airnocker

I'm an old guy, worked on cars/vans, 2, 4, 6 and 8 cylinders of all types all my life out of necessity. Bought a neighbor's 94 4Runner SR5 4WD, 2.4L 22RE, raised front and rear suspension for 31 x 10.5/15 BF Goodrich All Terrain tires, battery had two low, leaky cells, broken but working stationary radio antenna, hole in top of rear muffler, exhaust pipe pointing directing into rear bumper side tubing, the front manual locking hubs seem to work, but both were leaking black grease, digital clock did not work, someone had replaced the original Toyota stereo with a JVC KD-R210 which seemed to play on all six speakers fine, the original cigarette lighter didn't work, and the second cigarette lighter in combo with two USB ports didn't either, total miles on odometer 314, 770. It ran good but when driving straight, the steering wheel was slightly cocked to the left, made a clunking noise when put in forward or reverse gears, had drive shaft/steering/suspension issues, very loose left front lower ball joint, loose right front wheel bearings, front disc break wear abnormal on inside pads, blown and leaky right front shock absorber, If I've posted this elsewhere on this forum my apologies.

Put a new battery in it, removed rear drive shaft and replaced horribly worn front and rear universal joints, replaced left front lower ball joint, left and right front break dust shields, all new front inner/outer races and bearings, rotors and pads, disassembled, cleaned, re-greased and painted outer manual locking hubs and installed missing gaskets on both sides. Removed the 10 gauge wire that has been disconnected from the battery positive terminal and ran through the right front firewall to feed the two cigarette lighters/USB chargers. I removed the plastic pocket assembly below the radio and could then see the poor wiring to these cig ligher/USB chargers. It begged for the entire lower dash, left to right, be removed for further inspection, and I'm so glad I did. What I thought was the factory cigarette lighter was a third party replacement that did not "snap" into the hole left of the ashtray (and there was no ashtray as that is were the 2nd cig ligher/USB port add-on was duct taped into the ashtray area).

With all the three lower dash components removed I unscrewed the two screws holding the digital clock to the center console area immediately left of the heater/AC controls area and set the clock aside for later. I removed the four screws holding the JVC CD/DVD AM/FM radio in place so I could reveal the factory radio wiring harness it had been spliced into. The splices to the JVC mass connector were well done, however there was a four pin factory connector that had been zip tied out of the way with two of its four wires cut and there counterparts hanging out of the bundle of wires going to the new JVC mass connector. I then found a Black/Red Stripe, two White/Green Stripe, one Green, and one Gray/Red stripe wires dangling, some poorly wrapped in black electricians tape. The Gray/Red stripe wire appeared to have gone to the four pin plug as there was a short length of a Gray/Red strip wire on one of the pins that had been but. It's other end had a six inch length of its insulation melted into one of the White/Green wire's insulation. Both of these wires were bare from the melt and wrapped separately in black electricians tape. The Gray/Red stripe wire was hot, 12volts on it. This was a bit scary as the Gray/Red strip wire lead into the large stereo, cig lighter wire bundle coming from the right, behind the glove box through a large, white plastic strain relief that clipped to the metal reinforcing structure of the center console area. The FSM shows the cigarette light is fed by a Gray/Red stripe wire from the cigarette lighter fuse. I'm about to confirm this with a voltmeter test at the fuse block in the left kick panel area.

I'm adding a new, separate cigarette lighter/USB charger for smartphone charging. I took the clock apart and noticed three silicon diodes. I tested them with an ohmmeter and found two were fine but the 1N4004 diode next to the 47uF electrolytic capacitor showed had reverse bias leakage. Putting a new 1N4004 in it fixed the clock. I added heat shrink tubing on the two wires that had lost their insulation and added wire nuts onto the other wires with bare ends. I reinstalled all the lower dash components.

I had the front end wheel alignment checked by a reputable auto shop and all was in spec except for the left and right toe-in with resulted in the left cock of the steering wheel, correcting the toe-in resulted in the steering wheel being straight when going straight. Next, I took the car to Costco for wheel balancing and rotation as it had been evident several wheels had lost some rather large balancing weights in the past. The car now drives and handles great for one sitting up 4" higher than normal.

