Well when I first got my 1st Generation I thought someone else had a key and would unlock it everytime I locked it! Then I finally found out that you have to hold up on the handle... that was a new one...

And the only other one really was that there are TWO HANDLES on passenger door... I never... never... noticed until a friend said why are there two? And I looked at it and my eyes just crossed... that was really creepy...

 

Before I traded in my 1st gen I found out that you should not keep your change in the dash depression. I could not get any air to come out of the defroster vents. When I took the dash apart to solve the problem $43 dollars and 13 cents came tumbling out of the ductwork. All in pennys, nickels, dimes and quarters. It was also the only time I got paid for working on my truck.

 

That is just plain weird!

 

That depends on how the "dip switches" are set on the alarm module and can be turned off.

 

Really simple, but I was excited to find out that I could use 2wd Low if I put it in low range with the front unlocked....... nothing special, but I was stoked.

Oh yeah, also I kept losing everything that I put in my rear cargo area. I thought someone was stealing things when I left my car parked. Turns out everything that I put in the side panels would slide to right behind the door jam whenever I would descend offroading. I found 5 tire gauges and about a million fuses and my tool kit.

 

That's FUNNY!! Not to you at the time maybe, but now...Didn't it rattle a bit when on a bumpy road?
Glad you got paid, anyway.

The two handles in the passenger door is so that the person in the back seat can open the door, same reason there's a little foot pedal to put the seat forward on the back of the front passenger seat. My kids (5-18 at the time) figured all that stuff out the first time they rode in it! I think it was the 5 y/o that got it first I don't usually ride in the back, so I'd never noticed.

Something I noticed on my P/U, which may not count, but there it is, was that when you replace the water pump and put in a 180* thermostat, and then wind up driving at freeway speeds during a sleet storm at night, you will freeze solid! I was coming back to Yuma from eye surgery in La Jolla, and we got caught in the mountains in a sleet storm, and we about froze to death. The cooling sysytem works a little TOO well under those conditions, and no warm air was coming out of the vents. We may as well have had the windows open. I was doped to the gills on Demerol (O, how I LOVE that drug!), but I sort of woke up and asked why there was an icicle on my nose...

 

How about the 2nd inside door handle on the passenger side in 1st gen 4runners. Took me like at least a year to notice that.

 

Took me 6 years to figure out that the very rear of my 4Runner had a trim strip on the left side, but not the right.
Everything else I've discovered has been the kind of things you don't find until you dig really deep.

 

On first generation truck, took me a whole day and tracing all the wires to find that if the wiper don't move to the park position, the rear window will not operate. That switch is not listed in the wire diagram.

Took a while to find there a coolant drain valve on the left side of the 22re engine. There was a lot of crude that settled in there when I finally opened it up.

 

I found that it's possible for a vehicle to have little mechanical problems even driving 355k miles !

 

ok i know i have a light ABOVE the cargo area, like above the window, that isnt very bright. You guys are saying there is another light on the right side in the cargo area??? 'deck light'

i learn that everytime i lust after another suv-usually rovers- my truck treats me better than ever and i fall in love with it all over again.

 

I learned that Toyotas put their headlamp switch and cruise control switches opposite from GM. How to use the cruise control. The fuel/oil filters are a pain. There is a cigarette plug in the back. There is a "hidden" compartment in the back. Worst of all.... I found out LATER after being on this board that Toyota had the e-locker option!

 

I thought of another... apparently on at least the 4runners from 1985 to 1988, almost everyone else's keys will work on my truck, and my keys will work on everyone else's... kinda scary.

 

That is weird... my key works on both my friends 4Runners... but theirs wont work on mine... is there a reason for that? I don't get it... my key also worked on my friends 86 Toyota Truck... but his didn't work on mine...

 

Speaking of keys - what about that small button that says push behind the steering wheel that is used to release the key.When I got my runner it was a mystery to me(my owners manual is in french )- I pushed and pushed -nothing happened it irritated me until I posted here on yotatech and found out what it does.Oh yes my keys are so worn out that I can pull them out even when the engine is running - comes in handy sometimes.

 

you have heated mirrors........

 

Few more:

1) It won't let you engage the auto door locks unless the keys are out of the ignition.

2) sometimes it will lets you roll up the windows with no key in the ignition, sometimes it wont. Never the rear window though.

3) You can lock the rear window.

4) 4Runners are inside fog magnets. In the rain i have to turn on the from and rear heaters plus the rear window defroster to defrost to a level where I can drive.

5) you NEED rain deflectors on a second gen. Even a crack brings bucktloads!

 

I just found my change holder in the first compartment of the console.

 

you can roll up/down the windows for approx. 1-2 minutes after you have been somewhere and u take out the keys. once any door is opened, this feature is disabled. many other cars have this same feature. no idea what purpose it serves, but its there.

 

Mine's been in the shop more than anyone elses car I know. (Some type of problem with something.)