A Little Bit of Help from the Experts!

My husband’s loves his Tacoma and I’ve become the caretaker for it while he is deployed. It’s the only vehicle we have, and he is VERY particular, so I have to take really good care of it! Before he left he made me promise to do something fun this summer. My sister and I just came back from our big vacation. We drove 1000 miles to Disney World and Discovery Cove in Orlando and had a wonderful time. I behaved myself and she was her typical crazy, shameless, nutty self so everything was normal. My hubby also said that if I have any trouble to post on TacomaWorld cause you guys know everything.

Before we left I did my best to do all the things (well, as many as I could) I’ve watched him do. I asked the dealer to change the oil and had them do all the stuff in the owner’s manual listed for 30K mile checkup stuff done (and yes they changed the spark plugs and even gave me the old ones). I had the service man initial next to every line saying they did all the work.

We had a really rough winter with lots of road salt so I put Simple Green heavy duty cleaner in our big pump sprayer and sprayed all the stuff underneath the truck. It’s scary under there! I let it stay on for a few minutes and then hosed it all off just like my guy does every spring. Cleaned the wheel really good and the fenders where the wheels are. I cleaned the inside and windows spotless and my sister even helped me wash the outside with Dawn and then waxed everything. It looked like new and soooo pretty!

The truck was more comfortable on the trip than I expected. I think I really like sitting up high enough to see down the road. The Navigation system really helped and the Blue Tooth thingies were wonderful to have. I did have a few problems that have me worried though. My husband has a spreadsheet where I enter the date, the miles driven for each tank of gas, and the gallons of gas I put in the truck. Since we bought the truck it has gotten 20 mpg. On this trip the best we got was 17.5 mpg, sometime less, for each tank of gas. I thought gas mileage gets better on the highway. Does the motor get tired from all the driving? Did I do something wrong?

The next thing is every time we stopped it looked like something was dripping out of the truck. I put a cup under the truck to catch whatever was dripping but it didn’t look like anything I’ve seen put into the truck. I really looked like water! When we got to Florida I went to a Toyota dealer and they checked all the oils and stuff and said everything was okay. I never noticed it before but every time I look now it seems to be doing it. Should I take it to our car guy?

The last thing is the trip really made a mess on the paint;especially the front paint and window. I think it’s from bugs being smushed while we were driving. When we got to Florida I went through a car wash but it really didn’t help much. Since we’ve been home I tried to put a little wax stuff on it. It seems to help get some of it off but I’m afraid to rub too hard. I know it will come off because I can scrape it with my fingernail (I only did it on the glass, not the paint). What can I do to make it look pretty again?

My only complaint is I got the truck looking so clean and pretty before we left and now it's a mess! I guess I learned two things on the trip. First, don't clean the truck until you get home and second, don't sit on black leather seats in a bikini.

 

Gas mileage is usually best on the highway. Maybe you have a mathematical error. However, if you have a V6 Tacoma, 17 mpg would be about average for mileage so I wouldn't sweat it.

Remember, speed and load are the two things the have the greatest effect on mileage. Too much luggage and/or speeding can easily eat up a few mpg.

Was it on the passenger side near the tire/frame. If so congrats, you found the drain for the cabin air conditioner .

More simple green would work. Just leave it on there, then hose it off. Afterwards wash and wax and the truck should shine.

In reality there are hundreds of good bug cleaners out there. Just let them soak and they will get the bugs off without damaging the clear coat.

 

Gas mileage is very strongly affected by speed, so if you drove to Florida cruising say 10 mph faster than usual that could be all the difference. Also, the ethanol content of the gas makes a difference as well. Possible as you did your drive you got into regions that use more ethanol in the gas blend than at home. I'd keep track of the mileage now that you are home for a few more tanks and if it stays in the high teens I wouldn't worry about it at all.

There are some bug remover sprays and gels you can get to help get stuck bugs off. Definitely worth getting them off, if left on for a long time can damage the finish. Just use the remover and wash it off. Maybe rewax the area you used the remover on.

As mentioned in another post your "leak" is just water that's condensed on the air conditioning compressor dripping. Perfectly normal. And very common to freak people out who haven't noticed it before!

 

Together we weigh 200 pounds. I was driving faster than I usually do but the speed limit was very fast! Even when I was doing 70 mph the big trucks passed us like we were standing still!

It was on the passenger side just behind the tire but under the truck. Drain? If stuff drains out, wouldn't you have to fill it up at some point?