The one problem I am just getting into is what appears to be an intermittent Cruise Control. Before I knew which button did what on the steering wheel, I could get the Cruise light to come one pressing the button on the left, but whenever I tried a button on the right, the Cruise light flashed several times and went off. Only once, when pressing the buttons correctly did I get it to go into and maintain a cruise driving speed of 60 mph. I've read in the FSM how to get the error codes to flash on the Cruise light when jumpering two points on the Diagnostic connector once an Cruise Control failure has taken place and before the engine is turned off. So, I'll be trying that soon. I know the components in the vacuum controlled CC and what they do, but I'm just getting started here.

Any tips on troubleshooting Cruise Control on the 2nd gen 4Runners would be appreciated.

Colorado4x4

My trip odometer doesn't work. If I push the reset is counts off about ten miles then quits. Also, by resetting the trip odometer, it at times, has caused the real odometer to not work for a couple hundred miles then the real odometer works again.

tee34

83 22R SR5 longbed only 147 k,
charge and brake light came on, went in, got Alternator all freed UP, but yahoos all over the internet cant tell me weather it goes OUT OF THE BOTTOM OR TOP, do we really need to remove the rad hose up top or the bottom? im down on Toyota's engineering decisions ATM, or shocked

(literally as i didnt remove the neg battery cable and made a spark but hope ill get away with that before i finally pulled the batt cable.}

Mirage88

99 3.4L 4runner ltd 245k miles.
As of this morning the digital climate controller box only vaguely worked. Really annoying with the coming winter. An hour later and some mad soldering skills, it now works like new. I should have done the same to the dead digital clock while i had the dash apart. Other than that, a little vibration when braking. Maybe the drum brakes need replacing.
This has been the most dependable truck i have ever owned. It still runs and drives great for a elder 4x4 with normal maintenance.
The worst problem i have had is the contactors in the starter gear reduction solenoid need replacing every couple years ($12 at NAPA). A real PITA to fix with the 4x4 stuff and exhaust down pipe blocking the starter extrication.

Peace.

thefishguy77

iTrader: (1)

Snapped crank in the 98 3.4 140,000. WTF.

Now looking for a new motor for it.

ev13wt

Whatever I write here, tomorrow I'd need to update it.

Currently wants front wheel bearings, a balanced or new rear driveshaft, one of the rear seals is making my drum brake wet.

Weird, but everything else is currently working well!

75w90mantraN

Me too on the rear axle seal. Mine is driver side. Crap on a stick, but I read its not too much effort to get it fixed.

My lower fan shroud is missing its clips and my driver door needs some bodywork for it to close well. Oh, and front end suspension long overdue..shakes thru the steering above 60 mph. My LBJs are still original. Got the replacements a couple yrs back and still haven't put them on, despite the horror stories. My denial and optimism is strong as ever...until I hit a pothole (!)

Rust has not eaten the frame thankfully.

I did recently complete a Time-Sert fix on one cyl plug thread. Just a matter of time until I face an engine or head swap if and when that decides to break off. Wasn't drivable for a few months when it happened.

What a topic...like confession session

ev13wt

Lol, he said fan shroud. Forgot that thing was on there about 21 years ago!

Ram1

Grease in the rear right wheel? I had the same problem. It was a bad axle seal and leaking differential lube into my brake hub and down the inside of the tire. Bad brake wheel cylinders will do the same thing. Have you lost any braking ability? Add brake fluid? If not then check the differential oil level. You don't want to let it go too low and loose the rearend to inner differential failure or serious damage. A very expensive repair. Much cheaper to do the maintenance now than to pay the price for major repairs later. I'm not telling you what to do but I will tell you that I learned this the hard, expensive way.

Ram1

I'm having trouble finding coil over shocks for my 97 Toyota T100 SR5. Only need them for the rear for now. Anyone have any for sale or an idea of where I can buy a cheap pair? Only have to use them for the next two months and I am going to be finishing up the build of my 4x4. If they interchange then great and if not then I will be out the money because I am retiring the rear wheel drive this spring.

Jack Hagan

Mines been giving me trouble too. Bought it for 4600 and put a few grand into it by now. Don’t even want to get into all of it right now but just about everything under the hood, and everywhere else has needed work. Love it, but I keep telling myself “as soon as it’s all fixed then it’ll be the reliable machine I know it is!”

old87yota

Remember, these trucks are OLD.

