Hey, I'm looking to replace my Explorer with a mid-size pickup, so today I test drove an 87 Toyota (regular cab, 4 cyl, 5 speed, 4wd, 31 inch tires) and liked it...

One thing that concerns me though, is when I put the truck in 5th gear, there was a loud grinding type noise... The owner was with me and explained that the owner before him had taken it to a mechanic. The mechanic explained that there is a chain in there that does something when the truck is put into overdrive. Because of the bigger tires, the engine has to work harder to turn them, and that's the cause of the noise...

I was told that if I mix gear oil with the regular oil it would fix the problem... I don't know why the current owner didn't do that... Not sure what's really going on, I'm not extremely mechanically inclined (although I do try and do all my own repair work) and have no clue how Toyota engines work, so maybe someone here can tell me if it's something to be worried about?

I'm not sure about the mileage, but I know it's the 4 cyl engine... Pretty nice little truck, they're asking $2500, but according to KBB.com it's worth $2000, so I'll try and talk them down if no one thinks the grinding is a major problem...

Thanks, maybe I'll stick around here if I end up with a Toyota... it was a lot of fun driving it, I think I'd like one a lot

 

That's a bunch of crap. Is it a grinding into 5th gear, or while its driving (constant) in 5th gear?

Stay away from the owners' of trucks that make excuses and feed you a bunch of "that mechanic said" bull.

Move on to another truck, just make sure its a Toy. We look forward to seeing you on the boards with a shiny new Toyota in your avitar pic!

 

The grinding was while IN gear, so very annoying... thanks for the tip

I was kinda worried about it... But that's alright, I think I'd rather have an Extended cab and V6 anyway...

 

Yeah, what he said.

 

I hate to say it, but it sounds to me like the synchronizer for 5th gear has gone out. Nowhere have I ever heard of a gear grinding because of bigger tires.

As for fixing the problem, there is only one thing you can do. Drop the transmission and have it fixed. I'm guessing it has a lot of miles on it so you are probably better off rebuilding it or replacing it completely.

I think you should look for a different Toyota, but that's just my opinion.

Sorry for the bad news.

Later

 

Wow, three replies in the whole 5 mins I was typing my answer.

If it's grinding while it's in gear then there is another problem besides what I said. What I said pertains to putting it into gear.

Yeah, I would definitely buy a different truck. I trust that owner about as far as I can throw him.

 

How much money are you willing to spend for a TOYOTA?

You said that you'd like an extended cab, V6.

From experience I'd stay away from the 3.0L V6 and go for the 3.4L V6.

 

There is also no "overdrive" that I am aware of in the manual tranny's. It's 5th gear, basically, the highest gear. If I need overdrive power I just drop mine into a lower gear, I agree with '96, the guy was feeding you some real smell bull dung. But still be sure to go TOyota, and welcome to our little club.

 

keisur-

5th gear is commonly referred to as "O/D" on manual tranny's (whether it be correct or not, I dont know).

I dont understand your last sentence, can you explain it? "Overdrive" and "power" are not synonomous. Maybe you just mistyped, but hey I have to check.

 

Well, I meant it in sort of a skewed way. I remember in my moms american cars with auto tranny's that when you wanted to pass somebody you stomp the gas and the tranny would shift into a lower gear giving faster acceleration and you'd feel a jolt of power. Many people I knew always referred to this as "Wail pardner, I guess you kicked it into overdrive and passed that cow poke {in your best redneck accent}." that's why I referred to it as overdrive and not passing gear. I know that actual overdrive is just the cruising gear to reduce the rpms and save Gas-A-hol.

 

Ok, lol. They probably meant to say "kicked her outta overdrive to pass that there cow poke." [end redneck accent]



I know what you mean now.

 

that's right. 5th gear on a 5 speed is a typically a gear that has a higher ratio than 1:1. if it goes higher than that, it's considered overdrive since your driveline is spinning faster than the engine

 

yeah, that's basically what I said in my last post.