First Time Taco Owner

Hello All,

I've been a long time Toyota Driver and have finally stepped up to a Tacoma.

I managed to score an 01 4wd V6 Double Cab with one owner and in great shape. I'm not usually one to work on my vehicles but this truck is one that I'd like to do the work on when possible.

Here's my list of questions.

1) Never changed anything but oil before, so what's my best bet for a manual on how to change all the fluids, plugs, and other easy items.

2) I know the plugs were all changed 3k along with the oil prior to my purchase. So I was thinking I should first do the Trans, and Diff oils since I have no record of them being changed. What special tools are needed?

3) When starting is it normal for it to take about 5 seconds to turn over?

4) Does anyone have a parts truck with a Tan interior that I can get some trim pieces from or know the best way to obtain these cheaply? Mainly the drivers side window/door control bezel and the radio/a/c bezel.

5) Rust? I had the frame inspection done and all is well. But there is quite a bit of under-body rust so I'd like to know what is the best way to remove and or protect the remaining life of the truck?

6) Lubrication? - Where and what needs to be lubricated on the truck other then my squeaky doors?

7) The passenger front fender flare piece above the tire has a rubber gasket that sits between the fender metal and the plastic. It's not staying in and I need to remove the fender flare and re-seat the rubber gasket. How do you remove the fender flare piece?

Hope that wasn't to long a list or to newbie of questions for you all.

 

Congrats on the Tacoma!

I'm not a huge do-it-yourselfer so I can't really answer any of your questions, but there are lots of folk here who can. Got any pix yet?

 

Congrats and welcome!

 

Here's some crude pictures from the dealer, nothing of my own yet.

 

answer to question #3. mine also takes a few seconds to finally start on my 03 v6. i think it's normal for the v6. definitely different than my old 4 cylinder nissan that would crank immediately.

 

Get yourself a Chilton's or Hayne's manual. They should explain any general maintenance things you need to do.
No special tools needed for changing your diff or trans fluids. Just your basic wrench and socket sets. (You may need to buy a bigger socket, I think 17 or 19mm for your diffs if you don't have one).
Lube everything you can find (your manual will tell you what exactly), but you should be able to crawl under the truck and find everything that has a grease zerk.
Not sure on your rust problem... I've never seen underbody rust on a truck that has been coated with protectant and has no frame rust problems.

 

So I guess I'd need a grease gun of sorts for that. But what about parts that move such as where the springs and all connect to the frame and move when the tire is moved. If that makes any sense?

Also should I remove the Pan for the Tran fluid change? If I do then do I need a special tool for that and do I need a need gasket to seal it back up?

 

Yes, buy a grease gun, and a small funnel (you fill the trans through the dipstick), and they make little hand crank pumps to make it easier to add your differential grease.

You don't need to remove the tranny pan, just the drain plug. You'll get about 2 qts of fluild out (the majority is in the torque converter), then fill through the Trans fluid dipstick. You can do this and drive ~100 miles or so and drain/fill it again to try and get as much of the older fluid out and replace it with the new stuff. I just did this on my truck b/c it had 70K miles on the original fluid and you're supposed to drain/fill it every 30K just to keep it fresh. My old fluid was pretty dirty, so I did this drain/fill procedure 3 times and now the fluid looks good and it shifts a little smoother too.

I think you mean the shackles?

You shouldn't worry about those unless the bushings are cracked, rotted or broken. They do make greaseable shackles you can buy to replace your stock ones. That way you could at least shoot a little grease in them every once in a while. They also make polyurethane replacement bushings which are pretty good.

Hope all this helps

 

Thanks for those great tips and info. The shackles and other similar parts is what I was referring to yes. There seem to be some different parts up front to that move but I see what you mean. I might look into the poly busings for the Taco since these do look a tad ugly.