Meredith&Chris

We're new to the Toyota community, and recently bought an '89 4Runner with the 5spd V6. It has 134k right now and runs great, no smoking or missing or anything, but we are just curious to know if there are any weird lil glitches that we should watch out for. Is there anything we ought to do as a precautionary measure? We had planned on just starting in on the suspension but want to make sure we're not overlooking the obvious....

Thanks in advance!

TRunner

Do a search here... There is loads of info on this at this site.

For starters, though:
Headgasket - make sure it has been replaced.

Adam F

No reason to make sure it has been replaced. The 88/89 4Runners were not covered by the Headgasket Campaign. From what I've read it's not as much of an issue with these years as it was 90-95.


Just change the oil every 3000 and your good to go!

TRunner

I was thinking it went back to 88...

89_4runner

I don't have any weird things to watch for. If it has been maintained properly it should be pretty reliable. I also recommend doing plenty of searches of this site to learn about the truck.

1) The headgasket is a questionable item. A lot of people have had problems. I am the original owner of my '89 and never had the headgaskets replaced. Watch for loss of water, smoke, or milky oil.

2) If you have maintenance records you should check for things like timing belt replacements, valve adjustments, and the water pump. The timing belt and valves are recommended every 60k miles and can go longer, but be careful.

3) Highly recommend to change the oil, transmission and transfer case fluid, differential fluids, and coolant. You might catch a problem that the previous owner didn't.

4) I would recommend to buy a factory service manual(s) or download an electronic version from the net. Things may have changed, but when I bought my manual there was not a specific one for the 89 4Runner. Instead, I had to buy the 88 Truck/4Runner and the 88 V6 supplement.

Have fun with it.

mt_goat

I think it started about the 90 or 91 model. Actually, from what I've heard, the late 80's models had the good HGs, before the asbesto ban.

If the timing belt was done at the dealer, they should have written the mileage and date on the timing belt cover (right at the top under the plug wires). But it is a non-interference engine, so if it breaks on you it's not catastrophic (to the engine anyway).

Meredith&Chris

OK.....thanks for the info. The clutch goes back in this weekend, going to do a total tune up and drive it around town for a couple weeks to see how it behaves. Then give the guys at Downey a call and get some new suspension stuff going....

ctcost

Yup. Change all the fluids all the way down to the gear oil too. And all filters...Just a good first step. Then have the radiator flushed...you might even go this far with the tranny and do a flush too (instead of just replacing the fluids). Just to make sure that little baby lives a good long life.