I am going tomorrow to look at a 95 4runner it has the 3.0 and has a automatic trans. and 121,000 miles i am told it has no rust at all on it ( guess its not from up here in the north ! ) thats a big plus now for the bad (always has to be something ! ) it has just started running hot i am told, i emailed the guy that has it and now am being told its boiling over the rest thats wrong with it isn't anything that bad ( needs exhuast , no radio, nothing thats a big deal) but the one bad thing is the over heating sounds like its the headgasket i was told before the overheating which just started the other day, it ran great . what should i look for when i go to look at it ? and any clue what it will cost in parts to fix it ? if i have to pull the heads should i just go and do a rebuild on it ? i'm looking at paying $1,000 or a little less for the 4runner but thinking if its in as good shape as he told me then maybe i'll put a lift in it some tires and go play in the mud behind my house along with a few trail rides. so what do you guys think is it worth the money or in the long run its going to cost me to much ?

 

Well if the frame and body isn't all that bad I think 1K isn't all that bad of a deal. Now I have not done a HG on the 3.0 yet. But the cost comes down to how involved you get into it and how mechanically incline you are. If you can do it yourself then go for it.

The gasket kit is a few hundred, may as well do the front end as well. New water pump new oil pump, timing belt. That'll be a few hundred as well.

Check out this thread...

https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f199...thread-197690/

There is a lot of good info here, I know the years are different but it'll give you an idea of cost and such.

 

My girlfriend just bought one with more miles than that and had to do a Head gasket job on it a couple weeks later. She paid 2,500 and the mechanic (not me) charged her 2000 to fix it. No it is vibrating like crazy once in a while and I have no idea what is causing it. I drove it and felt a slight vibration at aroung 60 mph and with the help of the guys here, I put new u-joints in it and fixed it. As I was test driving it after, the actual vibration she was talking about occurred. It was severe and almost like all four tires were flat. As far as yours overheating and needing a head job, the gasket repair is just a result of the over heating. You must find what caused it or you will have to do it again. The parts cost around 500. You need new head bolt set, gasket set, check out the head/ resurface, timing belt, water pump, coolant and oil/filter. Besure to see if it is leaking into the passenger floor board as a heater core is sometimes overlooked or if it steams up the windshield. Check the radiator top which is plastic for cracks and inside it for traces of stop leak products. Look under the truck at the backs of the rhymes and the differentials for oil leaks. Just your basic used car inspection will do. Good luck and hope yours isnt a money pit like the one my girl bought.

 

$1000 bucks isnt bad, id get it if i were you

 

i picked up my 91 4runner for 500 but it needed motor done and had a shifting problem, but i fixed the motor my self ad it cost about 500 and loving it now,

 

i bought my 95 4runner in Dec 2010 for $500. it has 250k miles. I am doing the headgaskets / all gaskets on it now which im into it $200 parts and a couple more tools to my collection. I picked mine up so cheap because the previous owner had a rear diff leak and stripped the fill plug and ran it until the rearend went out. I had a set of diffs in my garage from my 91 yota.

as for yours, look for leaks of corse. go to Autozone and rent or buy a Compression Gauge Test kit. Check the compression of all cylinders to see how bad it is. of course you will be in and out, up and down looking for rust. listen to everything, tranny shifts, third members, steering linkage, that kinda stuff. But if he is asking 4100 bucks and you get its for less then its a great price even for something you have to wrench on. sure beats another month payment and financing.

 

well been waiting all day and emailed the guy back again and still haven't heard back from him since his last email telling me he would call me this morning guess i'll keep waiting and hope to hear from him tonight he did say he was going to check it out a little more to see whats really wrong i'll keep you guys posted .

 

well the guy never called so never got to look at it , i did find out fri. that he deleted the ad don't know if he sold it or ? thanks for the input guys.