Thanks rw and avi. Maybe I should have made him do a science fair project on finding the antifreeze leak on a 96 4Runner. I didn't even look at the truck today.

 

Hi, Hab. Weather improving there? 35 and rain here.
Stoker may think it's great fun playing detective under the hood. I suspect he will be taught well about the 4Runners as he gets older.

 

Think he's already learning lots rw... but that's a good idea he's still small he can stick his head and hands in places we can't and he can get a better look at the front of the engine and maybe spot the source of the leak...

 

Without a doubt, Avi. It's great when he appears in a repair pic from time to time.

 

Hiiiiiii! How's my favorite spicy pepper-momma? Haha..... I'm not great, .....but have been worse!

Snow wheeling pics coming?

 

Sickkkkk Starter write up btw! Wow!

 

Hrt4me did a stellar job of the starter writeup, didn't he? So glad he put it in!

Chef- hope your not great swings to best soon! At least your ball joints are hanging together.

*eye twitch*


*twitch*


Another snow day. We got another near inch of snow with little more on the way and some freezing drizzle to glaze it this afternoon. At least a warm up is on the way, I might get to go to work tomorrow for a 1 day work week. Supposed to get lots of rain tomorrow. I have to go grocery shopping. Never thought I'd look forward to that. :/


After I get back from grocery torture I'm gonna stick my camera up in the engine compartment and take lots of pictures, see if I can see anything from the pictures.

The kiddo's a little over 4 years away from driving (!!!). We will be helping him do repairs and maintenance and most likely mods too. Not sure what he'll get yet.
His teacher let him start a project to motivate him to care about school and do better at his schoolwork. The rest of the class wanted to participate so it's now a 9 employee business with advertisers, a custodian, records keeper, 2 repair people, a tester and so on. It's a small object repair business within his school. Things like staplers and electric pencil sharpeners and small appliances. It's amazing, she's an amazing teacher. Most importantly, he's learning about how important organization is and to think about how things work and how to think mechanically- and he's been wanting to get back to school since the day after Christmas.

Okay, I'm rambling. This is what happens when adult contact isn't happening...


Oh, look at that.....a city bus is on fire a couple houses down from my seesters' houses. How fun.

Have a great and terrific day everyone! Stay warm (35 is too warm, Chef) and busy, but not the wrong kind of busy.

 

Lots of pics later and I think I found the small leak:










Best as I can tell before I really get in there. It really appears to be the hose and not anything like the housing or water pump.

Why I haven't replaced the small guys by now is beyond me. Ah well. I'll order the parts now and hope it waits for better weather. Right now it's a very few small drips, but y'all know how that goes.
You'd think these things would last more than 18 years.....

It looks like the part I need is the hose from the t-stat housing to the oil cooler thingy.

 

You may want to change the smaller U shaped on the oil cooler also.
That is a really cool learning environment for your son. Some teachers just 'get it'.
Finally snowing on Mt Hood. Yay! Skiing to follow soon.

 

I'll be replacing all the small id hoses. 18 years old + coolant already drained = no brains.....
er, brainer.


The kiddo's teacher is awesome! I think he's been a puzzle she's been trying to decipher because, according to her, the way he thinks and processes is different from any other kid she's ever taught- and she's doing an awesome job.

Glad to hear you finally get to do some skiing! Yay! You, not me!

 

Great plan on the hoses. I did the same when it was pulled apart doing the HG a couple of years ago...almost all the coolant hose ends were soft. Also, replaced vacuum hoses at the same time since they were pretty cooked too.

Yes, winter has FINALLY arrived for a few days, at least, in the PNW mountains. Woohoo!

 

Told ya it were going to get warmer soon did'nt I?
Great to hear the little guy is finding his niche at school and kudos to the teacher for finding the key to unlock his potential... everyone's mind works a little differently sometimes all you need to find is the way in... hope his next teacher puts in the same effort... IK here parents can ask that their child be placed with the same teacher in successive years if that teacher is/can be advanced to the next grade. You may also want to talk with the teacher about this...
the hose switch could be a good job to get him involved on maintenance with... it's fairly safe and also nice and messy which young guys like [usually] and the tight spots are tailor made for small hands... you may just have to break some of the nuts loose a bit is all...
ttys avi

 

That would be so cool Avi, but he's going to middle school next year! Seems impossible, doesn't it? The rest of the hoses will be in on Tuesday, he should definitely join me.

 

Going to middle school already?! uh oh better get ready it won't be long before hanging with the 'rents is majorly uncool... of course yours will be the "cool wrenching house" were everyone can come and work on their stuff... bikes. skateboards etc.... right?
time flies so fast...

 

Thanks Hon. ... I'm just pressing on through the drama like its not happening. It usually works! Lol. Although every year the pass is it seems to work less and less. Hahaha. About 4 more days of these gnarly antibiotics before I can go in for surgery. Then it will be its own dramatic event for me to get to the King of the Hammers! Lol. I know, I'm probably being stupid... I guess I can't help it. ó,Ò ... hehe. I'm just kidding... If I don't think it's a good idea, and they tell me "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!"...,... The dude will abide! Lol.

Dang those stubborn little leaks! There's one on a 22 re: which is in the bottom of the intake, between number two and three intake runners... Holy smack me in the face and call me Suzy! Haha. Most everything else is a piece of cake to get to... Besides the backing plate of the head. I guess if I do end up with a 4.0, Lexus v8... I'm certainly going to have my own set of challenges what stuff like that. But there will always be a trip coming up soon and so forth, so that has to stop being an excuse! Lol. If I was somewhere a little bit more forgiving with inspection and referee stations, I might even just do a three RZ first, maybe supercharger, then sell the whole setup then do the v8 if I wasn't happy..... The problem is here I would have to have it pass inspection and referee, in California... Yeah, exactly! That's why I'm waffling so much... I really do want it to be my last decision for the next 10 years or so.

Take care sweetie! Rock on

 

those leaks are a pain! older trucks, fun repairs! I just moved to San Diego and now i get to deal with smog BS too that Ive always heard so much about...

 

One county over you only have to smog your vehicle when you change the title. I've heard of people getting P.O. boxes over here to get around that. At least San Diego is nice.

Good luck with the leaks Habanero.

 

Chef! YOU take care! I hear you about choosing carefully, sometimes it's annoying because the decisions all have good points. I missed your post, hopefully you are well and good now or in the very soon!

Avi- I'm already uncool....then again, that was before I even had a kid.....
Yeah, his friends think it's crazy to come over and see me crawling around the truck. I'll show them what's up when they ask, then they think I'm crazier.

JBurt, mkzg- I'd say I feel your pain, having Cali exhaust and all, but, well, I don't live anywhere near CA.
No, please keep your weather reports to yourself.

 

Because we both have identical '96 SR5 V6 5-speed manual 4WD with e-lockers, would you give please me a pointer on how to distinguish between California and federal exhausts?

 

One easy way is that Federal has one cat and cali has 2. You can also check your under hood sticker.