200,000 Mile Club (1st Gen Tacomas)

That seems like fairly low mileage for it to crap out on you already no?

 

Hello, I am a new and proud owner of a 1997 Toyota Tacoma 2.4l 2wd and i'm happy to be here for advice and other questions I have regarding my TACO. This is my first Tacoma purchase I bought the truck it has 338,000 miles on it and has a few small issues I will be looking to fix myself. I basically stole the truck from the guy I purchased it from and he had no clue how to work on vehicles.

 

just a big heads up for every one out there. DO NOT AND I REPEAT DO NOT LET OIL PLACES PUT SYNTHETIC OIL IN THE MOTOR. back in march i got the oil changed and they were out of conventional oil so they put synthetic in without my permission. i left there and noticed my rocker arm started clicking. drove it for about 2 weeks and took it to my uncles (my professional mechanic) to get the oil changed back to conventional. i picked up the truck the next week being at the time i was working out of town. and drove it for just over 24 hours before it went from a misfire to a very loud knock and full throttle bout 20 mph. since the synthetic oil had been in the motor for so long, when the conventional oil was put back in the motor did not lubricate and when my uncle tore apart the motor 3 of my 4 rod bearings had stripped and metal flakes were in the oil pan (it looked like a metallic paint but with 1000x too much flakes). ive now spent $2500 (im family so he doesnt charge me like a normal customer) on a new motor with 51k miles on it, the original motor had 311,000 miles on it. and i could have gotten a lot more if i had just changed the oil my self (simple fact of at the time i did not have the tools and i was getting it done before going out of town to see my gf. i had a long distance relationship at the time) but i finally got the truck back on june 21st (which was my six month anniversary with the gf at the time. so technically i got a really big present for the 6th month). im deffinantly happy to have my baby back being that this october will be 4 years ive had the truck.

 

I didn't think synthetic would give it that much of an issue other than maybe it's thinner possibly. I always change the oil and fluids along with filters in my truck to know it has been done right. I was planning on changing out all my fluids to Royal Purple synthetic oil and rear diff oil. I think I might need to rethink that then...

 

Yeah my uncle told me that any vehicle that runs conventional should only use conventional. He said that if u put synthetic in it u can never go back to conventional oil bc the synthetic puts a coat on everything so conventional just slides off

 

So this should be fine for me to run Synthetic just not go back to regular oil again correct? I bought my Tacoma for $500 with 338k miles and runs like a top other than I the TPS sensor harness where it plugs in the wires if you wiggle will cause the truck to die. I bought a $15 harness off ebay I will splice and solder in and heat shrink. The guy who owned it thought it would need to be taken to the dealer and cost allot of $. Secondly I had oil all over valve cover I figured just needs a valve cover gasket for $30 I could do in a hour or 2 start to finish. I sprayed and degreased it and no sign of a major oil leak at all. Not a drop on the ground either so I need to keep eye on it. Idk what would cause it to have oil caked up all over it. I thought cleaning it off would start leaking but not a drop on the ground?

 

Also is this common on this model engine for the harness to the TPS sensor to short out?

 

When I got the truck back he said to never put synthetic oil in the motor. I don't see why u have a TPS on a first gen bc they did not have them. I have a 03 2.7l prerunner and no where even in the owners manual does it have TPS

 

Throttle position sensor. 1997 Tacoma 2.4l

 

Oh. When I see TPS I instantly think of tire pressure sensor. I don't know about that. I haven't had mine mess up yet.

 

Yeah there is 4 wires into the harness where it plugs up. Most likely where its been bent the wire doesn't have a good connection. The throttle body was really bad I cleaned it this weekend. The last owner replaced the TPS sensor and said it was still bad. I wiggle the wires and sure enough started to shut off. I only paid $500 so I can complain and between the harness that will be here this week and the minor oil leak it's a $50 fix lol

 

Since it has high miles, from prior experience i would not put synthetic oil in it

 

Okay I'll just put conventional oil in it then or factory oil and fluids. When I pull the valve cover I'll just buy some OEM NGK plugs and gasket and change them while I have the cover off. I have already installed the $5 tee flush kit on the heater core line that goes to the block. It accepts a water hose and flushes everything really good. I didn't drain the block just holds 1 gallon of water and put in 1 gallon of straight anti freeze and it's all clean now.

 

Rolled 260k while out camping and fishing this weekend.
Not a bad way to hit it, aired down, hubs locked, and cruising dirt roads across Colorado

 

Awesome. I have probably only put 1k miles myself on my Tacoma but it's close to 339k now.

 

I have a question if anybody knows. I filled up this morning and it was almost empty a little past or at the E line. The fuel stopped pumping at 12.5 gallons? I thought I had a 15 gallon tank? I drove 300 miles and only used 12.5 gallons so I assume my mileage is at 24MPG.

 

Have on '04, 4cyl 2wd with 256,000 and still runs great. Cold air, good interior but a few dings and a faded hood. Occasionally add a cup of water to the cooling sytem but no other loss of fluids. It's a spare vehicle that gets used here and there. I'll be lucky if my 2019 clocks up that many miles.

 

I would just install a tee on heater core block side and flush and add antifreeze. Water is gonna rust your system. That’s great mileage though I have 339k going strong

 

I plan on selling my 2003 Ford F-150 lariat 5.4l v8 with 250k miles this weekend. I have put about 2,000 into it has been a money pit....

 

Sounds about right on consumption for 2wd. Can't comment on fuel tank size though.