What have you done to your Tacoma today? 1st Gen Edition

Timing belt is going slow and steady - old water pump's off the vehicle, wouldn't be shocked if it's the factory one, judging by how mightily stuck the gasket & thermostat were (And how rock-hard & damaged the thermostat gasket was). On the other hand, I do have records of a timing belt being done at 125,000 miles, and it'd be strange if the water pump hadn't been done at the same time. Slow and steady with a brass wire wheel on my Dremel is getting the old gasket material off without too much fuss. Doing what I can to clean off all the dried-on coolant as I go so the hoses & gaskets seal properly once things go back together (only on parts that are getting reused, naturally).


Feels good to be able to take my time and clean thoroughly as I go, getting rid of a whole lot of road grime & places where oil seepage has picked up dirt. I suspect it's the valve cover gaskets, but since I can't even detect the oil losses on my dipstick... well, I'll deal with it eventually.

 

new lbj's. pain in the ass to break them loose even with a ball joint separator.

 

Pitman puller is the way to go.

 

Dumb question, but is there an easy way to check if there's R134 in the AC loop? I don't have a AC gauge set handy, and wasn't really planning on getting one - no space for a proper recovery setup, etc.

The compressor has been seized for 4 years on my truck, and I'd rather not pay someone to evacuate air from it.

 

You can just put one of those cheapo gauges that come with the fill cans from the auto parts store on it. Or just push the Schrader valve for a half second and see if it sprays

 

Ditch lights finally installed...

 

Looks great! Which brackets are those? I have some on my ‘99 that attach to the hood mount.

 

Interesting bracket location. No issues sealing with it against the rubber? Share a link if you have it...

 

Amazon!

$29 ROMELACK Ditch Hood Mount Bolt Brackets Upper LED Light Bracket Compatible with Toyota Tacoma 1996-2004 Fit 4runner 1996-2002 (Black)

Amazon.com: ROMELACK Ditch Hood Mount Bolt Brackets Upper LED Light Bracket Compatible with Toyota Tacoma 1996-2004 Fit 4runner 1996-2002 (Black) : Automotive
I didn't use their screws, I bought some flat head self tappers at Ace hardware. The backside where they screw in I put some silicone.

Weatherstrip goes right back on. Door closed fine, and you can't see the lights from the driver's seat.

 

Lubed up the sticky door handle syndrome (pull handle from an unlocked position, door opens slightly and then lock tab shifts down, thereby locking door).
Added Kilmat, Shit is sharp..
Cleaned up and added butyl rope putty (O'Reilly's 8612) to vapor barrier.

Not new but much better.

 

Removed the glovebox reached up and packed the farthest right hand dash pin and socket with pieces of rubber glove. I used a bent piece of wire to really pack it in the socket. Seems to have stopped the dash rattle. I hope!!

 

How did you put the sound deadener on the door? Against where the interior piece sits or on the inner shell?

 

Installed a URD short shifter and 4Runner center console. No more whacking my knuckles on the radio or spilling my coffee every time I brake.

 

best to do both.

 

Got some oem tundra rotors ready to go

 

Can get gauges and even a compressor and recovery tank net $0 rental at LAPS. Don't think there should be any fee to evacuate old refrigerant but would be owed a credit if there's anything in there.

 

Tried to help a friend flush the coolant on her 5VZ 4Runner today. We never got it to burp fully. The truck ran for 30+ minutes at idle, radiator cap off, maintaining operating temperature, but with no heat in the cabin. After that, we put the radiator cap on and started driving. The temperature immediately started to climb so we stopped driving but left it idling and the temperature returned back to normal within a few minutes. Still no heat in cabin.

I know it's probably an air bubble but I'm unsure what else to do to evacuate it. Any suggestions? Are there quirks to be aware of when burping a 5VZ cooling system?

 

Were you using one of those nice funnels? Squeezing all of the hoses in/out of the radiator? If the thermostat was replaced, was it clocked at the correct position? (6 o'clock)

Those were the main things I did when I was doing it.

You need to get the engine up to temp so the thermostat opens up and allows everything to flow through the system; sometimes if the thermostat is at 12 o'clock, that can be tough(er). And sometimes you gotta rev a bit, just to warm things up.

 

No funnel but we did keep adding water regularly. Just water, not coolant. We had a new thermostat installed but went back to the old one while trying to troubleshoot the lack of heat. It seemed like the new one wasn't opening, but maybe we were fighting bubbles then too. Thermostats were installed with the jiggle valve at 6.

Hoses were squeezed and revs were revved, but maybe not aggressively enough?

After reading a bit online, I'm wondering if a few hot/cold cycles of the engine will sort things out.

 

My vapor barrier was bit flappy and generous with the dust freedom.
I had enough room to fit sheets in, fingernail indent, take it out, cut to size, apply, then roller.

I gently pulled back the butyl from the plastic and cleaned it all up with a wire brush and then reapplied new butyl putty.