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I just replaced my 86 2wd, sr5, LB, 5-sp, with a sweet 96 extra cab, 5-sp LX. My 86 had a strong 22re, Doug Thorley tri-y header, free flow exhaust, k&n drop in filter...Fun driving truck with great gas milage! Got a sweet deal on the 96 so I sold my 86 to my dad for a work truck. Well the 96 was in great shape but ran kind of lame compared to my 86. I figured with a good tune-up, header, free flow exhaust, k&n filter along with the newer design twin cam 16 valve engine, this thing should run great. After installing all the same mods on my 96 as I had on my 86 and all I can say is I sure miss my old 86. Engine is smooth but has no bottem end grunt like the 22re had. Add in a taller final drive ratio and wider spacing on the 5 speed and you have a gutless little beater that is not fun to drive. If you drive it like you stole it it runs pretty strong all the way up to say 5800 rpms. Anybody else had an experience like this? Local dealership said the 2.4L, 2rz-fe is a dog but will run forever. Are there any tuning secrets that will wake up this engine?
Sweet deals usally have their downfalls Your is "it does not have any power." Just be happy with it and be glad it was a sweet deal. Toyota trucks are hard to come by around here not beat to death or some snotnose kid f___king it up. I have the 2.7 and 4x4 and it Seems strong to me. But I know the gearing is different on 2x4. If gearing it would make it better for you Toyota has the easiest Chunk to remove and replace.
My guess is you are just so used to driving the 86 that you feel the 96 is lame. There is a little bit of weight difference between the two, but the added hp/torque from the 22RE/2RZ should off-set that.
There really isn't much you can do to give you more power with the 2RZ. They are indeed dogs, and do run for a very long time if maintained.
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"You can't be afraid to reverse engineer something to see how it works." -Me
Last edited by The Phoenix; 01-28-2008 at 09:52 AM.
Well I have not given up yet. I purchased a OBD II scan gauge and noticed that the ignition timing retards as you accelerate. I saw as ig timing as low as 8 deg BTDC @ 2000 rpms with my foot to the floor. Cruising or light throttle the timing stays up around 30 degrees. Start loading the engine and the timing retards. No wonder it feels lame! Under normal driving conditions the engine performs as if it is running lean during light acceleration. If the MAF sensor is sending the wrong signal to the ecu, resulting in a lean a/f ratio, then the knock sensor may be picking up a lean knock or ping, causing the ignition timing to retard. If this is true, this would explain the poor performance.
Well, got a chance to swap out maf sensors with another Tacoma owner...Drum roll please...Still lame, no difference if performance. By the way, the other vehicle was an automatic 97 version and his is really lame. Got a spare knock sensor which I may try next. Maybe the ecu programming is just too focused on gas milage and emissions to allow this engine to really open up.
Update on the lame Tacoma. After trying the different MAF sensor with no success I got to thinking about what else controls the a/f mixture. The O2 sensor is the next piece in the puzzle. I spoke to a Toyota tech and he said the problem the see every so often was an O2 sensor that worked but the heater circuit would be bad. This does not trip the cel but the vehicle does not run correctly. The O2 was the original one with 215,000 miles so I figured what the heck...Only about $120! Anyway, big improvement in driveability. No more lean feeling/stumbling while cold. Still Lame though. Next, chasing the timing retard problem. Previous owner told me he fooled around with the throttle stop to get idle speed up. This told me the TPS is probably out of adj. I pulled the throttle body for cleaning and ease of adj. It was filthy and was definately out of adj. Set the TPS as per the factory manual and re-installed. Big improvement in torque and throttle response. Apparantly if the TPS is out of adj, it has a big influence on the timing curve the engine follows. Still not near as mid-range strong as my 22re in my 86 model but at least it is now acceptable. This engine may produce more hp and torque than a strong 22re... But a 22re will out perform it everywhere below 4000 rpms!
Lame 96 Tacoma
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