Diamond_D
Member
I've been looking for just the right 4Runner for the Colorado backroads for about 6 months now, specifically an '07-'09 V6 SR5s with under 90K miles. Finally found one for a good price used a local dealership. I took it to an independent Toyota specialist, and he says it's in great condition, fluids look great, no sign of oil in #6 cylinder (I was a bit worried about the head gasket failures I've read about) and overall the truck is in really great shape for 80K miles.
However, he sees oil around the actuator / transfer case area and says it looks like it was repaired, but with a non-Toyota gasket (in his opinion, as someone who has done this repair personally numerous times). :ybrick: Turns out it was repaired by the dealer's shop (it's documented), and they claim they fixed it correctly, and that the oil on there is residual from their recent fix.
With me being a bit skeptical, they offered to clean it up, let me drive it for an afternoon, then take it back to my mechanic and see if he finds any more evidence of a continued leak.
Just how common is this leak? On the forums it seems like this problem is very common... if a truck doesn't have it when I buy it, it could certainly develop it a year down the road. Part of me says in this case, "it's already fixed and out of the way" which could be a good thing. The other part of me says it's a bad idea to buy a truck knowing it's already had a leak from the actuator o-ring, since I'm not fully confident in the repair, and I'd like to avoid a truck that needs another $1500 in work while I am still paying it off, not to mention having the t-case opened up multiple times before 100K miles.
I would love your opinion whether I should run away from this truck and keep looking for one without the leak, or pull the trigger and get this one that's in otherwise good shape. Thanks!
However, he sees oil around the actuator / transfer case area and says it looks like it was repaired, but with a non-Toyota gasket (in his opinion, as someone who has done this repair personally numerous times). :ybrick: Turns out it was repaired by the dealer's shop (it's documented), and they claim they fixed it correctly, and that the oil on there is residual from their recent fix.
With me being a bit skeptical, they offered to clean it up, let me drive it for an afternoon, then take it back to my mechanic and see if he finds any more evidence of a continued leak.
Just how common is this leak? On the forums it seems like this problem is very common... if a truck doesn't have it when I buy it, it could certainly develop it a year down the road. Part of me says in this case, "it's already fixed and out of the way" which could be a good thing. The other part of me says it's a bad idea to buy a truck knowing it's already had a leak from the actuator o-ring, since I'm not fully confident in the repair, and I'd like to avoid a truck that needs another $1500 in work while I am still paying it off, not to mention having the t-case opened up multiple times before 100K miles.
I would love your opinion whether I should run away from this truck and keep looking for one without the leak, or pull the trigger and get this one that's in otherwise good shape. Thanks!
