MPG4Runner
New member
Hello, I'm Richard and I love Fords... 65 mustang 66 bronco and 75 bronco... BUT I also am loving this 1995 4runner that my wife and I picked up.
we picked it up a few months ago, and I've been meaning to join a Toyota forum and ask a few questions about it... we have mostly done nothing except put on some custom seat covers (which my wife found from this website I'm sure) that were cheap and highly rated. I think a great buy fgor the truck
The Truck has 155k miles on it, the previous owner bought it form original owner with 55k miles in 1998, so for the next 15 years, it's only gotten 100k miles.
the truck was (we have since gotten dirt on it) very clean when bought, only wear and tear in driver seat. the battery is from 2008 and still great, the AC is cold, the radio is stock... in all I really think it's just been maintained, still has it's clutch fan, it's the v6 and auto combo, I'm pretty sure it's the 3.0L
mixed driving we are getting avg of 17.5mpg, some records have been as nice as 20mpg. While we would like to keep and maintain that number, I was wondering besides the normal "every car can get better mpg if you do XYZ" speech, is there something Toyota specific that can help?
Now to the issues...
We were climbing a hill in northern AZ past payson to the Rim, and we lost power, engine still running, but the hill made the car just slow down to a crawl. we are planning on taking this to Utah and cali in a few weeks and I know the mountains in the red wood forests are just as steep and I was thinking is there anything that would cause this? I have replaced fuel and air filters, made sure the tires are good to not 'over work' the engine, I understand the engine is 'weaker' than others, I think I had the ETC (for trans shifting) off, I am asking if that is 'common' or expected, we were loaded with our large dog, my wife and I and our camping gear. on the way back I kept the ETC on, and turned off the O/D for larger hills, seemed to help but still asking if there is anything I should worry about on 'lack of power'. I think we were going about 55mph up hill, and it just barely went 30-35 for the rest if hill. after was our turn off so don't know if it was the hill or just something happening, but HUGE lack of power.
The AC, I understand the AC is trying to save us gas at idle, but it gets too hot, and for future kids we need the AC to work in park, slow traffic, and stop lights. currently the AC compressor turns off due to 'low rpms' can we 'tweak' this so it stays on?
when first starting the car, there is a HIGH pitched 'wine' that hurts my ears, almost 'hydraulic' like, thinking it's either brakes or steering. how do I stop this?
how difficult will the drivers door be to tear apart? I know there might be clips that hold it on, are there any tips and tricks? maybe someone already took some pictures for me... the lock is detached from the electric bits... sounds simple to do, just haven't gotten to it.
Is there anyway to turn on all 'dome' lights from the front? the middle dome light is never on with doors, so I figure the light bulb is probably bad, but the rear dome at the window, is there a way to turn it on in the front?
I hear the timing chain in these engines are critical, my cousin (mechanic) upon looking at this truck noticed a lot of engine bay work, including a brand new radiator, injectors, wires, hoses, etc.... he did see "New RTV' on the water elbow coming through the timing cover, thinking they already did the timing.
I don't think the truck was abused, think it was 'dads' truck and the family sold it after his passing.
well that's about it, sry bout the long read... any help would be appreciated.
I'm sure I'll think of more.
we picked it up a few months ago, and I've been meaning to join a Toyota forum and ask a few questions about it... we have mostly done nothing except put on some custom seat covers (which my wife found from this website I'm sure) that were cheap and highly rated. I think a great buy fgor the truck
The Truck has 155k miles on it, the previous owner bought it form original owner with 55k miles in 1998, so for the next 15 years, it's only gotten 100k miles.
the truck was (we have since gotten dirt on it) very clean when bought, only wear and tear in driver seat. the battery is from 2008 and still great, the AC is cold, the radio is stock... in all I really think it's just been maintained, still has it's clutch fan, it's the v6 and auto combo, I'm pretty sure it's the 3.0L
mixed driving we are getting avg of 17.5mpg, some records have been as nice as 20mpg. While we would like to keep and maintain that number, I was wondering besides the normal "every car can get better mpg if you do XYZ" speech, is there something Toyota specific that can help?
Now to the issues...
We were climbing a hill in northern AZ past payson to the Rim, and we lost power, engine still running, but the hill made the car just slow down to a crawl. we are planning on taking this to Utah and cali in a few weeks and I know the mountains in the red wood forests are just as steep and I was thinking is there anything that would cause this? I have replaced fuel and air filters, made sure the tires are good to not 'over work' the engine, I understand the engine is 'weaker' than others, I think I had the ETC (for trans shifting) off, I am asking if that is 'common' or expected, we were loaded with our large dog, my wife and I and our camping gear. on the way back I kept the ETC on, and turned off the O/D for larger hills, seemed to help but still asking if there is anything I should worry about on 'lack of power'. I think we were going about 55mph up hill, and it just barely went 30-35 for the rest if hill. after was our turn off so don't know if it was the hill or just something happening, but HUGE lack of power.
The AC, I understand the AC is trying to save us gas at idle, but it gets too hot, and for future kids we need the AC to work in park, slow traffic, and stop lights. currently the AC compressor turns off due to 'low rpms' can we 'tweak' this so it stays on?
when first starting the car, there is a HIGH pitched 'wine' that hurts my ears, almost 'hydraulic' like, thinking it's either brakes or steering. how do I stop this?
how difficult will the drivers door be to tear apart? I know there might be clips that hold it on, are there any tips and tricks? maybe someone already took some pictures for me... the lock is detached from the electric bits... sounds simple to do, just haven't gotten to it.
Is there anyway to turn on all 'dome' lights from the front? the middle dome light is never on with doors, so I figure the light bulb is probably bad, but the rear dome at the window, is there a way to turn it on in the front?
I hear the timing chain in these engines are critical, my cousin (mechanic) upon looking at this truck noticed a lot of engine bay work, including a brand new radiator, injectors, wires, hoses, etc.... he did see "New RTV' on the water elbow coming through the timing cover, thinking they already did the timing.
I don't think the truck was abused, think it was 'dads' truck and the family sold it after his passing.
well that's about it, sry bout the long read... any help would be appreciated.
I'm sure I'll think of more.
Last edited:
titled 66... (so technically 2nd car ever owned.)
