A testament to Toyota quality

[StreetCreeper]

Recently finished a 700 mile trip to Los Angeles in my loaded down 1997 4Runner Ltd.

This may not seem like anything special, but this was in a 18 year old truck that has been neglected its entire life by the PO. It's never been back to the dealer for any service, and pretty much has all its original guts. The previous owner literally ran it until the wheel fell off (LBJ failure).

It has original engine & timing belt I believe, (PO doesn't recall having changed belt since they had truck at 150k) no sticker or markings indicating a replacement found either. Has original radiator as well (I have a B&M 70264 ready to install soon). Original front coils and struts too; I just replaced the rears.

Now you would think this would give me pause and make me take a rental car instead of my Runner on a 700-800 mile trip to SoCal over a couple big grades at up to 6%. But it didn't.

I had to chuckle to myself as I passed much newer cars on the side of the grade with their hoods popped open and owners standing around looking confused.

Some say the 5vz engine is a dog on the hills, but I had no problem maintaining 65mph on the grades with the OD turned off. Truck never got warm and the transmission ran flawlessly.

I averaged 20.3 mpg on the freeway with the cruise set and A/C blasting at 45 degrees and 18.1 mpg in city traffic over 3 days.





I don't know of too many 18 year old 4x4s with mostly original parts that would do so well. But my 4Runner did everything I asked of it and more. She will continue to get new parts as I can afford them. Timing belt is at the top of the list.

Oh and she has 368,000 miles on her...



Knock on wood she keeps on keeping on. I'll do my best to keep her on the road for as long as possible with sound driving, adequate maintence and a touch of good luck.

 

[470SNC]

Awesome testament to Toyota quality, my GX has 103k on her, and I plan on keeping her for a long time, my FJ had 152k miles when I traded her in.

 

[Blitzkrieg]

The 3.4 is about as bullet proof a motor as you will find.

My beloved 2002 had a mere 115K on the clock when I traded her in and dead serious when I say the truck burned 1 cup of oil per 3K mile oil changes.

The only way to really kill these motors is to intentionally abuse them and even then they will give one hell of a fight.

They are very, very well engineered motors and vehicles in general.

And I agree with you on the hill thing. My 2002 would hold 65 all day long in 3rd gear on Floyd Hill here in Colorado. A feat which lesser (and lighter) vehicles often struggle with (at least older ones).

 

[BlazeRunner]

The 3vz is a dog, be glad you have the 5vz

 

[LittleCaesar]

No such thing as a 3vz in the 3rd gen 4runner, but was found in the 2nd gen 4runner.

The 5vz maybe one of the best engines ever built. By far the easiest one on oil I have ever owned, even with leaking exhaust valve stem seals. No coloration on the exhaust tip, it looks like brand new for being 16 years old at 110,000 miles. The UZ family of Toyota engines are fantastic as well.

That said, my mother has a 2008 Camry that drinks oil like a drunk at a bar at which someone else is buying rounds for the night. The 2AZ engine series is just plain awful in comparison to Japanese engines of days past. Not a big fan of Toyota chain driven motors.

 

[StreetCreeper]

The 3vz is a dog, be glad you have the 5vz

Yep it must have auto-corrected to 3 or I had a brain fart.

 

[StreetCreeper]

No such thing as a 3vz in the 3rd gen 4runner, but was found in the 2nd gen 4runner.

The 5vz maybe one of the best engines ever built. By far the easiest one on oil I have ever owned, even with leaking exhaust valve stem seals. No coloration on the exhaust tip, it looks like brand new for being 16 years old at 110,000 miles. The UZ family of Toyota engines are fantastic as well.

That said, my mother has a 2008 Camry that drinks oil like a drunk at a bar at which someone else is buying rounds for the night. The 2AZ engine series is just plain awful in comparison to Japanese engines of days past. Not a big fan of Toyota chain driven motors.

I'm continually amazed at this truck.

 

[Ed_C]

Oh and she only has 368,000 miles...almost broke her in

corrected it for you :biggrin1:

 

[scrapper]

I couldn't agree more. Mine has literally never left me stranded
in 13 years and only basic maintenence has been done.
Best vehicle I've ever owned. She's been faithful.

 

[SupaSupra]

These are good things to hear. I've had my 4Runner for a month now and love it more than I expected to. I only wish it was 4WD.

