1st gen Tacoma concerns

I have 02 Tacoma IRP ext. cab prerunner v6 sr5 that I bought two and half years ago. Previous owner said he did timing belt around 170k I believe Got it 3 days before Halloween of 2014 with 175k on it had to get a new battery a week later and currently have 204,245k miles on it now. Since I got the truck I babied it and I changed the coolant (flushed engine block and radiator) in Jan of 2015 and it was nasty orange weird looking glad I changed it to Prestone green. Then after that had new alternator put in and nothing else but fluid changes (oil,atf,psf,rear diff) but now concerned about other wear items such as:

• ball joints/u-joints
• carrier bearing
• Timing belt/water pump/thermostat
• 3 drive belts
• starter
• tie rods, alignments
• brake pads and fluid

It always had been a good truck to me with no problems but want to do some preventive maintenance for peace of mind.
• 10/28/2014 Bought truck
• 11/3/2014 Had to buy new battery the other one was a everstart junk cause I left the radio on in the acc position (like to listen to music) got a better one (autocraft battery)
* mid November 2014 Had dealership change oil and filter
• 11/13/2014 Battery was getting weak and it still started and drove with little power was misfiring and eventually stalled out also had to run to the gas station with a battery booster connected to the battery to drive home
• 12/13/2014 Changed rear diff fluid
* 12/14/2014 Opened up gauge cluster and dash to switch to leds
• 1/12/2015 Got alternator replaced and ran without issues ever since
* 1/14/2015 Got rear passenger tire plugged at discount tire and bought locking lug nuts
* 1/23/2015 Flushed engine block and radiator
* 4/13/2015 Had dealership change oil & filter
* 8/13/2015 Dealership change oil & filter
* Sometime December 2015 had dealership change oil & filter
* 1/20/2016 Had to fill overflow tank with coolant and water every couple weeks because of crack in top of radiator near the top radiator hose
* 3/5/2016 Drained ATF through transmission drain plug and filled with new ATF at home in hopes of getting better mpg
* 4/28/2016 Dealership change oil & filter also did complementary check of fluids and condition of vehicle they also rotated tires but didn't check brake pad thickness
* 6/26/2016 Got new fuel filter and changed fuel filter myself did remove gas cap and fuel pump relay before working to relieve pressure (almost died cause I was trying to remove the fuel lines from filter and fuel sprayed from the lines when I tried moving it away from filter body with a hot muffler) in hopes of getting better mpg as well
* 9/10/2016 Ordered eBay radiator and swapped it in before I did I flushed the radiator of contaminants before installing in truck also did myself wasn't too hard to do
8/28/2016 Had dealership change oil & filter and I found out that they almost stripped my front passenger side skid plate bolt (I always inspect vehicle after the dealer works on it) so after that I started to change oil myself
12/10/2016 Drained ATF again and filled with new ATF in dipstick tube
12/16/2016 Went to dealer to get new oil filter and drain plug washer and changed the oil myself at home ~ 1.25 gallon 5qt jug and had to get 1 quart oil and filled with half of that quart bottle of 5w-30 Castrol gtx oil from Walmart~ Brakes have been lightly squealing for a while never got to it
* 1/12/2017 - 2/21/2017 Went on vacation overseas for 5 weeks so truck sat in driveway the whole time
* 2/23/2017 Return from trip and passenger front tire lost some air went to gas station to get air
* 3/4/2017 Took tire off to inspect front brake pads and they were getting thin
* 3/7/2017 Went to Lowe's to get 5/16 clear tubing to flush heater core
* beginning of April 2017 worried about life of truck to this day








Last month I have taken the front wheels off to inspect pads which still have a bit of meat left (maybe a little more than an 1/8") but have been squealing) grinding noise to, and rear brake squeak when letting off the brakes

Also get a clunk when in motion to a stop stand still and taking off from a stop. If I go over 75mph I get vibrations in driveline or steering wheel.

 

LBJ are always a good idea, new shocks/leafs would certainly freshen her ride up a bit. If it starts no problem and belts don't squeal I'd leave those till they start to wear.

 

Sounds like the clunk you are feeling is likely axle wrap. There are a number of threads on in here to read through but new leaf springs may not be a bad idea.

 

Does anybody know about this lower ball joint on the drive side it has no nuts or bolt heads to undo it from the knuckle or lower control arm? Looks like its riveted in and also worried about the torn upper ball joint boot scared it will fail soon without notice

 

You can see the ripped boot and the grease is getting out

 

I could be wrong but pictures 1,2 are not the ball joint. Picture 3 is and it is bolted on.

 

Orange/Red is the original coolant color. I'm planning on flushing the coolant soon, should I go with the red OEM coolant or is the green Prestone okay?

 

Those riveted parts are not part of the ball joint. They are permanently attached to the AArm. I've never seen them loosen up and I'm willing to bet no one else has either.

 

Also does anyone know what this yellow wire is for? Mine is a base sr5 model so no cruise control or abs and the condition of the front belts

 

What is a "AArm"? Sorry I'm a noob

 

Crash sensor. Feeds data to the SRS ECU.

Do you have an air bag light lot on the dash?

 

Sorry.

Lower control arm.

 

Yes I do have the airbag light on all the time since I bought the truck Someone said it's a clock spring problem and also the low washer fluid light on all the time to even though long ago I took it out and cleaned the tank and sensor don't know what's wrong and yes the seatbelt plug under seat is connected

 

In all cars, the only system that uses that color for wire covers, is the air bag system. The previous owner must have removed the sensor to compare it to a new one. You won't get rid of the air bag dash light until all the sensors are in place.

You might have to hunt some junk yards or buy a new sensor.

 

Hey koditten, I also have another question it might be dumb but is the Toyota igniter (the one in the pic under the hood) part of the coil assembly to help make spark for the plugs? And why is it separate

 

The driveline vibs can be:
1. Center driveline bearing is worn out.
2. U - joint is bad (typically the one at the 3rd member)

Clunk from the stop light is typically the slip yoke needs lube (ask dealership for the exact name/type)

 

I would be concerned about the timing belt and water pump if I didn't know when the last time they were replaced was.

 

www.toyota.com Click on "Owners" at the top. Sign up. You can see all the maintenance previous owners have done when they took it to the dealer. Click on the description for detailed view.
You can also use this site to keep track of your own repairs.

 

I know its a old thread, but thanks man I never new about this. Since the prev owner was strict about dealer service only, and they only gave me recent history. This makes my replacment list smaller!!

 

You can also contact the dealerships that the previous owner went through and ask for service records - they will usually send you a copy of everything that was done to the truck.