My runners project log

[niteman]

I posted pics up in the 2nd gen picture thread yesterday.

I just picked up my 94 3VZE runner on Sunday and wanted to start a project log of sorts. I won't really be doing mods or altering much as it's sitting in near showroom condition right now. I have aspirations of this fine truck being my DD for years to come. Oh, and I've wanted one of these trucks since they were new and I was in high school

So far:

- Bronze Johnson here on the forum gave me the tip on how to make the front end stop making that grinding sound when turning and hitting a bump. Turns out I just needed to grease the steering stops. I love easy fixes.
- I noticed an oil leak and had the shop quote valve and intake gaskets.
- Also had shop quote timing belt, water pump, and drive belts
- I want to swap plugs to the new E3 one's and change out to new plug wires soon.
- Rear main seal is leaking slightly. It's an auto and I read that this may not be a big issue for the time being. I will look into dong it at some point though, just not wanting to have to drop tranny right now.
- May look into doing front end job and replacing bushings and any worn components but hoping to wait a bit on this one too.
- Coolant flush, tranny flush, rear end lube, and fuel filter were done just before I bought it so we should be good there.

Other than those thing, this truck is in frickin museum condition on the body and interior. I am worried/mindful of the dreaded head gasket issue but don't really know any preventative measures to take on that other than to keep an eye on it and do t if it comes up.

That's all for now. Just thought it'd be nice to have this listed out and welcome any comments or suggestions.

thanks, :hatsoff:

 

[cztheman64]

pics are all a build thread needs!

 

[niteman]

Don't have too many pics since I just got her, but here's a few showing current condition for now.

 

[cztheman64]

dang man that thing is practly brand new... its got no miles on it!

 

[niteman]

Thanks man! I know! I am so stoked to have found this thing like this! The only way this could have been better is if it was 5spd and 4wd.

I vow to take very good care of her for all of us who appreciate these classic runners. .

 

[Bad_Vision]

with the tinting and visors it looks like an explorer

 

[niteman]

True, it does look a little like an explorer. However the tint is a must in the Florida sun and the rain visors for the windows are just plain handy to me, so I guess I don't mind it too much.

 

[niteman]

Update for today:

I went ahead and had the shop do the timing belt kit, serpentine belts, replace the leaky valve and intake gaskets, and had them throw the plugs and wires on it while they were in there. I decided against the E3 plugs figuring they were more of a gimmik than anything and went with the Toyota recommded NGK plugs and wires.

The truck seems to run even better now. However, after I drove home, parked it for a while and then we went to go to dinner, the check engine light came on...the truck was still running great, the oil level was fine, the coolant level was fine, the temp was fine, all seemed normal except now the damn engine light is on and it's got me concerned.

I found a thread on here about how to pull the codes for free so I am going to bookmark that baby and utilize that if need be. First though I'm going to take it back to the shop and see what they find since it was fine before they did the work.

On a side note, I really prefer to do most simple and common maintenance myself and almost wish i had this time. I've done most of the work to all my bikes and most of my cars/trucks barring very large projects or those under warranty. I just wish i had the time to do these things myself now.

Oh, and I thought more about the comment on it looking like an explorer...it must just be the angle of the pic 'cause one of our employees has an explorer and i have to say this truck looks sooo much better lol. Either way I still like it.

 

[Bad_Vision]

if its running good then disconnect the battery for a few minutes and then reconnect this will reset the ECU and if the problem is a problem and not just that a sensor got bumped the light will come back on.

On a side note you did everything for the intake side but dont forget that the EGR and O2 sensor are part of good running condition and MPG its possible with all the new stuff and all the banging around loosened up some carbon in the EGR and its causing a Slightly lean mixture so the engine light would be on because the O2 sensor would say so?

 

["JV"]

Niteman, I just bought my daughter a 95 4 Runner with the 3.0 eng. It has what I call fairly bad oil leaks and I am assuming it's the valve cover gaskets.

What sort of $$ am I looking at if I have the shop repair it such as your was done? Gaskets, timing belt and so forth.

Thanks.

 

[niteman]

if its running good then disconnect the battery for a few minutes and then reconnect this will reset the ECU and if the problem is a problem and not just that a sensor got bumped the light will come back on.

On a side note you did everything for the intake side but dont forget that the EGR and O2 sensor are part of good running condition and MPG its possible with all the new stuff and all the banging around loosened up some carbon in the EGR and its causing a Slightly lean mixture so the engine light would be on because the O2 sensor would say so?

