Tempy T4R

Hey everyone,

Sorry for my first long post - but I have alot to share! lol

I finally decided to open an account on yotatech. I bought my 1990 4runner mid-September originally just as a winter beater, but have already grown in love with this old thing especially thanks to Yotatech and its members.

I frequent VW/Audi/Porsche forums and generally know forum rules. Especially #1 to search before I ask! So I have been quietly searching and reading in the background for the last 2 months and have had great sucess in fixing up my truck to date.

So about my truck:
Originally I was looking for a cheap car to make it through winter, but have always wanted a Toyota pickup. Pickups were well over my budget of $2000 for a winter beater (everyone wants a mint for them up here - like $4500 for a 1991 3.0 with 310Kms) So i got turned onto the idea of a 4runner.
After looking at 4-5 terribly rusted, broken runners and almost giving up, I finally found mine. He was asking $1500 certified + e-tested for my 1990 w/280Kms. Rust around the fenders, but the motor seemed strong and it drove and ran great. I was very happy with my purchase until I started exploring further at home.

Immediate issues I found:
1. Sunroof motor ran, but no movement of the glass
2. Both taillights were still broken (thought safety would have covered that)
3. Rear window did not work
4. CV inners & outers on both sides all torn
5. Battery wouldn't keep a charge
6. Tires far more worn than I originally thought - front inner was bald
7. Further inspection lead to a worn out tie rod end
8. Shifts hard when cold - doesn't go into O/D easily or at all sometimes
9. When it made it to overdrive it would shift back to 3rd for no reason
10. Seller painted over alot of rust. rear doors are fked - rust is already coming back through the paint.

SO - after hours of reading on here about the very common issues listed above, I learned of the rear window motors/relays. Opened the tail gate to find the rear motor was completely missing! My first trip was to the scrap yard. All of the rear window motors had already been taken - but found that any window motors were ideally the same. Only mistake i made was I grabbed a Passenger side motor - so in the end had to switch the connecting wires to make the down switch go down and up go up. If you grab one of these get a drivers side motor. Also - I grabbed a complete sunroof cable assy. 2 new tail lights, rear wiper motor and some plastic interior trim that I needed - all for $60!!! Very happy about that - so I fixed #1, 2 & 3 in one shot.

New battery $90, got some 31x10.5x15 Baja A/T tires for $125/ea, and ordered complete drive axles for $100/each, and a tie rod end for $25. So with much help of yotatech I managed to install everything true DIY style, and am amazed on how easy the truck is to work on, managing to do most work alone in my driveway......so #4, 5, 6 complete.

I used Autopartsway.ca in Canada - free ground shipping for orders over $75. At first I was very impressed - everything showed up the next day! However both axles were damaged in shipping, I had to return them, they gave me the wrong return address and refused them, then took 2 weeks and were EXTREMELY difficult to deal with to get replacement axles. They were not willing to resolve the issue quickly and ignored numerous calls and emails from me....not the way to do business.

So where I am at now:
Overdrive. I am installing a new thermostat this weekend as I notice the gauge is a bit to the left, and takes quite a while to warm up. I figure this is a cheap fix to potentially solve a big problem.

Questions:

1. At normal operating temperature is the needle supposed to be dead center as most vehicles?

2. Battery - Is there supposed to be a battery tray? Its rubbing on some cooling lines right now and I'm worried they will wear through.

3. I am now at $2700 into this truck. After fixing all of the above, I drove it to work on the first day (a damp one at that) and the alternator went. This didn't really bug me as I could tell it was a cheap spray painted reman in there already - so $200 later I have a new one. But do you think I have covered alot of the bases already? I am wondering when the stopping point is as my original budget was $2000. The motor doesn't burn/leak oil nor does the tranny. However now there is an extra tick coming from the engine.....how common are valve problems in these? Should I be able to make it through the winter do you think? about 10000kms worth of driving.

4. I notice with the new alternator - the battery gauge is a bit more flimsy. When I use a signal the needle flickers with each tick of the signal - this normal?

If this thing gets me to work all winter I am happy - money well spent. I will even probably go further and try to restore some of the rust, perhaps an engine rebuild over the summer if needed.

Anyways - thank you everyone who has posted these tech articles and very valuable information so far. You have literally saved me $$$Hundreds so far in work I did myself. I couldn't believe how easy it was to work on this truck myself, just with some patience and tons of late night reading on YT I have really impressed myself with the results. As I get a bit more experienced I will try and assist others as you have with me, perhaps add to some DIY threads etc...I promise not as lengthy as this one!

I am happy to be a part of this community so far, and hope my 4runner gives me a trouble free winter (knocks on wood)

Thank you again all and I look forward to all replies and future discussion.

