Lots of stuff..
Koso Water temp gauge, sender installed into the flat spot on the upper coolant pipe. It's too bright at night for my liking.. I'll eventually install a simple power switch to shut it off when not needed. I have the RT temp gauge mod so I can tell via the factory gauge when I need to be watching actual water temps.
Since I had the cooling system drained, all OEM radiator hoses and clamps.
Cleaned out the factory Oil Cooler. I've had a few instances where I was working the truck hard in deep sand or up steep hills and would notice oil pressure declining, and if parked/idling I'd notice a burning oil smell, most likely from the exhaust. No real oil temp gauge, but it was ACTING as though the oil was hot.
This thing was NASTY, though honestly from what people described I expected worse. Lots of scale on the heat exchanger itself, and definite mixing of coolant types. The sludge had formed a gunk that persisted in low-turbulence areas of the oil cooler housing. That said, there seemed to be enough coolant flow around the cooler that it must have been doing SOMETHING.. even if it wasn't nearly as effective as it should be.
In case anyone wonders what a ~290k mile cooling jacket looks like:
Deposits had basically filled the dark area at the bottom and plugged off the little drain hole. That hole doesn't really do anything unless you drain the coolant from the engine though.
While I was at it I suspected the oil pressure bypass spring built into the oil cooler cover. Not that I've been fighting oil pressure issues (even running 0w-40) but there was VERY little spring pressure against the plug that holds it in. Didn't see any specs so I just ordered a new one.. only $1.77 and it was at the counter next-day. Turns out my old one was the exact same length, though new ones have the ends machined slightly better. New one went in.
Cleaned everything thoroughly.. the heat exchanger itself is three flat stainless steel tubes with less than 1/8" gap between them. Lots of scale in between. I used a razor blade and oddly an electrical plug terminal tool to scrape as much of the crap out as I could.
The oil path through the cooler looked great... didn't mess with this at all.
Getting the cooler off required removing the front exhaust manifold.. so while I was at it I ditched the PAIR system. Had already chopped the PAIR muffler for my second battery tray.
The PAIR piping studs broke and a couple were very stuck in the manifold.. I toyed with idea of just welding up the PAIR holes but that's not a good idea on cast. Turns out I was able to weld 14mm nuts to the studs and get them out.
All-new hardware for the front ex manifold, blanking plates from cruiserparts (though the "genuine toyota" ones I bought were clearly not OEM. Thinner, not machined as well, and required modifying the holes to fit over the studs). Protip: buy the OEM part from
@beno or a dealer. 17148-41010 and not very expensive. I actually paid more at CP than I would have through my normal source.. but CP did have their version in stock and the toyota parts system needed 2-4 weeks (supposedly).
Also a new AC tensioner pulley bearing:
FAG 6301-2RSC3 from amazon. FAG (that's not a slur) is a german brand making quality bearings. Certainly better than the cheap chinese crap all over the internet. I looked for Timken or Koyo but couldn't find one that didn't take two weeks or for less than $25 shipped. The FAG part was $11 shipped. Old bearing was dry and the hub quite loose. IIRC the bearing in there was "NSF"
Very easy to change out, especially with a shop press, though a hammer and a few sockets would work fine as well.
Also did the main belt idler.
Now no more slight squeaking sounds.
I'll be posting a thread in the tech section that I found on my phone.. noticed lots of gas smell when near ouray in June. removed the fuel cap and got a big surge of gasoline and bubbles, and it continued to flow as through fuel in the tank was BOILING. Less atmospheric pressure? it didn't just vent and stop.. it kept going.. for like 5 minutes. This is with a new VC120 CC hooked up.
Anyway, all of this is in an effort to prep for SW CO in mid-late september. If anyone else will be out there drop me a line.
I'm sure I'm forgetting something..
2016-08-06_08-13-10
