Vansnxtweek
New member
Well I want to go ahead and get my story going on here so I can start keeping track.
What I have is a 2000 T4R SR5, 4wd, 230k miles. She has had a rough life!!! She has been totaled and rebuilt, had the transmission replaced, the head gaskets replaced, lots of front end work, and still many more troubles to deal with. BUT....I love her!
This was my fiance's vehicle originally. While she was still driving it I did some basic maintenance on it, and I put some subs in it along with all new door speakers. Then came the problems....
The first major issue we had with it was the head gaskets. She said she was no longer getting any heat. When I checked the coolant level I knew we had a big problem. Sure enough after adding coolant, the next morning when I drove it to work....BOOM the temp gauge shot up...I knew that was all she wrote.
So after about a month of doing my first V6 cylinder head gasket(s) replacement and rebuild, she fired right up! I was pretty ecstatic..not going to lie. I had confidence in my skills after many years of motorcycle work but this was still a little step up from what I'd done previously. It ran great! I was pretty nervous to drive it more than out of town until finally I got forced to drive it 45 minutes when I needed a part for my Super Duty and I had no other way to go get it. So I went for it and she did great!
Once that was done, my fiance continued to drive it back and forth to work until one bad day she called me to tell me she had been in an accident. Some dude in an Explorer slammed into a Porsche Cayenne going about 65 and the Porsche then slammed into the back of the 4Runner. Thankfully my poor fiance was okay for the most part but it really hurt her neck and back. We didn't care about the vehicle much at all at this point.
When it came time to deal with the 4Runner, I really didn't think the damage was enough to consider it totaled but that's what the insurance company determined.
Well...we didn't want to get anything else for what they were going to give us for the 4Runner and we didn't have enough to make up the difference for something more so we went ahead and took the money, bought it back, and had it fixed. Our local body shop, Knox, did a freaking AWESOME job. I was ecstatic with how well it turned out.
She was back in action!
About this time is when my fiance and I pretty much permanently swapped vehicles. She had been driving my Grand Cherokee the whole time while the 4Runner was getting fixed and I think she got used to a smoother/quieter ride, better MPGs, a bit more power, and less issues. It really worked out for the better so I could keep the red headed step child closer under my surveillance. I can't even tell you all how many times I had to drive an hour to her work to fix whatever the next problem was with the 4Runner. :wacko:. By this time we had already shared quite a bit of blood, grease, and beer together.
I knew there were a few issues going on so I went ahead and put the truck up on jack stands and low and behold....the right side CV axle boot was busted and slinging grease EVERYWHERE. The OTRE's were both busted. I could physically move the steering rack back and forth by hand. It needed some TLC bad.
I went ahead and did the LBJ's (OEM of course), OTREs, ITREs, steering rack bushings, CV axle, both Air/Fuel sensors (CELs), new rear shocks, and while I was at it I put on some ditch lights, and an OEM fog setup I found on the classifieds to feel like I did something fun during all this mess.
What I have is a 2000 T4R SR5, 4wd, 230k miles. She has had a rough life!!! She has been totaled and rebuilt, had the transmission replaced, the head gaskets replaced, lots of front end work, and still many more troubles to deal with. BUT....I love her!
This was my fiance's vehicle originally. While she was still driving it I did some basic maintenance on it, and I put some subs in it along with all new door speakers. Then came the problems....
The first major issue we had with it was the head gaskets. She said she was no longer getting any heat. When I checked the coolant level I knew we had a big problem. Sure enough after adding coolant, the next morning when I drove it to work....BOOM the temp gauge shot up...I knew that was all she wrote.
So after about a month of doing my first V6 cylinder head gasket(s) replacement and rebuild, she fired right up! I was pretty ecstatic..not going to lie. I had confidence in my skills after many years of motorcycle work but this was still a little step up from what I'd done previously. It ran great! I was pretty nervous to drive it more than out of town until finally I got forced to drive it 45 minutes when I needed a part for my Super Duty and I had no other way to go get it. So I went for it and she did great!
Once that was done, my fiance continued to drive it back and forth to work until one bad day she called me to tell me she had been in an accident. Some dude in an Explorer slammed into a Porsche Cayenne going about 65 and the Porsche then slammed into the back of the 4Runner. Thankfully my poor fiance was okay for the most part but it really hurt her neck and back. We didn't care about the vehicle much at all at this point.
When it came time to deal with the 4Runner, I really didn't think the damage was enough to consider it totaled but that's what the insurance company determined.
Well...we didn't want to get anything else for what they were going to give us for the 4Runner and we didn't have enough to make up the difference for something more so we went ahead and took the money, bought it back, and had it fixed. Our local body shop, Knox, did a freaking AWESOME job. I was ecstatic with how well it turned out.
She was back in action!
About this time is when my fiance and I pretty much permanently swapped vehicles. She had been driving my Grand Cherokee the whole time while the 4Runner was getting fixed and I think she got used to a smoother/quieter ride, better MPGs, a bit more power, and less issues. It really worked out for the better so I could keep the red headed step child closer under my surveillance. I can't even tell you all how many times I had to drive an hour to her work to fix whatever the next problem was with the 4Runner. :wacko:. By this time we had already shared quite a bit of blood, grease, and beer together.
I knew there were a few issues going on so I went ahead and put the truck up on jack stands and low and behold....the right side CV axle boot was busted and slinging grease EVERYWHERE. The OTRE's were both busted. I could physically move the steering rack back and forth by hand. It needed some TLC bad.
I went ahead and did the LBJ's (OEM of course), OTREs, ITREs, steering rack bushings, CV axle, both Air/Fuel sensors (CELs), new rear shocks, and while I was at it I put on some ditch lights, and an OEM fog setup I found on the classifieds to feel like I did something fun during all this mess.
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