New (to me) 2007 4Runner!!!

[LinuxHack3r]

I finally found what I believe to be an acceptable 4Runner to spend my money on. It wasn't really a steal, but as long as it proves to be a good vehicle I paid what I think was fair. It has some scuffs and dings, I'm considering taking it to a friend who owns a bodyshop and seeing wha the thinks could cheaply and reasonably be done to fix some of it.

Specs:

• 2007
• 111,000 Miles
• V6
• 4WD
• SR5
• Michelin Latitude Tour HP

So, overall I'm loving it. Although I will admit that I traded in a 2016 Ford Fusion with 52,000 miles for it took a bit of cash out of pocket too. Last night I stumbled upon the "Head Gasket" thread and now I am less sure of my purchase. I decided to purchase a 4Runner (my first foreign vehicle, period) because of the purported longevity of them. It seems 200,000, 300,000, and sometimes even 400,000 or 500,000 miles are the norm for these vehicles. I found mine at 111,000 and thought I'd take it to 200,000 and then sell it. But after looking through the head gasket thread I now feel as if at any point I could be looking at a $2,000-$3,000 repair bill just because of what may be "the luck of the draw". Is this a concern or is this concern generally overblown?

The "Tire Pressure" light is blinking and driving my bonkers. I checked the air in all five tires and there is about 32+ in each of them. I imagine at least one sensor's battery has died after 11 years. I plan on taking it by discount tire just to have the diagnose the issue. This looks like it would be a more expensive fix than I'd have imagined? I found this product and think it would work: Denso 550-0103. Honestly I don't mind driving it for a few weeks or months, but if I could do it cheaply I wouldn't mind making the TPMS fixed. If it isn't something that I could do cheaply then I have already seen that "disable mod" and will probably do it. Thoughts?

Where is a really good place to lookup parts, part numbers, etc? For example, each of the taillights have a small crack in them. They work, but I'd like to slow but surely purchase replacement parts here and there for various parts of the vehicle. I also plan on looking for such stuff at junkyards, but I always like to first find part numbers and see what I can find online, eBay, etc. Sometimes its easier and cheaper to just order stuff than mess with junkyards.

 

[wtmtnrunner]

parts choices

We had an '05 in that blue color which I loved, have the silver one now which is kinda blah... for parts you can go to partznet.com or Boch Toyota parts or anyone of the other parts dealers online. They have diagrams to identify the part and part number, mostly decent prices, then you can compare to ebay or amazon for genuine parts. I found a rear lift gate motor for less on ebay with free shipping than the parts stores but they were close. Good Luck!

 

[Bluesky 07]

Congrats and you’re in good shape. IIRC, the head gasket issue was fixed before the ‘07 model year & you can bypass the tire pressure system light.

Main things to worry about are frame rust (yours looks pretty good from what shows in the pics) and whether the 4WD engages properly. Be sure to engage the 4WD in all modes at least once a month. That keeps it working right. Search the forum on those topics and just read up in general. There is a LOT of great info and many helpful people here.

I bought my ‘07 in late 2014 at 96K. I’m at 149K now and still love it. IMO you’re selling your new truck short with a 200K goal. Find the thread on highest mileage 4th Gens. There are members here with 300K+.

Welcome and good luck!

 

[AuSeeker]

I believe you'll be safe on the head gasket issue, early 2006 and older 4Th Gens are the ones that are affected, since Toyota redesigned the V6 head gasket in late 2005, any V6 with a build date after 12/05 should be for the most part safe from head gasket failure due to the old designed head gasket.

I myself would fix the TPMS, but many here don't care for the system or would rather live without it then spend the money to replace the sensors, the Denso part number you posted appears to be the correct one at for my 2004 and should be for yours as well, you'll need to decide this on your own.

I use McGeorge Toyota in Richmond Virginia for buying my OEM parts for the most part, I have checked most if not all the online Toyota dealers and I haven't found any that sell for less then they do, a few other dealers sometimes come close but most are way more, they also ship very fast on all my orders, and as stated you can find all OEM part numbers at any online Toyota dealer's website, and yes if you don't mind using eBay you can find many OEM parts there and many times with free shipping, many Toyota dealers also sell on eBay.

Link to McGeorge's parts website.

https://toyotaparts.mcgeorgetoyota.com/

 

[Bluesky 07]

P.S. A couple more things I did when I bought mine:

- When you can, crawl around underneath with a wire brush and a can of rust reformer paint. Brush off any surface rust, wipe the area to clean it, and hit it with a couple of light coats of rust reformer a few minutes apart.

- The 4th Gen 4Runner has a sealed transmission. Research the "lifetime" transmission fluid debate and decide whether you want to change yours out. I did the research and it all comes down to how a car manufacturer defines "lifetime" vs. an owner. To them, and there's evidence supporting this, "lifetime" means the warranty period - around 100K miles. After that, it's your problem, not theirs.

It seems to me that no fluid, regardless of its purpose, can be reasonably expected to remain effective for the true lifetime of a vehicle. I thus chose to have my local dealer do a non-pressurized (<< that's important) full-exchange transmission flush. It was $205 out the door and money well spent IMO. It's not critical to do immediately, and you can DIY it too (there are many threads), but something to think about sooner rather than too much later.

Finally, I like Conicelli Toyota as an online parts source and here's an example of what your 4Runner can do. Mine was pretty close to stock when that run happened.

 

[gfxcruncher]

Nice Ride! (I'm a little biased tho since I have the exact same year/model/color)
I got mine at just over 150k and am at 175k now with no issues, been doing preventative maintenance along the way, I plan on driving this past the 300k mark if I can.

Good input and advice in the above posts.

 

[Supersonic]

One other thing to be aware of, stretched timing chain, actually this video made me feel better if I ever had to do the head gasket, I've got the 2005 4Runner 4.0L with 297K. I plan to have it forever, minimal surface rust and I won't drive it for winter.