Cheers,
Jon

aviator

Welcome Jon...
I'm glad we could be so much help... good to see another T. member here also... to answer your questions...
1. Normal op temp is a range around centre position... mine usually sits a little below centre except when stuck on the '01 in summer then it goes just above centre.
2. Normally there is supposed to be a batt. tray (all it is is a little plastic thing) I'd proably grab one from crappy tire if you really need it.
3. The valve ticking is normal (in my experiance) I put a can of "Engine Restorer" from Crappy Tire in at every oil change and it quiets right down and I found it improved the power and fuel econ. (it restores the compression by swelling the old seals and helping to seal the cylinder walls/pistons) it costs about $15 for the 6cyl can.
It [the engine] should get you through way more then 10K kms with no issues at all.
4. Yes the voltmeter will fluctuate with the turn signals the thing is very sensitive.

What you need to do is call toyota canada and regester yourself as the vehicles current owner and check the status of the recalls there are two that will apply to you the headgasket recall and the front steering recall.
Also yota will be able to tell you the history of the vehicle regarding which dealer sold it and which dealer handled the initial (warrenty) maintenance. Get in touch with those dealers and they should be able to tell you what was done when.

pm me I can provide you with the contact info for a local toyota truck specialist excellnt work and prices...
Prost Aviator

which scrapyard did you hit that had yota(s) in it? They are usually hard to find...

ovrrdrive

Normal temp on my truck has always been about 1/8 - 1/4" above full cold. If my gauge gets to the middle I'm overheating.

Tempy T4R

Aviator - thank you very much for the help. I called Toyota, HG was done in 1996, but the steering relay rod hasn't been done yet. So thanks for that tip!

I will have to make another trip to good ol crappy tire to search through their engine additives I suppose. I have never really been a huge believer in these they really work?

Only thing is now, both you and ovrdrive say 2 different things about the temp. gauge. Can anyone else chime in and tell me where their needle usually sits? Mine sits at 1/4 right now, but the overdrive issue seems to be very related to the engine running cool like I have read on a few different threads.

I will have to go home to check to see if coolant is flowing in the rad right on start-up or not now.

Thanks again guys!

thook

On my wife's '92, it sits about halfway.

aviator

1/4 is right about where it should sit, expect it to sit a bit higher like I said if your stuck in summer traffic. I can photcopy and e:mail you the applicable pages of the OM if you like...
as for the additives I agree most of them are a little out there though I do run some injector cleaner through about twice a year and some Gas line anti-freeze if it's going to be real cold. But that Engine Restorer really does work (IMO) it did quite the lifters right down and my fuel econ. /power did go up...

You need to fill in some data in your sig. it's harder for everyone to help if we don't know what you have lol

Dublin

I think you'll get a different answer on the temp range from everyone. Mine never makes it to the middle. It's going to make a difference on your thermostat rating (temp), coolant mix, radiator and heater core condition, water pump,ect, ect. The main thing is that the coolant flow is good, no obstructions, temp is not extremely high and you've got heat when needed.

bigt

aviator.. could you give me the name of that toyota truck guy in ontario???

also there is a blue 4runner at a junk yard in niagara falls i know because i finally found my drivers door of the exact color.. and i took the roof rack and rear window rubber seal... he gooned me for 260$ cause he seen my dented drivers door when i was pulling in i think....

Tempy T4R

OK so I put in a new OEM Thermostat today, and changed my spark plugs.

I haven't refilled the coolant yet or started the truck to let the gasket maker setup for 24hrs as per the instructions

But what I found was the old thermostat was cut in half! I go to pull out the old one and its just the ring housing and the metal bar that goes accross the center. I checked to see if it broke and the other half (the guts) of the thermostat were still in the housing and nope......the guy before me cut the thermostat in half and took out the guts so literally it was open all the time.

Why would he do this? Should I expect a big overheating issue now or something?

Also the plugs looked ok, a bit of carbon, they were due for a change. Except the #6 plug (closest to the firewall on the drivers side) had more oil on it than the rest. Bad rings in this cylinder or is this a symptom of the bad valve I've read so much about?

Aviator - I picked up the engine restore for V6's today as you recommended. Haven't put it in yet because I want to refill the coolant and make sure everything is good on that front first.

This truck is a never ending battle it seems. Every time I work on the truck I find something that was half assed by the previous owner.

