20 years old and first major repair

Speedy

Speedy

Member
Good o'l SportRunner is 20 years old this year. In 2006 at 50K miles the LBJ were replaced on a TSB/Recall. In 2007 at 60K miles I did a full fluid service with Mobil1 synthetic fluids in both diffs, xfer case, trans, and had the cooling system flushed and filled with Toyota coolant. Supercharger went on shortly after in 2007.

Fast forward 15 years and other than oil changes, spark plugs, brakes, tires, and one O2 sensor, I've literally done nothing but drive the truck. It's been fantastic. I'm pretty sure the belts are even original except the supercharger belt which I've replaced once at 115K miles back in 2017. I've had it so long I can't remember ever changing the other belts and it's not in my maint log.

Doing an inspection last week I noticed the driver side rear tire had gear oil all over it. Seemed the rear axle seal failed. It was about to need new rear brakes anyway, so no biggie. Replaced rear wheel bearings, brakes, and axle seals on both sides. That's the first significant repair this thing has needed in 20 years and almost 150,000 miles. Pretty remarkable.

I re-inspected the UBJ, TRE, and LBJ and all still look fine with no movement. I will make it a habit to check them at each oil change now though with a pry bar.

I inspected the ORIGINAL 20 year old timing belt with 150K miles on it. It looked surprisingly good. No cracks or signs of fluid contamination. I can tell it has stretched a hair as it had about 1/4 inch of play in it between the cam gear and first pulley, but still not as bad as I thought it'd be. I've got it on the list of maintenance items but I'm not in any hurry after seeing it.

After 20 years I guess I was due a repair. What a great vehicle this truck has been.

3-15-22%204Runner%20Timing%20Belt%2020%20years.jpg
 
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I changed the Timing belt on my 5 speed that was original with 118k on it. Nothing at all was done to the truck. All the spark plugs belts all original. However, my tb had microcracks all through it. So I did tb , waterpump etc. Surprised yours wasnt showing signs of needing replacement. Any tensioner left? As mine was stretched the auto adjustor had nothing left.

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I just pulled the top TB cover to inspect the belt. I don't think you can see the tensioner without pulling everything off to do the job? I'm sure if mine's not maxed out it's close, the belt had some flex for sure but not enough that it's gonna jump a tooth or anything yet.
 
Awesome!

Love stories about how tough these trucks are.

My 2000's Timing belt was the original as well. Changed it in 2018 with 218k on it. A little stretched like yours, but overall didn't look bad!

Can't think of many other vehicles that could accomplish that.
 
I'd get back under there and check that the rear axle breather isn't stuck shut. That can be the cause of a leaking rear seal. The axle gets warmed up from normal use, the air inside expands, the breather is stuck shut so it pushes out past the weakest seal.
 
JohnMc said:
I'd get back under there and check that the rear axle breather isn't stuck shut. That can be the cause of a leaking rear seal. The axle gets warmed up from normal use, the air inside expands, the breather is stuck shut so it pushes out past the weakest seal.
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Yep, that was the first thing I checked. Had it been stuck I might have only done just the one axle seal/bearing but since the vent was totally free I figured it was just worn and the passenger side was right behind it so did both.
 
Just had timing belt job #2 done on mine at 175k miles. It was starting to crack, and gave a chance to do the fan pulley bracket who's bearings were getting noisy, and replace the leaky radiator. After 10 years of no real issues, things are starting to fail.
 
If you can keep them dry and away from salt they last until they're killed unnaturally.

200k timing belt with a non-interference design. Perfect.
 
My dilemma now is whether or not to do the TB service myself or hire it out. I'm technically capable without too much trouble but I'm starting to add up the special tools I'd need like the harmonic balancer puller, seal puller/installer for the cam/crank seals, etc and it's approaching the cost of labor. These are tools I'd likely not need again for 20 years LOL.

I looked at the local parts places to see if they had these thing on a loan a tool program and didn't see them. Anyone find a place that had something like that?
 
Speedy said:
My dilemma now is whether or not to do the TB service myself or hire it out. I'm technically capable without too much trouble but I'm starting to add up the special tools I'd need like the harmonic balancer puller, seal puller/installer for the cam/crank seals, etc and it's approaching the cost of labor. These are tools I'd likely not need again for 20 years LOL.

I looked at the local parts places to see if they had these thing on a loan a tool program and didn't see them. Anyone find a place that had something like that?
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I used a jaw style harmonic balancer puller and used a couple screws to pull the cam and crank seals. I had the radiator out for replacement (highly recommend unless you have replaced it in the last 10 years/100k miles to avoid pink milkshake) so I used my 1/2” impact to remove and install the crank pulley bolt.
 
Speedy said:
My dilemma now is whether or not to do the TB service myself or hire it out. I'm technically capable without too much trouble but I'm starting to add up the special tools I'd need like the harmonic balancer puller, seal puller/installer for the cam/crank seals, etc and it's approaching the cost of labor. These are tools I'd likely not need again for 20 years LOL.
Click to expand...

I wouldn't mess with the seals if they are not leaking although its nice preventative maintenance to swap them out. I used the cheap harbor freight harmonic balancer puller that was I think $20? Worked great but also needed to purchase a tap and die kit (also harbor freight) to chase the M8x1.25 threads that needed to be used for the removal of the crank pulley as they were crusty and would not engage the bolt threads.

The TB job wasn't hard at all with the right tools. Toughest part was removing the back tensioner bolt w/o removing the A/C bracket. My belt was horrible at 220k and 20 years. Surprised yours has no cracks lol.
 

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I figured I could use some screws and a good hard yank on the seals to get those out, but wasn't sure about seating new ones. At 20 years I figured I might as well change them.

How did you hold the harmonic balancer in place to torque the crank bolt? I'm not sure I'd wanna just hit it with my impact to re-install.
 
WeakSauz said:
Can't think of many other vehicles that could accomplish that.
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And most of them are other Toyotas... Our original 1990 Camry (I've had a few others since) went to 180k on the original timing belt before it broke. That engine has a 60k belt interval and no automatic tensioner (tension gets locked when the belt is changed). Non-interference engine FTW.

-Charlie
 
Speedy said:
I figured I could use some screws and a good hard yank on the seals to get those out, but wasn't sure about seating new ones. At 20 years I figured I might as well change them.

How did you hold the harmonic balancer in place to torque the crank bolt? I'm not sure I'd wanna just hit it with my impact to re-install.
Click to expand...

I took my new seals to Lowe’s and found a few pvc fittings that were the right size to use as install tools.
 
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