bord42

My first vehicle was an 84 Pickup SFA EFI until I graduated to a 96 Tacoma Xtracab. Had another kid and moved on to a 2003 DoubleCab which I still drive today, just rolled over 225k and hope to drive it another 200k!

This is my first post but have used this site many times over the years for tech info. My son just turned 16 and I've been searching a few months for something in the $4k range but am not having much luck. I'm leary of these higher mileage trucks mostly due to the timing chain guide issue. On my 84 I had a bad oil pan leak and when I removed the pan I was horrified to find the plastic timing chain guides broken and floating around down there. Needless to say it took me about a month to replace the timing chain and honestly I have been hesitant to buy another 22re engine since.

I'd really like to get him a Toyota because I know he is going to beat on it and I really don't want something I have to work on all the time. Anyone else notice many of these models for sale stating "timing chain just replaced"? Anything else to watch for?

highonpottery

iTrader: (1)

I always swore I'd stick my kid in a 2seater toyota pickup manual trans so they'd learn to actually drive and won't have room for passengers. Wife's a teacher and seen too many times where kids piled up in SUVs And things go very bad quickly. Now that I actually have a kid I still hold true in this, and I actually would keep my truck to give to him, but I don't think I would stick him in a pre-tacoma pickup as the first car simply for the reason of airbags alone. If it's a crawler that's different since they're armored up, but a more street-purposed truck like a 2wd I know I personally would be getting sideways every chance I got

If still getting a pickup, head gaskets and tchains are the engine issues to look for. If it's been done great, but Id personally be wary of low miles since it was performed. Other than that it's worn suspension and steering, any rust issues, rubber brittle, typical 20yr old vehicle issues.

Get him something that runs good and will safely get him from a to b, but needs simple things that he can wrench on and learn if he wants.

wyoming9

iTrader: (1)

Any of these Trucks is going to take work just how much who can say.

Well you sure don`t want the 3.0

Then these trucks are getting older every day.

It always seems I end up putting $1000.00 to $1500.00 in parts to get caught up on the neglected maintenance.

JaxAtttax

the 3.0 motor after 94 should be safe since the head gasket problem was recalled.

DeclansDaddy

Ehh I got a 95 that's popped both of them. Took it to the dealer after the first one went because I thought it would be under the recall but turns out it wasn't. The trucks built late '94 but were called '95's were covered however mine was built 3/95 so I was "safe". The recall was for the bad torquing of the bolts however the infamous x-over pipe cooking the head gaskets are still an issue for any 3.0. I'd stay away from them.

wyoming9

iTrader: (1)

People that are not really into vehicles just have no clue just what maintenance needs done.

I have seen brake fluid so full of water it would get ice crystals

coolant that was green pretty much turned brown and not from adding Toyota Red.

Air filters never changed since the truck was bought.

that these vehicles keep going says quite a bit.

some of the things to look for.

Odin

Look for signs of a cracked and leaking radiator. They aren't cheap to replace. $80 minimum for a cheap China made plastic tank aftermarket replacement up to about what, $300-400-500 for a new OEM Toyota replacement. Look around the filler neck and inlet and outlet hoses. Look for cheap repairs on it like silicone, epoxy or JB Weld applied to it.

Now that I know I would bring a small metal paperclip with me so that you can check the codes.

Not all the fault codes will illuminate the Check Engine Light on the dashboard. My CEL never came on when I was doing the test drive. After a couple weeks of ownership I decided to check the codes and it turned out I had two fault codes being triggered. I fixed one for a small sum but the other (Vehicle Speed Sensor) is going to require me to rip the dashboard apart and spend around $200 for the replacement part. If you or your son can't do the repairs then it's just going to drive the cost of repairs up.

How to check them
http://www.4crawler.com/4x4/CheapTricks/TroubleCodes/

Odin

Make sure it goes into all the gears easy. If it doesn't it could be one or two of a long list of things from a cracked clutch pedal bracket, bad clutch master and slave cylinder, to hard clutch parts themselves.

For performance and reliability reasons it's recommended that you replace them with OEM parts.
NO, I'm not one of those guys that absolutely has to keep their cars all OEM original.

If it's kinda hard to get into reverse that's fairly normal. Try putting it in first gear and moving forward a little, fully stopping, then trying reverse again.

When stopped put the trans in neutral and push in the clutch. With the clutch depressed listen for a whrrrrrrrrrrrr noise.
If it goes away when you let the clutch out the trans has to come out and the Throw Out Bearing needs to be replaced. Since it's going to be that far apart you might as well do a full clutch job.