Okay, I am anal about every little thing on my "baby" and I'm gonna start fixing some of them this summer. I'm taking my young son from Iowa to Utah next summer so it has to be in tip top shape for the trek.

1988 Toyota 4Runner 3.0 Auto

1. Power antennae is broken. It goes up (not all the way) and then the metal mast pops out. It goes down (most of the way). It gets crappy reception because the metal part isn't connected properly. Anyways I want to replace it. How hard is this? Do I have to take the fender off to get to it?

2. Only the passenger rear speaker works (okay if I hit a bump sometimes the driver's side front speaker kicks on momentarily). I don't know if its the deck or wires from deck to speakers. No, I'm not gonna swap out my stock cassette player for something else and the 4'' speakers from factory would be fine with me if they worked. I'm getting a soft top and a real stereo would be bait for theives. They stole my change from the ashtray the other night when I parked in my driveway and left the top off. Any suggestions here? Where to start?

3. Rear defrost doesn't work, I'm betting the wires leading to the window have fallen off and I will check on that this week. Do you need to solder these back on? or is there another way?

4) Rear wiper doesn't serve its purpose. I think the spring is shot so that the wiper never makes contact with the window, just moves back and forth about an inch from the window. I shot the joint with some WD40 to loosen it up but it still doesn't touch. Can I replace that spring in the arm or do I have to replace the whole arm?

5) Last but not least my back up lights don't work. I replaced the Neutral Start Switch (pricey!!) last winter and they worked for awhile, then 2 months later they were gone again. I'm guessing a short somewhere, or my "new" part failed quick.

That's about it except for two dime size areas of surface rust that I'm going to Rustbullet this summer to nip it in the bud.

All in all not to shabby for a 17 year old vehicle with over 200,000 miles. I have to admit it is becoming an obsession. My wife is already sick of me messing with it. She can't stand the fact I park 1/4 mile away from stores when we go somewhere, or the fact I turn around and stare at it at least 3x on my way in.

oh i guess one other thing. I"m gonna install rear shoulder belts for my current son and for my son who is due any day now! I'm waiting to see how Waskilly's turns out.

Sorry for the long post and for being ignorant. But those things are bugging me.

This forum is awesome and you guys are the best for sharing your knowledge with us guys who could mess up a crowbar in a sandbox.

 

You will just need the new internal part of the mast, little plastic piece w/ teeth, more than likely. Not hard to fix at all.

Get a cheap alarm which will discourage most idiots or park in the garage. You more than likely just have a bad wire/connection somewhere and can either try to find it yourself or get a local stereo shop to check it out and/or rerun you some new wires.

There is just a connector there at the back of the hardtop. Mine doesn't work either, but I removed my tailgate and hard top so I don't need it anyway.

Whole new rear wiper assembly would probably do the trick. I replaced all mine and they worked much better, front and rear, looked better too.

Yep, that is probably the culprit, but check your trailer hitch wiring if you have any as that could be the source of your short.

I'm working on that.

 

Thanks for the help Brian.

 

The backup lights is probably the neutral safety switch needing to be adjusted so it's lining up properly when in reverse. I had to replace mine on a previous 4Runner because it was worn and it would even let the truck turn over sometimes. Don't even waste time with the stereo especially if you're running with the top down. I tried a new stereo and new speakers from Crutchfield and the original Toyota speakers sounded better so I returned the new ones. You probably have a wire loose. I leave my power antenna part way up because if it's too high it will hit the garage door. Plus I never listen to the radio anyway. Check the wiring inside the tailgate to see if the connector popped off for the rear defroster. If that's not the problem, you can test for power at that connector and trace your way back forward. One of the hardtop bolts on the driver's side needs to be in for the rear window to work with the hardtop off so maybe the defroster is the same thing.

 

yes i may have to try to readjust the switch and see if that works.

I want to keep the stereo stock so I do plan on keeping what is in there right now, but I desparately need to find out why the other speakers (drivers side front and rear and passenger front) are not working. The passenger side rear speaker is not enough.....

I also do want to fix my antennae because the reception is sooooo poor. I just listen to the radio so this is an important fix for me.

the defroster I am going to check later this week. My assumption is also that the wires have disconnected from the window. Do these have to be soldered back in or is there another way to connect them to the window?

I took a look at the wiper arm and to be really honest I have no idea how to take it off. Any suggestions?

Also witht he antenna mast can i release the old one without taking off the fender and can I feed the new one back in without taking off the fender as well?

Thanks!

 

Good news! I fixed the rear wiper by lubing up the joint.

Now the bad news...my home refinance didn't go through freeing up $120/month like I had hoped....so

I need a cheap antenna mast ....I've resigned myself to the fact I may not have a power antenna...but whatever I replace it with has to be CHEAP!

I've read on some stereo sites that my stereo/deck is probably shot if not all of the speakers play anymore....most likely soldering has came off of the circuit board.....so

I need a cheap stereo to put in..prefereably a stock deck from another runner (all I care about is an am/fm tuner). Anyone put a new system in that wants to get rid of a factory deck cheap?

I will be going with some rust bullet as opposed to POR unless someone can tell me differently when I go to touch up a few surface rust spots.

After that I will move on to the rear defrost!

Help me out if you have any suggestions on the antenna and stereo...I need something CHEAP!

Thanks for your help

P.S. I broke the bank ordering myself a soft top today. I will post pics when it arrives next week.

 

What kind of soft top did you get?

Ebay for the stereo.

 

Brian,

It is from a company called Suntop Products. They are out of business but I got it from a guy who was going to sell it on ebay.

I paid out the a$$ for it but I wanted it pretty bad because it still allowed the use of the back window, and the fact it used only the factory bolt holes (i.e. no drilling)

It comes with two tops...the full top and a bikini top

There was a factory deck on ebay a couple of days ago that went for $25-$30 bucks...add in shipping and it seemed a bit pricey to me. So i'm hoping to find one in a junkyard or find someone who just wants to get rid of one.

Did you do a write up of how to install an antenna? I think i read that on another site.

 

Nothing to it. I have a write-up on my website...on the 3rd gen. It was changing out the power antenna for a whip style. I'm sure if you search on here you'll find something on fixing the power antenna.

Got any pics of that top?

 

Could I make this Firstik am/fm work?

http://www.alfenterprises.com/antenn...m_antennas.htm

Would it be any good?

Thanks.