Ladywolf's cleanup/buildup thread

[ladywolf]

My buddy and I built a quiet closet for the air compressor at his house and plumbed it up to the front of the garage to an air manifold with a drier.

Flip a switch and the compressor powers up. It's so quiet (with the stereo on) we hooked up a relay to light bulb so we know when the compressor is running.

Air tools themselves weigh less than their cordless counterparts, but managing those hoses. Yeah.

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Agreed. When space is an issue for air tools, cordless is the way to go; however, air will provide endless hours of ability, providing your compressor can keep up.

Next purchase will be the 1/2 drive impact...depending which series I want, 169, or 199. (milwaulkee brand)

 

[2ndhandyotaman]

I'm not really in a spot that I could buy another compressor to use my air tools, so the cordless was a good option for now. Pluses and minuses on both sides, ultimately it comes down to whatever works best for your purpose. There's times when I miss having compressed air but this 20V impact has really been a useful tool for me.

Sorry for getting your thread off track Ladywolf. I started to read it to see what types of maintenance you were facing, as I just got a 2001 SR5. It seems like these trucks are all needed the same basic repairs around the 175K mark.

 

[ladywolf]

I'm not really in a spot that I could buy another compressor to use my air tools, so the cordless was a good option for now. Pluses and minuses on both sides, ultimately it comes down to whatever works best for your purpose. There's times when I miss having compressed air but this 20V impact has really been a useful tool for me.

Sorry for getting your thread off track Ladywolf. I started to read it to see what types of maintenance you were facing, as I just got a 2001 SR5. It seems like these trucks are all needed the same basic repairs around the 175K mark.

nah your good! Add another 114k to that mark and you are spot on with the mileage! LOL.

 

[TrexRunnerGirl]

This sounds exactly what I'm about to be doing to my truck. But I am facing rust issues for sure.

I can slowly get tools and this winter will hopefully prove fruitful to getting things done. Good or bad, I love this truck and want to push it to 400K. so that's 265K more to go.

I like that you are doing this Ladywolf. Inspiration that I can do it. and Junkyarding is almost like yard sales and shoe shopping - LOL

Carry on.:hello:

 

[ladywolf]

So, after a long hiatus (I've been driving my Tundra, as my buddy who was supposed to help me work on the runner got too busy), the runner goes in the shop to Toyota tomorrow for the valve covers, half moons, lower intake manifold gaskets, and the water pump/timing belt kit.

I dont have the time/knowledge/tools/skills/courage at this time with finals coming up. Toyota's shop rate is not the cheapest, but its actually cheaper than some of the regular shops around town, and they will use my parts. (thank you Toyota gurus for pushing me to buy OEM kits!!)

 

[mtbtim]

So, after a long hiatus (I've been driving my Tundra, as my buddy who was supposed to help me work on the runner got too busy), the runner goes in the shop to Toyota tomorrow for the valve covers, half moons, lower intake manifold gaskets, and the water pump/timing belt kit.

I dont have the time/knowledge/tools/skills/courage at this time with finals coming up. Toyota's shop rate is not the cheapest, but its actually cheaper than some of the regular shops around town, and they will use my parts. (thank you Toyota gurus for pushing me to buy OEM kits!!)

Dammit Kristin, you're letting me down. How long have those valve cover gaskets been leaking? Probably a pretty long time. They can wait until after finals. Don't pay dealership shop rates for this easy job. Save yourself a ton of money and wait until you have the time to tackle it yourself. The valve cover gasket job is just time consuming. It's not a technical repair at all. Please cancel your appointment at the shop and do it yourself.

 

[tarsun]

once you do it, you'll be surprised how easy it was. intake manifold gaskets are metal and reusable, and the valve cover gaskets are super simple too.

the timing belt can be intimidating but, on the 4runner, it is pretty simple and straight forward.

 

[mtbtim]

once you do it, you'll be surprised how easy it was. intake manifold gaskets are metal and reusable, and the valve cover gaskets are super simple too.

the timing belt can be intimidating but, on the 4runner, it is pretty simple and straight forward.

The valve gasket job for sure is within her ability because it doesn't take any special tools and she said she doesn't own many tools.

The timing belt job is a different animal because either a Harmonic Damper Pulley (aka Crankshaft Pulley) Holder or homemade jobber is needed. We also used a cam pulley holding tool to break free the cam pulley bolts so we could replace the cam seals. And, we used a puller to get the Crankshaft Pulley off the crankshaft. But, for the labor they are going to charge her for the timing belt job, she could purchase all these special tools and either keep them or sell them afterward on Ebay. She could get a good percentage of her money back for sure because people would love to pick up those tools at a discount.

