Hey all, new to the forums here.

If things go smoothly, I should be getting a 1989 Xtra cab 4x4 5 speed this evening or tomorrow for the nice price of free. My father in law decided that every man needs a truck and since I don't have one he was going to sign his Toyota over to me. I've only seen the truck once, but from what I remember the body is straight with no surface rust. It's on a 3 inch body lift, and while I do not know if it's on oversized tires, I wasn't able to see or ask what specific size. I am thinking 31's though. It had a very clean interior, and comes with a tool box.

Now on to the negatives haha. From what I was told, the only problems it has are: dim head lights, broken tailgate latch, broken fuel guage, and he said under heavy load sometimes it will shift a litte rough.

The head lights and tailgate are easy fixes, but I have no idea what could be wrong with the fuel guage or how to fix it. Same with the rough shifting. I assume since it's pretty old, the transmission is probably getting a little worn, but I will be able to test drive it pretty soon.
Any suggestions etc would be much appreciated.

I'll post up pics once I have it for those interested.

 

Wow, thats awesome. I wish someone gave me a yota haha. The fuel problem could either be the guage or the sending unit. The sending unit is located in the fuel tank, so youll have to lower it or lift your bed off.

Other than that, sounds like a sick deal. Look forward to seeing pics!

Oh, and welcome to yotatech

 

Rough shifting often due to using GL-5 in the tranny, instead of GL-4. GL-5 is too slippery for the synchros to work. Plus it contains sulfur compounds that corrode the brass synchros, so bad all around. Most people recommend either Red Line MT-90 or Amsoil MTG, both excellent synthetic 75W-90 GL-4 oils. Switching to GL-4 made a HUGE improvement in shifting in my 89. GL-5 is best in the transfer and differentials, though.

Another common cause of bad shifting is worn shifter seat bushings - the originals are probably crumbs by now. Marlin makes better than original bushings that most folks around here recommend. Be careful not to let any of those crumbs fall into the tranny when you remove the shifter - they might prevent it from seating fully. Search the forum for info.

Where does the clutch engage? If an inch or less from the floor, the clutch should be adjusted. First flush/bleed the clutch fluid with a good DOT 4 fluid, and make sure the slave isn't leaking. If it is, autohausaz sells OEM Aisin slaves for cheap. Adjust the clutch pushrod a little further out. Make sure there is at least a quarter inch of pedal freeplay - the distance the clutch pedal moves before it meets resistance. If less than quarter inch, raise the pedal height a bit. See the fsm for details.

 

Thanks for the replies guys, keep them coming. I will probably have the truck be either tonight or tomorrow, so I will be able to see all of this for myself. I'm sure I can get my step dad to help me out since I am pretty new to all this stuff.

 

My 89 has the dim headlights as well. If you fix the dim headlights, definitely post here. I'd be interested in knowing what fixed them.

 

I am going to assume it's one of two things, and maybe some one else will chime in. I have some spare 4 gauge power wire so I am going to do the big 3 electrical upgrade and then look in to some Silverstar head lamps. I think the old stock head lights are just too dim.

 

Rough shifting?

Is it an automatic or manual trans???

 

5 speed manual

 

Alright here's a quick pic for any one interested. It's on 31's.

The transmission is a little sticky.. sometimes when going in to first or reverse I've got to give it a little more effort to get it to pop in to gear.. Other than that she runs fine. Only has 155,000 miles on it

 

check the pedal bracket. mine was broke when i bought the truck. it got so bad, before i fixed it, i had to put all my weight on the pedal and use both hands to push it in gear

i took mine out and had a guy i work with weld the huge crack in it.

 

As for the headlights check out this thread I did it to my 86 and it made world of difference!!!
https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f116...talled-159609/

And nice truck! I'm looking to buy one like that for a new trail truck but if I found a nice one like that it would turn into my new DD

 

Thanks for the compliment and the link. I have a few other things I want to do before the head lights, but after driving it last night it was dim but wasn't so bad I couldn't see, just it wasn't as bright as I was used to since I have Silverstars in my car.

 

I ordered those 2 parts lastnight. My shifter is sloppy as hell. I changed the tranny oil and used a GL-4/GL-5 compatible oil and just as others have said, it's not the same as regular GL-4. I couldn't find any straight GL-4 so I had to use this crap and my tranny doesn't like to shift when it's cold now. After it's warm it's fine, but I don't like having to drive 10 miles before it starts to shift like it should.

 

Summit Racing sells Red Line products at good prices. I'm not sure what's the best source for Amsoil - maybe Amsoil itself?

 

i also have to give extra effort to shift into reverse

 

That, unfortunately, is a common characteristic of the good old R150F. Best you can do is use MT90 or MTG, install the Marlin bushings, bleed the clutch hydraulics and adjust the clutch. Even after all of that, you'll still probably find it best to briefly shift into a forward gear, and then try reverse again. With time, the technique will become second nature and you won't even think about it.

 

^^

I have the same issue but with 1st and reverse. 1st is just hard to get in to. I have to push pretty hard before it pops in to gear. In reverse I have to put it in second then go to reverse and sometimes it still wants to grind just a bit before sliding in

 

I just got a '92 Pickup, 3VZE, 5psd and I am having the exact same issue with 1st and Reverse, but 1st is way more annoying since you use it alot more.

It also seems to me that I have to really push the clutch far to the floor and hard to be able to shift smooth, it is hard on my leg having to push that hard to the floor to shift.

I have been looking around for the FSM for my truck to see how to adjust the clutch pedal. I will probably flush/bleed the clutch system also, but was wondering if I could just adjust the pedal until I do the bleed, because it is kind of a pain to drive like this.

 

Found the FSM for a '93 Pickup, should be the same clutch pedal adjustment for my '92 and your '89...if you want to try adjusting the pedal.

http://www.ncttora.com/fsm/1993/clutch/2checkand.pdf

 

I would almost guarantee you have a GL-5 oil in your tranny. Give the Red Line MT-90 or Amsoil MTG a try.