Arctic 4x4
New member
INTRO
First off, I'm a newbie here... so Hey guys!
I used to participate in a very similar forum for Ford Trucks, but since my Ford still lives in Nashville... and I'm up here in Alaska... I don't really have much need to check in with my Ford guys too often.
And besides... I just bought a Yota!
MY YOTA
It's a black 1990 4Runner, 3.0L V6, Automatic, 4x4 (of course), with 104k miles. I have pictures of her, and will be able to post them later this week.
As far as I know, it's lived in Alaska for it's whole life. I've had it for about 2 weeks almost, and it is my daily driver. She wasn't running super well when I got her... a little rough on idle... but I fixed that real quick with a K&N air filter. The old filter was so damn clogged with dirt and crud that a cloud of dust popped up when I threw the old filter down on the driveway! Now that her throat is clear, she runs steady @ idle and holds the tach needle steady.
The only other thing I've done to her so far is put new plug wires on there - nothing fancy - just good OEM replacement wires. (the old ones were in bad shape, with exposed wiring).
BODY CONDITION
The body is in "fair/good" condition. As I mentioned before, she's black with the grey cloth interior. The paint isn't too bad... but there is a rust colony growing on the bottom corner of the driver's door (on the back side, away from hinges). There is also a golf ball sized rust spot on the hood, right on top of a bad crease in the metal. It's not a hole, but it is twisted/warped somehow and needs to be re-shaped (or just replace the hood).
I have noticed that the front corners of both fenders are slightly contorted as well. The driver's side one is the most needing of attention. It is pushed in enough that the corner-lights right next to the driver's headlight is not exactly seated snugly in place.
There is some rust starting to grow on the chrome bumper, but that should be easy enough to take care of. Anyone recommend a good product for this?
INTERIOR
The interior of this 18 year old truck is in GREAT condition. Minus the one cigarette burn in the headliner above the front passenger, it's in excellent condition. No tears, no discoloration, no cracks, all dash/panel pieces are in place. All gauges appear to work, and are lit up. The only problem is the rear window...
So I understand the rear window is sort of the biggest complaint there is on these trucks. Mine is totally dysfunctional currently. The window glass is held up by a small 2x4 that I mounted inside the door housing. The lock does not appear to be attached to anything in there. I have some sort of a motor that is stowed away in one of those storage lockers in the back. I assume it goes in that back door somewhere. Obviously, the up/down stitch for the window does nothing... I think I can hear something back there whirrr when i press it though. And I cant figure out how to get the back door open either. Looks to me like the glass has to go down before the door can open. I dunno.
I'm gonna have to do a lot of work to make that all functional again i think. Anyone able to offer some advice???
POWERTRAIN
After the K&N and plug wire replacements, she's running pretty damn good. She sits nice and level on the tach @ idle, and seems to respond quickly to the gas pedal. However, I feel as though I am being robbed of power somewhere... she's not a big fan of climbing hills. She's not a big fan of 70mph. Cruise control has a hard time figuring out what gear it wants to use above 60mph. And she accelerates quite slowly at highway speeds. Maybe it's because of those 31x10.50s? I don't believe this T4R came stock with them... is there anything I can do to regain power lost from the tires? Change gear ratios or something? Never done that before - would appreciate your thoughts.
Also, the Oil Pressure gauge seems to read low to me. Maybe its a normal thing for this truck. My ford would always stay between the L and H. This Yota seems to go to the middle when its cranked cold, and stays there until it warms up. After the block gets warm, the pressure goes down and sits just above the L, but not above the first line. When accelerating, the needle moves up to a line located almost at the center of the gauge. Normal?
I have an exhaust leak somewhere as well... exhaust seems to float out from underneath the truck near the drivers-side rear tire. Some exhaust also comes out the tailpipe. I suspect a hole ni the muffler, though I've not yet crawled under there to look. When I go to fix this, I'll probably just want to replace the entire exhaust - starting with the headers. Any suggestions here, guys?
FUEL ECONOMY
She sucks gas. Hard. I get about 150-200 miles per tank on a mix of mostly in-town driving with some highway here and there, and the occasional jump to 4x4 to crawl over/through something. What can be done to maximize fuel efficiency? I have been looking at Halo Plugs... any thoughts? Will a carefully tuned exhaust help? Would changing gear ratios help save gas from those 31x10.50s?
LIGHTING
I've noticed that she always has her dash lights on, as if I had the parking lights or headlights on. The tail lights are always lit up like that too, and get brighter when I hit the brake. The headlights only come on when I turn them on, as normal, but it just seems like the truck is stuck with the parking lights on, regardless of where the switch is. Any ideas for that?
Also, the front corner lights aren't coming on at all. Could be bad bulbs - haven't checked - but with the other weird thing about it always acting like it's got the parking lights on, I thought I'd ask. The yellow turn signals in the front bumper seem to work, but nothing ever happens in those corner lights. Anyone else deal with something like that?
WRAP UP
So that's all I can think of right now. I'm really excited to have this truck, and cant wait to get to work on her. Thanks for taking the time to read my book of a post, and especially for any comments/advise/recommendations you may share with me.
