newbie and already having issues

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richiegrich

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hey guys! i just purchased a 86 4runner for 2900 with 186000 miles on it. as im driving it home from the sac area it starts to overheat. i pull over and walk to a kragen and swap out the thermostat since there was no visible leaks. drive another 45 min or so and once i got over 60mph i noticed the gauge going up again. i pulled over once it started getting a little high again and then the shit hit the fan. water started spewing out of the block and it seemed as if all my coolant had left the building. to make matters worse as im getting the truck towed the sunroof flies off if the truck and shatters on the highway. pretty nice little sunday.. anyways any help suggestions would be great. im thinking about just getting a new motor for it cause id imagine that one is probably toast. also if anybody knows of a place with old sunroofs holla. thanks
 
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couldn't see exactly where it was coming from but it was from under the engine. the radiator wasn't leaking at all. i just got back from the shop where it is and they said theyre gonna replace the radiator because the old one was extremely sludgy. im pretty sure the truck had been sitting for a year or two so im hoping that thats the only problem. anybodys have any suggestions on where to pick up a new sunroof? called all the pick and pulls up here and no luck.
 
I'm seeing them as cheap as $40-$50 - Car-Part.com--Used Auto Parts Market

But that doesn't include shipping.

I'm hitting up the pull n pay yards here all the time for parts for my '90. Do you (or anyone) know if the pickup/4runner sunroofs are the same or if they kept the same ones through the 89-95 year range as well? With the right information I could take a look. Sunroof glass is $22 and sunroof complete is $50. If you need just the glass I'd be happy to look next time I go (probably this week) and see what I see. There is an '88 4runner dlx and an 88 pickup at the yard.

I'm pretty new to Toyota as well, but from what I can tell it is a pretty tight knit community! Maybe all of us who see you post can check at the pull n pays and help you out! Somebody's gotta have a sunroof in a yard near them! Like I said, if I go this week and I see the one with glass I'll pull it for ya. The yotayard out here probably has one, likely Jim's as well, but you'll pay more than the pull n pay yards.
 
richiegrich said:
couldn't see exactly where it was coming from but it was from under the engine. the radiator wasn't leaking at all. i just got back from the shop where it is and they said theyre gonna replace the radiator because the old one was extremely sludgy. im pretty sure the truck had been sitting for a year or two so im hoping that thats the only problem. anybodys have any suggestions on where to pick up a new sunroof? called all the pick and pulls up here and no luck.
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I'm thinking about your overheating issue...maybe the freeze plug behind where the tranny is? I would clean up everything real good and then pour in some water and test it and see if you can find where a leak is coming from. Also check that headgasket as the danger of overheating is warping the head/block interface.

If it turns out your issue runs deeper, don't give up. There are some great posts here about guys that have done headgasket repairs and such. Removing the engine is a little bit more involved than just taking the head off, but I'd imagine you might have some T4R/Yotatech/Pirate4x4 guys near you and they'd probably enjoy tearing into an engine and helping a guy out. Would be cheaper than a shop by a mile for labor ($$$).
 
If its not the radiator, then it sounds like either a hose or water pump failed... unless you blew a gigantic hole in the block
 
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thanks for the feedback guys. i'm going back up north to pick up the truck tomorrow. hopefully it makes it back to the city in one piece. does anybody know if all of the first gen sunroofs are compatible? i think i may have found an 89 that i can have shipped to me. these things are hard to find! thanks again for the helpful responses and i'll keep ya posted on how the engine is running.
 
Red Leader said:
Any updates? How's she runnin'? Hopefully you'll get your glass soon and it will still be in one piece when it arrives!
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she's running okay for now. a lil ruff but haven;t had a chance to go over the engine thoroughly yet.( it sucks not having a garage or car port to work on your truck in) i'm starting to have starting issues every now and then. i think im going to do some rewiring this week as it seems as if this is a common issue with 1st gens. kidvermicious did a write up on it and i think that will help. i just picked up the new sunroof and of course it doesnt fit :nono: turns out that it has an aftermarket sunroof and i can't find any replacements online anywhere. i'm pretty sure they installed it in the 80's. i think i'm gonna have to go the home depot route and cut some lexan and glue and screw that bad boy in. this truck is turning into one big nightmare and to top it all off some dipshit broke into her and stole all of my tools out of it. all i can do is imagine how nice it will feel when i get this thing up and running properly with the top off and a cold one in my hand.. if anybody has any thoughts recommendations on sunroof replacements anything helps as im a novice to this game.. thanks again for all the help
 
Do you want the sunroof? If so, get a complete OEM sunroof from a wrecker with a 5-6 inches of metal around it, cut a hole, and weld it in.
 
IF you need engine rebuilt or decide to get replacement engine, Sinece you're in the Bay area, check out 22reperformance.com; Great reviews/feedback. Too good, its leadtime is months. If not for the leadtime, i would have bought from it.
 
Dude, sorry to hear about all the trouble. That sucks that it got broken into. I hear that the 1st gens especially are prone to thefts, that they share the same key as the toyota cressida? I'm not the 1st gen expert so someone else may have to chime in on that.

