alexharry

I've had this East Coast born and bred t100 for only 3 months. A lot of rust. However, no mechanic has ever told me the rust is fatal to the 213k, 5spd manual tranny ox. Inspecting it for purchase, several mechanics said it was an oldie, but a goodie. Maybe needed some new rear brake drums, new rear struts at some point.

FASTFORWARD--->Everything was running great. New timing belt and water pump at 209k. Regular maintenance and oil change. A friend wants to learn stick, so we take it on some hills and suddenly, the student over-evs (talking 6000rpm +) on the hill for about 10 seconds. Something smells like it's burning, I just assume it's the clutch. Now the clutch is loose, but worse, there is a horrible exhaust rattle when getting into gear. Something feels off that wasn't before the incident.

Without the education or experience to figure out what was going on, I took it to a shop saying it's got performance issues. This guy, no yota expert, tells me the air mass was dirty, but nothing else is wrong. So I take it to another mechanic, more of an experienced yotatech guy. Here's the kicker:

He tells me the truck needs to be REPLACED. The holes in the muffler are too big. The fuel tank is about to fall out and this is too expensive to replace. The brake lines are rusted. Needs a new timing belt (I REPLACED IT 4k ago, he doesn't believe me cause my shadetree denver mechanic didn't throw a sticker on it).

I have been planning for a long time to move back east with all my possessions in the truck...IN TWO WEEKS. Now I got one guy telling me nothing is wrong, another saying everything.

POINT BEING: does anyone know a mechanic here in the Bay Area who could give me some reliable freaking advice? Or someone on the forum who would take a look. I am seriously at an impasse. Any help would be GREATLY appreciated.