Riggsy's Family Runner- 98 Limited

[riggsy]

Having a couple of driving age teenagers, I took a poll of family drivers, and the 4Runner was something on the list, so I spent some time watching Craigslist, and landed a "good deal" on 98 Limited 4Runner, 3.4 2WD. 136K on the odometer, but purchased mileage exempt due to age.

$2600

And here my story begins....

 

[riggsy]

I'll write up a summary and detail of the things I've done to date( may take a few posts), but at the price I paid, I expected there to be some issues with the vehicle, and planned on sinking some money into it to get it to safe and reliable point.

Out of the gate I noticed several things. I will post about each of these items as I try to get them sorted.

1. It handles very rough, and on a good bump there is a clacking noise front left.

2. The brakes are soft, and there is excessive travel in the brake pedal. They pump up firm with the vehicle off, but get soft when the vehicle is started.

3. The transmission has a whine to it. In park it is fine, in drive or reverse, it whines. There isn't any slipping that I notice yet.

4. The sunroof is leaking

5. The leather seats are ripped, and the power functions mostly don't work, and interior is pretty thrashed and smells like dog and oil, and blech.

6. The underside of the vehicle is coated in oil, the drivers side of the engine has a wet appearance, so I suspect a leak somewhere on that side.


First steps, I had the transmission fluid flushed, and the brake system flushed and bleed. Primarily to know that it had been done. Neither of which had a positive effect on the related problems. Still transmission whine, and soft brakes with excessive travel.

The brake system will require further investigation. The transmission I will live with for now. If it starts to slip, I'll deal with a swap or rebuild at that time.

 

[T4R2014]

A whine with only 136k sounds sketchy. I'd research the hell out of that VIN to see if it was rolled back. Judging by the front bumper, this 4Runner probably has accident history.

 

[riggsy]

I did register it at Toyota, and found a single dealer record in 2010, at 141K.

So for certain, the milage is off. In Washington, it's OK, as long as the vehicle is over 10 years old, you can classify it mileage exempt, which is what he told me up front.

Although the seller failed to mention it, there was an accident, I'll post about that with some details, you'll be entertained. I've had several :wtf: moments with this vehicle recently.

Just remember, good deal is in quotes in my first post...

 

[riggsy]

The Accident

As T4R2014 so sagely pointed out, the front end has some bumper issues that would point in the direction of an accident.

What I found was nothing short of amazing.

In test driving the vehicle, I did get it out on the freeway, and at speed (upwards of 80), nothing squirrely or weird, handled fine.

Post purchase, and some days later, I crawled underneath the vehicle to get a better look at what might be leaking and found this when I got a good look at the frame member:

At first I said :wtf: the frame is cracked, but as I stared at it in disbelief (and had a good friend who is way more car savvy come over and take a look), we find that it wasn't cracked, but was cut, on both sides, and then crappily welded back in place, and then slathered over with bondo. And the crappy welds didn't hold.

Are we having fun yet?

My good friend has built his share of rally and race cars, so I deferred to his judgment as to what to do. He said the wheel alignment is only slight off, with plenty of adjustment left, so reinforcement would be fine.

I said I'd do the work if he directed my efforts.

After a couple nights in the damn cold, under the vehicle with an angle grinder, here is what I prepped:

The next step, I bought a 1/4" steel plate roughly 2 feet by 8 inches, and using cardboard made a template of the frame member.

Then traced the frame member onto the steel plate, cut it out with a plasma cutter (added a couple of round holes, so we could put in some rosettes), and then welded it into place:

So the finished repair, with frame paint (still wet in this photo).

Good deal..... to be continued.


Riggsy

 

[RogueYota]

Damn... I am curious to see what other "awesomeness" you find on this pile. j/k Looks like you have your work cut out for you. Good luck!

 

[wslytoy]

WOW!!! The frame condition would make me wonder what else the naked eye hasn't seen. It's crazy what people will do to "repair" or hide a needed repair.

 

[riggsy]

1. It Handles Rough

So beyond my frame adventure, the vehicle handles very rough, feel every bump.

The first thing to go was the 20" rims and tires. These were steel rims, so heavy, and we're more a "head out and go hiking/camping/snowboarding" than we are "rollin Rainier, and the jealous wanna get some"

Found a set of tires and rims on craigslist for not a lot of $, and now we look more:

Note the picture of a teenager captured in the wild, freshly out of drivers ed class. He certainly looks thrilled to be having is photo taken.

On further investigation, this vehicle had the original shocks and struts on it.

:thumb:

After using the forum for some research( every thing I've done to this vehicle has largely been researched and mined from this site, without ever having to post) I ended up putting on Bilstein 4600's on the rear, and Bilstein struts on the front.

World of difference!

In taking off the Boss rims, I learned this other cool thing

Gorilla lugs masquerade pretty well as 17mm lug nuts. I got one wheel off, and halfway through another before I got this stuck in the impact socket. It's still stuck, heat nor muscle, nor throwing it on the grand, nor hitting it with a sledge would free it. I ended up buying another set of sockets, cuz, well... toolz!

:flame:

So with a normal set of rims and tires, and the shocks/struts replaced, it's a much better ride.

So #1 marked of my list

To be continued....

 

[1996_Valencia_Owen]

Oh great. I am going to have nightmares tonight that I bought this 4runner instead of my own lol. Crikey.

 

[riggsy]

Heh, I have my moments with this, but largely I just try to move forward. I've kicked myself a few times thinking "I should have took a closer look", but generally, the body is in ok shape, and the motor is running very well. One of the cut frame member theories is that they did it to slide a new engine in, in some kind of backwoods mechanic scenario.

I'm doing most of the work myself, and have learned a lot about 4runners in the process.

Without knowing the vehicles history, and having found the frame issue, I'm likely going through more things on the vehicle than I normally would, just to establish a baseline of "known good"

The goal of this vehicle is "reliable transportation". As long as it is safe, and to my level of cleanliness/maintenance, I'm doing OK

riggsy