-Episode 5- Replacing a stretched timing chain on a Toyota 4.0L V6 - P0016
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UR50da0sDOc

Just before 12 minutes he has the water pump pulley off and finds the water pump is going bad too.

 

[Shotgun_Opera]

That's super cool. I just bought an '07 in silver (I was a bit bummed about the color) but everything seemed solid. It's in the shop right now for some tune-up work but it's at 151k miles right now with minimal rust so I'm happy.

I'm looking for a bumper for a winch as my next upgrade as well as the headlights because the stock ones are pretty terrible.

 

[Bluesky 07]

That's super cool. I just bought an '07 in silver (I was a bit bummed about the color) but everything seemed solid. It's in the shop right now for some tune-up work but it's at 151k miles right now with minimal rust so I'm happy.

I'm looking for a bumper for a winch as my next upgrade as well as the headlights because the stock ones are pretty terrible.

A link to my build thread is in my sig. There you will find links to the bumper I plan to go with as well as a headlight bulb upgrade in case either would be helpful.

Titanium Metallic rocks btw.

 

[thennen]

Congratulations, and welcome! I'm not a 4th Gen owner, but I took a 1st Gen (1988) from 0 to 305k miles, and currently own a 3rd Gen (2001) with 265k miles and running strong. Also just bought a 2019, same color as your '07! So obviously I'm fine with 4Runners.

I don't mod mine, basically because I don't really off-road much, and the vehicle will do all I need in stock trim. As you've seen already, there's a ton of experience here and guys willing to help, so I think you have no worries. Of course, any used vehicle could have been abused, but 4Runners handle abuse better than most vehicles. And as Bluesky said, 200k miles is a very low target to aim for. Just regular maintenance will take you to 300k.

So again, congrats and welcome. Enjoy the ride!

 

[Cedarparktoyota]

Nice find, great color! 111k is just a baby, I've personally seen 500k 1GR's.

As mentioned earlier, make sure you use all the functions of 4WD monthly, to keep the actuator from freezing up. Diff lock too.

I'm a parts vendor here, so shoot me an email or a PM if you need anything for the new ride. I give T4R members 15-20% off.

Cheers!

 

[Snagglepus]

Nice clean 4 Runner-Fuel Door Fix Part 1

I also just purchased a silver 2007, now with 169k miles. I just tucked it in the garage for the winter after a 2k miles trip over 6 snowy mountain passes, across windy open prairie and through winding Indian Reservation roads. It performed like a champ. But as expected on my 2 night trip I found several little things that need immediate attention. One such fix is a rusty pin on the fuel door.

Since we need to accumulate 15 posts before we can create a thread I hope others with similar problems will be able to find this post here.

My fuel door was not closing flush on my trip from Chicago. I needed to push it flat and then still worried that the wind might rip it off. I noticed that the hinge pin on the fuel door had rusted through and the door was hanging on the pin. Here is my DIY Fix. I will continue with a second post to show putting it together and the finished project.

 

[Snagglepus]

Fuel Door Fix-Part 2

After removing, matching and cleaning the fabricated pin its time to insert the new pin in the bracket on the car. Start from the top and clip the bottom hinge on the door over the pin. Its important to leave the top door bracket open to allow you to shove the hook into the holder on the door. Use large pliers to close the hinge brackets around the pin. Reattach the spring and reattach the cap strap.

 

[SCT2018T4R]

I just picked up a 2005 V8 with about 125k miles. We purchased it from a family member and some service records were available. The timing belt was done around 90k and it had a brake fluid flush, coolant flush and all oil changed.

I changed the front and rear differential fluid, transfer case fluid, greased the 6 driveline points, changed the oil, did a basic drain and refill of the transmission fluid (got 2.25 qts when drained) and did a basic power steering fluid flush.

Those items are relatively easy to do yourself if you have some mechanical know how.

 

[ran]

That's super cool. I just bought an '07 in silver (I was a bit bummed about the color) but everything seemed solid. It's in the shop right now for some tune-up work but it's at 151k miles right now with minimal rust so I'm happy.

I'm looking for a bumper for a winch as my next upgrade as well as the headlights because the stock ones are pretty terrible.

I bought a '07 in silver, that or a Limited, in late 2007. 44,XXX now in good shape.

 

[bsa70]

Ok, gotta ask, what did you pay for it. Big problem is frame rot and surprised yours is that clean. I have seen some really bad frames. Fix the tire sensor, believe me, its worth having.

Do not go without changing the transmission fluid. That lifetime claim is just silly. If yours has not been changed since rolling off the line, it is highly contaminated with a lot of bad stuff.

The best transmission service is a dealership flush evey 40k miles. A flush is fine as long as you start out that way.

In your case, if has never been flushed. Remove the transmission cooler line, crank the engine, pump out old stuff and put in new.

I question your thinking on getting rid of it only driving it 100k miles. If you wait til 200k it will greatly depreciate due to hitting that mileage mark. You re much better to drive it til the wheels fall off if $$$ is a concern.

 

[Dubbs_Malone]

Looks great, man.

 

[hfishman]

Great work! I'm having the same problem with the hinge pin rusting. Is there an actual OEM part number for the hinge? Or do I have to fabricate one or buy an entire new door?

 

[AuSeeker]

Great work! I'm having the same problem with the hinge pin rusting. Is there an actual OEM part number for the hinge? Or do I have to fabricate one or buy an entire new door?

You can't just get the hinge because it's spot welded to the fuel door.

You'll have to get the door to get the hinge and then have it painted, it only comes primed, or repair/replaced your hinge pin as Snagglepus did.

 

[hfishman]

Thanks for the quick reply. I'll give it a shot...