Wife is not happy

[nodakker]

I really appreciate all the ideas/suggestions/diagnosis that all have put on here...Ive had the truck (car?) from about 10 days now and know the idle time might be a problem as well as the short drives and the weather and the winter blends etc etc...

but in any case, all my previous vehicles were 4x4 pickups with V8's in them, 5.3 gm, my last a 99 5.4 Ford...i have always allowed them a short warm up time and drove to work and back as I am now so my driving habits are basically the same although I do need to get the 4runner out on the highway and see how that goes (on my 120 mile trip home from the dealer I got just under 12mpg but that was at -25 with a 30 mph headwind so that is misleading)... even with those much heavier trucks and larger engines, I still had mileage readings well above what Im getting currently...I guess my hopes were 17-19 hwy and at least 13 city....
I really want to keep this one as these are just classic trucks in my opinion so I guess I start at square 1 and work my way to the end slowly but surely. Hopefully I will see a net gain in mpg's with all the combined ideas so I can one day get to the point of adding some accessories to personalize it a bit...

 

[I_bRAD]

You really should take the comment about walking to work seriously though!

It's a mile! That's a 15 min walk or a 5 min bike ride and it's killing your truck, especially in the winter!

Save the truck for a real trip!

 

[Robb235]

I really appreciate all the ideas/suggestions/diagnosis that all have put on here...Ive had the truck (car?) from about 10 days now and know the idle time might be a problem as well as the short drives and the weather and the winter blends etc etc...

but in any case, all my previous vehicles were 4x4 pickups with V8's in them, 5.3 gm, my last a 99 5.4 Ford...i have always allowed them a short warm up time and drove to work and back as I am now so my driving habits are basically the same although I do need to get the 4runner out on the highway and see how that goes (on my 120 mile trip home from the dealer I got just under 12mpg but that was at -25 with a 30 mph headwind so that is misleading)... even with those much heavier trucks and larger engines, I still had mileage readings well above what Im getting currently...I guess my hopes were 17-19 hwy and at least 13 city....
I really want to keep this one as these are just classic trucks in my opinion so I guess I start at square 1 and work my way to the end slowly but surely. Hopefully I will see a net gain in mpg's with all the combined ideas so I can one day get to the point of adding some accessories to personalize it a bit...

Something is definitely wrong with your truck if you're only getting 5-6mpg. My first thought was that maybe you're not calculating your mileage correctly? Are you burning through a whole tank, then dividing your miles traveled by how many gallons you pumped? I have a similar drive to work as you do... when it's cold out, I let it idle for 10 minutes or so, then I have a 5 to 10 minute drive (depending on traffic and stop lights) to work every morning. I can typically go 2 weeks or so (roughly) before filling up again, and get approximately 14mpg. I can get 20+mpg on the highway. If you've had your truck for 10 days, how many times have you refueled?

My second thought was, if you really are getting 6mpg, then I would suspect a fuel leak somewhere. Do you smell gas anywhere? Have you had your vehicle checked with any OBD2 scanner (just incase the CEL is burned out) to make sure there are no codes? I don't think your piss poor gas mileage can be 100% attributed to "cold weather" considering that your other V8 vehicles did not suffer to this degree. I think you need to beg, borrow, or steal an OBD2 scanner than can display live engine data. See what your long term fuel trims look like.

 

[nodakker]

Oh "the brandon" you're in deep %&^%...my wife is googling where you live as we speak...!!!

I am bringing it to the nearest toyota dealer (60 miles) on Friday, I have asked to have them do a diagnostics scan on it (Im assuming this OBD2 is the standard scan that is done?)

And all these people with the "walking to work thing"!! Stop the madness!!.. lol I love showing off the awesomness...

 

[thebrandon]

Oh "the brandon" you're in deep %&^%...my wife is googling where you live as we speak...!!!

I'll be in good ol' Nodak in June, so she can save her self some gas money hunting me down .

In all seriousness though, I hope you get to the bottom of this and get your ride fixed!

 

[Robb235]

Oh "the brandon" you're in deep %&^%...my wife is googling where you live as we speak...!!!

I am bringing it to the nearest toyota dealer (60 miles) on Friday, I have asked to have them do a diagnostics scan on it (Im assuming this OBD2 is the standard scan that is done?)

And all these people with the "walking to work thing"!! Stop the madness!!.. lol I love showing off the awesomness...

Save yourself some money, and take it to an Autozone or something. They'll scan it for free.

 

[nodakker]

hey, now there's a good idea...

 

[nodakker]

but real quick question...concerning the bell cranks... are both sides supposed to be up against the backing plate or just one? going to have a local mechanic pull it into his nice warm heated shop tomorrow morning but he's never worked on a toyota before either

 

[UT Hack]

You really should take the comment about walking to work seriously though!

It's a mile! That's a 15 min walk or a 5 min bike ride and it's killing your truck, especially in the winter!

Save the truck for a real trip!

I don't think you understand how cold North Dakota is in the winter. I'm in my second winter up here, and the roads are a solid sheet of ice for 4 months straight and it gets down to -40 degrees, so if it's me there's no way in hell I'm riding a bike anywhere in the winter..

 

[nodakker]

and then January hits...

 

[sportrunner2001]

theres a heat wave today! it went up 10 degrees in the past 24 hours! currently -5 haha

 

[I_bRAD]

I don't think you understand how cold North Dakota is in the winter. I'm in my second winter up here, and the roads are a solid sheet of ice for 4 months straight and it gets down to -40 degrees, so if it's me there's no way in hell I'm riding a bike anywhere in the winter..

My 4runner wouldn't even start at -40 so I'd be walking anyway!

-40 would be a pretty cold bike ride but an OK walk! (assuming that if the OP lives 1mile from a school he's probably in town with cleared sidewalks)

 

[Grenvilleter]

but real quick question...concerning the bell cranks... are both sides supposed to be up against the backing plate or just one? going to have a local mechanic pull it into his nice warm heated shop tomorrow morning but he's never worked on a toyota before either

They should both be resting against the backing plate. They are notorious for seizing up and causing drag on your rear brakes. Especially if you use the parking brake which pulls out the bell cranks and applies the rear shoe to drum contact.

There is a good link that deals with repairing them and you should probably lube both sides as when 1 gets stuck, the other is not far behind it.

I'll look to see if I can find the link for you that explains removal, clean-up and probably most importantly, repack the rubber boot that the bell crank sits in , with a non petroleum, synthetic silicone type grease. Petroleum base grease will destroy the rubber boot.


http://www.toyota-4runner.org/attac...-toyota-truck-park-brake-bellcrank-repair.pdf

 

[nodakker]

thanks and yes, that is (was) part of the problem... just found that indeed the brakes were dragging as a result of the bell crank being froze... so, got that fixed..now on to more of the suggestions that others have replied with..thanks very much to all...

 

[Monkeybutt2000]

I wanna know why you guys are "warming up" your Runners? YOur vehicle warms up FASTER the sooner you start driving it. There is no load on the engine idling in your driveway. Here's my morning scenario: Get in truck and start. Fasten seat belt,put in gear,adjust radio and take off down the street. 30-40secs TOPS. I run 5w-30 in the winter and 10w-30 in summer. Heck,my stepdad bought a new 93 Dakota,the starter barely stopped turning and it was in gear and driving away. He drove it like this to 199k,then I bought it and drove it just like he did to 215k,using plain ol Penzoil 10w-30. That truck never saw a "warmup" and was not engineered half as well as our beloved Toyotas.