85 4runner and the work never ends....

[John Doe]

Thanks for all the compliments guys. I am finishing up 2 summer classes this week. I'll get back to work on friday.

[yota_krawler]

i like the build, thats the first time i have seen the wb stretch.  I like it so far!

i have seen a few on Pirate a few years back, its getting more popular. I think its a cool idea and functional.

[*** YELLER ***]

holy tiny body welds JD this must be so much fun to do OVER AND OVER AND OVER. . . well you get the point looks good buddy

[John Doe]

I have the new drivers side piece ready to install tomorrow morning.  I spent today getting everything prepped and pounding out a few dents.

[TacoRunner]

i like the build, thats the first time i have seen the wb stretch.  I like it so far!

Did mine the same

http://board.marlincrawler.com/index.php?topic=77788.90

[THK Matt]

I never realized Tacorunner, that you stretched your WB. I admire your runner.

[TacoRunner]

Thank you very much.

[John Doe]

TacoRunners 4Runner is even nicer in person.

Well I have made some more progress. We have had some hot days here and I have had to take some extra breaks to make sure I do not pass out from heat exhaustion.

Started on the drivers side Friday...



You can see here how I started the inner fenders, That is a section from a trailer fender that I used. It was real nice and easy to weld since it is 14 gauge and not 20.


I had made a mistake the way I had done the passenger side and I had gone back to correct it tonight...

Here I used a small section of 1/4" rod which tied all the sheet metal together and game me something with a little extra meet to weld too.


I have just 1 more piece to do which is all ready to do in the morning and then I will pound out a few dents, clean the welds and go over every thing again.

[TacoRunner]

Oh you got doner panels, very nice!

[Shamb]

looks like alot of work, i hate doing sheet metal welding.. looking good dude.

[John Doe]

Well sadly While in the middle of this long project I have been plagued with 1 problem after another.... My ECU died, my battery died, and now I have some sort of mystery electrical problem. I have a new battery, a replacement stock ecu and my truck is not starting. I am showing 10.5 amps on the batter while connected the the truck and it barely wants to turn over. I am going to start tracing wires looking for any bare spots that could be rubbing or anything. No rest for the wicked

[Jud]

Well sadly While in the middle of this long project I have been plagued with 1 problem after another.... My ECU died, my battery died, and now I have some sort of mystery electrical problem. I have a new battery, a replacement stock ecu and my truck is not starting. I am showing 10.5 amps on the batter while connected the the truck and it barely wants to turn over. I am going to start tracing wires looking for any bare spots that could be rubbing or anything. No rest for the wicked

I have heard that not disconnecting the battery while welding on a vehicle could kill some electrical . I have never had a problem with it personally. (knock on wood!!!!!) I don't know if you left the battery connected or not but this theory could be guilty in your situation...

Stretch looks good BTW, a truck tail gate and wheel well stretch is absolutely necessary building a 4Runner IMO.

[John Doe]

Well the not Disconnecting could have been what started everything... But now that I have a new battery and different ecu. I had replaced the 80 amp fuse which blew. I can not find any other bad fuses, this is just 

[86yoter]

did you check your grounds?  i mean all of them.

[TacoRunner]

I have heard that not disconnecting the battery while welding on a vehicle could kill some electrical . I have never had a problem with it personally. (knock on wood!!!!!) I don't know if you left the battery connected or not but this theory could be guilty in your situation...

Stretch looks good BTW, a truck tail gate and wheel well stretch is absolutely necessary building a 4Runner IMO.

Ive never had a problem either, except a blown fuse.

[John Doe]

I am no master mechanic and this level of trouble shooting is honestly beyond my usual skill/ knowledge level. That being said it appears that I have no spark but the coil and ignitior both appear to be within spec per my chilton manual. When attempting to check the current on all the spark plug wires I puled to hard and pulled the end off  , I am off to the parts store to get a new set of wires and a new rotor since it looked a little black. The cap was fine so I will not be replacing that. Any other suggestions...?

[Jud]

Did u check the EFI fuse?  Is it just cranking over and not firing? Check if u have fuel at the banjo bolt on the intake plenum. Crack the banjo bolt at turn the key to the on position, if fuel comes out u should have ample fuel pressure.

