Hello T4R community! I've been scavenging through the forums and I have to say well done. There's a ton of information around these vehicles you all have put together and I am totally thankful for it.
Anyway lets roll into it. Here's my first Runner (more pictures below). Its not prettiest yet, but from what I can see it has good bones. Its a 98 SR5 V6 4X4 (5VZFE) with 254K. All stock; for now. Purchased last thursday.
The Good, the Bad, the Ugly.
I'll start with UGLY:
This rig may have had a pink milkshake scare, although I haven't found any indicators of contamination. Let me further explain. The truck used to belong to my buddy. One day he noticed a transmission leak near the radiator. Drove it to a local favorite trans mech and had it looked at. The leak was on the radiator (im assuming at the trans cooler). From what the mechanic said, was they ran some 'tests' and no signs of coolant contamination could be found. They replaced the radiator, added fluids and shipped out.
I bought it soon after the fixed. Thanks to the forums I knew what to look for. Checked trans fluids and radiator fluids, before and after many test drives. Fluids looked clean minus the rad having the green stuff (more on this later). I haven't noticed significant 'slipping' but a few things have made me a little nervous. Shifting from P to R takes a second to engage and if you do it quick then jump on the gas, it'll spin in neutral, then grab. Not so good in the city with on-street parking (that poor bmw behind me never stood a chance :sorry:. jk jk). After further forum review. I think that's just normal.
The second scare I had was when coasting to a red light, it turned green, I gave it gas and it did the same thing. That has been the one and only time I have ever noticed anything wrong with the trans. I'll will continue to observe for more issues.
The BAD: The interior is, well destroyed. But hey, that's the easy stuff and this a truck so lets move on. The exterior isn't in a great shape, but it's not terrible and again, not the end of the world so lets keep moving.
The GOOD: That sweet, beautiful 5VZFE. I havent had much experience working on this specific motor, but moving from my maxima's VQ30 and all the reading I've been doing on the forum; I couldn't be happier.
Next steps and recommendations
Since the trans mech, is probably not a Toyota mech, I'm thinking he probably put the green stuff, maybe prestone, in the new radiator. Im not about that, so I already flushed/swapped it with Toyota red. The coolant is good to go. The engine was roaring from first thru second gears and I found the fan clutch was seized. That too has been swapped.
The next step I plan to take is a tune up. By that I mean: seafoam, plugs, wire, front o2, air filter, fuel filter, MAF and TB clean, PCV, grease driveshaft, and of course oil change.
Following that the bigger stuff. Valve cover gaskets (pretty sure theres a leak), cam plugs, timing belt and water pump, new hoses. While it's all open I'll take a look for other problems areas. There's a leak coming from somewhere deep in the bay driver side. What it is and where it's specifically coming from. Im not so sure yet. There's so much dirt and old oil from the old leak I can tell what's what.
To any of the knowledgable T4R guys, let me know if Im missing something or just completely oblivious about next steps. I got a great deal on this truck and I think I can get it back to a good running state for at least another 50K miles.
Thanks for reading, sorry so long. I will update here as I continue with the build. Thanks T4R!
Anyway lets roll into it. Here's my first Runner (more pictures below). Its not prettiest yet, but from what I can see it has good bones. Its a 98 SR5 V6 4X4 (5VZFE) with 254K. All stock; for now. Purchased last thursday.
The Good, the Bad, the Ugly.
I'll start with UGLY:
This rig may have had a pink milkshake scare, although I haven't found any indicators of contamination. Let me further explain. The truck used to belong to my buddy. One day he noticed a transmission leak near the radiator. Drove it to a local favorite trans mech and had it looked at. The leak was on the radiator (im assuming at the trans cooler). From what the mechanic said, was they ran some 'tests' and no signs of coolant contamination could be found. They replaced the radiator, added fluids and shipped out.
I bought it soon after the fixed. Thanks to the forums I knew what to look for. Checked trans fluids and radiator fluids, before and after many test drives. Fluids looked clean minus the rad having the green stuff (more on this later). I haven't noticed significant 'slipping' but a few things have made me a little nervous. Shifting from P to R takes a second to engage and if you do it quick then jump on the gas, it'll spin in neutral, then grab. Not so good in the city with on-street parking (that poor bmw behind me never stood a chance :sorry:. jk jk). After further forum review. I think that's just normal.
The second scare I had was when coasting to a red light, it turned green, I gave it gas and it did the same thing. That has been the one and only time I have ever noticed anything wrong with the trans. I'll will continue to observe for more issues.
The BAD: The interior is, well destroyed. But hey, that's the easy stuff and this a truck so lets move on. The exterior isn't in a great shape, but it's not terrible and again, not the end of the world so lets keep moving.
The GOOD: That sweet, beautiful 5VZFE. I havent had much experience working on this specific motor, but moving from my maxima's VQ30 and all the reading I've been doing on the forum; I couldn't be happier.
Next steps and recommendations
Since the trans mech, is probably not a Toyota mech, I'm thinking he probably put the green stuff, maybe prestone, in the new radiator. Im not about that, so I already flushed/swapped it with Toyota red. The coolant is good to go. The engine was roaring from first thru second gears and I found the fan clutch was seized. That too has been swapped.
The next step I plan to take is a tune up. By that I mean: seafoam, plugs, wire, front o2, air filter, fuel filter, MAF and TB clean, PCV, grease driveshaft, and of course oil change.
Following that the bigger stuff. Valve cover gaskets (pretty sure theres a leak), cam plugs, timing belt and water pump, new hoses. While it's all open I'll take a look for other problems areas. There's a leak coming from somewhere deep in the bay driver side. What it is and where it's specifically coming from. Im not so sure yet. There's so much dirt and old oil from the old leak I can tell what's what.
To any of the knowledgable T4R guys, let me know if Im missing something or just completely oblivious about next steps. I got a great deal on this truck and I think I can get it back to a good running state for at least another 50K miles.
Thanks for reading, sorry so long. I will update here as I continue with the build. Thanks T4R!
Last edited:
