jreynold

I'm done. Below is my sob story.
1990 Toyota 4Runner ~190k miles, 3.0L V6 So, I bought this car in March of 2005, 10 long moths ago, put a lot of money into it and its still pulling it out of my wallet. Got a new truck today, not a Toy they were out of my price range. Getting rid of my beautiful 4runner.

Here's what I've done so far
Pulled/cleaned throttle body
Replace cap and rotor
Replaced spark plug wires
Replaced TPS sensor
Replaced Temp sender
Replaced computer
Replaced MAF
Replaced Knock Sensor and wiring, and lots of stuff that went with getting to that.
Replace Fuel Filter
Replace front Brake pads
Replaced windsheild washer reservoir
Replaced fuel pressure regulator
Rplace starter contacts.
Replace starter.
Add relay to starter solenoid. <----that did it 4crawler
Replaced battery
Replaced alternator
Replace fan idler bracket (false water pump)
Replace water pump
Replace radiator, etc

After I got done replacing the water pump and radiator, the j tube in the back of the engine began slowly leaking. One day it leaked enough that the engine came very close to over heating, almost to the red. Pulled over, let it cool down, added antifreeze/water, drove home, temp stayed normal. Fixed the hose that weekend. Now it is leaking coolant internally about a 1/2 gallon a night. 2 well 3 thing I can think of. mainly head gasket. I'm not going to even spend the money to do the work myself.

Anyone else with any fun stories about their experiences?

cootees

price, location?

Rusty Davis

Not really sure what you're getting at. You've replaced mostly routine maintenance items on a 16 year old vehicle with almost 200k miles and now the head gaskets are leaking on an engine that is prone to head gasket leaks?

Seems to me you're merely posting a for sale ad in the wrong section, but maybe that's just me.

jreynold

Wow, sorry. didn't mean to offend. Was trying to vent a bit of frustration. Didn't mean for it to be about selling it at all, but i guess reading over it it could sound that way. Mod pull it if ya want. I edited out the selling stuff.

Rusty Davis

Actually I'm sorry... not sure what I was venting at, but it must've been something because I'm not usually so...arrogant?

All I was really trying to say is that most of what you did to the vehicle would be considered "routine" maintenance for a vehicle of that age and mileage. Unfortunately for you the previous owner apparently didn't keep up the vehicle very well and/or put off a lot of problems and you had to replace a lot in less than a year.

I do feel ya though. My 94 is quickly approaching 250k and almost all of what you mentioned has either been replaced or will need replacing soon.

suprathepeg

The shame is there isn't much else you could do after the HG. Someone's gonna get a real good deal on that truck if you sell it cause you won't get much unless you fix it. Not to mention you're gonna lose all that.

InternetRoadkill

I'd grab it, but I already have a full restoration project underway on an 88. Too bad, too. Cuz he's not far from me.

jreynold

I know.. I won't get the $$ out of it, but I really don't have time to spend on it. I loved the car, for the period I had it, but I can't tell you how good it feels to climb up into that "new" car and see the 40k miles and look under the hood and see a perfectly clean engine.

rocket

iTrader: (1)

What kind of new car did you get?

jreynold

You don't want to know... 2002 ford explorer... It's nice though.. and new.

Flamedx4

Before anyone gets on him about the Exploder, he did say 'car' after all. Hopefully it wasn't one of the 'cool' ones with the multi mode 4wd/awd and the 5 speed auto. Had a couple of guys in the office who had them and would Never recommend one to anyone. They simply fall apart....

Anyway, that doesn't really sound so bad about the 90. It is a bummer though, it sucks to buy someone elses poor maintenance. My 90 was a daily driven rig with a lotta daily highway miles, serviced faithfully and all that. But I had to put a lot into repairs (and more into fun stuff) in the 2 years Ive had it. Problem is things go bad slowly sometimes and the owner doesn't feel it. On mine the front end was a deathtrap, but the PO thought it drove nice! It wore out a set of 35s to the wear bars (with a horrible pattern in front) in under 30k and he didn't even realise that oughta mean something... But at least he kept it tuned and the oil changed and my engine is going strong.

Epic Ed

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooooo!!!! Not an Exploder!

Ah, heck. Believe me, I understand your frustration -- But I admire your intelligence to bail before you're in too deep. I'm three engines and $20,000+ into mine and still don't have a vehicle that runs worth a crap. I'm done with my 3.0 piece-of-˟˟˟˟˟ -- it gets no more money from me. I'm now saving to do a Supra swap, so it will probably be out of commission for about a year. Wish I had just sunk the money into the swap in the first place.

Ed

jreynold

It is definitely a car. 2wd and standard tranny though, so no fancy ford trickery. At least less trickery anyway.


Yeah, I agree... I'm going to miss my 4runner. I think I may keep it around and do the work over time

If I let her sit for a while with antifreeze draining through the HG, what will the long term effects be? If I do fix it myself I probably won't be able to get to it for a good 4 or 5 months. Should I drain the coolant and sit her dry?

Epic Ed

I'd ask a mechanic for certain, but it sounds like a good idea. My one saving grace right now is that mine is no longer my daily driver and I can afford to let it sit (heck, letting it sit is the only way I can afford it) until I can tinker with it on weekends. You might find yourself with a really nice off raod vehicle a couple of years from now it you hang on to it and do the same.

Ed

callmej75

I feel your pain Ed...way too much!

Churnd

You do know that head gasket is under a recall, right? If it hasn't been done, get it done!

jreynold

Okay, just talked to a dealer about the HG recall. Said my car was in there for the HG repair 11/11/1998 and they didn't have a mileage logged. Can I recall the recall? He said the campaign was 8 years or 100k miles. Any good ways to convice them to do it anyway?