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

Replacing the evaporator is actually an easy job

 

Changed valve cover gaskets, cam plugs, half moons etc. (What the hell is the point of the half moons??) Valve covers have been very slowly leaking oil for at least 2 years now and I finally got the courage/cash together to tackle this job. First time I've really done any work on an engine before so this was a great intro experience. Took yesterday to disassemble, then let some parts soak overnight before reinstalling everything today. I thought it would take forever to finish until all of the sudden I was done and I heard the beautiful sound of the engine cranking and coming to life again.



I am like 70% sure I've screwed up the spark plug tube seals on installation. I scratched the hell out of the tabs on the cover and tore through a bit of the rubber seal it seems... Also I think I ended up dumping a nice bit out of coolant out of a couple hoses and into the passenger side camshaft housing. Tomorrow I'll change the oil.



Apparently I decided grilling the valve covers was the best way to dry out any moisture after having soaked/cleaned them. Smelled pretty good and felt very wrong.



Next on the laundry list is to replace my hoses that are almost all split and cracking.

 

The half moons are part of the marching process to line bore the cam towers.

 

Famous last words. After a week of driving after fixing everything I broke while trying to fix things, I got a P0171. It's a good thing I like working on my truck so much. Unfortunately, my fiance hates how much time I spend on it.

 

It's a form of therapy

 

Weird that you'd got to a shop, hear hissing, and that they wouldn't want to investigate that. Frankly, they should never have recharged it if it was leaking, because they wouldn't have been able to hold vacuum prior to the recharge.

Before I did all the A/C work on mine, I took it to Toyota to get it recharged and they spent a couple hours trying to find the leak (with only the recharge fee). Seems to me that at the very least, you should be able to go back to them and get a refund for the recharge, since they shouldn't have charged it.

Good luck finding the leak! If you can actually hear hissing in the cab, at least you've got a good idea of where the problem is!

Replacing the A/C Evaporator Core on a 1st gen Tacoma
it's more than just the evap core that you'll need to replace - you need a pressure switch and expansion valve - but it's all pretty straight forward and easy. Once you do that, everything in the cab that could be hissing will be new!

 

Ball chiller came in the mail today

 

In their defense, it started about 10 minutes down the road, so I genuinely don't think it was happening at the shop. Frustrating, but oh well. They did use a UV dye, so I'm going to start with a black light & go from there.

With it being cyclic I suspect the pressure switch or the expansion valve, because those are the only two possible leak sources that wouldn't be constant, I think. I'll just yank all of it while I'm in there.

 

was throwing a p0302 so instead of diagnosing it i just went ahead and changed all the plugs, coils and wires. All from Rock Auto, no OEM. Cost me $200 and a couple hours. truck is running smoother than ever now

 

Working on a new house battery system. Converting to LiFePo4 from dual AGM, and taking the opportunity to build out something that is so overkill as to be humorous. Really, the only new components for me are the battery, shunt, distributor and DC-DC Charger; everything else is reused from the existing house setup.

 

Lol I changed the lenses on my lights

 

I did the @mechanicjon drivers seat side metal bracket for cover mod/fix. Came out perfect. Mine was busted up so had to fix cracks and clips busted inside cover and I had to use the sheet metal screws in front and top to attach to plate also but it's rock solid and good to go. Thanks, I got it from his ebay store that's where you should get it from. The Chinese have ripped off his design so get the real deal from him and its USA made. I went the ebay route if you can buy it directly even better.

 

New rubber + matching spare
235/85R16

 

Been busy chasing a vibration that comes on around 70 mph.

Is it normal to have play in the rear driveshaft if I grab on either side of the carrier bearing (grabbing the shaft immediately in front of the carrier bearing and the flange immediately behind)?

 

A little bit of side to side and up and down movement from the driveshaft inside of the CB is normal.

 

Ok, I knew about the up and down, but you're saying some rotational play (i.e. I can rotate the front section several degrees whilst holding the rear section) is also normal?

 

Wow, no. If the two halves of the driveshaft can rotate independently of one another, there is an issue. There is a splined connection just downstream of the center bearing to a flange that is bolted to the double cardan joint - if that spline is worn or the staked nut is loose, that may be the cause of the play.

 

Ok that's kinda what I thought. It's strange that my only real symptom (and why I'm looking at the driveline) is a vibration that comes on strong at 70-75mph.

Looks like I'll be taking apart my carrier bearing and checking those splines and stake nut this weekend.

 

Anyone got tips on how to check for a sticky wheel cylinder ? Figured out today after a 20 mile freeway jaunt that my drivers side rear brake is dragging or stuck. I am thinking it has to be one of three things- the e-brake bell crank is stuck, the wheel cylinder is stuck, or an outside chance there is some debris in the brake line. The passenger side seems un affected just based on the temp test, which means it can't be anything upstream of the T connection on the rear axle between the rear brake line and solid brake lines on the axle...

I have to drive downtown again tomorrow am, so I am gonna try to pop the wheel and drum off at lunch for a visual inspection. Also gonna back the star nut off a but to hopefully make it downtown tomorrow am...

 

how did you determine it was dragging? was it pulling to one side down the road?