 

[ladywolf]

Dammit Kristin, you're letting me down. How long have those valve cover gaskets been leaking? Probably a pretty long time. They can wait until after finals. Don't pay dealership shop rates for this easy job. Save yourself a ton of money and wait until you have the time to tackle it yourself. The valve cover gasket job is just time consuming. It's not a technical repair at all. Please cancel your appointment at the shop and do it yourself.

Well, I didnt haul the truck in this morning. Bills come first and I was gonna be short. I am probably going pull it in the garage this weekend and attempt it.

 

[3bears]

curious, what were they going to charge for all that work ?

 

[3bears]

once you do it, you'll be surprised how easy it was. intake manifold gaskets are metal and reusable, and the valve cover gaskets are super simple too.

the timing belt can be intimidating but, on the 4runner, it is pretty simple and straight forward.

are you sure they are reusable. I have not pulled off the intake yet, but when I pulled the throttle body I did replace the metal gasket. and when I compared old to new, you could tell they are set up to squeeze.
if they truly are reusable, that's good to know for future work.

 

[ladywolf]

curious, what were they going to charge for all that work ?

786 plus tax (before my military discount)

 

[mtbtim]

786 plus tax (before my military discount)

I have to say, that is an excellent price. I think dealerships near me would charge that much to do just the valve cover gasket job.

Maybe ask what they would charge just for the timing belt job.

Hopefully your friend can free up some time and help you with the valve cover gaskets.

 

[mtbtim]

are you sure they are reusable. I have not pulled off the intake yet, but when I pulled the throttle body I did replace the metal gasket. and when I compared old to new, you could tell they are set up to squeeze.
if they truly are reusable, that's good to know for future work.

People have reused them but I wouldn't advise people to do that. It's a gasket and it's not good practice to reuse gaskets unless you like repeating a bunch of labor when you find you have a vacuum leak.

 

[tarsun]

It is deffietly better practice to replace rather than reuse. No arguments there.
The upper intake gasket is so easy to get to that if it did leak, it would not be hard to remediate. When I 1st took them off, I was expecting a gasket like you would find on a small engine cyl head. Where it sticks to both sides, tears, and comes apart. So I was surprised when I saw it was a few sheets of really thin metal.
This was around 15 to 20 thousand miles ago and still no issues. But that doesn't mean much. I could have just gotten lucky.

 

[ladywolf]

I have to say, that is an excellent price. I think dealerships near me would charge that much to do just the valve cover gasket job.

Maybe ask what they would charge just for the timing belt job.

Hopefully your friend can free up some time and help you with the valve cover gaskets.

I think it was 400 something just for the timing belt job.

 

[7echo]

I think it was 400 something just for the timing belt job.

at that price i would pay them to do the timing belt.

would do the valve cover gasket myself, tho.

a dealership with those prices has got to be rare.

 

[ladywolf]

at that price i would pay them to do the timing belt.

would do the valve cover gasket myself, tho.

a dealership with those prices has got to be rare.

I think they quoted me 4 hours....115 an hour. IF I remember correctly. And thats with me supplying the parts.

I've also had a good relationship with the parts/service department at that dealership for going on 8 years now. A buddy of mine I served with is one of the service writers as well.

 

[mtbtim]

I think it was 400 something just for the timing belt job.

Hey Kristin, Sorry if I'm being a little too pushy trying to get you to tackle these repairs yourself. I totally understand your situation, mainly your lack of tools to get these jobs done. But, as jobs come up that you need to do, consider the fact that even though you have to buy special tools to get a job done, the money you saved on labor costs just paid for those tools you now own. You could keep them and maybe help somebody else out that's local that needs help with the same repair or you can sell them. What you don't ever get back is your time, but if you enjoy mechanical stuff like this, it's not really wasted time. DIY Auto Mechanics can be very rewarding and intensely frustrating but it's mostly been a very rewarding and positive experience for me. The cool people alone I've met through this forum is pretty awesome, especially the 3rd Gen Folks.

 

[ladywolf]

Hey Kristin, Sorry if I'm being a little too pushy trying to get you to tackle these repairs yourself. I totally understand your situation, mainly your lack of tools to get these jobs done. But, as jobs come up that you need to do, consider the fact that even though you have to buy special tools to get a job done, the money you saved on labor costs just paid for those tools you now own. You could keep them and maybe help somebody else out that's local that needs help with the same repair or you can sell them. What you don't ever get back is your time, but if you enjoy mechanical stuff like this, it's not really wasted time. DIY Auto Mechanics can be very rewarding and intensely frustrating but it's mostly been a very rewarding and positive experience for me. The cool people alone I've met through this forum is pretty awesome, especially the 3rd Gen Folks.

Hey Tim, it's all good. Right now its just been a culmination of events. Right now, i'm in one of those positions that if I mess something up, I don't have that network of friends anymore who can help me fix it whom I can pay in pizza and beer. I dont mind the wasted time. What I cant really afford is a screw-up of my own doing (like my radio bezel snafu) on a much larger scale.