Hey guys,

I just picked up my first toyota-97 4runner Limited and I absolutely love it. It rides great except for the hood rattles at high speeds and during high cross winds. I know that this is a common problem with the 3rd gen 4runner and I am wondering what you all reccomend for fixing this problem.

I am planning on doing some towing this spring/summer/fall and the guy I bought the truck from said it has a towing package(It has a original toyota tow bar, which is rusting badly). I looked by the front radiator and I can't tell whether or not it has a factory tranny cooler.

Can anyone help me out please??

 

1) I think you can adjust the hood mounting screws and work out the rattle.

2) You can pick up a new tow bar assembly pretty cheap used or just sand the one you got and rattle can it.

3) I don't think the factory towing package included any type of OEM tranny cooler, but I could be mistaken. Do a search for tranny coolers on the forum and you'll find MORE than you want to know.

Good luck!

 

First of all, do you have a hood protector? Those always cause what you are describing.

Like Brian said, you can reduce the hood wobble by backing out the hood stops at the front. There is also a guy that sells a kit that eliminates it completely. I cant remember the site, but the kit is $40 or something.

 

I believe this might be it.

Clicky

 

Yes I do have a toyota wind deflector and I did see that site but i figured that I could maybe do it myself and not wait for the kit in the mail. I wonder why there wasn't a recall for this

 

Do the 3rd gens not route the cooling lines to the bottom of the radiator, 'cause that's the OEM tranny cooler on the 2nd gens.

 

I just checked and it looks like there are 2 radiators up front one is a little smaller than the other but it look pretty damn huge. Do you guys think thats the cooler?

 

Yes they do but that's also a warmer in the winter so in the summer when your running 180* or so, it's no kind of cooler at all. Just some protection against over heating.

I'd strongly suggest the biggest aftermarket Hayden RapidCool (M/N: 679) tranny cooler you can fit. I had to modify my hood latch brace but I got the 679 to fit nice and easy.

 

One is the radiator and one is the a/c evaporator. You'd have 3 if you had a tranny cooler. If the lines come out of your tranny and go to the radiator then back to the tranny, you have NO tranny cooler. In that case, see my previous post.

 

I solved mine by adjusting the hood stops in the front. Just screw them "out" a bit more. This raises the front of the hood a bit and changes the airflow.
This was the fix for my 93 and my 02 Runner's problem with the back hood rattling/flapping at high speed.