 

[BattleWagonActual]

These trucks are amazing. I bought mine about a year and a half ago at 197,000 and am now at 230,000 and that's with it practically sitting for five months while I was on deployment. Drove it from CA to OK and then WI and back while on predeployment leave with no worries. Went through CO driving up and down the grades in snow and ice and it just kept trucking along like it was nothing.

 

[arehman11]

I like reading stories like this one. I recently purchased a very neglected 98 Limited with 340k on the odometer, I am bringing it back from the dead and am happy to read that I should be able to hit 400k or more with the original drivetrain.

 

[slides]

That said, my mother has a 2008 Camry that drinks oil like a drunk at a bar at which someone else is buying rounds for the night. The 2AZ engine series is just plain awful in comparison to Japanese engines of days past. Not a big fan of Toyota chain driven motors.

my mom has an 08 camry also and goes through 1qt every 1,000 miles due to the poor piston rings of the engine. There are a ton of threads about the issue and toyota said its only excessive oil consumption if it exceded 1.2qt per 1,000 miles...wtf

 

[96LTDrus]

I likewise drove my truck, as bought in IN, to my brother's place in PA to leave it with him for a total 'refresh' of wear and tear and maintenance stuff. Admittedly mine only had 99k miles on it at the time of purchase in 2012, but it obviously had a number of issues piled up over the past 18 years that had never gotten addressed. Leaking axle seal, sagging rear springs and totally shot shocks and struts, warped brakes, hole in the muffler seam, old plugs and wires. Still made the 400+ mile trip in air conditioned comfort and 20 mpg without issue aside from some pretty sketchy suspension resonances and a lot of wallowing around. It was night and day once I got all the issues addressed, I've put 20k miles on it in the past 2 years. Multiple trips back to NY, an awesome road trip down to the Outer banks with a week's worth of beach driving, camping trips and some mild trail running. The only issue that has come up was a fuel injector that died once when I was driving to Fort Wayne, leaving me hobbling down the right lane on 5 cylinders for 20 miles until I reached my gf's place (came back with my brother and replaced the injector in a few hours). I've also had the power antenna break in the brutal cold and the tail pipe fall off after some rough road driving, both easy fixes.

 

[Chuckles89]

My mom's '08 Scion xD (2ZR-FE engine with 120,xxx miles) burnt two-ish quarts last oil change (3,xxx miles). It usually don't burn that much. It's just a shame that this is what they do now. Toyota said that is normal for a car these days.

On the other hand, my 5VZ-FE with 253,xxx miles burns 0 oil and so does our Celica (2ZZ-GE) with 145,xxx.

 

[AZBub]

Good to see these vehicles are dependable. This is our first Toyota and it replaced a POS Hyundai Tiburon. We bought ours with 230k miles on it. I have read and been told the timing belt is a huge deal so we had a mechanic friend put a new one on ASAP. He made sure I got the old one....the original one from its build date.....230k miles ago. Still has the original aternator as well which I found shocking. Overall we are very happy with this vehicle and plan on putting a ton of miles on it.

 

[Mellemel]

Long live our aging 4runners

Streetcreeper, I had to comment after reading your post, I too have a 97' 4runner 3.4L just about to roll onto 370,000 km's. Bought her last year with 352,000km's and like you the PO had done limited maintenance, just for the hell of it here is the list of my repairs/general maintenance of my 18 year old thus far.

All fluids changed. Transmission oil and filter.

Engine oil at 5,000km's which never seems to get dirty or burn a drop between changes !!!

Timing belt and all other belts and water pump. Timing belt was about to let go !

Rad flush.

Rear shocks and springs.

LBJ's, one failed at 80km/h back in January ! Thank you snowbank for keeping me on the road. Seriously look at getting yours changed ASAP !

Denso plugs and NGK leads, this made a huge difference.

O2 downstream, cured a misfire.

Crankcase breather valve.

Front calipers and pads.

Cleaned the MAF with spray cleaner.

U/J - started squeaking.

2 sway bar links F+R

4 new Cooper Discoverer AT/W tires.

Front shocks and springs will be next with the front sway bar bushings. The body has zero rust, HOWEVER the frame is another story, just waiting to have some areas welded to pass the inspection.

