So I contacted the turbo rebuilder today, and confirmed that progress is under way. They’ll be getting a shipment of T04E/46 wheels in within a couple of days, and then they can get started on the rebuild.
I am still looking for a used manifold without cracks. Here are pics of the current, cracked manifold:
I may just have to buy one new.
And here is an entire engine picture:
More news to come!
Well, here it is. Mister FedEx just arrived with a package. I better heat up the soldering iron!
It feels very solid, yet light. I can’t wait to dive into this!
Oh, and Luis at Paradise Racing threw in a free shift knob, too – what a guy!
Many of you probably know of the fuel/timing issues with the TRD supercharger kits, especially for the 3.4L 5VZFE. Well, this is the setup in my 97 Tacoma 4wd 5spd.
In the winter, it’s pretty easy to drive around all the load/rpm sites that ping, clearly indicating a timing advance problem in addition to the known under-fueling issues. But with the onset of Spring and upcoming Summer – which I’m not eager to drive it ever so cautiously this year – ping happens everywhere. So it’s time to fix it once and for all.
Stock injectors are 238cc/min! And TRD [USA] decided no upgrade was necessary for a supercharger (Eaton M62) putting out 8 psi. Additionally, there’s no pump upgrade, timing mods nothing. So here’s the plan:
- 440cc injectors from a 7MGTE, which is why I’m in search of a used resistor pack. The 5VZFE ecu expects high Z.
- Walbro 190 lph. I’m only going for maybe 350hp. Maybe the 255 will be needed who knows.
- MAP ECU2 piggyback. I really couldn’t justify an SMC or SM4 for this truck, even with my dealer discount. So we’ll give this ECU2 a go the JZA80 guys seem to be in love with it here in the USA. Also, due to my crazy altitude changes on even short (30 minute) trips, I’m using an external MAP sensor to watch MAP, and will let the internal MAP sensor monitor baro. This ecu also has an O2 sensor override function, which will let me trick the ecu into open loop at will.
- Exhaust – undecided at this point. Probably a test-pipe and catback for now.
- The stock MAF will go to the shelf, since this is a speed-density system.
- There’s no intercooler in this setup, unlike the Lightning’s w/a sandwich system. So I may modify the intake to accept water injection maybe direct port.
After all this is done, I should be able to get away with a 12 psi pulley. Should be a nice DD.
It was clearly leaking oil anyway, and had a wee bit of shaft play. So off to the rebuilder it was shipped!
It will get a Supra 7MGTE turbine housing, allowing a lot more top-end flow than the stock housing, at the expense of a small amount of lost low-rpm spool-up. Of course, a wide-open exhaust compensates for this dramatically.
The cold/compressor side will be upgraded to a T04E wheel, with either a 46 or 50 trim. The jury is still out on this one, though I only have one day to decide. I’m leaning toward a 46 trim, since this car will not be mine, and will be sold to someone mostly likely not to put the mods into it to support the increased capabilities of the 50 trim. On a basically stock engine, with upgraded exhaust and some tuning which is all most people will ever do the 46 trim makes more sense. See how I convinced myself? 46 trim it is.
Back to the wide-open exhaust. I’ll probably throw a quality Aussie Exhaust 3†downpipe on this car as added incentive to the buyer. This mod alone really helps spool-up, and considering the 7MGTE turbine housing which will be used, this will be essential. If fact, the new owner of this car will REALLY want to upgrade the entire exhaust to a 3†system to realize the full potential of this turbo setup.