Successful day in the garage!

[trd_4runnin]

Well I had a successful day working on the 4Runner tonight. It has had some nagging problems lately, some of them are expensive fixes and some were just determining what was wrong and spending time on it.

First thing that needed addressed was the belt squeal. It's embarrassing to have a nice looking truck that is squealing all the time. I figured it was the alternator belt and it turned out to be so. Toyota's method for adjusting the alternator is simply genius so the lengthiest part of this was getting the tools out of the tool box.

Next was a fluctuating idle that made the whole truck shake and vibrate like crazy when stopped and in drive (idle would raise and truck would stop shaking if I shifted to neutral or park). Wasn't really sure which angle to take with this one but I started by blowing out the K&N with the air gun, and then spraying carb cleaner down the throttle body and wiping it out with a rag. My next efforts were going to be to clean the MAF sensor but I have to wait until I can score some electrical contact cleaner. This little bit of cleaning fixed the idle/shaking problem I have been having with my 4Runner for about a year now. I am very pleased!

 

[toytech76]

Dont use electrical contact cleaner. Use MAF cleaner. Its made just for that

 

[BigIron]

Good to hear the belt-squeal is easy to fix. My a/c belt squeals whenever the truck hits about 3k RPMs, something I'm gonna fix this weekend. I have a Haynes/Chiltons somewhere, just gotta find it, but after hearing how easy it is, I'm gonna assume the compressor rotates about a fixed bolt and start from there.

 

[Armandi]

what exactly is that method of fixing the squeal?

 

[BigIron]

I'm assuming the belt is a little loose. I'm gonna loosen up the bolt that will allow the unit to rotate, then rotate to add tension, then retighten bolt. Is that about right?

 

[trd_4runnin]

Dont use electrical contact cleaner. Use MAF cleaner. Its made just for that

Ok, Ill pick up some of that then. All the write-ups I have read said to use electrical contact cleaner..

For the belt squeal, I can't really help you guys with the A/C belt, as its a completely different belt than the alternator belt, which is adjusted directly at the alternator. To be honest, I've never heard of anyone adjusting the AC belt so I'm not even sure it can be done. If you need to adjust the alternator, just get under the truck and look up at the bottom of the alternator and you will see the adjuster and how it works.