PEACE!
First off, I'm a newbie here... so Hey guys!
I used to participate in a very similar forum for Ford Trucks, but since my Ford still lives in Nashville... and I'm up here in Alaska... I don't really have much need to check in with my Ford guys too often.And besides... I just bought a Yota!
MY YOTA
It's a black 1990 4Runner, 3.0L V6, Automatic, 4x4 (of course), with 104k miles. I have pictures of her, and will be able to post them later this week.
As far as I know, it's lived in Alaska for it's whole life. I've had it for about 2 weeks almost, and it is my daily driver. She wasn't running super well when I got her... a little rough on idle... but I fixed that real quick with a K&N air filter. The old filter was so damn clogged with dirt and crud that a cloud of dust popped up when I threw the old filter down on the driveway! Now that her throat is clear, she runs steady @ idle and holds the tach needle steady.
The only other thing I've done to her so far is put new plug wires on there - nothing fancy - just good OEM replacement wires. (the old ones were in bad shape, with exposed wiring).
BODY CONDITION
The body is in "fair/good" condition. As I mentioned before, she's black with the grey cloth interior. The paint isn't too bad... but there is a rust colony growing on the bottom corner of the driver's door (on the back side, away from hinges). There is also a golf ball sized rust spot on the hood, right on top of a bad crease in the metal. It's not a hole, but it is twisted/warped somehow and needs to be re-shaped (or just replace the hood).
I have noticed that the front corners of both fenders are slightly contorted as well. The driver's side one is the most needing of attention. It is pushed in enough that the corner-lights right next to the driver's headlight is not exactly seated snugly in place.
There is some rust starting to grow on the chrome bumper, but that should be easy enough to take care of. Anyone recommend a good product for this?
INTERIOR
The interior of this 18 year old truck is in GREAT condition. Minus the one cigarette burn in the headliner above the front passenger, it's in excellent condition. No tears, no discoloration, no cracks, all dash/panel pieces are in place. All gauges appear to work, and are lit up. The only problem is the rear window...
So I understand the rear window is sort of the biggest complaint there is on these trucks. Mine is totally dysfunctional currently. The window glass is held up by a small 2x4 that I mounted inside the door housing. The lock does not appear to be attached to anything in there. I have some sort of a motor that is stowed away in one of those storage lockers in the back. I assume it goes in that back door somewhere. Obviously, the up/down stitch for the window does nothing... I think I can hear something back there whirrr when i press it though. And I cant figure out how to get the back door open either. Looks to me like the glass has to go down before the door can open. I dunno.
I'm gonna have to do a lot of work to make that all functional again i think. Anyone able to offer some advice???
POWERTRAIN
After the K&N and plug wire replacements, she's running pretty damn good. She sits nice and level on the tach @ idle, and seems to respond quickly to the gas pedal. However, I feel as though I am being robbed of power somewhere... she's not a big fan of climbing hills. She's not a big fan of 70mph. Cruise control has a hard time figuring out what gear it wants to use above 60mph. And she accelerates quite slowly at highway speeds. Maybe it's because of those 31x10.50s? I don't believe this T4R came stock with them... is there anything I can do to regain power lost from the tires? Change gear ratios or something? Never done that before - would appreciate your thoughts.
Also, the Oil Pressure gauge seems to read low to me. Maybe its a normal thing for this truck. My ford would always stay between the L and H. This Yota seems to go to the middle when its cranked cold, and stays there until it warms up. After the block gets warm, the pressure goes down and sits just above the L, but not above the first line. When accelerating, the needle moves up to a line located almost at the center of the gauge. Normal?
I have an exhaust leak somewhere as well... exhaust seems to float out from underneath the truck near the drivers-side rear tire. Some exhaust also comes out the tailpipe. I suspect a hole ni the muffler, though I've not yet crawled under there to look. When I go to fix this, I'll probably just want to replace the entire exhaust - starting with the headers. Any suggestions here, guys?
FUEL ECONOMY
She sucks gas. Hard. I get about 150-200 miles per tank on a mix of mostly in-town driving with some highway here and there, and the occasional jump to 4x4 to crawl over/through something. What can be done to maximize fuel efficiency? I have been looking at Halo Plugs... any thoughts? Will a carefully tuned exhaust help? Would changing gear ratios help save gas from those 31x10.50s?
LIGHTING
I've noticed that she always has her dash lights on, as if I had the parking lights or headlights on. The tail lights are always lit up like that too, and get brighter when I hit the brake. The headlights only come on when I turn them on, as normal, but it just seems like the truck is stuck with the parking lights on, regardless of where the switch is. Any ideas for that?
Also, the front corner lights aren't coming on at all. Could be bad bulbs - haven't checked - but with the other weird thing about it always acting like it's got the parking lights on, I thought I'd ask. The yellow turn signals in the front bumper seem to work, but nothing ever happens in those corner lights. Anyone else deal with something like that?
WRAP UP
So that's all I can think of right now. I'm really excited to have this truck, and cant wait to get to work on her. Thanks for taking the time to read my book of a post, and especially for any comments/advise/recommendations you may share with me.
PEACE!
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