Lville_974Runner
New member
I found this forum searching for what could possibly be wrong with my 4Runner. It's a completely stock 1997 limited 3.4L silver w/ fender flares and tan leather seats. It's got 238,000 miles and starting to show her age, bless her heart. It's partly my fault not having the funds to keep her tip top shape since she's a second vehicle and rarely driven at this time. I bought her at 148,000 miles from a guy who owed me money and since he was manager at a dealership, he cut me a deal on my 4Runner which was gonna be used to pull a boat trailer. The previous owner apparently didn't do his fair share of regular maintenance either because it was a company vehicle and you know maintenance can lapse on "non-personal" vehicles.
Hopefully, I can get some pointers and reference to good information, so I can try and get her in better health because she still drives good and has plenty of power left with no smoking and no oil leakage, after parking for extended periods of time. I believe the engine still has lots of life left, granted i get some issues taken care of ASAP like suspension(shocks), new radiator, water pump and good chemical flushing due to heating issues. Mostly though is the main problem I decided to join this place is because I think I have either a fuel related issue(fuel pump, fuel filter, etc), spark, or catalytic converter/02 Sensor problem, which I'll try to go more into detail when I find the appropriate place to go more into detail.
Anyways, It's nice to have a place like this to come explore and learn ways to better our vehicles because I'm not a mechanic, I'm a security alarm technician for ADT, but I do have a mechanical aptitude and plenty of hand tools. I think I will own a 4Runner as long as their still available cause I absolutely LOVE driving mine, even though it's mostly on the weekends; yet now it's not driveable. Hopefully that'll change though if I can get some ideas on how to fix her once i get a solid starting point from troubleshooting idea's learned her. Ok, I'm done!! I know my "New Member" intro is probably the longest to date, so I apologize if I bored anyone. Thanks to the forum creators for providing this place, much appreciated.
Hopefully, I can get some pointers and reference to good information, so I can try and get her in better health because she still drives good and has plenty of power left with no smoking and no oil leakage, after parking for extended periods of time. I believe the engine still has lots of life left, granted i get some issues taken care of ASAP like suspension(shocks), new radiator, water pump and good chemical flushing due to heating issues. Mostly though is the main problem I decided to join this place is because I think I have either a fuel related issue(fuel pump, fuel filter, etc), spark, or catalytic converter/02 Sensor problem, which I'll try to go more into detail when I find the appropriate place to go more into detail.
Anyways, It's nice to have a place like this to come explore and learn ways to better our vehicles because I'm not a mechanic, I'm a security alarm technician for ADT, but I do have a mechanical aptitude and plenty of hand tools. I think I will own a 4Runner as long as their still available cause I absolutely LOVE driving mine, even though it's mostly on the weekends; yet now it's not driveable. Hopefully that'll change though if I can get some ideas on how to fix her once i get a solid starting point from troubleshooting idea's learned her. Ok, I'm done!! I know my "New Member" intro is probably the longest to date, so I apologize if I bored anyone. Thanks to the forum creators for providing this place, much appreciated.