After 18 years and 18 cold and salty winters here in NB Canada, most things still work on this 4runner. the only things that don't are the E-loc which has totally rusted, the rear door lock mechanism is dead, the ABS light is on permanently and the rear floor heater only blows cold, that's it, I am also getting 20-22mpg and sometimes more, hope to run her for many many more Km's yet.:clap2:

 

[StreetCreeper]

Streetcreeper, I had to comment after reading your post, I too have a 97' 4runner 3.4L just about to roll onto 370,000 km's. Bought her last year with 352,000km's and like you the PO had done limited maintenance, just for the hell of it here is the list of my repairs/general maintenance of my 18 year old thus far.

All fluids changed. Transmission oil and filter.

Engine oil at 5,000km's which never seems to get dirty or burn a drop between changes !!!

Timing belt and all other belts and water pump. Timing belt was about to let go !

Rad flush.

Rear shocks and springs.

LBJ's, one failed at 80km/h back in January ! Thank you snowbank for keeping me on the road. Seriously look at getting yours changed ASAP !

Denso plugs and NGK leads, this made a huge difference.

O2 downstream, cured a misfire.

Crankcase breather valve.

Front calipers and pads.

Cleaned the MAF with spray cleaner.

U/J - started squeaking.

2 sway bar links F+R

4 new Cooper Discoverer AT/W tires.

Front shocks and springs will be next with the front sway bar bushings. The body has zero rust, HOWEVER the frame is another story, just waiting to have some areas welded to pass the inspection.

After 18 years and 18 cold and salty winters here in NB Canada, most things still work on this 4runner. the only things that don't are the E-loc which has totally rusted, the rear door lock mechanism is dead, the ABS light is on permanently and the rear floor heater only blows cold, that's it, I am also getting 20-22mpg and sometimes more, hope to run her for many many more Km's yet.:clap2:

That was my situation pretty much. I think you are my long lost 4Runner twin!

Was offered the truck for free with 359,000 miles on it from the in-laws. It was horribly filthy inside and out from years of neglect. The front passenger wheel had recently fallen off due to LBJ failure and the driver side was ready go as well. The brakes were shot and the truck shook so bad that my daughter was terrified of the truck and literally refused to get in it again. It also wandered all over the road like a drunk at 2am. Oh and the lights pulsed like a UFO when I drove it at night. Quite the spectacle I was...

I was happy to get a free truck however, but knew nothing of 4runners or how to even work on them. I didn't even own any tools to work on it!

Fast forward 5 or 6 months and I now own a good selection of tools that have helped me replace the front brakes, rear suspension, various engine components, inner and outer tie rods, steering rack bushings, sway bar bushings and assorted other stuff from a new stereo to PCV valve and new ground straps. Other than this forum and its members, I had no guidance or help from anyone. I also do my own fluid changes such as oil, transmission and power steering flush.

I've put 10,000 miles on in 5 months. This from a truck that the previous owners didn't think was worth even selling or keeping. It runs so much better today than when I got it, so I must be doing something right.

I am seriously considering doing the timing belt and water pump myself as well, though that may be biting off a little more than I'm capable of at the moment. I'm still considering it though...as my mechanical skills have gone gone from absolutely zero just five months ago—to being pretty comfortable turning wrenches and getting dirty.

Point is, these trucks are awesome in many ways, one of which is being a great truck to learn how to work on. I literally learn something knew about these trucks and how to work on them everyday thanks to this forum and its members. I don't have any friends who are mechanically inclined who can assist me if I get in over my head. So I pay attention to the how-to threads here and the advice of the members.

I was hesitant at first with my 4Runner and didn't know if it was even worth owning or trying to save. I came to this forum and basically asked everyone if the truck was savable—everyone said it was, and they were correct.

I've since spent many an hour with greasy and sometimes bloody hands plunged deep into the guts of my Runner. I've cursed her stubbornness and grinned at her resilience all the same—we've bonded I think...

I've learned a great deal about our trucks and how to work on them; she's now getting some well deserved care that she never had before.

Hopefully she doesn't drop dead of massive engine or transmission failure, but if she does, I'll look for a replacement engine or transmission.

If someone were to give me a new car or truck today, I would sell it and use the cash to work on my 97 and buy another 3rd gen for the wife.

I've owned Fords, Chevys, Chryslers, Buicks and Mazdas and never has a vehicle captured my attention like the 4Runner.

Just something special about these 3rd gen trucks.

 

[Laidflat]

Amen