I disconnected the battery as suggested and thought that handled the check engine light as it styaed off for most of the day yesterday. Last night I hit a bump in the road and it came back on. Hm... something must be loose. I checked the engine and all looked good without running the codes. I did notice an open vacuum point, but haven't tracked down a diagram yet to see if it's supposed to be that way and didn't notice any loose lines that would go there. Going to look into that more tomorrow. Here's a pic of the open vacuum point:

Niteman, I just bought my daughter a 95 4 Runner with the 3.0 eng. It has what I call fairly bad oil leaks and I am assuming it's the valve cover gaskets.

What sort of $$ am I looking at if I have the shop repair it such as your was done? Gaskets, timing belt and so forth.

Thanks.

Well, the gaksets, timing belt kit w/water pump and oil cooler, all three serpentine belts, plugs, wires, oil change, coolant flush, et al was just shy of $1200.00 including all labor, parts, and diagnostic. You're looking at about $640 just for parts for what I did.
If it's just the valve cover gaskets and you replace those to stop the leak and do the intake gasket too, you're looking at only ~$50.00 in parts and about $150 in labor.
I could have done all this much cheaper myself if I had the time a couple more tools but could not at this time and just needed to be on the road and dependable. Hope that helped.

 

["JV"]

Thanks. The do it myself route is sounding good now. I'm in the process of getting it degreased to find the source if possible before I start tearing it apart.

 

[niteman]

The DIY route will be much cheaper than even a good shop. Parts seem cheap for these...labor's a b$tch. I wich I had the time and could've saved the $$.

The bottom of the engine on the passenger side was pretty wet with oil on mine and the valve cover was definitely the culprit. No oil leaking anywhere now except for a tiny bit at the rear main seal.

Good luck with your daughter's rig.

 

["JV"]

The more I look at this thing the more I like it....If I start to show it any more "love" she may just SOL on getting her hands on it. :lmao:

 

[niteman]

The more I look at this thing the more I like it....If I start to show it any more "love" she may just SOL on getting her hands on it. :lmao:

That's what I'm talking about :beer:

 

[niteman]

A few things done recently

After looking at some of the other project logs on here, I'm ashamed to call mine the same. Mine should be called "little things here and there" or maybe "upkeep log" lol.

Anyway, recently I got very tired and annoyed by the 17yr old stock stereo and decided something had to be done about it. I won't incorporate the stereo and speaker swap into this thread (I got's lots of pics and will create a thread solely for that ), but I will add a link to the photo gallery for now which has all the pics just without commentary if anyone would like to see it.

The quick of it:
- I grabbed an <a href="http://www.crutchfield.com/s_500CDA105/Alpine-CDA-105.html?ssi=0&tp=27783">Alpine CDA-105 headunit</a> from crutchfield. This unit had exactly what I was looking for with rear usb input, ipod control, aux input, 3 pairs pre outs, alpine sound processor and multi eq expandability, and most of all great sound. Picked it up for ~$170.00.
- I also picked up some <a href="http://www.crutchfield.com/s_2068KS400/Kicker-KS400.html?ssi=0&tp=27794">Kicker KS400's</a>. Not my first choice but they were also "signature" products and they fit (sorta) the factory openings. They actually sound very good, but I would've preferred components.

The only semi custom thing I did during this install was swap the location of the "bin" from below the stereo to above it. This moved the headunit into a more appropriate position so the cupholders don't obstruct the view now (that was really annoying).

All in all the install went well and without any mishaps. The instructions from crutchfiled are spot on and the fact that they include those and the wiring harness with the purchase is just fantastic. <a href="http://www.dropbox.com/gallery/9722508/2/94%204runner/94runner%20stereo%20install?h=8b90e8">Here's the pics if interested</a>:

One note on the stereo install. Definitely remember to wire the remote ant lead and the amp lead from the new harness to the power ant lead so that the rear speakers will work when using the cd or aux inputs. Doing this keeps the power ant "on" at all times when stereo is on thus providing power to the rear speaker factory amp(s). I will fix this issue at a later date when I get new rear speakers.

That's all I have for now, I'll work on a more comprehensive write up of the stereo install later for anyone who could benefit from it.

 

[DSpease15]

Niteman, I just bought my daughter a 95 4 Runner with the 3.0 eng. It has what I call fairly bad oil leaks and I am assuming it's the valve cover gaskets.

What sort of $$ am I looking at if I have the shop repair it such as your was done? Gaskets, timing belt and so forth.

Thanks.

You may be looking at around $200-300, labor included. I just had mine done last weekend for $175. The reason why is I had my own mechanic to do it for me.