I have a 1995 4runner (love it) got it for 4K one year ago and it just now has 140K miles on it. Lots of bumps and bruises but hey it’s character. Runs like a champ. But now it’s time to do some maintenance on it, and I would like a better answer than “Just burn it, get something new.” And “You are wasting your time.” This truck rescued my wife and our three little girls from a 2dr Chevy cavalier, saved us from a huge freaking car payment, and most importantly have kept us going through a hot summer and a wicked bad ice season. So I do not want to junk it.
First, is that I was told when I was buying new tires that I would need an alignment. Cool. The mechanic came back and said he couldn’t do the alignment unless we fixed the right and left idler arms. Long story short the total cost would have been $880 plus tires $450. We decided to wait before sinking that kind of money into it until I did some research.
Next, I noticed that at times while driving on the highway the acceleration pedal seems to be stiff, like resistance. I don’t lose speed but it just seems to not “get up and go.” And the other day I jumped up on I240 and the 4runner did not want to switch from 3rd to 4th. My RPM’s ran at 4000, I pulled over, put it in park waited a minute and then continued on, no issues. This has happened at least 3 times, and has become a bit more frequent.
Called transmission shop, ol’ boy basically said if it was the transmission then it’d be better to just sink that money into something newer. He said for him to fix it $1400-2400. I went up there this morning and he jumped in and he drove around. He said that it was very responsive. He also checked the fluid and said it looked very good. He then said to replace the TPS, and that’d probably fix the issue. $150 fix.
From what I described about the front-end, is that about the proper cost to have repaired? How about the second issue with the pedal and the TPS replacement? Can I replace the TPS without having to go to a mechanic?
Remember this 4runner carries my family around, and all five of us love the hell out of it. We are on a budget so good advice is needed. Oh and some of you have some awesome pics of your 4runners!
1995 4runner, V6, 4x4, 140Kmiles
First, is that I was told when I was buying new tires that I would need an alignment. Cool. The mechanic came back and said he couldn’t do the alignment unless we fixed the right and left idler arms. Long story short the total cost would have been $880 plus tires $450. We decided to wait before sinking that kind of money into it until I did some research.
Next, I noticed that at times while driving on the highway the acceleration pedal seems to be stiff, like resistance. I don’t lose speed but it just seems to not “get up and go.” And the other day I jumped up on I240 and the 4runner did not want to switch from 3rd to 4th. My RPM’s ran at 4000, I pulled over, put it in park waited a minute and then continued on, no issues. This has happened at least 3 times, and has become a bit more frequent.
Called transmission shop, ol’ boy basically said if it was the transmission then it’d be better to just sink that money into something newer. He said for him to fix it $1400-2400. I went up there this morning and he jumped in and he drove around. He said that it was very responsive. He also checked the fluid and said it looked very good. He then said to replace the TPS, and that’d probably fix the issue. $150 fix.
From what I described about the front-end, is that about the proper cost to have repaired? How about the second issue with the pedal and the TPS replacement? Can I replace the TPS without having to go to a mechanic?
Remember this 4runner carries my family around, and all five of us love the hell out of it. We are on a budget so good advice is needed. Oh and some of you have some awesome pics of your 4runners!
1995 4runner, V6, 4x4, 140Kmiles
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