[John Doe]

If by EFI fuse you are referring to the 80 amp main fuse, then yes it is good, I had to replace it already. Correct it is cranking and not firing, but it is a very weak crank as iff the battery is dead even with 11.45 volts on the battery. I had used a test light last night and all fuses looked good. I was double checking them just now and some of the interior fuses did not want to light up. Went and checked the voltage on the battery and it had dropped from11.36 to 8.24 so it is obvious I also have a mystery drain on the system.

I have gone back and inspected all the wiring around the area's where I had been welding and cut out 2 different sections that had melted shielding. These were small accessory wires for taillights and the deck light so I doubt they would have been the major cause of issues.

[John Doe]

With my brand new yellow top back on the charger, I pulled  the battery out of the car I am borrowing and hooked it up to my 4runner to keep testing. I 1st unscrewed the cold start injector and attemptd to start the engine, no fuel came from the banjo bolt. It looks like I am not getting fuel or spark 

I also have a few of the interior fuses that are not lighting up my test light. Does anyone have a diagram listing what fuse is what in there?

Edit: So I just tried this trick from 4crawler's website http://www.4crawler.com/4x4/CheapTricks/index.shtml#TimingCheckConnector And I still did not get any fuel from the cold start injector. Time to check the pump.

[HogCanyonHopper]

http://www.4crawler.com/4x4/4R_TechInfo.shtml#Electrical  this help?

[John Doe]

this help?

Thanks. I just checked and There is a 3x3 grid of 9 fuses but some of mine have higher rated fuses. Can someone verify that the way he has them listed is the way they are in the panel?

[John Doe]

Well I found out last night why I was not getting fuel to the engine. It turns out the hot wire at the back of the plug  near the fuel tank was completely corroded, it broke off in my hand. I replaced both plugs at the fuel tank with Weather pack electrical connectors. http://www.weatherpack.com/ Any future electrical work will be with these. Great little products and I like to do a clean job with electrical. I will pick up my diagnostic work in the morning. Hopefully I can get everything figured out soon. I have more body work to do and a rear bumper to build before the round up.

[TacoRunner]

Sweet, then it wasnt your computer. Thats good knews.

[John Doe]

I had already replaced the ECU in the past 2 weeks. I still do not know about spark. I will keep working on that in the morning.

[Jordan7118]

Love the wheelbase stretch! You used a 4Runner for donor panels, correct?

Hope your electrical issues clear up. That is so frustrating!!!

[John Doe]

Yes I used panels from a scrapped 4runner. I have a lot more work to do to finish that project. In other news, with all my trouble shooting I found that the main power wire going to the fuel pump was corroded at the back side of the fuel pump plug. I replaced both the sending unit, and fuel pump plugs with weather pack fittings and after a short time on the battery charger she fired right up. Took her on a 30 mile freeway ride to make sure that the battery was fully charged and parked her. Fearing a separate drain on the power system I disconnected the battery after parking it back in the drive way.

To do list....
-finish closing off the inner fender wells
-replace input shaft seal on steering box
-send ram off to get rebuilt
-new front and rear bumpers
-extend sliders

It is going to be a busy few weeks for me 

Oh and I can not forget, Thanks for all the feed back on the work so far and any help/ suggestions on my electrical issues

[John Doe]

So it looks like at some point my rear e-locker harness got a little hot and melted a little, exposing a little bit of wiring. I am pretty sure that this has been my drain.

I'll be calling 12 volt guy tomorrow to see about a replacement. Got my welding tank exchanged this afternoon and will be  in the evenings to get things finished up.

[THK Matt]

So it looks like at some point my rear e-locker harness got a little hot and melted a little, exposing a little bit of wiring. I am pretty sure that this has been my drain.

I'll be calling 12 volt guy tomorrow to see about a replacement. Got my welding tank exchanged this afternoon and will be  in the evenings to get things finished up.

MC sells OEM harnesses. glad u figured out your power drain.

[John Doe]

Why get a new oem harness when this harness is from 12 volt guy and he is alot closer then MC.

[THK Matt]

Why get a new oem harness when this harness is from 12 volt guy and he is alot closer then MC.

didnt know what harness you were running lol