I just hope this thing lasts me the winter after all the time and effort i've put into it so far!

aviator

Your oil needs to be down about a litre or so when you add it so you don't overfill the crankcase tempy.
Why the PO would have cut the thing in half I don't know sounds like a cheap fix for a fail t-stat, based on what you've said it sounds like something the PO would do. I would'nt expect any overheat problems with a working 'stat.
You'll probably find it runs a lot better now that the engine can get up to proper temperature.
later Aviator

Tempy T4R

OK - So I filled the coolant last night after my t-stat replacement. I burped the top rad hose as much as possible as well....still not sure if I got it all though, I didn't do it on an incline is that a big problem?

Problems:
1. Once truck warmed up, it came down from its 1300-1500 high idle to the usual 750-800...but then kept going down too 400 and after a couple minutes struggled to keep running. I found the idle screw and turned it up a bit so it seems to be ok now, but why would it die down? I am assuming because the PO had a modified "always open" t-stat in there he adjusted the hot idle very low perhaps?

2. Truck still overheats like crazy.....I used a brand new OE Toyota T-stat. Any chance its faulty and not opening? Or would you bet more that its because there is still air in the system somewhere?

3. As I was burping it this morning, it reved up when first started, and about 4-5 times suddenly dropped like it was stalling. It would catch itself at 100-200rpm and speed back up, but then drop. Sounded like I was sitting there revving the engine - any idea why it would do this?

Im pissed now because my winter beater failed me on our first big snow day today - had to drive my lowered VW to work in this crap

And my earlier worry that replacing the t-stat would uncover other issues seems to be ringing true....dammit

aviator

As for the incline thing I've never done mine on an incline or heard of the for that matter...
You might still have some air in the system causing a "lock"... have you got water/coolant mix in the "overflow" tank beside the rad?
the idle problem might be a problem with the vacuum system, the idle-up pot not working properly or else your mixtuere might be base lined a little too lean this would also explain the hot running engine... I'll pm you my mechanic's tel# maybe give him a call and see if he can fit you in or help you out some how...

edit: can't seem to pm you right now tempy I'll try later..

BLKNBLU

iTrader: (1)

I see by a post of yours on another thread that you are still looking for some answers on this. If you start to lean toward the fan pulley/bracket thingy mentioned in that thread here is another thread that might be helpful that gets into the fan pulley. Apparently there are two different ones and you're in luck because you need the earlier/cheaper part.(mostly discussed around pg 3) None of this is to say that this is necessarily the problem in your case.
https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f116...93/index3.html

Tempy T4R

Worse news
So I pulled the New T-stat I just put in, put it in some water on the stove, and sure enough it opened at 180. So put it back in the truck again...purged all the air etc.. and it still overheats now. It won't overheat at idle, but as soon as I start to drive it the heat goes up to the redline, but not beyond. It will stay right at the white/red boarder. I believe its still way too hot though right?

Worst of all I pulled off the oil cap after it overheating today to find a milky residue...so is that a definite sign of HG problems or what?

I can't figure out the overheat at all, it blows heat in the cabin. Before I changed the t-stat there was a gutted one in there and I could see coolant flow past the opening in the rad, so the water pump looks ok.

aviator

Hmm I'm at a bit of a loss... the milky residue is a sure sign you're getting coolant into the oil but it could be a sign of a "simple" HG or a cracked block...
the overheat thing may be a water pump issue...
Best I can suggest is give Shane a call...

leebee

x2 on talking with shane, a wealth of knowledge. once you get the engine figured out, the rest can be done when time and $$ allow. as for the trans shifting issue, it wont shift into o/d until it reaches optimum operating temps, a quirky thing with the a/t's, even worse when you put in a trans cooler!

lee

Tempy T4R

Ok awesome thanks again for the # Aviator. I've decided to ground the runner for a bit, work is too busy and keeping me from wrenching on the truck right now....and can't really depend on it right now as a commuter having to put my summer car away now with the snow. So I picked up a cheap integra to get to work for the winter.

I do want to fix up the runner though, even though its given me some issues I still love the truck hah. Soon as I get some time this week I want to flush out the rad, do a compression test etc.. to investigate into HG problems a bit. I will definitely keep Shane's # on file though for when I start back at it

Thanks again!

eightnine

shane is the man with the plan when it comes to toyotas in ontario. he has a place in orangeville filled with toyota 4x4s. It was like heaven when i went up there. If you cant find any answers just call him up he is a really cool guy.

4runnerguy

aviator and leebee do u know a good junk yard in mississauga area. cause i need a bumper and a tailgate from a 92 through 95 tailgate for my truck

aviator

Finding a yota in a junk yard is a pretty rare thing so far as that goes... Standard Autowreckers in Scarberia sometimes gets one in... but you might try giving Shane at toyworks a call he's dialled in for parts I'll pm yuo his #.