Check the back fenders and frame for deep rust by taking a hammer and tapping the back frame,also do a fluid analysis on the engine oil by buying a fluid/oil analysis kit from any Caterpillar dealer's parts dept or some heavy duty shops which would tell you how healthy the engine is if the engine oil and radiator coolant was changed regularly on those engines you can get at least 300 000 miles.
Finally remove the spark plugs and look at them as a picture means a thousand words if it has a manual tranny park the vehicle on a hill facing downwards then put the tranny in first gear and shut it off,don't use the parking brake or foot break if the vehicle holds itself well in first then your engines piston rings are great then you have high compression (no leakage past the rings),also when the engine is running remove the oil filler cap and see if you have b l o w by,a healthy engine should have a vaccum effect if you put your palm on the oil filler cap.
Finally if you have a portable air compressor perform a leak down test on the engine,for more info on a leak down test do a search on Google.
By the way find out where the guy works which would tell you if it has highway miles or city miles.
About half of the ECU codes stored on the first & second generation EFI Toyotas don't show a constant blinking check engine light therefore you must pull the ECU codes to see if a fault is registered.
To pull the ECU codes:
All 1980-1995 and including 1995 EFI equipped vehicle allow you to find engine and related faults by pulling the ECU (computer) codes without the need for a handheld OBDII diagnosis scanner,the sites listed below have the fault codes needed to pull the codes and the instructions on how to do it:
http://autorepair.about.com/library/ts/obd-i/bl-dtcs-36.htm
http://autorepair.about.com/library/ts/obd-i/bl-dtcs-53.htm
http://autorepair.about.com/library/ts/obd-i/bl-dtcs-71.htm
http://autorepair.about.com/library/ts/obd-i/bl-dtcs-90.htm
http://www.off-road.com/toyota/tech/codes/index.html
http://lcengineering.com/TechNotes/TechNote12.htm
http://lcengineering.com/TechNotes/TechNote13.htm
http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/Pit/9975/dataBySubject/Engine.html
http://www.mad-mechanic.com/toyota/toyotaobd.shtml#obtaincode
http://www.freewebs.com/th3duke/22RE-ECU.mht
http://www.troublecodes.net/Toyota/
http://members.igateway.net/~pscott/enginecodes.html
http://www.autobook.co.kr/data_links/toyota_trouble_codes.htm
http://www.autoshop101.com/forms/h27.pdf
http://www.showmesome.info/hilux/info/manuals/1KZ-TE/Page0096.htm
http://www.efisakh.narod.ru/at_toyota.htm
http://www.usatransdoctor.com/foreigntoyota.htm
Pulling the ECU codes is the first thing I do to diagnosis a problem thereafter I reset the ECU to see if the same problems show up and if so I then take voltage measurements both with the engine running and not and compare with the factory service manual,I also close the ignition switch after a cold engine and also after a warm engine and compare them with the factory service manual.This technique will completely isolate your problem without having to do trial and error and it is the technique I use when repairing tv's,vcr's,home/car audio.
Any Public Library in your area would have the Factory service manual,Haynes,Chiltons,Mitchells,Clymers,Bentley and Toyota repair books.
There is also free AutoZone service manuals at:
http://www1.autozone.com/servlet/UiBroker?ForwardPage=/az/repair_info/repair_guide/repair_guide.jsp
For scanned pages of factory service manuals for other engines:
http://www.brian894x4.com/Scannedmanual.html
http://home.swiftdsl.com.au/~scorp/surf/1KZ-TE.pdf
http://www.showmesome.info/hilux/info/manuals/1KZ-TE
http://surf.mactherapy.com/1KZ-TE.pdf
http://surf.mactherapy.com/parts/
http://www.spyderchat.com/1zzfe.pdf
http://files.matrixvibe.net/docs/1zzfe.pdf
http://landcruiser.free.fr/mans/
http://surf.mactherapy.com
http://www.turbosupras.com/pages/technical/tsrm.htm
http://www.lieblweb.com/tacoma/Mechanical/96TacomaDiagrams/index.htm
http://perso.wanadoo.fr/adherence.4x4/liens_techniques.htm
http://perso.wanadoo.fr/adherence.4x4/index.htm
http://www.asatraction4x4.cl/html/
http://www.toyotasurf.asn.au/techsite/downloads.htm
http://www.grubinski.com/grubinski/automotive/toyota.manuals/
http://www.carsoft.ru/files/4runner95di.exe
http://www.hotrodder.com/kwkride/tech.html
http://www.autoshop101.com/autoshop15.html
http://www.mtv411.com/sitemap.htm
1985 Toyota 4-Runner/pickup Factory Service manual:
http://www.jasuza.com/1985toyotatruckfsm.pdf
1993 Toyota Pickup Service Manual:
http://personal.utulsa.edu/~nathan-buchanan/93fsm/
2003 (2001-2004) Toyota Tacoma Factory Service Manual:
http://fsm.afraid.org/
http://www.junglecode.com/toyota/tacoma/2003_fsm/
http://65.200.1.6/FSM/
FSM (factory service manual)can be acquired in several ways:
Toyota Material Distribution Center
750 West Victoria St
Rancho Dominguez/Compton,CA 90220-5538
USA
Ph:1-800-622-2033 (outside CA)(M-F: 7-5 PST)
Ph:1-800-443-7656 (inside CA)
Ph:1-310-818-4630 (in or outside CA)
Speak to Beverly or Deloris
http://techinfo.toyota.com/public/main/mdc.html
http://www.4crawler.com/4x4/FSM.shtml
1)buy a used one off e-bay
2)some Toyota dealerships may give you one or sell it for $10-20 (used) as most Toyota dealerships don't repair many old Toyotas and no longer need the service manual
3)some public libraries sell their old books as they are not in demand any longer
4)some free buy & sell classified papers,websites and bulletin boards may have some used ones for sale
5)some junk yards may have one laying around
6)some Toyota specialty garages may have one laying around and no longer use it as the vehicle may be too old and those mechanics probably have so much experience that they could publish their own factory service manual with corrections and "real world repair tips"
7)if someone has the FSM maybe they could scan all of the pages and post it on a site for all of us to download or view.
Sidney
