Recent content by mmendelscfi

Rather than torture myself with Craigslist I thought I would post here first. Apologies for the long post but trying to provide detail. First a disclosure: If you aren’t comfortable performing moderate to heavy maintenance and wrenching on a vehicle then this is probably not the truck for...

When you did the plugs and wires did you also replace the plug boots on the coil pack side of the engine? I battled with intermittent misfires for a while and finally eliminated them by replacing the boots under the coil pack. the wire set I bought only had the boots on the driver side...

I've got a used 3rd member out of a parts truck that had a leaking rear diff cover. All of the gear oil was clean but now I'm wondering if theres a way to check for issues without just dropping it and trying it over the road. The pinion and ring do not show any wear, but it takes me a bit of...

I should be able to check as soon as it warms up enough that I can stand being under the car for a couple of hours. How I envy those that live in a year round tinkering environment. Here's the backstory. Had the cover start to leak due to rust and wasn't noticed until the gear oil ran low...

MY rear diff whines pretty bad. I'm getting ready to replace it. what I was told is that when the gears start to wear you will get a whine when on the throttle and the whine will go away when you coast. Thats what mine does.

I'm noticed a soft thunking sound inside my runner at idle. When I hear it if I open the hood I can hear a sound like a rhythmic vacuum leak. I have a attached a picture and when I pinch the hose noted that goes from some type of valve on the driver side fender to the throttle body the noise...

Alternator replaced. They are back on the road. At least there are 3 of them to share driving. I appreciate all the advice. I think I'll pack a set of Alt brushes in the truck just in case. Or maybe I should just tow my parts truck behind me everywhere I go........ Thanks again

He is pretty good with a wrench. But the problem is that he doesn't have much time to tinker. They pretty much have to be back to Delaware tonight or early morning. And then press on to NY tomorrow. It always seems to break when there is a timeline involved without flexibility. I...

Thanks much ! They are in the process of getting it towed. One thing I will say is the truck never seems to break down where I can get at it. It always seems to be 500 - 1000 miles away. I'll post an update when it's resolved. I appreciate the quick response.

Son and a buddy took the 4runner to FL for the week and enroute back it had an issue. Symptoms as relayed by him No Tach No Radio Battery Light on VSC light on No cruise control Car finally dropped dead on I-95 just into GA. I am having him check the battery voltage as it kind of sounds...

I was not driving our truck when the flex plate failed so I can't speak to the noise you are hearing. However if it does fail the truck is done moving at that point. So you'll have to have it towed, etc.... When ours failed it was 10 hours away from home so we had a local shop replace it...

Plugs and wires are a good start. I would also replace the plug boots under the coil packs. They are not a high dollar item. If you replace those as well you pretty much take care of any spark related items other than the coil packs themselves. Thats what I would do first.

Thanks for the tip. I will pick some up today and see if that works in this case. One of the nuts is in very poor shape in addition to being hard to get at. Thanks again,

The sad part is I did soak them with PB blaster about the time I started this thread. A couple of times as it was just sitting there. I think in this case I am asking a little much of PB blaster as the nuts are in very poor shape due to rust. One of them is actually hard to distinguish as a...

If you mean how did I fix the leaking differential cover I had the Barnes 4WD replacement cover welded on the axle housing. as to the differential problem itself I bought a parts car and I am actually pulling the differential (3rd member) out now to see what kind of shape it's in. If it's good...