Maintenance Questions

[voiddweller]

Hey guys, so I have a few questions because I am not familiar with these vehicles yet and I just recently got this 95 V6 4WD.

I have no history on the vehicle all I can say is it seems pretty ragged out from the previous owner or something, dried mud caked on the undercarriage, grease buildup and the clutch needs replacing (getting that done Monday). I am fairly handy with mechanical things - BASIC, not very advanced and I prefer to do as much as I can these days myself, because I have a 1 year old and various other expenses. A few questions:

Do these 4runners come with different/two keys? The back door lock doesn't do anything and seems to either be jammed or broken. The front passenger unlocks all the doors with a left turn, but doesn't unlock the door itself or lock it for that matter with a right turn. Am I missing something or are they just broken? The Driver side does nothing with a right turn and wont turn to the left at all. I tried WD40 into the lock hole and get no results.

Besides getting the oil changed and fluids topped off on a vehicle with an unknown history, what else can I do at home to make sure it runs smooth and safe?

It accelerates pretty rough like something needs to be cleaned, could it be the injectors and is that something I could reasonably clean/maintain at home myself? I looked inside the air intake for gunk and it looked clean. It came with a K&N air filter that seems to appear pretty new.

How is seafoam and can I use that to do anything special? I was told it could be used to burn carbon buildup out of the engine, any specific way to do this and is it recommended for this vehicle?

Plugs and wires? Is it better to get the high performance stuff for a DD, or just the stock/oem type? Recommendations?

Any suggestions for a newcomer/newbie would be greatly appreciated..

 

[Howitzer]

Not too sure about the keys, I've never had a 4runner that new, I'm sure some other guys on here would be able to answer that one for you

If you're not too good mechanically, or are unsure of what exactly to look for, it would be a good idea for a mechanic to give it a once-over and tell you what he comes up with. Perhaps consider crawling under it with a rain poncho and ski goggles and a garden hose and cleaning the undercarriage. Mud will hold moisture and be a catalyst to rust and corrosion, plus add unnecessary weight/drag, but thats minor.

Fresh plugs and wires are always a good idea, as cap/rotor. Depending on how many kms or miles are on her, injector and an intake cleaning are a good idea too, but can be pricey. Sea foam is great, I use it in most of my vehicles. Dump a bottle in the gas tank, and I take a bottle and run it through the motor. I pop off the vaccume (or however the heck you spell that) hose off the brake booster while the truck is running/idling, attach a small funnel, and slowly pour the sea foam through it. Don't go too fast with the sea foam, as you don't want it to stall out, but that will help clean the insides of the motor, as the bottle inside the tank will do fuel system/injectors. It will smoke, beware. It's good to see if you have any exhaust leaks, as smoke will come out of areas that are leaking, besides the tail pipe.Be warned, after you've put the bottle through and it has idled for a while and you take it for a drive, and put the engine under load during acceleration, it will smoke like cheech and chong; first time I did it I had no idea, and almost smoked out an entire intersection, now I know to do it with nobody around

 

[voiddweller]

Fresh plugs and wires are always a good idea, as cap/rotor. Depending on how many kms or miles are on her, injector and an intake cleaning are a good idea too, but can be pricey. Sea foam is great, I use it in most of my vehicles. Dump a bottle in the gas tank, and I take a bottle and run it through the motor. I pop off the vaccume (or however the heck you spell that) hose off the brake booster while the truck is running/idling, attach a small funnel, and slowly pour the sea foam through it. Don't go too fast with the sea foam, as you don't want it to stall out, but that will help clean the insides of the motor, as the bottle inside the tank will do fuel system/injectors. It will smoke, beware. It's good to see if you have any exhaust leaks, as smoke will come out of areas that are leaking, besides the tail pipe.Be warned, after you've put the bottle through and it has idled for a while and you take it for a drive, and put the engine under load during acceleration, it will smoke like cheech and chong; first time I did it I had no idea, and almost smoked out an entire intersection, now I know to do it with nobody around

So its around 211k miles. Is it worth removing the injectors and manually cleaning them? Or is the seafoam process thorough enough via fuel additive?

Thanks for the advice, i'll be doing the distrib/plugs/wires after the clutch is finished this week. On acceleration in first and second gear its a bit jerky. I'm wondering if there might be some sort of vacuum leak somewhere causing it..

 

[mikekfr]

Dirt and mud caked underneath just means it was treated like a truck, you just don't want any rust. The missing or stalling.....fuel filter, under the passenger side, bolted to the side of the frame, in a small protective cage, change that asap. Next would be a great idea if you could remove the throttle body and replace or clean ( have them sent off for cleaning - not very expensive ) the injectors and replace all the rubber pcs associated w/ the injectors. Injector seat and an o-ring for each one. The normal tune up will do you good but hitting those injectors will give you a fresh start w/ those injectors, very pesty once they've been allowed to sit for any length of time....ask me how i know lol.

I tried bottle after bottle of cleaner.....it was just too little, too late, as it sat b4 i bought it, 2 years i think. Let us know how things go, and welcome to the forum.

 

[voiddweller]

Thanks guys, now I know a good place to start. I'll hopefully have some cash left over after the clutch gets done on monday and i'll post results afterwards.

Another question, the rear tailgate on the 95 - the key lock on the back basically controls just the window, so the door can be opened from the inside, correct? The lock doesn't even turn at all, i'm not sure but it seems I might have to open the back up and have a look at the mechanism.. Is it possible (maybe a stupid question) that I have a key that only works on the front locks and ignition? Is there a separate rear/tailgate key?

 

[Mikester]

One key

I'm certainly no expert, but I have a 95 4Runner daily driver, 4wd. It only takes one key. Maybe your key is worn, or the rear door lock is worn out or rusted. You might try some spray lube in the rear lock, spray it in the key slot.
The passenger door lock should lock/unlock all the other doors with the key. The drivers door only unlocks the drivers door with the key. At least that is the way mine works. Will the switch on the console lower the rear window ? The window has to be down for the rear door to open. They key should lower the window when turned clockwise, counter clockwise to raise the window.

 

[Howitzer]

If you can, new injectors would be a much better solution than sea foam, but sea foam through the brake booster vacuum line would be good to do as well. As Mikekfr said, fuel filter would be a good idea too. Check the vacuum line in the engine bay for missing ones, cracks/cuts, etc as per your thoughts

 

[mikekfr]

On a 92, the key that opens the front doors is the same key that lowers the window ( 92 default is window down, then unlock by hand) , THEN you can open it. That key is different than the ignition key, so for the 92, there's 2 keys.