jjonez

When I did my rear control arms I had to pay a shop to do the pressing. Worth it for switching to poly. But it would totally eat into the savings of just swapping new rubber bushings in this case, so the whole mount is worth it.

Oh yea, and I did swap the front left and rear right tires just to put that to rest. It's possible it might have helped, as sometimes the vibe isn't as pronounced, but I can't say for sure since the only testing I can do is accelerate back in forth in an empty parking lot.

Alright, so today I jacked up the front and poked around. Fortunately the the cv axles didn't bind at full droop with both wheels in the air. However the right wheel has a couple spots of resistance when I spin it. In addition to that, spinning the wheels/axles revealed the diff mounts to be worse than I thought. Lots of side to side movement seen in the bushings on both sides when rotating the right wheel. For some reason the diff sits still when rotating the left tire and keeping the right still. My coworker spun the wheel while I filmed. Video right side Video left side The tapping/scraping noise every 2-3 seconds is a portion of the cv boot band clamp contacting the lower ball joint stud. Not an issue when laden. So here's my thinking: I only get bad vibes with hubs locked/4Hi b/c the wheels are connected to the diff AND the diff is receiving input from the motor. With hubs locked I get only mild vibes b/c the wheels are still connected to the shaking diff, but not amplified by torque. When in 4hi/hubs unlocked I don't get vibes at all because the shaking diff is isolated from the wheels/suspension. Quasar I know this didn't fully fix your issue when you had it, but I think new bushings is the best course of action for now since it's at least apparent that it needs to be done. What method did you use to remove the bushings from the mounts? I'm tempted to just by new OEM mounts to avoid hassle, based on my experience with the rear control arm bushings. My one concern with buying rubber stuff regardless if it's the whole mount or just the bushings is the age of the "new" part. What do you guys think about rubber parts sitting on a shelf for 10+ years? If it's in a sealed package should it be a concern? That being said, I wonder if Towndawg made any progress on his diff poly bushings...

That was gonna be my guess. My sister's Volvo had 3 go out back to back in the space of a month. Every time it's the flashing CEL with a constant misfire. I keep a spare coil pack and a ratchet in the trunk now since I'm pretty sure mine are all original.

Alright then, I think game plan for this weekend is to go ahead swap a couple tires just to put that to bed, and while the front is in the air do a thorough inspection of every suspension component and check for bind/smoothness of the CV's at full droop.

I'd say probably in between these two. It just borders on being a shake but still a vibration in my opinion. It's more subtle when not under load, but the intensity increases dramatically when accelerating. Sounds most similar to your MDX. I didn't think of the control arms, though I would expect the problem to always be present in that case. You've had your fair share of shakes and vibes! Now that I think about it, I've only used 4hi a handful of times since the lift went on a year ago. I first noticed the issue earlier this year on a snowy road and haven't used 4hi since. Maybe I damaged a joint before that on a nasty road requiring 4low. Or maybe the joints never liked the angle of the new lift and I never noticed. Now that ski season is around the corner it's time to address it haha.

Thanks for the replies guys. So I measured the tread depth in multiple locations and only got about 0.5 mm difference front to back. I'm going to swap around a front and rear tire but Im not getting my hopes too high for this to solve the issue, since Quasars we're about 3 mm different. I inspected the front driveshaft again. There is some VERY slight play in the Tcase flange compared to the diff flange which has none. Also, the piece on the shaft that is closest to the Tcase but still rotates with the shaft (dust cap?) is not seated evenly, not sure if that matters. Also also, when I rotate the shaft I can feel both U-joints articulate slightly, so I guess the diff/Tcase aren't perfectly aligned? Though that's what U-joints are for right? But still, could be the sag from the mount bushings I guess... The CV angles are pretty steep. OME HD coils and a 1" spacer so maybe 2.5-3" of lift and no SFD. At least one of my CV axles is from the junkyard, can't remember about the other. There is a tiny tear in one (on the edge where the boot doesn't flex) that I covered with RTV and it's held up so far. The underside is surprisingly clean, I hope to keep it that way so I'll save the grease pumping for when I'm really desperate haha. I hope it gets resolved. The truck is a joy to drive with the new suspension and has held up amazingly well for being 16 years old with 150k miles. Sucks to have it spoiled when trying to use it like it should be.

Thanks Quasar, I followed your thread while it played out. While I do rotate my tires regularly, I use the rearward cross pattern so the fronts and rears always swap in tandem. I suppose if one set wore faster than the other I could run into the same issue you had and it wouldn't get resolved by rearward cross rotation. I'll check the tread depth and probably swap one front and one rear regardless of what I find to see if it helps. My main doubt is the fact that I still get a slight vibration in 2WD with the hubs locked. In this case tire tread depth differences shouldn't matter right? Since the front driveshaft can rotate independently of the rear.

