StreetCreeper's Thread About StreetCreeper Stuff and Other Weird/Random Shit

Well it's that time of year again — time to clean the A/C condenser.

It's my understanding that keeping your A/C condenser clean of debris, will lower internal pressure — thereby prolonging your compressor lifespan. A good thing...

Since air must first go through the A/C condenser on its way to the radiator, it makes sense that the cleaner the condenser is — the better the air flow will be to the radiator. Might be insignificant amount or even just marginally better, but little shit adds up in the end.

While I had the radiator out the other day, I should have cleaned the condenser then. Doing it this way would have allowed me to force water in through the back & out towards the front. This would probably be the most efficient way to force the wedged-in bug guts back out.

But like the dumbass I am, I didn't think of it until I had everything put back together.

So the next best thing is this A/C Safe stuff from Home Depot. It's about 5 bucks or so. You just spray it into the condenser and then wait for 5 min. The foam will loosen the bug guts and carry their crispy little corpses out to the front where you can just hose it all down. Then you're done.

No tools or skills needed. If you can spell bubble gum and manage not to eat any of the condenser cleaner — your qualified to clean your own condenser. Hooray!

If your condenser is really nasty and plugged up, you may well even see lower a/c exit temperatures.

Pics from last year since I'm too lazy to take more.








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My kind of build thread! Maybe you can fill it out with a debate about wether to get a bumper sticker or a TRD sticker?
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LittleCaesar said:
I have to ask StreetCreeper if you have ever check the pressure of the L and H sides before and after doing this?
Click to expand...

I have not. It's always been something I have read but never actually checked.

I just did a quick Google search for before and after pressures. Found a video from that Eric the car guy who did a condenser cleaning. Before the cleaning his high side pressure was about 180psi @ 2500rpm. After the cleaning his high side pressure was 120psi @ 2500rpm.

60psi drop just for cleaning the condenser — I'll take it!

http://youtu.be/r_em9lm69HQ
 
StreetCreeper said:
So the next best thing is this A/C Safe stuff from Home Depot. It's about 5 bucks or so. You just spray it into the condenser and then wait for 5 min. The foam will loosen the bug guts and carry their crispy little corpses out to the front where you can just hose it all down. Then you're done.

No tools or skills needed. If you can spell bubble gum and manage not to eat any of the condenser cleaner — your qualified to clean your own condenser. Hooray!

If your condenser is really nasty and plugged up, you may well even see lower a/c exit temperatures.
Click to expand...

Did you do this without removing your grill and bumper?
 
New carpet soon!

So I've decided to replace my trashed carpets and have settled on Stock Interiors with mass backing.

Color-wise, I wanted to stay as stock as I could. So I ordered up some samples to check.

I took some pics with the numbers to their corresponding colors.

I finally chose "Antelope" as the color that I think most approximates the OEM carpet.

I'll report back when I receive and install it. I'm not looking forward to doing this job in 100*+ heat with hardly any shade but I guess it could be worse — rain.

​

And don't laugh at my "serial killer scrawl" as my wife calls it...cause I might come find you in the middle of the night....and smoke a bowl with you :D

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Here they are in direct sunlight:

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I placed the square in the cleanest spot I could find in the back...

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Here it is on the cleanest most original spot I could find in the front:



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And here it is on the passenger door to see how it meshes up with the trim colors. I think it looks right at home.

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This is the Stock Interiors "Antelope # 8335"
 
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I finally replaced the stock horns with some Hella Supertones.

Now I'm kinda looking forward to blasting the next a-hole who cuts me off. :lookout:

I almost painted them black at first because I didn't like the bright red, but I'm glad I didn't since I can see them installed now and they're kinda cool looking actually; the way they lurk from behind the grill.




​
 
StreetCreeper said:
I find it appalling when I think about how much time — I spend thinking about my truck.

Before I had a 4Runner, my vehicles were objects. Nothing more — nothing less. I put gas in them and I drove them. I didn't dream about them, I didn't read about them, didn't buy things for them, didn't talk about them, didn't wrench on them and I certainly didn't think about them.

But then I got the 4Runner.

When I got it, my truck was in such a sorry state — my daughter was afraid of it. She would not ride in the truck and I worried that I would be pulled over for being suspicious — since all the lights pulsed like a UFO when I drove at night.

I had no choice but to think about the truck since I was too broke to have a shop fix things. So think I did ... and straight to the internet I went. I searched for days. I looked for anything that would help me figure out wtf was wrong with my truck. And for every question I answered, two more would pop-up that required I investigate even further.

Of course, I eventually found this place and never left. This place is like a flop-house for Runner junkies. We all come here to get our fix....then we just sorta sit around lolygaggin when we probably ought to be doing some other work.

I'm kinda like an addict. If I'm not on this forum, I'm on Craigslist or eBay looking for 4Runner crap. Always looking for my fix.

When I'm driving, I'm monitoring everything and listening intently for odd noises or anything unusual. Squeaks, thunks, odd shift points, strange new smell — it all gets noticed and filed away in the back of my brain for analysis at my leisure.

I constantly see other 3rd gen Runners on the road and I'll even go out of my way to park next to other Runners just so I can eyeball them better.

Whenever I have to go somewhere, I often think how nice it will be to drive the 4Runner there; even if only going out for milk & eggs.

When I walk out of the store, I just look for the good looking truck and plot a course towards it. Though sometimes I get momentarily confused if there are other 3rd gens in the lot at the same time. And when I near my truck, she gives me a crisp double-chirp in greeting for my arrival — this usually makes me grin inwardly.

