yotayamin

WOO HOO, the steam resolved itself after driving it around the block, maybe just residual water in the tailpipe. AND the #5 cylinder low compression resolved itself at the same time! All valves are adjusted within spec, so maybe I'm all ready to go! I was so scared I'd have to take it all apart again.

yotayamin

GO_BLUE/Tom, that's a lot of good info there.

I did. Turns out this '95 model was manufactured 2-3 months too late to be eligible for the program. That would've save me a lot of time and money, that's for sure! At least, this way, I know exactly what's been done on the truck, right?

Yeah, I'm planning a trip up to the Dallas PNP at some point to get some of the things you've mentioned. They seem to have pretty reasonable prices. I'll definitely look for the bits you mentioned, good info.

Problem is I'm really cheap. There's been a good amount of discussion here about whether the red is better than the green, and nothing really conclusive. Same goes for the Mobil-1, I'm too cheap! Also, Mobil-1 is supposed to be run for 6k miles or something, but I don't know whether that means the filter too. Too confusing. I will definitely avoid Fram, never read anything good about them.

I agree! Well, except for a few bad things they've done to my poor truck. I'm going to stick to stock. When timing the ignition, I found it hunts around a couple of degrees; I'll err on the side of early when I set the final timing.

Not sure I'd get away with blocking off the EGR in Texas, where inspectors sniff the exhaust.

Oh, yeah! In Texas we love a tailgate party! Nice tip about the window cleaning. You should put this stuff in the wiki or somewhere it can be easily found.

Ahh, thanks for the (Q-)tip. It's on my list.

Really? PNP is that cheap? I need the bumper, grill and valance, all three.

Yeah, surprising there's rust on this thing. It spent the first half of its life in Virginia, which I didn't think was a big rust state.

Really? Jeez. Actually, this truck got a brand-new Magnaflow just before it barfed its HG. It's a little disappointing that they cut the old one out, including mounts, and welded this one in, but at least it should last a while. Think they'll steal one that's welded in, too?

I'm such a wreck once I leave my stomping grounds, can't find anything without a prepared map and directions. Definitely on my wishlist once I'm making a paycheck. So the fake woodgrain is commonly sniffed at, huh? I don't like it because half of it delaminated, really ugly now.

Thanks again for all the info. The Wal-Mart tips are good, didn't realize they had so many applicable products. I already know about the wealth of information here at YT! Couldn't have finished any of this without the search function. (Actually, Google's "site:yotatech.com" is often better.)

If I can really get this thing driveable, I know I'm going to love it. It's really been an exercise in patience, though, especially finding that the next step requires replacing a part that's broken, and then waiting for a week for the part to arrive in the mail (the online dealerships cost 1/2 as much as my local dealership's parts counter). And all the while not knowing if the thing would even start once I finished!

When driving it around the block today, I heard a clunking sound, like something heavy is loose. I think it's not in the engine, so I'm not too worried, but even after the HG job is finally done, my work's not over.

GO_BLUE!

You know I actually thought about telling you to drive it around a bit to see if the smoke would go away... 4Runner exhaust is notorious for condensation/water in the pipes. I find a nice 3-inch diameter water puddle under the tailpipe every time I start my Runner up and let it idle for a few minutes.

Welcome to the 2nd gen. family and good luck with all your mods. The first thing I did when I got mine in 2006 is lift up the rear end 1.5" with a Downey lift. Unfortunately, Downey went out-of-business last year, otherwise their headers would already be on my truck!

I bet your Runner will last you a good 10-20 more years provided you give it the care & regular maintenance you need. Black with grey leather is a nice combo... I hope you'll fix that rust!

-Tom

94greenrunner

Gotta love the green runner!!! ha maybe thats me being a little biast

94greenrunner

Dont forget the gold emblems on the outside!

GO_BLUE!

Like new Chrome Front Bumper & Lower Valance:

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/pts/1805517021.html

$150


Ships from California (near Berkeley). If you're not yet ready to pull the trigger, let me know and I'll drive up there and buy it and hold onto it for you.

It looks like it's in perfect shape.... your grill looks perfect it just needs some black plastic restorer ($7 at...you guessed it... Wal-mart!) to get rid of all the oxidation.

-Tom

yotayamin

Yesterday and today did the final touches.

Replacing the front axles stopped the clanking noise (the left side was in really bad shape).

The parking brake pulled all the way out but did nothing. Turned out the rear brakes were badly out of adjustment, so I greased up the auto-adjustment mechanism and adjusted it, and the parking brake was perfect! No need to adjust the cable.

Finally, I took it through the car wash to wipe the oak crap that dropped on it in the spring. It seems to be more powerful than my friend's truck, same year/model!

I think it's ready to inspect tomorrow! Cross your fingers for me!

yotayamin

Well, the truck passed inspection, except for the license plate lamps! I'm so happy! I've driven it about 100 miles. Only complaint is it gets REALLY HOT, a black truck in the Texas sun.

If it keeps running, I'll post up the head inspection procedure. I'm still suspicious that it works so well, and fear problems!

GO_BLUE!

Here is the link to order aluminum seat handles:

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sby/pts/1819130693.html



If you're like me, $25 for seat handles seems a little unnecessary. But once you replace your rusty screws in the plastic door trim entry, you might want to match them with these seat handles. Or maybe some day when you just want to do something nice for your truck!

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