So long story short I have had some issues with my 4Runner for the last couple of weeks and just want some opinions on repairs as well as the cost. I already knew I needed tires so that’s not really a big deal. I’ll get those installed later this week but the other two things in the title are what worry me. I am currently getting the dreaded P0441 P0446 codes related to the evap system. I’ve already replaced my gas cap with an oem one which seemed to not really do anything and then I replaced all the vacuum lines under the hood which did help for about a week. But for the last 2 weeks my idiot light and the other 3 lights on the other side of the instrument cluster have been lighting up. I’ve literally disconnected my battery 50 times in the last 2 weeks. In regards to this should I have a smoke test done on the system? I know that’s a 100 dollars plus maybe a little more to do. My issue is that some of the evap parts can get extremely expensive. My other issue is related to either the needle bearing or wheel bearing on the driver side. It’s a cyclical vibration that will go away after a long drive. The issue is that when I took it to Toyota the vibration was gone (2 hours away) and the next day it was back. To replace both was going to be ballpark 800 dollars.

My question to y’all is what should I look at first for the evap system? I know there are 2 solenoids, one under the hood and one at the evap canister. Should I test these with a 9v battery to see if they open and close?

In regards to the vibration what should I get replaced? Even though the needle bearing replacement is just north of 400 it’s a whole lot better than almost 900 for both wheel bearing and needle bearing and vise versa.

Not sure on the EVAP problem but you might want to check here for into on the possible noise issue:

ECGS clamshell bushing headcount?

I just did the bushing kit and it wasn't too bad. Maybe buy the parts and see if you can get a local shop to do the work. Better yet, track down some buddies in the local 4x4 club and tear into it. I'd bet it will be way less than the $400 and should last forever.

There's a TSB for the needle bearing and step 1 of the troubleshooting is that it makes noise in 2wd but not 4wd. It sounds like the full time 4wd (V8) models don't really have this issue. However, I wonder if the bearing still goes bad but since the front is always pulling you don't get the noise/vibration.

I’ll have to look into that. I am pretty sure it is the needle bearing because it is always heard in 2wd and as soon as it is put in 4wd it completely goes away. I just didn’t want to rule out the possibility of a wheel bearing. Thanks for letting me know about that!

Not sure where you're at in NC but ECGS is in the Raleigh/Durham area. I'm sure they could take care of it for you. I modified their puller just a bit to make it easier to get into position. The "driver" set I picked up from them was just a basic seal/race driver set and not specific to the particular bushing.

I was able to do the swap without destroying the new seal (that's what started this whole ordeal). I'm gonna keep my fingers crossed that it stays that way. If you've got a place to work and basic hand tools it's not too bad of a job.

The worst part was getting the axle out. I tried a big prybar with no luck. I ended up making a lasso from steel cable and a big clevis. This plus a small hand sledge worked like a slide hammer and popped it right out. You can tap, tap, tap and pry on it all day and it won't budge. It needs a pretty good yank to compress the little spring clip and get it out of the side gear.

Good Luck

Thank you so much for that info. Im about 5 hours from there but will be much closer once I am back in charlotte. Right now Im just trying to figure out these evap system errors because it throws a code nearly every day. I did some more research for the codes p0441 and p0455 (I had said the wrong ones earlier) and the first thing I'm going to do is check the vsv solenoid on both the canister and on the engine. If either of those doesn't open then I hope that will be the extent of the issue. A new evap canister is not cheap lol

I just ordered the ECGS bearing as well as the puller tool. Anything else I already have. I thought about it and decided there wasn't any reason to spent 400 dollars for toyota to put in the same defective part so I will be undertaking this myself.

also I'm not sure what this means but anytime I take my gas cap off there is no pressure built up in the system and there is always gas on the rubber o-ring for no apparent reason. I replaced the original cap with an oem one a few months ago. Could the seal just not be a good one?

long story short very quickly they found out that the part of the exhaust that goes over the rear crossmember had been moved when I had my new exhaust put on which caused it to melt one of my evap lines. No wonder I had a major leak code lmao. The part is 30 bucks and I got heat shielding tape to avoid having this issue again. I'll post a pic of what it did when I replace it friday.

Toyota wanted 233 dollars to replace the melted hose because they claimed the fuel tank needed to be dropped to remove the hose. Not the case. I bought a high temp 7/8 OD rubber tubing with 2 hose clamps to replace the original line. I used zip ties to put it in route of the original hose and where the original had melted I used a 2000 degree safe adhesive tape to ensure nothing would melt again.

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I would be rasing hell with whoever did your new exhaust, why in the world would they reroute the exhaust that close to a rubber hose much less one that is part of the fuel system!!!

I would also have them move it further away from that hose and the connection point, even with the tape you're just asking for more trouble leaving it as is!!

Yeah well I think the issue was that a portion of pipe was too long when it was welded in causing the bend around the frame to move up and over to the left. (I should have looked after the guy had welded it) My plan is to once I'm back in charlotte have it fixed by moving the muffler towards the front of the 4runner about 4 inches and then have the resonator behind that in hopes I can get that bend in the pipe further away from the evap line.

a good exhaust installer will replicate the factory bends somehow with the new pipes. atleast your truck didnt start a fire.

I agree. Whoever I take it to once I'm back won't be a random shop. My heart sank a little when I saw how melted that fitting was especially since I had been driving like that for nearly 4 months

Thank you for posting your fix, I hate it when someone has a problem and the forum gives advice then we never hear from that person again. Your problem makes me dislike shops even more. They replaced a tranny for me earlier this spring and i noticed recently that they must have lost one of the tranny to motor bolts. So what did they do? The found one like 4 inches long and put a bunch of nuts in between so it would tighten.

No problem! I'll be getting this properly fixed this fall with having my resonator and muffler run together and the pipe routed properly with a side exit tip. I completely understand where you are coming from. I'm very hesitant to bring my 4runner to anyone as I had a complete F***show to deal with about a month ago (posted a thread on it). This is why I'll be replacing my needle bearing myself hopefully later this week when I get a day off of work.