emotepix

Hello All
Flew out from Los Angeles to Mesa AZ last Friday the 13th and picked up one of the most well-maintained 1986 turbo 4runner SR-5s I've ever seen.
Drove it back to Los Angeles over the weekend, taking it fairly easy (75-85mph along the I10, 90-110 degrees through the AZ deserts...
The engine never went over more than a couple points above the center temperature mark (digital dash) at any time, even when going WOT up long hills at 75mph with the A/C on full...

Speaking of which - the A/C lasted around an hour before wimping out. The PO says that the cooling unit gets frozen (??) and has to be thawed out with just the fan, at which point it starts working again... Anybody else met this phenomenon?

At around 29 Palms the digital dash started acting up - all of a sudden I lost tach, turbo and oil pressure readouts. Funnily enough, the speedo, fuel and (most importantly) the temp readouts were still functional.

So I pull over at the next gas station, pull the fuses, check the fluids (there's clear water dripping down from the cooling unit (behind the glove box, but coolant, main oil, tranny oil, steering, etc fluids were all fine).

Then I fill her up, go inside to cool down a little, come back out, start her up (around 5 minutes later) and everything functions again. (The PO says that the last time this happened was an alternator issue, and the problem went away after they replaced the alternator). Even the A/C unit works well - for another hour or so until it wimps out again...

We stop at Ontario CA for dinner and then, down at sea level and slightly cooler, the A/C becomes like a refrigerator, and the digial panel is fine.

I'm thinking as I'm driving of all the mods that we've all read about, stiffer shocks, helper springs, new bushings, rear sway bar, engine mods...

And I come to the conclusion that those things may be nice to have, but this truck of mine actually needs... nothing at all, just good maintenance and the chance to be driven well.

WHAT A GREAT MACHINE!!!

Cheers
Chris

seaflea

SoCal4Running

What kind of mileage did you get?

I just went up to tulare co. from san diego co. and got 21mpg, not bad.

emotepix

One small pic.
around 13mpg (but almost all the way was WOT with turbo, no cruise, no economy)
since then around 18mpg so far street driving

seaflea

Sweeeeeeet.
man, that is clean.

BruceTS

Your AC is low on freon, that's causing the condenser to freeze up.

Jeffires

My '91, still using the R12 system today, has done that. Every year i add a little freon to keep it just barely overcharged. To me, it works best that way.

emotepix

Thanks for the R12 tip, guys!
(Did I mention that one of the main reasons I chose to guy a 4runner was the attitudes of the guys on boards like this? YOU GUYS ROCK!)
Cheers
Chris

MODZILLA

You are absolutely right. That rig is like a dream, ...unbelievable shape. But I give you a month before you can't stand the itch and start to scratch away at that mod JONZE!! I'd look real hard at those rear springs and perhaps the shocks. I'd say that would qualify as "proper routine maintenance" .......hee hee!

emotepix

Umm, Roadmaster active suspension on new rear springs and Bilsteins all around, plus maybe an Addco at the rear end, 'course, have to replace those tired old rear drums with nice, safe ebrake/discs, and, of rouse, slotted and drilled rotors... as you said, "proper routine maintenance..." ;-)

BLKNBLU

iTrader: (1)

Hey, nice ride. I also have an 86 here in AZ and keep in mind the temp outside the vehicle. Mine is also like an icebox in the morning and at night but is just barely adequate in mid-afternoon when it's 110 degrees out. I might try that slight overcharge idea out myself though... Remember you were driving through the Mojave desert in August. Was it not working at all or just weak? Good luck with your new baby!

EDIT: here's a link to pics of mine
https://www.yotatech.com/forums/show...t=36810&page=5

rimpainter.com

Dang, how did I miss this rig (I always watch for them)? Lucky dog! Mind if I ask what it set you back?

emotepix

Blknblu, that was my first time driving it, the A/C was working, just weak. Sounds like it needed a dose of R12, as the guys have said. Density altitude also makes a difference (pressure, altitude, temperature, humidity all paly a part in this) in the performance of an AC.
96 Runner, I've been scouring the net for almost a whole year. You can't believe the number of search bots I had going. This one turned up for a day on Autotrader.com on 7/9 and I wired a down payment, sight unseen, an hour later. Turns out I was just in time too. You may have noted several rather silly newbie type questions from me over the months - these were of turbo 4runners I was trying out or was contemplating buying which, for one reason or another, never worked out.
I've been beaten to the punch a number of times (probably by you guys here!), one time somebody paid the seller as my mechanic was there doing a pre-buy for me, a couple of lemons discovered at the pre-buy (I had around $500 in prebuys already for 4 others, before I even found this one). One didn't survive the Carfax check, one from ebay (almost like this one, slightly more expensive at $3500) I waited on for over a month for the winner to collect from the seller, which he eventually did, at the last moment... I could go on.
So the Mesa AZ mechanic, after doing the prebuy for me (great guy, BTW, a stickler for detail - and he's a mobile mechanic too) then proceeded to do the tuneup and fix the things he'd found wrong with it (minor details only, like the CV cover plate from the front shart missing, the rear window wiper motor cover missing, the rear step bumper missing, upper A frame bushings going, etc). So I was already around a grand into it before I started. Cost of car, less than three. Total cost from soup to nuts, around four and a half including a lot of replacement parts and other things (A pillar, EGT, turbo, AFM gauges, BOV, larger AFM, drilled rotors, push bumper with KC Daylites, rear bumper (turned out to not fit my truck and is now on ebay for resale)). I expect to be into it well over thirteen grand by the time all's said and done (leather, pearl, Garrett/wastegate/FAST/3" exhaust/blueprint/forged parts/port, etc etc) but that will be over the period of around a year.
For now, though, just driving it around (and monitoring levels) is GREAT!
(and posting to you guys about it, of course!)
Cheers!

emotepix

BTW, I really scored on this truck. PO had had over $7k in receipts on it from around 2001 and 12k miles ago on it until now, including a long block, radiator, rebuilt CT-20, exhaust system, alternator, water pump, injectors, hoses, harnesses... No, the stuff I have planned is all strictly oomph and bling...

emotepix

Update:
Tracked down the intermittend digital display to a mis-installation: the people who put the alarm system in managed to pinch the insulation of one of the start/hot wires against the ground/frame of the display when they were reattaching the dash covers. The screw just caught the edge of the wire, but over time it wore through the insulation and eventually (last week) became a permanent short.
Removed the screw, taped up the insulation, problem solved.
(Drove from LA to San Francisco and back this past weekend, just about WOT all the way there and back - everything functions perfectly.)
Just the edge of one wire...
Cheers!
Chris

NE4runner

cool find man. U going to add a solid axle?