Recent content by enginelover

I have three problems which happened almost simultaneously on my base 2wd 1997 4Runner, one of which is the driver side passenger door lock pull-tab just pulls up with no friction and no action (so the door is stuck locked). It can't be opened from the inside or from the outside. I suspect I...

Thanks everyone. I haven't opened up the door panel yet, but the wiring seems ok when I squeeze and move it around inside the three-or-four-inch-long snorkel between the door and the jamb. Where do folks think the wiring is bad? In that snorkel? Do you know if it can be removed, or must it be...

It's been working for years, but all of a sudden, the driver-side lock/unlock switch is no longer working. Any ideas where I should look to see where the broken connection might be? Is this a common failure?

This is good to know that you can't overfill the 97 and cause EVAP issues. Had I known that, I might have gone the last gallon, but I could tell by the gurgling sound that the tank was getting close to full by the 20-gallon point. It would make sense to me if Toyota designed the tank to hold...

Thanks. What helps most is the encouragement to do things (like crank the engine) when nothing good is happening for the first ten or fifteen minutes. Also what's very helpful are the suggestions (e.g., where to attack the tank opening) - and - sometimes - the warnings (e.g., don't run the...

Yes. I appreciate all your help. Thank you for asking for a follow-up. It's always good when I read problem threads to see that the OP finally posts with the solution he ended up using. Given I want to be that guy, will answer any follow-up questions. The great news is the engine is purring...

It's rare that you fill a bone-dry fuel tank, but I happened to have one to test. Lucky me! In all tests below, the vehicle was on a flat concrete pad and I left the ignition at the second position for at least five (or more) minutes for the fuel gauge reading to stabilize. I filled the gas...

Thanks for explaining that. I'm told by my Dad that in the olden days, you guys pumped the pedal BEFORE starting the car, which he said squirts the juice into the cold intake manifold to increase the fuel:air ratio for starting. I was definitely giving "large throttle changes" as I was pumping...

To give an update, that post gave me the confidence today to do exactly what Charlie recommended, even though I did pick up a fuel filter at O'Reilly's this morning to replace the one under the driver's seat area (but the comment about stripping the threads scared me off as it had already been...

Thanks for the advice on Heet. I watched the Project Farm video on that, but for now, I'm confident almost all the water is out of that 18-1/2 gallon tank. My "worries" on that is I have no idea how to pump the water that got into the lines out. In a few places I saw you remove a fuse and...

Thanks for the picture of the baffle inside the tank around the water pump. It behooves us to all know where all the bends & baffles are, in case the next person who reads this needs to know ahead of time. For example, here's a picture of the pipe from the fuel filler door to the rubber hose...

Thanks. Apologies for the desperation. Yesterday it was topped off with five gallons of what turned out to be water, and today it ran for only a few moments before it died and wouldn't restart (I wasn't the driver but it never made it more than 20 feet out of the garage). I'm worried about...

I realize this thread is a couple of years old, where I have 5 gallons of water under 8 gallons of gas that I need to remove somehow. Is that "access hole" and "tiny plug" big enough to get a siphon tube into the bottom of the gas tank? Or is that impossible? Is there a good photo of that...

I realize this is a thread from a year ago, but I have 5 gallons of water under 8 gallons of gas where I'm wondering how to bypass the fuel-filler siphon restrictor. Do any of the images in this thread show the LOCATION of that siphon restrictor?

Don't ask how the water got there - as it's embarrassing - but it's there now. I'm in trouble. I have to figure out today how to get that water out. It's a '97 base model, 2WD, 5speed, 2.4L engine, with AC. I pushed it outside so that I can work in a windy open environment. At least an entire...