How old is too old

Any second gen having failures due to old age despite a well maintained vehicle, low milege?
Such as o rings, rubber seals , gaskets

 

Rust

 

My 07 has 247,000 miles on it. No major issues. It still runs great, no leaks. The only parts I've replaced were the alternator at about 180,000, the HVAC fan died at about the same time and the headlight assemblies were replaced at 220,000 because they were faded and yellow. That made it look like a new truck again. There is some paint peeling which seems to be common with white. Other than that, just normal stuff like tires, brakes, battery.

Not sure what the part is called, but there is a small piece on the doors that limits how far the door will open to prevent damage to the hinges. That broke on the driver's door recently. I replaced it with a 5" section of nylon webbing I cut from a ratchet strap. That's how Jeep has been doing it for years.

 

I have an 06 Sienna the paint (typical beige) is much nicer than most 20ish year old vehicles. My 08 Tacoma (speedway blue) is completeely fogged on 50%+. Im sure past ownership had alot to do with it and possibly the color itself? Seems most gen2 Tacos in speedway blue have shot paint.
Zero rust issues (west coast)
The 6 speed trans has syncro issues in 6th and typical throw out bearing "noise".
Overall very fun solid stand by as a tow/runaround vehicle @ 165k
Toyota did suck in that they still ran drum brakes in the rear.

 

1st gen Tacos are getting "old" I justed worked on an 02 that spent most of it's time in southern cali. Frame and metal are beautiful, but parts are getting difficult to find, and seals and such are starting to show their age.

 

I've got a 2011 SR5 4x4 DCSB, 137K, which I think is low mileage for the age. Runs like a Swiss watch, no rust, a couple of scratches in the finish (black), interior perfect. It's my daily driver and work truck and tows quite a bit near its rated limit (factory tow pkg). All I've done to it is a set of 17x8 wheels and it had a nice front brush guard on it when I got it. It had 60K on it when I bought it in 2017 from a Toyota dealer. Not knowing what the dealer did to refresh anything., I started worrying about stuff like trans fluid and diff/transfer case fluids at about 115K. Changed all that and the old stuff was dark but not terrible. No leaks from anywhere, and the oil level drops maybe a pint between 5K oil changes. The old plugs indicate no abnormal oil burn. I use Valvoline full syn and Toyota OEM filters, and Toyota trans fluid and Redline diff and transfer case lube.

This week, I decided to change the spark plugs, and figuring mine was old enough, it didn't come with iridium, so I decided to put that type in (Denso OEM). I was surprised to figure out the plugs had been changed at some point, but?????? when I removed the old ones, the driver side bank were all NGK, the passenger side were Denso. They were all the same color, a nice light tan, electrodes worn worse on the NGK than the Denso, but they were non-Iridium like I figured. The truck still started and ran fine, no misses, but I swear it was like snot on a doorknob smooth after the plug change. Watching my mileage for a while to see if it improves any, I don't expect it too, really.

I'd like to do some new shocks, maybe go to an adjustable like on the TRD versions. Can I do that with the non-TRD springs? I want just a little stiffer ride with less body roll, no lift except maybe a 1/2" up front.




FWIW, our entire family fleet are Toyotas. We have a 99 Avalon with only 41K; wife drives a 2018 Rav4, oldest daughter drives our old 2006 Sienna van, now with 420K, also has a 2012 Corolla S with about 135K; younger daughter has a 2020 Corolla. The Avalon was my Mom's and sat in the garage a lot, the Sienna has had a transmission replaced, at 285K. It uses maybe a quart between 5K oil changes.

 

We had an '06 Sienna, it was one of the best vehicles we've ever owned. it had the 3.3L engine and was real pain for spark plugs and timing belt/water pump changes, but that thin was still on its original oxygen sensors, alternator, etc., when we gave it to one of our nieces. We only got rid of it because with the kids gone, we just didn't use it much anymore. That year (and probably most years) of Sienna was a really good vehicle.