The roof...that's a tough one. If you've got a good sunroof now, I'd hold onto it. What that means is that if there are any pull n pay lots near you that one may eventually pop up at, there is a good chance that the glass will be gone rather quick, but since you have the glass its no big deal. Like Kid V said you could just cut the whole thing out, minus the glass, and then put it all together. That's weird though...so I wonder if your truck originally just came without a sunroof. Is the company still around? Is it a generic thing? I'm betting that you could sell off the OEM glass and get the thing that fits right if it is still available somehow. That way you wouldn't have to bust out a welder, but is totally dependent on getting the exactly right thing, which may be impossible.

As far as starting issues, I remember reading something about a wiring issue that some of the 1st gens had with the starter relay I believe. Here is the link for that -

RAD4Runner's 1986 4Runner dlx Build-up - YotaTech Forums

Don't know if that is the same issue, but might be something to check out.

Mine (a 1990) failed to start a couple times and I found a pretty big break in the main lead battery wire. Still need to fix, but that would be a little more obvious as everything is shut off (lights, noise from key in ignition, etc).

Don't give up! We're here for ya man!:cheer2::grouphug:


EDIT: haha, I links to RAD4runner's post about the click-start issue only to realize he was the poster right above me lol. Awesome!
 
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Red Leader said:
...
As far as starting issues, I remember reading something about a wiring issue that some of the 1st gens had with the starter relay I believe...
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Don't give up! We're here for ya man!:cheer2::grouphug:
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Amen! My cousin's grandson (hence, my grand-nephew - OMG, I feel so old now- LOL!) say's that he likes to ride my truck. I asked him, "Why", and he said, "Because it's indestructible." "What makes you say that?", I asked. He replies, that he saw it on Top Gear's Killing a Toyota feature. :)

Couple of important things first-gens need are a good inspection, correction of hacks and abuses/neglect that previous owners did to restore it to stock, and fixing the stock items that Toyota electrical engineers of those days messed up.

EDIT: haha, I links to RAD4runner's post about the click-start issue only to realize he was the poster right above me lol. Awesome!
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LOL! Tnx, Dude.

Actually, we're discussing starting issue on O.P.'s other post here

Would like to know what month Richiegrich's 4Runner was made because his does not have a starter relay, while mine, made in August 1986 has it.
 
KidVermicious said:
Me too. I forget what month my '86 was, but it didn't have the factory relay.
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hey guys, so after a week of looking online and through pick and pull yards i decided that my best bet was to just get a piece of lexan cut out and screw that sucker in into the frame of the old sunroof. already got the piece (90 bucks) and am going to install it tomorrow at a buddies house. i'll be sure to take picks. any advice before i drill away? i bought some heavy duty glue made for plastics. also, how do i find out what month my truck was made?
 
home depot sunroof

just thought i'd update you guys on the sunroof. drilled that bad boy in today and i think it looks pretty good! think it matches the truck. need to find a lil dremel and saw down those screws before i bust my head on a speed bump. i also swapped out my negative battery cable and so far so good with the starting problems. I was at kragen buying all of the parts to install the relay and the guy at the counter chimed in and told me he had the same problem with his old 4runner and it ended up being the battery cable. It definitely sounds a little stronger when i try and start it. not sure if im just making things up in my head, but its starting better so hooray!:banana:
 
KidVermicious said:
Do you want the sunroof? If so, get a complete OEM sunroof from a wrecker with a 5-6 inches of metal around it, cut a hole, and weld it in.
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Ugh why did I read this. I've been piecing together mine, to have it the way I want it, now I'm thinking of punching a hole in mine.
 
richiegrich said:
just thought i'd update you guys on the sunroof. drilled that bad boy in today and i think it looks pretty good! think it matches the truck. need to find a lil dremel and saw down those screws before i bust my head on a speed bump. i also swapped out my negative battery cable and so far so good with the starting problems. I was at kragen buying all of the parts to install the relay and the guy at the counter chimed in and told me he had the same problem with his old 4runner and it ended up being the battery cable. It definitely sounds a little stronger when i try and start it. not sure if im just making things up in my head, but its starting better so hooray!:banana:
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my bad.. heres some pics
 

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RAD4Runner said:
Amen! My cousin's grandson (hence, my grand-nephew - OMG, I feel so old now- LOL!) say's that he likes to ride my truck. I asked him, "Why", and he said, "Because it's indestructible." "What makes you say that?", I asked. He replies, that he saw it on Top Gear's Killing a Toyota feature. :)

Couple of important things first-gens need are a good inspection, correction of hacks and abuses/neglect that previous owners did to restore it to stock, and fixing the stock items that Toyota electrical engineers of those days messed up.



LOL! Tnx, Dude.

Actually, we're discussing starting issue on O.P.'s other post here

Would like to know what month Richiegrich's 4Runner was made because his does not have a starter relay, while mine, made in August 1986 has it.
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just found out that my 4runner was made in february.
 
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