My name is Josh and I used to own Jeeps...

[Opi]

But I'm tired of the oil spots in the street :moon: I just picked up my very first Toyota (of any kind) on Saturday. It's a 99 SR5 and so far it is taking it's place in my top 5 favorite vehicles I ever owned. That being said, I should mention that I'm 25 and have owned 38 vehicles including motorcycles haha. Anyway. I have a couple comments and questions for you guys. Comments first. I have owned 5 different Jeeps, old and new wranglers and some Cherokees. This 4 runner is hands down much better so far in the every aspect of my short time I have spent with it. Awesome turning radius, it rides like a cadillac to me compared to the sloppy solid axle cherokees, the interior actually looks and feels aesthetically pleasing to me and a factory rear locker is icing on the cake. i havent yet had a chance to do much offroading, i get out 2 or 3 times a year and the occasional trip to the beach but everything I read seems to say that these are capable trucks so im excited about that too. I also had a 6000k hid kit thrown in and tinted the front windows to match the rear, i will get pictures soon. Now for the questions.

This thing has almost 189k on it. I see a sticker on the engine cover that shows the timing belt was last done just over 90k miles, so I know that is due. If I turn the radio all the way down, put it in drive and listen to the idle, i hear a very very faint tapping sound. if i shift out of drive and into park or neutral it goes away. I am going to change the oil and do a basic tuneup and tinkering this weekend (seafoam? what do you guys say about that too) so part of me feels that maybe a thin oil was used or its a little short or something. Either way, if that does not solve the problem, would a worn timing belt be causing this? Thats really the only issue I noticed with the entire truck, which to me is fantastic (coming from owning issue plagued jeeps..)

Also, I never had a locker in anything. I understand how they work, but I'm wondering how often is it actually needed? When can you activate it, do you have to be stopped?

Excited about this vehicle, and this forum seems pretty informative, sorry if I asked something that was in an faq but most of my questions (to me) were specific to my vehicle. Thanks, looking forward to 100k+ more miles and an end to my car buying a.d.d.


edit: i know this is an suv, I filled my tank and so far put 98 miles on it, and my fuel guage is at a hair above a half tank. seems a little low to me, most of my driving is highway and i know these tanks are 18.5 gallons so that seems like 10mpg to me with quick fuzzy math. what do you guys see to a half tank?

 

[4-Ripcord]

My runner doesn't have a locker, but my Tacoma did. I know it says in the manual do be under 5mph when you activate it, the ECU also won't let you activate it over 5mph. But for safety's sake, be stopped. As you know, never lock it on the pavement, even if its got some snow on the road. The only time I used my locker was when I was stuck in a snow drift parked on the side of the road at a ski area. Being only a 2wd Tacoma, that locker still popped that thing right out of the snow (12" deep and icy and hard).

Your mpg's should be just fine after a decent tune up. By decent I mean plugs+wires, oil+filter, clean MAF+TB, clean air filter, bottle of STP fuel injector cleaner, seafoam (I haven't seafoamed yet, but I hear good things), and grease drive line. Being a car guy, you know how inexpensive that all will be.
You will want to look into the transmission oil too, if it hasn't been done yet, it need its. That is $80 at Toyota dealerships. And of course the timing belt/ water pump is $500+, unless you can somehow do it yourself.

Hope this helps a bit. :bigok: lets see some pics!

 

[CookieRoe]

congrats on the your runner. I had Grand Cherokees since 1993 so I feel your pain on POS Jeeps. Your mileage does seem to be way off. Get it tuned up, that should help. What size tires do you have on it? Anyway, I've never used SeaFoam so I can't comment on that. As far as the HID kit (I'm assuming in a PnP kit?) is concerned, careful with that, you ARE blinding people. I had an HID kit on my 3rd gen 4R (same headlight) and blinded the hell out of everyone. Retros are the way to go. Anyway, good luck and welcome to the forum!

 

[manhunter]

Welcome Josh. I also used to own a Jeep, and even though they are alot of fun and good on the trails, their life-span is much shorter than these 4runners. I was not sure about your opening statement and if you were confessing about your troubled past or what, "My name is Josh, and I used to own Jeeps." Reminded me of one's opening statement in an AA meeting - LOL. Anyway, any questions are fair game here on the forum, so good luck and have fun with your new acquisition.

 

[gptoy96]

Also, I never had a locker in anything. I understand how they work, but I'm wondering how often is it actually needed? When can you activate it, do you have to be stopped?

Search for the grey (blue?) wire mod for your locker. I think it's grey for Tacoma's, blue for T4R's. Either way if you do it you can turn the locker on whenever you want to.

Glad to hear you ditched Heeps, welcome aboard!

Oh, and I thought I was bad. I'm on 30+ vehicles in my lifetime now too, but I'm 32. That's a great run for being 25!

 

[Opi]

My runner doesn't have a locker, but my Tacoma did. I know it says in the manual do be under 5mph when you activate it, the ECU also won't let you activate it over 5mph. But for safety's sake, be stopped. As you know, never lock it on the pavement, even if its got some snow on the road. The only time I used my locker was when I was stuck in a snow drift parked on the side of the road at a ski area. Being only a 2wd Tacoma, that locker still popped that thing right out of the snow (12" deep and icy and hard).