 

Very common to see V6 timing cover leaks and steering rack leaks. Just a matter of how many thousands of dollars you're willing to throw at the truck.

 

No, the 4.0L came that way from the factory, with NGK on the driver side & Denso opposite. I think the explanation I've heard for it is that the drivers side plugs are a lot harder to access, so Toyota put longer-life plugs on that side to give a longer maintenance interval? (Not sure if my memory is serving me here on the why, but the fact that the plugs are different each side, from the factory, is well-documented elsewhere)

 

218k on my 2010, only unscheduled maintenance has been the front wheel bearings at 150k. It’s been an amazing truck, hope it lasts until we’re all tooling around in flying cars

 

If that's the case, then the plugs I pulled were the originals most likely. You saw the pics; not terrible shape, but definite erosion on both center and ground electrodes. I figured they would look worse than that at 137K miles, especially being a standard type plug and not a platinum or iridium plug. I was very satisfied, though that the plugs showed no evidence of anything abnormal in the combustion processes between cylinders. Happy to know I have a healthy engine.

The driver side plugs are a PITA to change; but I didn't feel it would warrant installing longer-life plugs. Pull some vacuum lines, remove two airbox/intake manifold supports and unclip a sensor pigtail. Using a long 3/8 ratchet extension taped to a spark plug socket with a ball-joint to a short extension and it was fairly easy. reconnect the lines, pigtail and replace the braces. The coil leads were no problem to disconnect, but it did take twice as long to do the driver side as it did the passenger side. Just had to remove the air horn and filter compartment to access the right side. All told, an hour and a few minutes for the whole thing and not hurrying. I wanted to make sure I loosened the plugs gradually so not to gall the aluminum threads on the cylinder heads, and the new plugs threaded in with fingers twisting the socket extensions. I did not use any thread grease. Last time I changed a set of spark plugs has been about 7-8 years ago when I had my Miata. They were a piece of cake. No coil-on-plug, just pull the wires and unscrew, reinsert and tighten, replace the wires. 4 plugs in about 15 minutes. Wouldn't have taken that long but you had to gap the plugs first.

 

I have a 2008 with 112K. I have only had it since early Dec., 2023. Had 106K when I bought it. Everything is running great. I did repair the temperature and direction display as I found on a youtube video. ( I don't know how long it had been out, but easy fix).

I just had the transmission fluid/filter changed this week since I don't know if it had been done previously. I also changed the plugs and serpentine belt a couple of months ago. Will do the differentials fluids and transfer case soon. But I am really enjoying the truck and hope to get at least 100k, maybe 200k , more out of it.

 

As per another/previous poster: the "three Denso"/three NGK" being an indication the plugs are the original OEM's installed at the factory. Another "tell-tale" that the plugs are original is a number stamped on the metal tip above the insulator: Any installed OEM replacements will not.

 

Some have issues running iridium plugs.

Recommended interval is 30k miles so yeah they’re due for replacement. They look pretty good considering 167k miles.

 

Just did my spark plugs at 93k miles, previous change was 60k, plugs looked almost damn near brand new except for some browning. Will continue to do the 30k interval but am curious why Toyota makes them a 30k maintenance item.

 

30K for Tacoma spark plugs seems excessive. 60K seems reasonable.

 

Emissions components.
Poor spark can lead to combustion gas issues. such as raw or partially unburned fuel.
These can be detrimental to the converts and also lead to high emissions.
Basically, it's better for the air and the convertors. That is the reason it's recommended at 30k

 

For what it’s worth, I replaced my factory plugs at 120k. Engine was running fine, no mileage loss or anything like that, I just did the job to be familiar with the process & know it’s been done.

Threw new plugs in and literally didn’t notice anything different. Same mileage, motor ran the same, etc. Testament to the reliability of the 4.0L 1GR I guess? Haha

That said, I’ll be running these plugs to 60k

 

I think 60k is fine.
That’s when I do mine.
They are easy enough to do. I’m just lazy and don’t want to do them sooner.