Is there one that you know is good for paint? If I use the bug cleaner, should I also put wax on it? I don't guess you know if the bug cleaner will hurt my finger nail polish?

 

Faster than usual means worse gas mileage. Don't beat yourself up over it.

No . When an air conditioner cools that air it reduces the amount of water the air can hold in the form of humidity. So basically if it's hot and humid outside and you have the A/C on in the truck a lot of water will come from the A/C drain.

Do you have A/C in your house? There's a drain on your furnace that drains the water off the coils there too.

I would go to your local autozone and just pick out a concentrate bug wash. Read and follow the directions. Anytime you wash truck you should wax it, though I rarely do .

 

That's the air conditioner for the cabin. The dripping liquid you see is literally how it wrung the heat out of the cabin.

Your home A/C does the same thing...the difference is, the drain pipe isn't so easily visible.

 

Thank you so much for telling me about getting the mess off quickly. I'll get it off tomorrow! At home I never drive faster than 55 mph. On this trip we were going much faster! So even though we didn't do a lot of stop and go the gas mileage is still supposed to be bad?

Thank you DVexile and Sterdog for your help. At the risk of sounding even more dumb, how can so much stuff leak out of the truck and you never have to fill it back up?

 

Wow, you guys are great! Thank you all so much

 

Tell your hubby that we thank him for his service!

And let us know if you have further questions. This is a laid back and easy-going bunch that fosters a great learning environment. There's no such thing as a stupid question here (of which I have tested several times), only questions that go unasked.

 

Congratulations to your husband on marrying very well. My truck is not as well taken care of as his. The water that drips is condensation from the AC, which is water pulled out of the air as a normal part of the unit's operation.

 

Thank you Xaks. Not much makes me cry faster than hearing so many wonderful people thank him and all of our guys and gals who serve so far from home. I thank him and pray for him every chance I get.

I have learned a lot from asking questions here. I now know that my truck is a big portable dehumidifier that piddels water all over the place! I do feel stupid; I should have known that. You have no idea how much I appreciate being able to get answers to things that I used to be able to just ask my guy.

 

This or Goo-Gone Painter's Pal spray... spray it on, wipe it off and it should take any crap with it... just make sure you have the garden hose or a bucket of water handy as the Goo-Gone products tend to leave a bit of residue you'll probably want to get off before it dries.

 

Thank you DaVikes. You're very sweet. My daddy thinks I'm the one who married well. I think he's right!

 

But seriously, pictures of the truck or what?

 

Not until it looks pretty again

 

Pictorial How-to needed for removing bikini-clad women from leather seats..

 

I've constantly complained about how hard it is to act like a lady (when wearing a dress and heels) and get into and out of our truck. My hubby put these silly shiny steps under the doors that only makes matters worse. If I stand up on the steps my knees are above my hips by the time I get my butt in the seat. Not very lady like. If I don't stand on the step I have to raised my foot very high to climb in and that causes interesting problems. The shorter or tighter the dress, the worse the problem.

I didn't want to use the public shower at Discovery Cove so when we left I just wrapped a towel around me. Well, a towel wrapped around you is like a dress. It makes it hard to get into the truck. I took off the towel, climbed into the truck (that had been sitting in the sun all day) and sat down on the black leather seat. I screamed and jumped out of the seat faster than I've ever moved in my life. It hurt! A lot!! The skin on the back of my legs and butt stuck to the leather making it hurt all the more. I almost fell out of the truck (while my sister is sitting and laughing at me). I'm glad no one was taking pictures...

No "How-to" was needed. It was just legs all over the place and jump. Me > My sister>

 

If I could add one suggestion - do clean the truck before the trip. It's always nice to drive a clean truck, but more importantly, the trip dirt will clean off easier from a clean waxed surface rather than a previously dirty one.

 

Thank you Mr. Scott B. I agree, I've always been spoiled. My husband and my daddy have always insisted on keeping their and my cars and trucks clean, especially before taking a big trip. I always try to keep my car clean but I've never had to do the "spring cleaning" type effort all by myself before. I've always been a helper . I guess I didn't realize how much work it was going to be and this Florida trip was the first time I was the one responsible for getting myself (or someone else) someplace. The hardest part of being on my own is realizing (after I get done whining ) is I have to do stuff anyway. Sorry!

It really bothered me to have the smushed bugs stuff on my car in Florida and coming home. I can't imagine planning to take a long trip in a dirty car.