New to me 4runner, how to prioritize repairs?

M

mud4runner

New member
Hey guys!

Picked up a 98 4Runner 2WD 2.7cyl auto last week! She runs great(in terms of transmission and engine), no rust on underbody or really anywhere.
Had to get a new gas cap, wipers, left headlight bulb, new windshield rear 3rd brake light bulb to pass safety/emissions & get 'er registered. Cost me about $180 in total, not bad at all.

Got her for $1800, has about 164k miles. Previous owner had no maintenance records & told me it sat for a year but he had driven in the past week with no issues.

Took it to the Toyota dealership this weekend for a post-purchase inspection & they told me the truck was in good shape overall. However, they did have a list of several "small" issues...which kind of built up. I'm hoping to do most of it on my own in conjunction with mods I planned on doing anyways!

The mods I want to do soon:
Swap aftermarket 15" rims for 16" toyota stock rims from junkyard.
Upgrade front & rear shocks/struts
2.5-3" lift(idk which is...better?)
Front & rear leather seat swap from junkyard

Repairs the Toyota dealership has suggested(nothing URGENT per se):

Radiator & radiator hoses replacement.
Replace all 3 drive belts
Replace oil filter gasket(small leak found when oil change with full synthetic was done)
Turn rotors(pads are in great shape)
Replace spark plugs & wires
Replace engine air filter
Front sway bar link, front shock absorbers
Rear sway bar(not sure if sway bar or something else), rear shock absorbers
Tires(not much tread left)
Power steering has a small leak into CV boots, so a replacement of the rack & pinion

In order of priority, which is most important to repair first? Which can be coordinated with a mod I mentioned above?

I have new spark plugs & wires & engine air filter installed...since these are super easy to do.

Looking forward to contributing a lot to this forum as I repair & mod my 4runner! It's my first "beater" car and I really want to learn as much as possible when modding and repairing. Last car was an '11 5.0 Mustang and I was too scared to touch most things since it was under extended warranty haha
 
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Personally, I think a lift on a 2wd is pointless, but that's just me. If I had a 2wd, I'd actually think about lowering it a bit (2" max).

Radiator and Rad hoses would be my first repair, especially with an Automatic.
Then you won't have to worry about a Pink Milkshake situation.

Then work on steering and suspension components. Triple check your LBJ's (lower ball joints) although with 164K on the odo and it being a 2wd, it might not be as much of an issue, but not something that should be dismissed.

Lower Ball Joints and the Trans Cooler in the radiator are the Achilles heals of the 3rd Gen 4runner.

Sway bars links/bushings aren't detrimental, but if you're doing anything with the suspension/steering, lump that in there as well.

I don't know much about the 2.7L, but you may wanna focus your attention on the leaks and belts here after that.. especially if the 2.7L is an interference-type engine. I honestly don't know whether it is or not.

Tires should be somewhat of a priority as well. I think the '98 is like the '97 in the sense that there is no traction control or Vehicle Stability control. It's plain old school RWD action.. which means you are relying solely on driver skill and tires for traction.

I'm not an expert mechanic or anything, so take my suggestions lightly. I'm just listing what I would do based off of my limited knowledge.
 
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Yep, I was thinking of doing the radiator first too due to pink milkshake issues...or maybe even getting an external trans cooler while I'm at it since I plan on towing my motorcycle anyways.

I asked the mechanic to check LBJs again just to make sure, they were fine!

2.7 is a non-interference engine & no timing belt, just timing chain! Drive belts I mentioned are basically power steering belt, ac compressor belt,etc.

In terms of the lift...honestly, I kinda just want the look lol i MAY get an e-locker in the future and/or do a 4wd swap(after feeling inspired by COB haha) but idk. I got this 4runner primarily because it's supposed to be a super reliable truck that can also do some light towing. This off roading bug kind of just bit me AFTER i bought it :)
 
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Seems like you want to modify the suspension, so I would hold off on the sway bars and shock absorbers.

Replace tires first so you can safely drive down the road.

Then I would replace anything that leaks:
  • Radiator and hoses (if leaking)
    If you replace the radiator, you will have more room to remove the drive belts.
  • Power Steering
  • Oil filter gasket? - The small O-ring around the oil filter? That seems relatively quick, but you will lose some oil in the process. I would wait into the next oil
change and keep an eye on the oil level.

Are the rotors warped or are they just grooved? If they are just grooved and I can't feel it when I brake, I wouldn't replace them. I don't recommend turning rotors, just replace the unit. New rotors from Duralast are about 34$ at autozone.
 
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Are you sure they said oil filter gasket?
When they changed the oil the new filter would have come with a new gasket unless they didn't change the filter.
 
Not sure what your budget is, but for safety I'd go tires first since your LBJ's are fine. I would get the 16" stockers (or new wheels if you can't get stocks cheap) you wanted at the same time. No point in buying tires for the 15's and 16's. I'd also recommend getting a 5th to replace your spare as well if you can budget it. At this point, the stockers will likely need to be refinished and you may end up ahead if you just get new wheels.

If you're still within spec for tread life and they're not that sketchy, then I'd do the radiator swap first assuming you won't have to push off getting tires that long to do this first. If you do it yourself, it shouldn't cost much. ~$200 for toyota/denso parts/fluids. I'd get the trans cooler at the same time. I'm just about to install a Hayden 678 (same as the TRD one but only around $50).