Just the other day I was sitting in traffic, enjoying the ice-cold air conditioning while silently appreciating the cooler engine temps after recently overhauling the cooling system; when I noticed the car beside me. It was a black Bentley of some kind, very sporty looking with 2 doors. Whatever kind of Bentley it was, it looked expensive as all hell. As traffic crept along, I got to thinking about what it would be like to have that car. How nice it must be; the leather interior and comfortable seats. How I would admire it from up close and afar. I thought about how I would drive it from here to there...

But then I realized I do that already with my 4Runner — and I don't even have to pay $100-150k! I thought about how my insurance payment every month would skyrocket and probably be more than some people live on. Soon I started to think how tiring it would be to always be worried about someone hitting my Bentley or putting dents in it with their door in a parking lot. Even just the crazy cost of regular maintenance for a car like that would give me anxiety.

After a couple of minutes day-dreaming about owning a Bentley — I quickly realized that I would honestly rather have a 4Runner. I wouldn't own a Bentley even if it was given to me. Instead, I would sell the Bentley and buy the choicest 3rd gen imaginable, and build it up to whatever my pot-addled imagination dared. Then I'd drive it around the world a time or two. And that's not being ambitious for a 4Runner. My 4runner has enough miles on it to have driven around the planet at the equator — 16 times.

See, I shouldn't even know that — the part about driving around the planet 16 times. But I do ... cause I'm weird and I think I have a disease — 4runneritis of the brain or something. I suppose only time will tell if there is a cure.

If I ever get a 4Runner tattoo though, y'all have permission to shoot me.


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Click to expand...



If that ant the truth. Oh don't forget watching 4runner videos on youtube along side craigslisting and here. Plus getting the odd look from people, who don't know what they have driving around 3rd gens, because its a 3rd gen I have to look and stare.
Hi my names Jdog and I am a 4runner addict.
 
StreetCreeper said:
I finally replaced the stock horns with some Hella Supertones.

Now I'm kinda looking forward to blasting the next a-hole who cuts me off. :lookout:

I almost painted them black at first because I didn't like the bright red, but I'm glad I didn't since I can see them installed now and they're kinda cool looking actually; the way they lurk from behind the grill.
Click to expand...

I'm gonna drive over to Modesto and rudely cut-off every 4Runner I see on the road.
 
Cooling System Update

So as an uneventful update to my cooling system overhaul that I did a few weeks ago, I have yet to see coolant temps go over 193*.

This includes 45 minutes of inching up a mountain grade at 5mph with lots of stop & go during a lane closure for bridge construction while loaded down for a 1600 mile trip with 2 adults and 3 kids in the truck.

Today the outside air temp hit 106* so I figured I would recheck how the cooling system would handle idling away in the heat with the a/c cranked up.

After 15 minutes the only change was the coolant temp rising from 188* to 190* — all else remained the same. The A/C temp stayed nice & frosty at 42* as well.





​

I think the overhaul was successful, but I'm considering adding a bottle of Redline's Water Wetter. I know this won't lower coolant temps below what the thermostat will regulate at ( and I don't want it to either ), but I think there might still be a benefit when the conditions become a little more extreme, e.g., towing, off-road adventures, etc...

Anything that makes the coolant ( more specifically the water ) work more efficiently seems like a good idea. As I understand how Water Wetter works — most benefit comes when using straight distilled water. However, there is still a benefit to running it with 50/50 like most people do and even more so with 70/30 like I run.

Since Water Wetter is compatible with most if not all modern coolants, I see no harm in using this additive.

Normally I'm not a fan of additives for anything, especially snake-oil type additive that claim all sorts of wild things — but Redline is a well know and respected brand and Water Wetter has been around for some time with plenty of support from those who use it.

Once I pick some up, I'll note any changes ( good, bad or otherwise ) and report back here.

I should add that I am not adding Water Wetter to "fix" anything. My cooling system is functioning exactly as it should. I'm only attempting to improve the cooling efficiency in an effort to create excess reserve cooling capability if it even exist. ( Not sure if that makes sense to anyone who isn't stoned as I am since I get a little weird...er, when I'm baking...)
 
StreetCreeper said:
So as an uneventful update to my cooling system overhaul that I did a few weeks ago, I have yet to see coolant temps go over 193*.



This includes 45 minutes of inching up a mountain grade at 5mph with lots of stop & go during a lane closure for bridge construction while loaded down for a 1600 mile trip with 2 adults and 3 kids in the truck.



Today the outside air temp hit 106* so I figured I would recheck how the cooling system would handle idling away in the heat with the a/c cranked up.



After 15 minutes the only change was the coolant temp rising from 188* to 190* — all else remained the same. The A/C temp stayed nice & frosty at 42* as well.











​



I think the overhaul was successful, but I'm considering adding a bottle of Redline's Water Wetter. I know this won't lower coolant temps below what the thermostat will regulate at ( and I don't want it to either ), but I think there might still be a benefit when the conditions become a little more extreme, e.g., towing, off-road adventures, etc...



Anything that makes the coolant ( more specifically the water ) work more efficiently seems like a good idea. As I understand how Water Wetter works — most benefit comes when using straight distilled water. However, there is still a benefit to running it with 50/50 like most people do and even more so with 70/30 like I run.



Since Water Wetter is compatible with most if not all modern coolants, I see no harm in using this additive.



Normally I'm not a fan of additives for anything, especially snake-oil type additive that claim all sorts of wild things — but Redline is a well know and respected brand and Water Wetter has been around for some time with plenty of support from those who use it.



Once I pick some up, I'll note any changes ( good, bad or otherwise ) and report back here.



I should add that I am not adding Water Wetter to "fix" anything. My cooling system is functioning exactly as it should. I'm only attempting to improve the cooling efficiency in an effort to create excess reserve cooling capability if it even exist. ( Not sure if that makes sense to anyone who isn't stoned as I am since I get a little weird...er, when I'm baking...)
Click to expand...



Your clock works... Make mine work


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