Hi everyone. Great site here. I recently acquired a 1997 4Runner SR5 automatic, from my folks who rolled it a few years ago. They had some shade tree mechanic work on it and did a really crappy job on the body work. The roof was crushed, fenders and rear quarter panels were bondo'd terribly. They basically gave up on it and its been sitting in the same spot for the past 3 years. The stock wheels got stolen while at this guys place and he tried to replace them with 15's until he realized that they wouldn't fit on the front, over the calipers. He put them on the back however and put some 16's on the front. ::rollseyes::

I did drive it from Seattle to Montana with no problems and on my first fill up logged 21MPG and made from my parents' house to Spokane with still 1/4 tank of gas left! 300 miles exactly. Then the drive from Spokane to Livingston, I logged 24 MPG. I think this was due to finally cycling out the old 3 year old gas that was in the tank.

Its only got 102k and runs pretty strong. The ONLY probem though is when I come to a complete stop or coming to a stop and then decide to accelerate,. there is a pause of about 1-2 seconds where the RPM's rev up but the car doesn't move. If you keep on the gas pedal as its revving up, the tranny or whatever the culprit is finally catches and it'll clunk forward and accelerate.

I usually just let off the pedal as soon as I realize this is going on and as the RPM's decrease, it'll kick in and you'll feel it catch. Sometimes after you've come to a stop and are sitting at a light, sometimes you'll feel the car jerk forward for a quick second as if something catches.

 

Well first off, you should of never drove it with that gas but whats been done is already done so...

Since it has been sitting for 3 years begin the following if you haven't done so already:
Replace fuel filter (ASAP), replace spark plugs and wires with OEM or NGK, clean MAF sensor, drain & refill tranny and diff fluid, replace air filter, replace PVC valve, run a can of BG 44k in the tank..... You should be able to do all that for around $200 or less.

Personally, i wouldn't drive, or even start it before doing ALL the above maintenance first. Good luck.

 

Run a bottle of auto rx in your oil to giver her a good internal cleaning, change out the fuel filter, change out the plugs and wires, run some good fuel injector cleaner.

 

If you have not checked the tranny Fluid level, I suggest doing so as the symptom you described can be attributed to a low fluid level in my experience. So I would just change the fluid as suggested in a previous post. Good luck.

 

Tell me you changed the oil first before driving it 500 miles...

 

Hey guys,

Thanks for the replies. Yes the first thing I did was change the oil and the spark plugs and wires. I went with the ngk Iridiums with the NGK wires as I have that setup on my Pathfinder and am pleased with it. If you've ever changed the #6 plug on a 96-99 Pathfinder before, you know exactly what I'm talking about. My hands are just not as small as those japanese engineers who designed the engine.

Through searching, I've noticed a lot of people recommending OEM wires instead of aftermarket. What is the reasoning for this? The air filter was changed right away because the bottom half of it was soaked with oil. Obviously from being rolled over. I cleaned the whole intake pipe from the TB down to the air box and ran some seafoam through PCV hose, the crank case and gas tank. It smoked for about a good solid 10 minutes.

I plan on changing the fuel filter soon along with getting the tranny looked at. My fiance works at a Toyota dealership luckily and they will be taking a look at it tomorrow. Will keep you posted.

 

lube your driveshaft and check the back drums for the classic rear axle leak, you also may want to drop the tranny pan and replace the filter, mine clogged up and gave me similar symptoms as yours

 

That gives me hope that thats the only problem. Obviously much rather change the filter than the whole tranny.

There has been some good tips and suggestions as after chatting with some of the mechanics at the dealership briefly, they suggested a lot of the same things mentioned in this post. They will be doing a flush because the oil looks nice and red, not a brown or a rust, nor does the oil smell like if the tranny is going out.

The guys had mentioned that the Yota's use a manufacturer specific tranny oil? Anyways, they're looking it over today and I hope all goes well.

 

Turns out the tranny was VERY low on oil. Almost 3 qts low...Makes me wonder since it sat for about 3 years, if there was a leak somewhere. But filled up the oil and the car runs like a charm. Lots of power restored and NO hesitation whatsoever! It feels like a brand new car!

 

Because they're proven to work well and last a very long time. No sense in "fixing" what already works.

Cool, hope you drained it first and then topped it off.
Also, don't neglect changing the diff fluid and especially the fuel filter too.

Nice to hear a successful outcome. Just shows what a good old 3.4 can do after sitting that long. Take care of it and she'll pure for another 100k with ease.

 

Looks like I won! Hehe. I have seen that happen 2 different times in 3rd gen runners. Once to me and then it happened to my buddy. He drained his transmission fluid and then filled the motor with oil when trying to do a simple oil change

 

Thanks for the tip! Now since thats 3 occurances that we know of, thats definitely something thats good to know/share.