Bit the bullet and decided to tackle a little issue on the 4runner today. Had an iffy conta t in the starter since I picked it up. Already did the footwork and narrowed it down to a definite internal issue.

Decided to try slapping in a used RZ starter I had laying around in unknown condition, problem is that it was from a manual truck and therefore different.

While I had it out though, I decided to diagnose the issue. A worn contact is all it was. Did some digging through the parts hoard and found a 3.4 starter that I'd likely never use. Took it all apart and found that the contacts are the same. Bingo. Out with the old completely shot contact, in with the new less shot contact. Cranks right up.

I have another issue that I'll need to take care of soon. The truck runs rich for sure, not as rich since I replaced the gunked up front O2 sensor, but still rich, I can smell it in the exhaust and am getting a measly 13 MPG. I suspect the MAF may be an issue, sadly the MAF off of my 97 Tacoma is actually different than the 97 4Runner. So I'll have to find one elsewhere.

I also suspect the cat is clogged up, I was slowly regaining power as I drove the truck the first couple hundred miles, but it's leveled off and I feel there should still be a little more there, especially in the low end. Realistically a full new exhaust from the header back may be in order.

The truck also does burn a little more oil than I'd hoped for. I switched to 10w30 with Lucas additive when I changed from the oil I used to clean out the system to calm the smoke a bit, after 300 or so miles it still went from the full line to just under though. There's no leaks that I've seen, and the valve seals are new and valves adjusted, so I think the rings are just worn on the 270k mile bottom end. Nothing I'm gonna do to fix that any time soon. Fingers crossed it doesnt get worse.

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