First offroad experience (with PICS)

[motion732]

Hey guys. My friend and I just had our first offroad experiences in the runners this past weekend. Lots of mud and puddles and some streams and had a great time. Mine was the 06 sport and my friend had the white SR5. Here are some pics (my gf took the shots and we both edited them later in the night. I think they came out well.):

Now, I

 

[drmorbius]

Clean the radiator

Nice pics, looks like fun. Be sure to clean your radiator core. Check out the overheating problems some of our other mudders had!http://www.toyota-4runner.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=45757

 

[motion732]

Thanks man. I was just looking at that thread. I'm not having any overheating problems, but what i will definitely do when i get home is shine the light through my radiator.

do you advise against bringing it to a shop to have the bay cleaned?

 

[drmorbius]

Thanks man. I was just looking at that thread. I'm not having any overheating problems, but what i will definitely do when i get home is shine the light through my radiator.

do you advise against bringing it to a shop to have the bay cleaned?

The mud is probably already in there but hasn't had time to reach the "adobe" stage. His problems didn't start right away. On the engine cleaning it's your call.

 

[RonMAIDEN]

Why pay somebody to wash your engine? Do it yourself at a car wash or with some high pressure at your house while being careful to avoid direct spray on the electrical goodies;it's not that hard but maybe a pro steam clean might be good every few years but not everytime you get it dirty.

 

[motion732]

i'm kind of afraid i'd **** things up. is there anything not to spray directly?

my battery is covered in mud. obviosuly don't spray that.

 

[CJ3Flyr]

i'm kind of afraid i'd **** things up. is there anything not to spray directly?

my battery is covered in mud. obviosuly don't spray that.

Avoid blasting the power steering reservoir and the brake reservoir caps. When spraying the battery area spray straight down to avoid blasting water on the underside of the fuse block. Other than those three things there's not much to hurt. I wash mine regularly. After I wash the vehicle I take my grubby, non-paint worthy sponge and use the remaining soapy water to wash/rinse under there all the time. I have for 20+ years now. With modern, coil-over plug engines I have never had an issue. (The 4th gen T4R uses the coil-over plug design... It has 6 or 8 little ignition coils right on top of the plugs rather than a distributor or coil pack with 'old school' plug wires.)

The cooler the engine the better. I'd let it cool, hood open, for 30mins or more prior to spraying cold water on the engine. :soapbox:Hot aluminum and cold water are not good friends.





Looks like you had a good time :bigok:

:cheers:

 

[motion732]

sweet man, thanks a lot.

i'm thinking about doing the top first, then getting under there to spray off all the drips. can i directly spray the radiator?

 

[CJ3Flyr]

sweet man, thanks a lot.

i'm thinking about doing the top first, then getting under there to spray off all the drips. can i directly spray the radiator?

Blast away :bigok: Again though, the cooler the better before you hose it down

IMHO, shooting the bottom up 1st works a little better. When you are done the visible stuff when you open the hood looks cleaner. That's just an IMHO thing though... There is no right/wrong way. There's also no question you are much better off cleaning it up.:bigok:

:cheers:

 

[Pritchnakoff]

motion,

Not sure if anyone addressed your statement about the 4lo not engaging. I have an '04 SE and I know the silonoid isn't strong enough to engage on its own. If you put the transmission in R it should kick-in shortly after.

Sure looks like you guys had fun, congrats on the new ride(s)!

:bigok:

 

[motion732]

i tried that...

i'm going to try again after dinner just to see if ic an get it in on the street.

diff has to be locked? unlocked? maybe that's why it kept beeping?

 

[CJ3Flyr]

i tried that...

i'm going to try again after dinner just to see if ic an get it in on the street.

diff has to be locked? unlocked? maybe that's why it kept beeping?

Diff doesn't need to be locked. Check out this thread and see if it helps: http://www.toyota-4runner.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=42645

:cheers:

 

[motion732]

Got it first try. Don't know what i was doing wrong that day. Oh well.

 

[03_4x4Runner]

I am glad I live in the desert and do not have mud. I hate mud it makes a mess of everything and deep water will cause problems down the road. Now if I could just do something about all the dust in Arizona. Anyway have fun but try to get it cleaned up before the mud dries really hard.

 

[Clemsonfan15]

Looks like a lot of fun.

It's going to be a PITA to get rid of most of the mud. I find it best to clean the car right after you go offroading as everything is fresh and is not hard and stuck on yet.

 

[motion732]

it's already been a few days. immediately after i went through a car wash that cleans the underbody so i'm assuming that helped.

it pretty much has been driven a total of 2 miles since then. i take the train to and from work (and don't get home till after dark which i why i haven't cleaned it yet), so it pretty much sits all day until i get to the gym. on thursday, i'm driving it to work (1 hr) then to the dealer from work (hr and a half) and hope they can do their best with it.

i have to bring it back to there to fix a window motor on thursday and i had asked them to clean the engine bay.

 

[T4RSpectreSix]

Sorry for being slightly off-topic here, but does the white SR5 appear to be smaller in 2-3 of the pics to anyone else? Even though it's closer to the camera?

lol why is that? I know it doesn't have the spoiler but...Are the pre-06 fender flares that much smaller? It almost looks like it's the size of a Rav-4 in the one pic, lol!

Trying to figure out why it looks smaller. Could it be the metallic vs non-metallic finish?

BTW, nice trucks! Awesome pics! Thanks for sharing them.

 

[casual]

Use Simple Green, Paint brush, and a steady hose. Do that a couple times, and youre engine will be clean. :artist:

And smelling good!

 

[4runr30]

motion,

Not sure if anyone addressed your statement about the 4lo not engaging. I have an '04 SE and I know the silonoid isn't strong enough to engage on its own. If you put the transmission in R it should kick-in shortly after.

Never had trouble like Pritch posted above and I didnt read the thread CJ3Flyr posted so this may have been covered. Was the runner in N or P when you tried to engage the 4lo? If not then this would be your problem. Great pics thanks for posting!