Hey everyone. I'm new to this site but have spent a lot of time on toyotanation.com try g to get a feel for my new truck. It's a 1993 dlx std cab with a leer she'll and 31x10.5x15 all terrains. I bought it from old folks who had a receipt book as thick as your wrist from brand new and it's had the dreaded head gasket done twice and timing as well. Once from a factory recall at 37,xxx miles and again at 67k. It's currently at 124,200 and "seems" to be very well in order. I live in So Cal (north San Diego) and these trucks command a premium here so I paid $3900 all in with smog and reg to my name. Any suggestions on what I should look for and do to her? I get a drop of oil every other day from somewhere in the rear of the engine and it collects at the low point of the Trans housing. Coolent is GREEN and I believe it should be red based on my 22re experience. I'd love some feedback. Thanks all.

 

Nice pickup, good luck with it. Some folks cuss the v6 but I have always liked mine. I have had green in my old 90 for 15yrs, but I also have Warn hubs and from what I read, theyre no good either.

 

Fancy dancy!

 

Wow that interior looks clean

 

Good that the head gasket's been done, but twice just shows that it never stops being a problem...
Very clean though. Keep your price to yourself though...
It's going to make mine look expensive when I get it listed, and I have a lot of money into it.

 

Looks good! Congrats!

 

Ha ha!! Sorry for diluting your price lol. I'm sure yours will be the real deal. Any recommendations on tires? I'd like to put a set of good dual use rubber in the sub-33" size.

 

Good looking truck. I'd say $3900 for a truck in that condition was definitely a good deal.

For tires, I like the BF Goodrich T/A all terrains. Smooth on the highway, excellent on snow and ice (not that you care in San Diego), and good performance in the dirt. I'd stick with the 31x10.5x15's unless you plan a lot of off-roading.

As far as the HG is concerned, don't lose sleep over it. It may well last another 200,000 miles. Don't lug the engine - keep the rpms up going up hills (low rpms at high loads increase the cylinder pressures - much easier on the engine to downshift.) Also, watch the temp gauge and avoid overheating. If your cooling system is in good shape, overheating should not be a problem under any conditions that a human can survive in.

Oil leak is likely either a valve-cover gasket or rear main seal. Clean off the engine good and drive it a few days to see where it shows up. Driver's side valve cover is easy, passenger side is a pain because you have to pull the plenum to get at it. Rear main seal requires pulling the tranny and clutch. If you get into that, replace the clutch while you're in there.

 

Thanks RJR, Good advise.
I may even let her drip a bit of it's the rear main. A little oil never hurt anyone :-)

Good call on the tires. My buddy at Evans tires here in San Diego suggested those as well and they're even on the buy 2, get two deal.

 

That's a steal, and a beautiful truck! If you want to see premium prices drive that thing up to the rust belt and sell it :/ Bet you wouldn't have to sit on it very long listing it for even $6k here.

If you get a bunch of oil kicking around in your housing it can allegedly get on your clutch and make it slip. But since you'd have to take it all off anyway to fix it no harm in driving, especially if it's a small leak. I did have an engine fire on a 3.0 from valve covers leaking on my manifold years ago, so would be best to rule that out for sure. I don't let valve cover leaks go anymore.

 

Super nice truck! These things are getting harder to find all the time and this one is in great shape. Pull off the inspection plate on your transmission behind the oil pan and take a look inside. Get a bore scope if you need to. If it's the rear main you'll see oil inside the bell housing.

x3 on the BFG ATs. I've been running them on all my rigs and find they're a great tire in just about all conditions except mud.

Good find!

 

A few adds in the past few months after getting stuck in the mud with my AT's. I added some 31" Nankang mud stars and love them so far. They look really aggressive and perform well without the noise of some mud options.

 

Great truck ! All I would do is put on some headers to get all that heat away from #6 and run a cooling system flush to be sure you have good flow at the back of the heads. You should get the latest edition of toyota owner magazine for suspension ideas.

 

Thankfully the previous owner did any and everything to help this oft hated 3.0l including headers and HG under warranty and again at 110,000 (124700 now). All I'm battling now is a rear main oil leak and an egr code 71. I "attempted" to do a pro comp add a leaf today and got stuck halfway when I couldn't get the bolt out of the leaf and the rear shackle. Even had to buy a hijack to get the wheel off since the factory bottle jack was 4-5" short lol.