Hey guys i've been reading around here the last week or two but just decided to join!

Sum of my story is i just bought a 97 4runner limited (white) for $1200
200,332 miles, no brakes the rotors had been ground past the fins hence fell off of rotor drum part, had to tow my fathers surburban due to not having brakes.

Anyways, got new brakes, tires, oil change (synthetic), sparky plugs, and i have cleaned the grime of of it. And i am currently 4/5's through its first tank and i've gotten 287 miles out of it so far.

So i'm gonna ask what should i do too this new love of mine?
All the speakers are blown so new speakers are in mind.
Any mpg mods?
Any vehicle specific quirky things, or mod's that make it awesome(r)?

Also on the middle console where the E brake is, i'm missing a rectangular button/thingy and i dont know what it is.

looks like this

front of car
[O] E [O] first O is security light second is ECT power (what is it?)
E E is ebrake
[O] E [X] O is the rear window control and i have NO IDEA WHAT X IS!
back of car




Weee! Thanks for reading, and thanks for any responses! I Love this 4runner and my dad is super jealouse (he just got a shiny new/used 06 yukon/denali, but i think he likes mine more)

 

Welcome to Yotatech.

:wabbit2:

 

Welcome to YT.. Sounds like you got a real good deal!

and NEVER press the >>ECT<< button.. little gremlins will come out and eat you if you do!!

Good luck

 

I'll give ya $1500 for it

 

Good find! Sounds like they did a number on those rotors! Would love to see a pic of that!

 

So is ECT bad? if i use it will the gremlines make everything Splode? or potentially violate me while being held down into the seat by the seatbelt's locking and the steering wheel holding my legs down?

(i have night-mares about this)

Or will it just my truck?

Also does anyone know what my missing switch is?
And is it cool if i just "unplug" ECT? it seems like its just a 12v power line to a toggle switch, if so i'll just unpluggy because i have press random button disorder (add) as well as some of my friends and my brother, and if thats on and is bad i doubt i will notice the lil green light im to busy counting birds on telephone lines.

 

ECT controls the shift patterns of the tranny. Depress the switch, and the truck stays in gears longer (ie: more responsive).

As a testament to the fact that I've kept mine engaged since I purchased the truck new, the bulb finally burned out......


Andreas

 

;P Pictures post!
And update i just burned through the first tank of gas! (18mpg avg over 50/50 highway city)
This was on old shredded tires + runnin @ 27psi (i measured each tire before i got new ones on)

PICTURES!!

 

Nice buy.
Great looking rotors!
With the look of the rotors, make sure you give the whole vehicle a good look over.
Definitely change all the fluids!
When was the timingbelt changed?

Where in Colorado are you?

 

What a score!

 

Yea i did a run down on her, and all i found was a totally destroyed sway link (passenger side) So when we got my wheels off a rolled 4runner i grabbed both of his sway links as well, the passenger side snapped where the threads are, and i figured two low mileage links used are better than one highly used one on my driver side and a lowly used one on pasenger so i should be set!

Also my passenger side runner board thingy is bent about 4 inches back, along with the bumper on that side, does anyone have any ideas on how to fix dis?

 

on fixing the running boards...that's easy. Remove them. Hearing what you've said was wrong with it, it sounds like it's been ditch diving. Have you checked the alignment?

 

The alignment is fine, drives like a boss lol.

I think he drove it into a wall, due to the tire on that side was pretty much ruined (the tirewall was pretty much ruined)

IDK about the timing belt, small squeaky with the ac on (prolly just a lil loose)
I changed the oil but i havnt changed any other fluids..

Can anyone tell my if the ECT will kaboom my transmission?

And are there any mod's that i can do to the car for better mpg or power?
like remove a restrictor or something (my first real car that i own, but ive had a couple dirtbikes with restrictors/snorkels in the airbox)

 

ECT means your engine revs higher before shifting, making you go faster, its safe to use

 

Sounds like a steal there. I ran my 98 4runner with the ECT running and never had a problem. As far as the engine, I would check to see how the timing belt and water pump is, and also make sure you have no overheating issues. I am swapping an engine on a 97 as we speak.