Happy Sunday folks. I was hoping to get some suggestions on this. I get a bad shake/vibration from the front end when in 4hi (tested on pavement going straight). It is the worst when accelerating/under load in gears 3 and 4 (haven't tried 5) but is still present when cruising or coasting. Here are the scenarios i tested for narrowing this down: 2WD w/ both hubs unlocked: no issues 4HI w/ both hubs unlocked: no issues 2WD w/ one or both hubs locked: slight vibration any speed above 50 mph, but not terrible 4HI w/ one hub unlocked: seems smooth, but I still need to test above 50 mph Parts I've checked: Front driveshaft: rotates freely by hand; good end play; U-joints seem solid CV axles: steep angle from the lift, but both rotate freely by hand Tires: same model/size and I rotate them regularly Diff mounts: There is about 1/4" of play in the rubber bushings on both sides when I push up on the rear of the diff (flange where U-joint connects) Wheel bearings: they do have some play and make a little noise on low speed tight turns So far diff mounts and wheel bearings are all I've identified as potential culprits. But the bearings I'm not so sure about since the ride is smooth in 2WD/hubs unlocked. I'm considering buying a knockoff go-pro to stick under there and see if it reveals anything. I'm probably missing something, as usual, so any suggestions before I start replacing stuff? Thanks for the assistance as always! JJ

I vote hawairish emperor of NPORA

Sorry in advance if this isn't helpful, but I didn't want you to be left hanging. Based on my brief amount of research, it sounds like a weak compressor. When it switches on it should lower the low side pressure to around 30 psi and raise the high side. This article seemed pretty informative to me. Probably not a coincidence though that it was working fine before the new tranny. Did the engine have to be moved at all to get it in? Kinked hard line or something? Spitballing here...

What was the fix for the vibration?

Yeah check what they said before you lose hope. If the cruise "ready" function still works but "set" does not, and it just happened all the sudden, then most likely the piece they're talking about fell out. Look for bits of plastic in the driver footwell. You can replace the part with an appropriate nut and bolt if you don't want to buy the part.

Dude I am OBSESSED with 4runners, I probably know more about them than 99% of 4runner owners. Tacoma's too. I'd love a mint 3rd gen with a manual, my dad had one until it was wrecked, but they are just tooooo rare and expensive to justify for me. Speaking of pics, where can we see your 03 v8??

Maybe I missed it reading through the thread, but I'm curious how you sourced your new engine. I'd imagine it'd be pretty tough to find a used engine from an '02 5 speed, let alone one in decent shape. Also really curious to see the cause of engine failure. My money is also on oil consumption leading to starvation. Sucks there's not really one identified root cause and a definitive fix. I've read it could be anything from bad rings, excessive cylinder taper, bad PCV valve, bad valve cover baffles, and of course the more obvious power valves. Am i missing anything? Haha

Installed the new sensor/harness today. Also changed the oil cuz I'm paranoid. The truck was running fine before and after the install. Hopefully I can officially put the lid on this and not reopen this thread again a month from now. Oh and this thread was really helpful in getting at the sensor.

33-185552 is a common choice which are about 2" longer than stock extended and compressed. I think 33-104652 might be what you're looking for. It's got an extra 2" extended on the 185552 and 1" compressed. This site has a list of all the 5125

Yea after I wiggled the harness a bit the resistance went from something like 5k ohms to 3k ohms then the truck ran fine. I went ahead and ordered a new sensor/sub harness just to be thorough. The AIV box has a spiraling channel along the outside that looks like it's supposed to drain out water, but apparently not well enough. An additional hole straight thru might be a good idea. I'm also thinking of just removing the AIV stuff between smog checks to keep it fresh.

Ok, so maybe it's the coolant temp sensor after all. The issue came back worse than ever today after I did some poking around under the hood. I pulled a spark plug and it had heavy fresh carbon deposits on it as well as inside the cylinder and the tailpipe (I checked the tailpipe recently and it was pretty clean). Also it looked like the throttle body butterfly had a thin layer of fuel just sitting on top of it. Can this sensor cause the injectors to dump excess fuel? I checked the ecu again and this time of course it showed 13, so I hope replacing the sensor is all it takes.

Thanks for the replies. Mine passes CA emissions just fine even when it had the rotted AIV box, I just don't get why it fills with water so easily. In this case the truck is only hard to start the first time after the stumble and die, then it runs funny with the symptoms mentioned but still warm starts better than any vehicle I've owned. Half a crank and it explodes to life. So far the issue has occurred twice, this most recent time it died, was hard to start, ran funny, and then worked itself out 15 minutes later. It currently starts and runs as normal but I'm just waiting for the next occurrence. I've read a little bit about the head temp sensor, but it doesn't match my symptoms exactly and I don't show a code for it.

Side note: I pulled off the brand new air induction valve/air cleaner assembly and it already has collected A LOT of water in it after less than 700 miles. I'm already seeing some corrosion on the perforated metal filter backing. Is this just what these things do or am I missing something here? Possibly related to my current issue i.e. water getting sucked into the intake somehow?

Welp, I guess the AIV wasn't the culprit and I'm looking at an intermittent issue. Today as I was creeping up the freeway on ramp in traffic the truck started to sputter then died. It cranked fine but wouldn't turn over. Luckily within a minute some good samaritans helped push it out of the way before my fellow commuters could get really pissed. After a loooong crank the engine finally caught but had the same issues stated earlier in the thread. Slightly higher idle, stumbling and almost stalling when tapping the throttle from idle or giving it heavier throttle while driving. After a bit more driving now of course it starts and runs fine. Which makes this way harder to figure out, but I'm guessing a fuel or air issue. Any suggestions on where to start? Thanks guys!

Like how wheel lugs will say 87-108 lb ft? Yea it's just the torque range. Don't know about the studs, but if they're easy to remove and find new ones I'd say best to go for it.

Dang, penetrating oil? Sorry that's all I got

I have the same leak as towndawg. Sometimes I get drips, sometimes there's just a residue coming down the right side of the bell housing, sometimes it just doesn't leak at all. It's weird how intermittent it is, I think I've only had to top up coolant once. Not worth fixing till I need a new clutch