madmaniac

can i go ahead and change all the fluids?

i heard if you change auto tranny fluid it can open seals and start to leak if the previous owner has never done it?

also would it be wise to change the timing belt now?

anything else?

mike_d

it never hurts to do fluid changes, so i'd go for that as step #1.

do you know if it ever had the head gasket recall done (i'm assuming you have a 3vz because you mentioned timing belt). if not, then you may want to check on getting that done. then at the same time they'll do the timing belt too.

as far as auto tranny flush...i never owned an auto, so i don't know for sure, but what it sounds like to me is a full flush requires running pressurised fluid through the tranny and may be bad, but there's no real consensus. if you just change the fluid you only get about 1/4 or 1/3 of the oil that's actually in the tranny. but what i suggest is to just change the fluid (no flush) 4 times as often. it's pretty easy to just change the fluid, and if you do it often, it's mostely equivalent to a flush and a whole lot cheaper. howver, i can't convince my dad that you need to change the auto tranny fluid. he's never changed/flushed it in any of his vehicles that have gone 200K miles (he doesn't tow or haul anything though).

other things, you may want to inspect brakes and suspension and steering components, make sure everything is safe.

on the 2nd gens, the brake line runs just above the gas tank. if you live in the rust belt and have a possibility of getting salt and crap up there, then the brake line sits in the salt that's on top of the gas take and rots out. it's kinda scary when it finally gets a hole. so you may want to check the status of the line and maybe get that replaced.

i can't think of any other common issuses i've experienced with 2nd gen runners.

Paul H.

Change all of the fluids and give it a good tune up.Check out your other post too.

bigKahuna

Make sure there is no water in the oil as the headgasket is a prob. check the starter as Mine had many probs until I just swapped it for a new Factory starter. and most importantly have fun wheeling it and using it for a daily driver as its perfect for both.
peace Big Kahuna

madmaniac

ok i did some playing with it today. the suspension is a little soft but not so bad that i have to deal with it now. what does concern me is that brake line thing though. the bottom of my truck is pretty badly rusted. to get this checked out would i go to toyota? will they know what im talking about? is there a way to prevent this from happening in the future?

also how do i tell if theres water in the oil?

sorry if this stuff is common knowledge here but im just really getting interested in cars/trucks now. i used to spend all my time on weight training forums and research sites. now this is my new hobby much more difficult.

mike_d

well my mechanic knew about the problem with the brakes. that was the first place he checked when i told him the symptoms. he's an independant toyota guy, not a dealer. i don't know if the dealers are smart enough to know of the problem. i think the best thing would be to take it in and have it checked out. i have a hard time seeing back there to do the inspection myself.