You don't have it on your list but cleaning the throttle body and MAF sensor is really easy and cheap to do.
 
spazzyone said:
Not sure what your budget is, but for safety I'd go tires first since your LBJ's are fine. I would get the 16" stockers (or new wheels if you can't get stocks cheap) you wanted at the same time. No point in buying tires for the 15's and 16's. I'd also recommend getting a 5th to replace your spare as well if you can budget it. At this point, the stockers will likely need to be refinished and you may end up ahead if you just get new wheels.

If you're still within spec for tread life and they're not that sketchy, then I'd do the radiator swap first assuming you won't have to push off getting tires that long to do this first. If you do it yourself, it shouldn't cost much. ~$200 for toyota/denso parts/fluids. I'd get the trans cooler at the same time. I'm just about to install a Hayden 678 (same as the TRD one but only around $50).

You don't have it on your list but cleaning the throttle body and MAF sensor is really easy and cheap to do.
Click to expand...

Yeah looks like I'll be doing the tire/wheel swap soon, the tread is pretty bad...hopefully I can pick up some wheels at a junkyard or ebay and then get new tires at Costco.

Good to know about the Hayden 678, will keep that in mind when I do the radiator swap!

I'm surprised the mechanic didn't mention the throttle body & MAF, that's one of the things I generally clean first too! The engine bay is pretty grimy and I'm gonna degrease it pretty soon lol. Will have to clean the TB & MAF after that
 
tpham18nm said:
Seems like you want to modify the suspension, so I would hold off on the sway bars and shock absorbers.

Replace tires first so you can safely drive down the road.

Then I would replace anything that leaks:
  • Radiator and hoses (if leaking)
    If you replace the radiator, you will have more room to remove the drive belts.
  • Power Steering
  • Oil filter gasket? - The small O-ring around the oil filter? That seems relatively quick, but you will lose some oil in the process. I would wait into the next oil
change and keep an eye on the oil level.

Are the rotors warped or are they just grooved? If they are just grooved and I can't feel it when I brake, I wouldn't replace them. I don't recommend turning rotors, just replace the unit. New rotors from Duralast are about 34$ at autozone.
Click to expand...


Hmm good tip about the room you get when replacing the radiator. I might go ahead and do the radiator swap, the transmission cooler, and the drive belts all at the same time...might take a full weekend for me though lol

The power steering grinds when I turn it fully to left or right but it's not bad other than that.
Not sure I want to wait until the next oil change to do the oil o-ring since
A. It's full synthetic, so the next oil change I do will be in 10k miles
B. I want to see what the cause of the leak is pretty soon...gonna monitor it for a couple months to see if the leak is minor or drastic. These dealerships scare you because they think you don't know anything about cars haha...I asked em if it was an oil pan leak & they said it wasn't. So as long as I don't have to replace my oil pan, I doubt the leak is all that bad.
 
Cheap improvements

Congrats on your new obsession!

These two things were not on your list, but if you have a little extra for improvements, consider changing your fuel filter (do not believe it when they say it's a lifetime part) and upgrading your front lights. You will not believe what a difference these two things make. @Burtman sells replacement front lights (if yours have yellowed out) and replacing fuel filter shouldn't be more than $40. Always buy OEM if possible. Good luck!
 
Been a lurker on many Toyota forums for nearly 20 years....New to an AUTO 3rd Gen(2 actually). I second the radiator swap asap. Not because I think you will get a pink milkshake this week, but because its cheap piece of mind, and you will end up changing most of the coolant which I feel a lot of VEHICLE owners don't really care about. We just took my wife's 2000 4Runner on an emergency 500 mile trip....no worries since I swapped a new Denso radiator a few weeks prior(though I believe it did have the original radiator @ 262,000).
 
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I took a quick read through the thread and I didn't see one of the most important items mentioned!

The thing that kills 3rz's is the valve clearances. Every 3rz I have seen at a wreckers has had the head removed, presumably by someone who killed their original. The V6 guys don't seem to have to do this, but with your new 3rz you will want to.

It's easy as pie to pop the valve cover off and see how yours are doing (you'll love this engine for wrenching on!). If they are within spec. you are good to go. If not, it's a little more involved to actually re-shim them.

Just don't choose to ignore it. There was someone a week or two ago who had cooked an engine by not checking. Great deal by the way!

Has Tim done a 3rz valve clearance video yet???
 
Welcome to the club! The 2.7 is an awesome engine, you're going to love it.

If you still have the original exhaust manifold I'd replace that with a header ASAP. The link below has some info on it. One of the major flaws with this engine is a crack develops on the original cast iron exhaust manifold. This allows extra air into the system and lead to tight or burn exhaust valves which is mentioned as a common issue by the above poster.
https://www.yotatech.com/f2/oem-mini-header-install-2-7l-pics-157752/index10.html

I'd also rethink the 16' wheel and lift unless you just like the look. The 2.7 4cylinder is already pretty slow and adding more wheel weight and wind resistance isn't going to help you out...especially with 2wd. Keeping it stock, you could get 23-24 MPG if you keep your engine it tip top shape and drive normally. I drive like an idiot and still usually get 21 MPG on the freeway even with a big roof box.

Also, when you replace the radiator, I'd go ahead and do the water pump and thermostat while you're at it. You'll already have the fluid drained and have good access with the radiator out.

I highly recommend new OEM lower ball joints before you get new tires. The ball joints will likely need to be done anyway and require an alignment after replacement. If you browse through this site, you'll find many reports of LBJ failures.

Good luck!
 
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I'd do radiator and LBJ's first. New tires aren't cheap and you can usually find good deals on Craigslist for 16" wheels plus used tires with decent tread left on them. Should last you another year or two. It's also summer coming up so no huge rush for big tread.
 
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