Cat. Conv. stolen, repair/maintenance work ensues!

[Babyfood1217]

'02 Sport Edition - Rear cat. was cut out during work the beginning of last week. Public off street parking lot, just a block away from the building I work in. Broad daylight. Ugh.

Initiated a tow/service request to get the truck back to my home, and the 3 hour wait gave me time to file a police report, initiate an ins. claim, and start shopping for replacement bit. By Friday, I received the ins. claim payout, so this weekend I pulled the trigger on my replacement parts. I decided to go with pretty much all Walker stuff, for the ease of bolt-on made-to-fit. Got the midpipe/2nd cat, muffler, and tailpipe, and then got new rubber hangers, new air/fuel and O2 sensors, and gaskets.

After the replacement parts were purchased, I've still got a few hundred bucks left to spend. I need to drop a few bucks on mounting hardware for the new exhaust setup, but with what's left, I've been stewing on whether or not this is a good time to pull the trigger and commit the time to do some other maintenance things:

1. I would love to finally address a messy oil situation and replace the valve cover gaskets.
   • I'd like to get this job done before the rainy season sets in again here in the PNW. Cleaning up all the old oil residue that has slowly dripped down and spread over the years will be bad enough as it is, the last thing I need is to have to deal with a wet undercarriage while I'm at it!
   • Not sure if there's a reputable brand for these seals, but IIRC, it's half moons, a gasket, and some FIPG/RTV. Could be wrong on that, but I'm about to start scouring the forum to see what other's have used.
2. I'm due for a timing belt/water pump job.
   • I'll likely get one of the kits available on eBay from AirCabinMan (sp?) I've read enough good things the bundle of bits he packages together.
   • Maybe I can justify buying an impact gun for this job!
3. I would love to replace all the coolant hoses.
   • Maybe I've missed it in my searching, but does anyone sell a "kit" that includes all the pertinent coolant hoses?
   • I found one thread that has a bunch of Toyota part #'s for various hoses, though I'm getting a sense there are a number of variations of builds/specs that may dictate what/how many hoses I'm gonna end of needing. FWIW, I have rear heat, but would love to not touch that stuff!

For a 20 year old truck that has 275k on the clock, I've been pretty luckily with the relatively sparse amount of big-ticket maintenance attention it's needed. I'd like to address some of these items as preventative (timing belt/hoses) before they start to be issues. I'm thinking I'll probably look at doing them in this order:

1st - timing belt
2nd - valve cover gasket
3rd - hoses

I need to refresh my memory, however, as to how the timing belt/water jump unfolds/progresses. If it makes sense to do so, I would consider taking care of the VCG while I'm at it. Would that make sense?

I'll be doing pretty much all of this maintenance myself (not too many wrench savvy friends), and would prioritize minimizing the cumulative numbers of days the truck is down for maintenance, even if it means doing more while the lid is off, so to speak.

 

[pluton]

Swap out the radiator if it hasn't ever been changed. Cheap, easy job at home.

 

[Endlessblockades]

I second the suggestion that If you don't know the history of the radiator, that's much more important to address at 275k than the timing belt/water pump and the VC gaskets. Get the radiator and the upper and lower cooling hoses and 4 clamps and a thermostat from Toyota online - not that expensive. Very easy to DIY. Remember to park on an incline to burp the cooling system after you fill is back up.

 

[brillo_76]

I agree with the other members. Especially on the radiator as I run these rads for 10 years and get a replacement just to keep the pink milkshake away. The only exception is a manual as they don't have transmission coolers in them.

Sent from my SM-A505U using Tapatalk

 

[JoeT4R]

Definitely agree with all the above, and, if you still have funds leftover, I’d recommend an external transmission cooler if you don’t already have one. They’re affordable and will keep your transmission running nice & cool. But overall I think you’ve got the right idea as far as the order in which to tackle these maintenance items.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[RotaryDreamz]

275k mi is getting up there. Not sure if you already replaced your LBJs , but thats something i would highly consider on top of a Radiator replacement

 

[Babyfood1217]

I definitely did the external/aux. transmission cooler when I got the truck (180k). Ball joints and running gear were done last spring of ‘21 before a couple cross country road trips. The PO had done a timing belt around 120k, that’s why it’d give me the warm fuzzies if I could take care of that big thing.

edit: didn’t notice a big typo

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[octanejunkie]

You must have a lot of $ left over to be able to afford all the extra parts you listed, kudos.

Here are a few thoughts, while the lid is off

Radiator, timing belt and LBJs on the same schedule, every 100K miles. How about those UBJs?

Ever update your suspension bushings? LCA bushings are a common 250K service item. Rear control arms and panhard bushings eventually need to be addressed too. Steering rack bushings and sway bars need love.

Hoses as needed. Oil cooler gaskets are often overlooked.

You might want to replace the heater control valve too, it tends to fail unexpectedly.

Injectors. Plugs. Wires. These will all be accessible or removed when doing VCGs.

Make a list of all the parts you think you need and call your local Yota dealer with your VIN to verify them, or use their website. Amayama will also validate orders against a VIN before sale/shipping.

Don't forget about fluids, and brakes and lubing your driveshafts.

The list goes on

Sent from my Pixel 4 XL using Tapatalk

 

[Babyfood1217]

You must have a lot of $ left over to be able to afford all the extra parts you listed, kudos…

Oh I wish! After the full catback replacement parts were bought, I have enough left over for the full CabinAirMan TB/water pump kit, plus change. I’m just thinking, I’d rather throw a little bit of extra money at some other maintenance tasks if I’m gonna be in there for some thing anyway. The trick is, figuring out which tasks, logistically, it makes sense to do together if related/nearby components will already be out!

Just not sure if I should prioritize that job (timing belt), or focus on other stuff first!

I know for a fact the timing belt was done, albeit a good chunk of miles ago. As far as I know, hoses have never been changed. And based on the amount of old, built up oil sludge around the valve cover gaskets, I doubt that’s ever been touched either.

I actually have new Control bushings and steering rack bushings, life got in the way a while ago and I never had a chance to put them in.

I saw someone else reference the oil cooler gaskets. I had honestly never heard of that.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[JZiggy]

+1 on heater control valve. I recent replaced the original on a friends 230k ish truck and the plastic was so weak I could crush the hose inlets with two fingers easily.

 

[revox92]

+1 on heater control valve. I recent replaced the original on a friends 230k ish truck and the plastic was so weak I could crush the hose inlets with two fingers easily.

We'll include that on our to-do list when we start working on my friend's new 2002 4Runner project! It's neat overall with a new set of toyo tires and brake pads. It recently passed the 200k miles mark.