be here tomorrow. 340lbs, wow

[BUNNYLOVE]

Well I drove it last night for the first time. It feels great overall. The power is good, I do have a boost leak, its only pushing 9psi or so. Alot of my fears were put to rest.
Handling is a bit squirely with the front tires that are on it. BAD. The brakes work great, it shifts nice, the power steering is excellent with the VW pump.

I had one little issue with my charging system. When I pulled out of my driveway I reved it and the voltage reg kicked in, volts up to 14, etc. While driving I noticed the headlights were really dim. I never thought to look at the voltage gauge.
The stupid red battery terminal does not conduct electricity on 1/2 of it so most of the time I was out it was not charging. Before I knew any of this I shut it down in a parking lot near my house and it went DEAD. No power to anything, even the clock. Lucky I had a test light and was able to find the problem. I just switched the wire to the other side on the same terminal and it was fixed. Unfortunetly the battery didn't have enough juice to turn it over so Sam had to come save me.

My gauges suck and I'm going to smash them with a hammer. Oil temp and oil pressure DEAD, new senders and everything. The boost gauge is the noisiest thing ever and the water temp.... not even sure its reading correctly.. I should have just got new ones to start with. I going with all mechanical this time.

[FusLit]

Wooo HOO maiden voyages are always fraught with failure :icon_biggrin:

But sounds like this one had enough go right that it can be classified as successful!!!

I can't wait to see this thing in person, sorry to hear about the gauges, that sucks.

-Todd

[USOPHUNKE]

I saw the beast last night, what an amazing swap!! I love the fabbed engine mounts. and all the engine room you now have....

more so I love what was sitting next to it in the garage...mmmmmmmm

thanks for the parts btw... nice truck

[BUNNYLOVE]

Yeah I was about to take a longer drive.. glad I didn't. It was a minor problem, not bad at all for a first drive.

AND My wheels and tires are in town now. I have to call and schedule the delivery for today hopefully.

[BUNNYLOVE]

Well, its still running good. I'm putting very little mileage on the truck due to being too gimpy to go anywhere. I will hopefully have a MPG estimate by the end of the month. I chickened out and filled the tank when it got to a 1/4 because I didn't trust the gauge so I could get an accurate calc on the last tank. I do know that it gets atleast in the upper twenties. I'm pretty sure it will get 30. I'm going to do some injectors this spring to pep it up a bit, plus I want to be able to smoke people.
I did hurt reverse last week in the snow storm. I was smashing through a snow bank in 4wd and dropped the clutch and pinned it and it popped out of gear. It still works but I have to hold it in gear. The shifter moves back and forth as you go, haha. I'm hoping it will hold out a while until I can pull the trans and fix it. That is gonna be awhile though. The trans has 185K on it so I should probably take it easy. I have a spare also but its got really high miles too.

[FusLit]

I was thinking about looking into doing this conversion, my cousin has an old 4 runner that I would imagine he'd sell.

But I've also been toying with the idea of looking into a used dodge ram pickup with the diesel engine... swap it over to bio-diesel or dual tank and call it a day.

Or finish my gtd project and run that for a bit...

Eh, further down the road as things even out after the job switch.



-Todd

[BUNNYLOVE]

You should to a diesel Dodge 4x4 and get a plow. That way you can plow out your huge driveway. Thats justification right there. :wink:

[USOPHUNKE]

You should to a diesel Dodge 4x4 and get a plow. That way you can plow out your huge driveway. Thats justification right there. :wink:

x2....

[FusLit]

You should to a diesel Dodge 4x4 and get a plow. That way you can plow out your huge driveway. Thats justification right there. :wink:

*grin* that's why I've been toying with the idea, but my 2 neighbor's have plows and have been plowing me out... yesterday was a fluke where on plow broke and the other guy was in the middle of a plow job...

But yeah, we'll see what I can scare up :)

-Todd

[boostin20v]

I think this would make a great addition to your truck!! http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=290111193887

[BUNNYLOVE]

Yeah that would be awesome! 4k is not much at all for that engine either IMO.

[BUNNYLOVE]

Almost a year later. I can't believe I'm still daily driving this thing. This is a $400 truck that has had almost nothing go wrong in over a year. The only things that have broken are VW parts, LOL.

So I was thinking about selling it but I'm going to keep it another winter atleast so its getting some attention. I still really like the truck its just looking a little shatty. I may even get a new body if I can find a clean one.

-Doing a bikini top.. I don't plan on putting the hard top on this summer.
-New Old man Emu rear 2" lift leafs. Mine are SHOT!
-New rear shackles, bushings and shocks
-New front shocks.. my bushings fell out LOL
-repaint and fix the rust explosion from this winter
-fab rear bumper with reciever (the stock bumper is for show.. bolted to the floor)
-get headlights that suck less
-maybe install heated/power M3 seats
-get manual lockouts
-change fluids in diff/t-case to synthetic
-fix oil leaks, install AEB filter mount and delete remote setup.
-relocate oil drain plug

-Chip it, either alligator or rocketchip (I hoping this will improve mileage a bit and lean it out of boost) Plus a power boost.