Your mpg's should be just fine after a decent tune up. By decent I mean plugs+wires, oil+filter, clean MAF+TB, clean air filter, bottle of STP fuel injector cleaner, seafoam (I haven't seafoamed yet, but I hear good things), and grease drive line. Being a car guy, you know how inexpensive that all will be.
You will want to look into the transmission oil too, if it hasn't been done yet, it need its. That is $80 at Toyota dealerships. And of course the timing belt/ water pump is $500+, unless you can somehow do it yourself.

Hope this helps a bit. :bigok: lets see some pics!

Thanks for the info on the locker, seems after reading around here, that it's not really used that much haha. The more I read about these trucks the more I like them.

I bought some oil, plugs, and seafoam... I have maybe a dumb question about plug wires on this motor. I see three exposed in the front, the guy at the autoparts store says there are 3 coils on the left side, I admittedly dont know much about plugs and wires and coils. Do these only have 3 wires and 3 coils or something how does this work? Here are a couple pics with no front tint or HID pictures (these were what the seller listed) pretty clean for almost 200k :cowboy: It was a California truck until Jan 2010 according to autocheck.

congrats on the your runner. I had Grand Cherokees since 1993 so I feel your pain on POS Jeeps. Your mileage does seem to be way off. Get it tuned up, that should help. What size tires do you have on it? Anyway, I've never used SeaFoam so I can't comment on that. As far as the HID kit (I'm assuming in a PnP kit?) is concerned, careful with that, you ARE blinding people. I had an HID kit on my 3rd gen 4R (same headlight) and blinded the hell out of everyone. Retros are the way to go. Anyway, good luck and welcome to the forum!

Haha, don't get me all wrong there will always be part of me that kind of enjoys Jeeps I just don't want to own them anymore after owning this 4runner so far. I guess as I feel like I'm getting older, my vehicular needs change into more grown up needs and I want something comfortable that doesnt death wobble or creak at every turn and pebble.

Tire size is 265/70/16 which I believe is stock. Big, but stock?

I definitely did not retrofit for the HID's, so far no one has flashed the lights at me at night, maybe it blinds them but the selfish part of me says who cares it doesnt blind me :bat: haha. Plus the guy I bought it from threw them in for free and installed them (that was his side business) Is there a nice projector that doesn't look horrible and isn't $500+ for these?

Welcome Josh. I also used to own a Jeep, and even though they are alot of fun and good on the trails, their life-span is much shorter than these 4runners. I was not sure about your opening statement and if you were confessing about your troubled past or what, "My name is Josh, and I used to own Jeeps." Reminded me of one's opening statement in an AA meeting - LOL. Anyway, any questions are fair game here on the forum, so good luck and have fun with your new acquisition.

Haha that was kind of my goal. I remember seeing an Xterra I think with a sticker that said, "I caught your Jeep thing and now it burns when I pee" across the back windshield and I always thought it was funny. Thanks also

Search for the grey (blue?) wire mod for your locker. I think it's grey for Tacoma's, blue for T4R's. Either way if you do it you can turn the locker on whenever you want to.

Glad to hear you ditched Heeps, welcome aboard!

Oh, and I thought I was bad. I'm on 30+ vehicles in my lifetime now too, but I'm 32. That's a great run for being 25!

That's pretty neat I did check it out. My parents and girlfriend are tiring of my car a.d.d. (or so they call it) and I kind of am too. it's a hassle going to the notary, calling insurance, paying fees etc etc. If I can get 100k out of this truck I will forever be a Toyota convert.

 

[CookieRoe]

Haha, don't get me all wrong there will always be part of me that kind of enjoys Jeeps I just don't want to own them anymore after owning this 4runner so far. I guess as I feel like I'm getting older, my vehicular needs change into more grown up needs and I want something comfortable that doesnt death wobble or creak at every turn and pebble.

Tire size is 265/70/16 which I believe is stock. Big, but stock?

I definitely did not retrofit for the HID's, so far no one has flashed the lights at me at night, maybe it blinds them but the selfish part of me says who cares it doesnt blind me :bat: haha. Plus the guy I bought it from threw them in for free and installed them (that was his side business) Is there a nice projector that doesn't look horrible and isn't $500+ for these?
.

Yeah, I always had a thing for them, but "the BS doesn't stop". It's nice concentrating on cool mods as opposed to concentrating on "fixes", . As far as the HIDs, if you get flashed, what I did when I was in South America was to adjust them to as low as you can (this helps). The projectors for your generation (4R) I could NEVER find when I did look. I'd leave them as is! ...........the tire size you mentioned SHOULD NOT affect you mpgs. Anyway, good luck with your rig!

 

[Opi]

another question: my brake light was on this morning for a few seconds as i drove up my hill but the e brake was off completely. does that mean im low on fluid or something?

 

[CookieRoe]

another question: my brake light was on this morning for a few seconds as i drove up my hill but the e brake was off completely. does that mean im low on fluid or something?

probably nothing, obviously when you have your ebrake on, the light on the dash goes on, that sensor is probably loose or something.