Just bought my first 4Runner!

[feldini707]

I recently purchased my first Toyota 4Runner and decided to join this community to learn more about 4Runners and what I can do with mine.

Three days ago I found a 2002 SR5 2WD on Craigslist with only 92,000 miles on it. The seller was the original owner who appeared to have babied this truck. Both the interior and exterior are in pristine condition.

The seller did not have service records, but she claimed to have kept up on the scheduled maintenance'. It is due for an oil change and I am told I need to replace the spark plugs and serpentine belt at 90,000. My question is, are there any other belts I should change, do you think the water pump should be looked at, or is there any other maintenance I should have done to ensure my Runner is in tip top shape?

Once I have the maintenance squared away I plan on starting some mods. Any advice on good starter mods?

 

[Granada7]

Wow nice fine!Maybe look at your air filter,timing belt fluid levels and if you are really thinking about some preventative mods look into a B&M cooler I'm sure theres other things guys could think of but welcome!

 

[Blitzkrieg]

It's actually the timing belt at 90k (you said serpentine).

My .05?

When you do the timing belt, at a minimum replace ALL belts, the water pump and the radiator hoses. Also the idler pulleys are fairly cheap so consider that too.

Thats my .05 (.02 adjusted for inflation)

 

[A.Wilson013]

You can also register the VIN at this site and if it were ever serviced at a dealer it'll tell you. You could ALSO ask the owner where it was purchased/serviced and they should be able to give you records if they exist.

 

[Range]

Love the 3rd Gens. Congrats!!! One thing to think about when it comes to modding and adding additional weight since you live in CA are the gas prices. It would be nice if these prices kept going lower but that's probably wishful thinking. I bought my 4th Gen in San Francisco and once I lifted it and put on bigger tires and armor my gas tank was raped daily.

 

[CStat4runner]

I'd do the transmission cooler as asap as possible. It takes an afternoon even with no experience, and it would be awful to get a pink milkshake on your new baby

 

[gamefreakgc]

Check out this read if you haven't already, shows all the issues you should be aware of with your new 4Runner:

http://www.toyota-4runner.org/3rd-gen-t4rs/82033-3rd-gen-4runner-buyers-guide.html

What sort of mods do you mean? What do you plan on doing with the vehicle? You plan on rock crawling, or it being a fun weekend sort of car? With the available TRD supercharger, do you want to build it for performance?

 

[56flatbed]

Service records

Wilson, thanks for the link to the Toyota site. Got service records back to 2008 on my 2000 4runner.

 

[Milo Sporeman]

One Tough Truck

I have a 2000 SR5 4wd with 300,000 miles. I replaced my timing belt at 110,000 miles and am getting ready to replace again at 300,000. Whenever you replace the timing belt I would suggest you replace belts and water pump. I put a 145,000 miles on my last set of plugs before it started running rough. Actually, the only thing I have done by the book were oil changes. (Mobile 1) These are amazingly durable vehicles. I wish you the best with yours.

 

[kingin]

That's clean, 4runner's are addicting.

 

[feldini707]

Check out this read if you haven't already, shows all the issues you should be aware of with your new 4Runner:

http://www.toyota-4runner.org/3rd-gen-t4rs/82033-3rd-gen-4runner-buyers-guide.html

What sort of mods do you mean? What do you plan on doing with the vehicle? You plan on rock crawling, or it being a fun weekend sort of car? With the available TRD supercharger, do you want to build it for performance?

Thanks for the link. My T4R is my only vehicle so I used it to get around town to school and work, then take it up to the mountings on the weekend. I'm not planning on doing any rock crawling or crazy four wheeling, so my main goal is performance, longevity, and aesthetics.

 

[gamefreakgc]

A stock 4Runner will be about to drive on about 90% of the trails out here because of its high clearance and great 4x4 system. Unless you want to add lift and stuff for aesthetics, you'll find it very capable in the mountains. You won't be able to do the Rubicon trail or nothing like that, but I'm guessing you're not into those (and neither am I).

Check out that link for longevity so you know the major issues to avoid. Biggest ones are the pink milkshake in the transmission and lower ball joints. But you've got such low miles that these aren't even an issue for you yet! There's not really much else you need to do, except for stay on top of maintenance.

If the steering starts to vibrate or get sloppy look into changing the steering rack and sway bar bushings. Cheap and fairly straight-forward.

Enjoy it man! And you'll find if you take care of it it will drive just as good at 200k miles as it does now. Case in point, mine with 192k drives amazingly, comparable to our 2011 Nissan Altima with only 89k.

 

[feldini707]

A stock 4Runner will be about to drive on about 90% of the trails out here because of its high clearance and great 4x4 system. Unless you want to add lift and stuff for aesthetics, you'll find it very capable in the mountains. You won't be able to do the Rubicon trail or nothing like that, but I'm guessing you're not into those (and neither am I).

Check out that link for longevity so you know the major issues to avoid. Biggest ones are the pink milkshake in the transmission and lower ball joints. But you've got such low miles that these aren't even an issue for you yet! There's not really much else you need to do, except for stay on top of maintenance.

If the steering starts to vibrate or get sloppy look into changing the steering rack and sway bar bushings. Cheap and fairly straight-forward.

Enjoy it man! And you'll find if you take care of it it will drive just as good at 200k miles as it does now. Case in point, mine with 192k drives amazingly, comparable to our 2011 Nissan Altima with only 89k.

Sadly my Runner is a 2WD. I was looking for a 4x4 but I couldn't pass up this truck once I saw it. Does anyone have a 2WD 3rd gen or know how capable they are? I would be looking to do some dirt trail driving which I am sure it is capable of, at the most I would want to do some light muding but idk how a 2WD Runner would respond in mud.

 

[jgue467]

Beautiful find! I love white runners. Hey OP - you've already seen the main info link: http://www.toyota-4runner.org/3rd-gen-t4rs/69744-3rd-gen-faq-tutorials-documentation-reference.html

BTW - your model is Not suseptible to pink milkshake because it is not 4wd, only those came with a tranny cooler within the lower portion of the engine radiator. But you could add a trans cooler if you think you need it, I'd only do it if i were towing or in very hilly terrain. Luck! :cowboy:

 

[Unner]

Beautiful find! I love white runners. Hey OP - you've already seen the main info link: http://www.toyota-4runner.org/3rd-gen-t4rs/69744-3rd-gen-faq-tutorials-documentation-reference.html

BTW - your model is Not suseptible to pink milkshake because it is not 4wd, only those came with a tranny cooler within the lower portion of the engine radiator. But you could add a trans cooler if you think you need it, I'd only do it if i were towing or in very hilly terrain. Luck! :cowboy:

Really? I've never heard this. Where is the tranny cooler on the 2WD's? I have a 4WD so I don't know. It seems hard to believe that Toyota would use a different system for the 2WD vs the 4WD, but it is possible.

 

[T4R2014]

BTW - your model is Not suseptible to pink milkshake because it is not 4wd, only those came with a tranny cooler within the lower portion of the engine radiator. But you could add a trans cooler if you think you need it, I'd only do it if i were towing or in very hilly terrain. Luck! :cowboy:

RWD automatic transmissions require cooling as well. :doh: Have you actually crawled underneath a 2WD? The transmission cooling is identical to a 4WD.