They will not live up to the reliability that they are known for unless everything has been maintained and kept up on throughout the years.

florenzo444

Now that Spring is here, check your local junkyards for what they have. Pick and pull whatever you need. I know I've seen a couple '95's in the yards here around Chicago

2ToyGuy

My pickup needs it's carb rebuilt. It still runs well, and idles like a dream, but after 35 years...
It also needs a new radiator, and a good flush. New belts and hoses, of course. Probably new plugs, wires, and dist cap / and rotor. Not bad at all.

My 87 4Runner...where do I start. First and foremost, it needs the interior fuse box replaced entirely. It caught fire back in December 2020, and burned the fuse panel completely. We finally found one, well two actually, and my mechanic has the truck and a complete dash panel wiring harness. Hopefully it's be fixed soon.
The cab's roof is pretty rusty, too. I plan on fixing that once we get it back running from my mech. Other than that, it's in great shape.

My 99 4Runner has a dent in the rear door, that affects the window regulator. Makes it not want to go up, with a terrible grinding sound. I can grab the glass and pull it up to get past the troubled area. I hope I don't have to take apart the rear door!
I am pretty sure I can pop it back out with a suction cup. Read "toilet plunger".

It also needs the rear axle seals replaced. One is seeping, and the drum on that side is pretty bad off. One of the front calipers is sticking slightly,, causing the rotor to wear unevenly. We are going to replace the caliper. The rotor is still quite serviceable. For now.
While it was up on the lift getting new tires yesterday, I noticed some of the rubber grommets on the lower control arms, and the rear sway arm need to be replaced. Just normal rubber aging. We'll get to that after the brake issues.

That pretty much covers my three trucks.
Have fun all!
Pat☺

skypilot

iTrader: (1)

Do not let the rich kids bother you. Get even by getting rich. that said your truck is a better mode of transportation than their "nice" cars. That beater truck saved me $$$$$$$$$$$$ ands no joke.

fasterspider

The switch motor for my rear E locker is dead as Dillinger and my subwoofer blew up the other day, other than that nothing is wrong with my rig. They are quality problems and the new subwoofer will be here next week.

FloatingRock

Bought a 1990 4runner with the 3vze recently and got it up and running, issue I have is it starts up with an rpm of 3000 and climbs. Is this a vacuum issue with the idle air control valve being stuck open with quarter inch of space from the screw? Or could the issue be elsewhere?

2ToyGuy

The IACV provides extra air to the TB when the engine coolant is cold, thus increasing the idle speed. The ECU detects the extra air as the engine running lean, and increases the time the injectors are "on" to compensate, increasing idle speed. With it stuck open, the idle will go up constantly, since there's extra air coming in that shouldn't be there, as the truck warms up.

First thing, repair/replace the IACV.
Ensure all the vacuum lines are in good shape, and in the correct locations. Even if they all need replacement, it's a very inexpensive fix.
Then, make sure the idle is set correctly once the truck warms up. About 800 RPM is the correct idle speed. If it's not correct, check the Idle Speed Adjust Screw. Ensure that the o-ring on it is in good shape. It's cheap, and easy to replace. They don't last forever, after all, and if it's cracked, or broken into pieces, it's allowing extra air into the TB that shouldn't be there. Sound familiar?
It's a good idea to rub a thin layer of Vaseline, or silicone dielectric grease, on the o-ring before installation. It makes for a better seal, and it makes the rubber last much longer.
Make sure there's no chunks of the o-ring down in the air passage the screw controls.

Ensure the timing is set correctly IAW the FSM. If it's too far off, it can affect the idle speed adversely.

Hope this is some small help.
Pat☺

fasterspider

I fixed the switch motor last winter and have a working E locker out back again but, now the right side steering is busted with 3 snapped studs and a huge mess of trail fix to either do the nasty and fix or just replace the knuckle. The trail fix got me 135 miles home but, my truck hasn't moved in 2 months.

Edselrama

I have a small oil leak on my 22r, how much block sealant should I add to the oil to seal it up?


TIA.