Common problems for the 02 runners

[marcelluke]

Hi everyone I am a new member here looking for a quick answer. First let me give you some background
I'm seventeen years old and I'm looking to get my first car and I've looked at everything from trucks to beamers and I finally ran into a 4runner that looks great. It has a good body and only 70,000 miles. Me and my dad wen to look at it today and it looked very promising. My sister has an 02 4runner with 210k miles so you can bet that we trust these cars. The problem is that when we test drove it the engine didn't make a normal sound, well compared to the 4runner that we already have. It doesn't sound completely solid, I might describe it as a little throaty. Let me clarify, it doesn't sound like the actual engine has a problem, rather the exhaust or the intake may be causing the sound. It was dark so we didn't have a change took look at the engine, the intake, or the exhaust too closely but we are going back tomorrow to check it out and make a final decision. Other than that the brakes work great and it runs smoothly. Does anyone hear have a similar problem or situation? To be honest, we might not have thought anything of it if we didn't already have a 4runner, I actually kind of like the sound but it is a little nerve racking because it sounds different and it was the first thing to catch my attention.

Sorry for the very lengthy post! Just a little excited about getting a 4runner for a first car and being apart of this forum

 

[BrianSD_42]

based on your description I think you need to take the vehicle to an independent mechanic and ask him to check it out. he will probably charge a small fee $30-50.

Dont go to a dealer, go to someone who knows toyotas and has their own shop.

given your question and the knowledge implied I think you want to be be sure it is clean before buying.

 

[THEREALTOR1]

I get the feeling this thread has all the makings of one of those "Hey guys I found out what the noise was, its supercharged with a TRD exhaust. I can't believe the old lady was only selling it for $3000"... :driving:

 

[Yota_Tech87]

Are you sure it just doesn't have an intake or tb spacer?

Sent from my HTC MYtouch 4G using Tapatalk

 

[Maxil]

Are you sure it just doesn't have an intake or tb spacer?

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Agreed, mine sounds a lot different with a K&N intake than does the one we have at work. That would be the first thing I would check. Does it run okay?

 

[marcelluke]

I wish it was supercharged and only for 3,000! ahaha

& my first thought was that it had an intake on it, but it was too dark to see anything and we didn't have a flashlight. now my dad wants to go look at other runners, but its very hard to find the 01 - 02 models with under 100,000 miles in my area. Hopefully, we can go back and make a more informed decision. If I do get it, then I'll be excited to let you guys know and be a more active member of this forum

 

[cj80cruiser]

You should be able to see the intake even if it's almost pitch black outside. The airbox will be missing and an exposed filter will be sticking in its place so if you popped the hood at all it should have been evident.