HELP... Breaking the Bank

Hi all...

I just took my newly purchased '02 3.4 DC 4x4 into the shop today for a check engine light and got a $1000 estimate back.... being that i just purchased this truck my funds are a little low so i was wondering how many of the repairs might be doable by me. here's the skinny...

Left Rear Parking brake cable needs replaced

Bank 1 o2 sensor 1 needs replaced

Air filter needs replaced (deck plate is already ordered and will pe getting a AFE Pro-Dry S Drop-In Air Filter soon)

battery needs replaced (i can do)

tires need to be replaced soon

brakes need replaced soon

i don't have a lot of experience working on trucks but i plan on learning as much as i can so that i can do most of this stuff myself. i also have friends and relatives that could help me out a lot with this stuff.

what do you think??????

 

take it back to where u got it from and tell them to fix it.

 

x2

 

i got the guy who was selling it to me to take 500 off his asking price for repairs that would probably come up so I don't think I can ask him to fix everything in addition to that.


any suggestions on how i can fix this stuff??

 

you can ask for anything. just let him know what all is wrong and maybe he will help you out. if not. sorry for your luck.

 

The brakes will be easy. Whether it's just the pads or replacing the whole rotor, the brakes will be easy.

Tires, you gotta have that done at a tire shop or something.

Don't know much about the parking brake cable, but it doesn't sound hard.

Same with the O2 sensor. Sounds easy, but sounds like an expensive part...

Good luck to you! If you're really willing to learn a lot about your truck, you'll have fun doing it. I'm not that mechanically inclined, but I've been donig all the work on my new '09 and having a great time learning about it! The only problem is having enough stuff to do......

 

Look around the forums and craigslist for tires, lots of folks looking to sell brand new or close to brand new tires because they upgraded or toyota did the buy back.

02 sensor's you can find online and its not hard to replace at all.

 

Get a Haynes Book and buddy and spend a Saturday working on you list. Or/and shop for deals on tires, brakes, etc...everyone is hurting and offering low prices right now.

 

Excellent suggestion. None of the things you need done (with the exception of the tires of course) require any specialized tools. Grab a buddy that has some experience working on cars, pay attention to the book, and you can do all this yourself easily.

 

my mechanic said the o2 sensor part alone would cost 341.22 from the toyota dealership... he said there are some universal ones out there that cost less but i would be back in to get that replaced in a couple months and should go with the one from the dealership. i have been searching the forums and people are talking about bosch oem sensors for $100... whats the difference between the bosch ones and the one the mechanic wants me to get for $341???

 

The Original O2 sensors are Denso. Rock Auto has them for $145.79 (upstream). Downstream is a lot less $$$.

www.rockauto.com

 

The brakes are easy.....very easy. Parking brake cable....never done it, but probably not too bad. You can get the o2 sensor for way less and if you can turn a wrench in the right direction, you can replace it. BTW, besides the CEL, is your truck running bad?.......poor gas mileage? If not, don't even worry about the o2 sensor. Mine has been setting off the CEL for over a year now. You'll have to shop around for tires, but there are good deals if you look. For what it's worth, I'm no mechanic and right now my 02 is in my garage with the brake drums torn apart right now. Get the Haynes manual, it helps.

 

parking brake cable is easy you just have to know if it's the front half or the rear half. definitely do-able.

 

http://www.trademotion.com/partloca...09&catalogid=1&year=2002&make=34&model=Tacoma

$341? What parts catalog is he quoting. A quick search of online Toyota part dealer doesn't show one for that much, not even over $200

 

my mpg is between 18 and 19 right now... maybe 50% highway. it does feel a little sluggish.

i'll go with www.rockauto.com for the sensor

the mechanic told me it was the left rear parking break cable that was stretched but on www.trademotion.com it's just refered to as rear and on rockauto.com it says back right. do both rear wheels lock on an 02 tacoma DC 4x4?

 

Go here for the O2 sensor: http://www.urdusa.com/product_info....d=430006000&osCsid=m7b8o1or05qqgca68ullmjqoq1

 

do a little tune up maybe, and run some seafoam thru the brake booster line.......it'll smooth out the idle and clean out all the carbon in the combustion chamber.....and its easy to do.

 

that is an incredible price. almost too incredible (not saying they're not legit)

 

what does the seafoam spray have to do with a stretched cable? i'll do it anyway because it sounds like a good idea but it seems like i'll still be left with the same problem...

nm... you were refering to the low mpg... my bad

 

They are legit. I've bought my upstream O2 sensor from them. A lot of supercharger guys have bought their fuel mods from URD.