What Have You Done To Your 2nd Gen Tacoma Today?

Installed my new roof rack today, it's great!

 

Show off luv it.

 

I was installing the 12v solutions remote start on my 2007 prerunner and found these 3 plugs that connect to nothing. Anyone have any ideas what they might be for?

 

What rear bumper is that?

 

I thought I had dug pretty deep into routine and/or preventative maintenance but I never saw anything about a timing belt in the recommended services or anything.

A quick Google and TacomaWorld search says my 4.0 V6 has a chain rather than a belt, and that it would be pretty obvious if there was any kind of timing (or other) issue with it. I'll have to do some more digging to see if/when I should get that taken care of.

Thanks for the idea!

 

Thank you for a personal anecdote on your experiences with it, especially with a positive outcome. I'd much rather hear from other drivers than service techs. I'm not opposed to doing it at all, I think it's one of those things I may have thought TOO hard about and now I can't make up my mind either way.

It had a little slip going from a stop into 1st or vise-versa (never Park/1st), mostly during rolling stops or a little too much gas from the get-go, but after the services that were just done my dad and my sister both said that issue has resolved.

Sometimes I really wish I was home and the one driving it every day to have a better idea of what's going on. lol.

 

Got another night in the new wedge camper build. I love this thing! I can't wait til it cools off. Here's a video on it. The beginning is the build (In Spanish) the second half is a walkaround.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6fQGVeW-dc

 

Maybe he meant the serpentine belt, which should absolutely be swapped as routine maintenance, along with pulleys if you have the time.

 

The problem with a drop and swap on a transmission that is higher mileage and probably didn't receive it prior is that once you pull out all the currently used stuff, you've lost a lot of friction material. You may be fine, you may lose your transmission in two months of regular driving, it's a coin flip. If you don't know it's much easier on your wallet, and much better on your vehicle, to just leave it until it fails, then get it rebuilt. I just had a discussion about this with a friend who does tow recovery and shared his nearly insurmountable anecdotal experience with me

 

I completely disagree with some not recommending a preventative transmission fluid drain and fill. DO NOT PERFORM A PRESSURE FLUSH WHICH LOOSENS AND CIRCULATES MORE DAMAGING MATERIAL. The "friction material" is debris with contaminants, from clutch and band wear, that along with overheated transmission fluid, combine as the most damaging elements in an automatic transmission. If the "friction material" was a good thing then there would not be magnets in the transmission pan to catch and stop the recirculation of such material. Sealed transmissions are not "maintenance free" transmissions. Recommended transmission service, although sometimes recommended too frequently as a money-making tactic for dealers, is done so to "extend" the life of an automatic transmission. I believe this extra dealer maintenance, and subsequent dealer charges, was a factor in eliminating transmission dipsticks which gave owners a tool to monitor transmission fluid themselves. For optimal maintenance I recommend a drain and fill at 100k miles with follow up drain and fills every 50k miles after that. I spent nearly 4 years training in automotive technology in high school and tech school, including rebuilding the automatic transmission, before working at a new car dealership in the 1970's. I changed careers but still have been working on cars my entire life. I bought a 2012 Tacoma, with 144k miles, a couple of years ago that had no record of any fluid services. I immediately changed the differential fluid, coolant and had a Toyota do the transmission fluid drain and fill. A month later I sold it to my son and we added a large external transmission cooler. My son has been towing a boat with it and the transmission shifts like new at 180k+ miles today. I cannot imagine, on a truck with 200k miles and no fluid changes, the amount of nasty gummy materials going through the valve body, band servos, shift solenoids and through the gear train. Don't rely on "expert" members. Ask your dealer or reputable transmission repair shops why you should drain and fill your transmission fluid. At 200k miles I would remove the inspection plate and drain the torque converter as well. In my nearly 50 years of driving, owning 50+ vehicles, I only had 2 transmission failures (a 1968 Ford and a 1974 Plymouth) and they both exhibited transmission issues when I bought them.

 

So I was just going to type "OK" and leave it, but you deserve a little more than that.

I make no claims to be an expert. I stated it was anecdotal. You seem to be real fired up about it. No one said it was maintenance free. I, specifically, said if there has been no maintenance in a lot of miles, perhaps it's best to let sleeping dogs lie and not add in more potential problems.

But you do you homie. I'm not here to bite people and run.

 

No not fired up at all. Just felt like this opposing opinion needed to be posted. My response is meant to be somewhat educational. Not intended to offend any members. I do not claim to be an expert on transmissions. For anyone that has seen the inside of a cooked transmission that was neglected know exactly what I am talking about. I would rather spent $150 on maintenance than $4000 on a transmission. I suggest, at the very least, have a shop do an analysis of the fluid. Any hydraulic fluid going through so many miles, and years of heat and cool cycles, has lost its intended functionality. I think my response comes from Facebook groups, and other forums, where the majority of opinions and recommendations go unchecked. Nothing personal.

 

Another interesting take on the whole thing! Can never please everybody, I suppose.

But to this particular point... I took it to a dealer, and they did just about everything but outright refuse to do the drain and fill for fear of knocking loose particulates and/or losing friction, etc. It was not a subtle "no" by any means. Maybe an experienced transmission repair shop will have a different take on it. Overall, though, I am happy with the truck's performance in general and have no real complaints.

 

ah...I have a 4 banger 2.7 2010...

 

wait, the 2.7 has a belt? i had a 99 4 banger that i thought had a chain.

 

4 banger definitely is a timing chain

 

Got a new bumper installed

 

OMFG...
Meant Serpentine...Fixed

 

amended my post...meant SERPENTINE Belt Long day

 

That makes sense... That was actually on my list. Not sure if my dad forgot to mention it or if they looked it over and said it was probably good to go. But I'll have him circle back on it and check. Good tip!