Zapp22

Heading out to review a 1987 4Runner apparently pretty well kept, low miles, 4WD.
The AC has gone bad.
What does it cost to not only replace that but convert to modern????

I'm ignorant of 4wd maintenance: what should I look for? leaky seals? rust?
Do these get water in the interior or ???

Questions to ask the owner??

Zapp22

aarr.... forgot to mark followup

kcrunner

Keep an eye out for rust anywhere (frame, drivetrain, IFS components. etc).

The best way to check the 4WD components are to visually inspect the front and rear differentials, the transmission, and the transfer case (That, and drive the thing). An 87' Runner is likely to have leaked over the years, so leaky oil isn't necessarily the best indicator as to the overall condition of the truck.

I've got oil and crap on my components, but everything works just fine.

As far as the AC goes, I have know idea on replacement costs. Call around to your local import mechanic or Toyota dealer, keeping in mind the dealer is going to charge a lot more.

Check the rear window for any electrical or mechanical problems.

Ask for any service records.

vmax84

Rust in Texas......how????


vmax84

Open the doors and look under the doors for rust. Also, simply look under the vehicle. If there's rust there, it's been in salt and probably ain't from TX.

kcrunner

Uhhhhhhhh, because the truck could have left Texas at some point. Unless New Braunfels is similiar to West Berlin in the 80's.

CyMoN

pull the and look behind the rear panels on the rear wheel wells for rust

don't be afraid to climb under it and take a very good look at the whole under body,frame,tranny and axles for leaks hole ect.

ask lots of questions about maintenance like if the timing chain has been replaced also ask what all has been replaced.
if you buy a truck with high mileage you can almost look into having to buy and replace the starter,ALT possibly the calipers and other brake stuff.

if you really like it ask if you can take it to a mechanic for a sucker check aka "inspection" it is worth paying 75$ to have it gone over by someone then buy it and then dump 500$ or more into it.
if it is a 5 speed take it for a test drive there is a easy test to make sure the clutch is not slipping try starting out in 4th gear if it revs up the clutch is slipping but in my case I was told the clutch was going out and it did not slip and I drove it for 6 months before it started to go south.

I am Leary of other peoples installs when it comes to after market wiring for lights ect in some cases.

who ever wired my 4runners lights did it very wrong and it could have set the dash on fire that was one of the first things I had to redo when I got it.

remember you are looking at buying a 21 year old truck it will need things done to it unless to PO was very good on the upkeep.

kcrunner

CyMon

CyMoN

if it has fender flares pull them out some so you can see behind them I did not and there was a lot of rust on it and that would have dropped my offering price

too be honest people ask way too much on some of these older 4runners and trucks after mine got put on its side and I had to deal with the insurance company 4runners should only cost around 2000$ to 2500$ IN GOOD to very GOOD CONDITION...

that is what they will pay you on a good day if you ever have to settle on a total loss payout.

it a 4runner or truck has lots of after market stuff get all of the receipts from the PO or don't pay for that stuff because the insurance company will not pay you for it.
this is general advice for everyone who is in the market for a older 4runner or truck. cover your butt or you will lose out if you get hit.

I hold on to all of my receipts for my trucks and they would go with the truck if I sold it.
I did get a large folder with my 4runner witch helped with the insurance only thing that was missing that hurt me was the receipts for the lift where missing

Philemone

Just thought I would let you know that I have one in Austin for sale. Check out https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f108...t-shape-146232.



Thanks! and good luck.

SwampThing

Dude there's some good ones here in san antoio for sale. sanantonio.craigslist.com Seems like alot of em are in Schertz, which is only like 10 minutes from new braunfels. Speaking of which, I can't believe they upped the $5 spot up there! Oh well, canyon and medina lake here I come!

As far as rust goes, northern texas does have snow (believe it or not) and they salt the roads sometimes. Then down south, there is this small body of water. What's it called? Oh yeah, THE GULF OF MEXICO! Lol

My truck has two rust pockets on the bed, but no where else. Came from corpus christi, aint never been out of texas. Just the salt from the ocean.

T-1000

Yeah I'm from Victoria, my brother's old GMC 1500 has a hole rusted into one of the side panels.

Things definitely rust if they sit out in a field long enough.

It snowed 13" in Victoria (about 30 miles from the coast) in 2005. On Christmas Eve no less. That only happens once every 100 years but still....

scuba

dude i live in schertz
i havent seen but two first gens around

And there not for sale

SwampThing

Really? That's strange. I bought this '84 from out there in Shertz about 3 months ago, and I remember having a hard time cause I went to look at about 6 different yotas from out there in Shertz.

Maybe you saw this one driving round Shertz back when it was in stock form. Went from this:


To this:

abecedarian

braggart!

toyNG

regarding the air conditioner:

When I got my 86 truck, the owner told me the AC hadn't worked for a long time but since it was almost never hot where he was from, he never looked into it. When I got the truck, I called the dealer and they told me I'd be better off taking it to a car AC shop. The guys at the AC shop told me they'd need to check the system (which cost $25) to be able to determine what's wrong with it. If it simply doesn't have freon, then it'd be like $100 to recharge it. But it could be a much bigger problem, and expense, if something like the condenser was broken. They said it could potentially cost up to $1000!
Anyways, I got lucky and it was only out of freon. So, $125 later and my AC blows cold as ice. Best $125 I ever spent! I gets super hot where I'm from. Anyways, it's probably worth the $25 fee to get at least have them diagnose the problem.

Luvmeye22re

Agreed, out of the 8 or so Toyotas I've owned over the years, only one of them was completely free of atleast a little hackwork by a P.O. (or their mechanic). Take a good look and watch out for disconnected/dangling wires, rust, spraypaint on the frame, make sure the oil in the engine isn't 90wt to cover up bad bearings, etc. Your very best bet is to ask the guy if you can put 5 bucks worth of gas in it and take it to a mechanic you trust to look at it. I can fix/inspect/diagnose a decent number of things on a vehicle but still don't have the eye of a mechanic who works on cars 40+ hours a week. Usually if they say no and don't want to let you have it inspected by a mechanic, it's got some major problems.

P.S. Out of all the things you can see topless, the 84-89 4Runner is probably in the top 10.