03 tacoma with a list of issues

your steering rack does look a little suspect. One thing you can do is take a push pin and poke a tiny hole in one of the bellows boots. If fluid comes out, you should replace the rack. The greenish fluid might be dye that was added to the fluid to find the leak.

 

Hey, another thought about the coolant "leak." If you are referring to the level in the plastic expansion tank, it is normal for this to fluctuate a bit. Just top off the radiator and the expansion tank, and monitor both.

Oh, and don't ever go to a Jippy Lube or other quick-change place unless you are OK with the risk that some idiot will accidentally destroy your engine or transmission. Those guys couldn't get out of a paper bag if they were armed with matches and scissors. Anything they can do, you can do better...

 

Get that thing back into shape man!

Yeah, that's what I'm thinking too.

 

Ok, so here's an update on the situation. I replaced every fluid except for the brake fluid. New power steering, oil, coolant, wiper fluid, the works. I also took a look at the throttle body and ended up cleaning it because it was disgusting. It was coated in a rather thick layer of crap. I also flushed the radiator and the engine out because when I opened the cap it looked like someone had literally poured beach sand into it. The truck runs a tiny bit cooler now. The needle now comes to rest at just below the half way point.

Based on the level of build up on the throttle body I am going to sea foam it this weekend to clean the rest out. Is there anything I should be concerned about when I'm doing this? Just in the tank and in the vacuum hose, right?

Also, the power steering rack is mega leaking. I released one of the clamps on the accordion hose and a brown sludge poured out. Any way I can find the leak and patch it, or am I hosed?

As for the idler pulleys...what are those? How can I tell that they're bad? Can I just look at them, or is this something I need a mechanic to do?

I may be a noob, but I'm trying, lol


Edit: Another thing I forgot to mention. I've noticed that sometimes after coming to a stop at a light the car will randomly lurch forward. The first time I thought someone rear ended me and I was pissed, but when no one was behind me I was thoroughly confused. It also happens if I shift from neutral into drive when I'm at a stop light. Anyone have an idea of what this is?

 

If the rack is leaking inside the boots, it's time to replace it.

 

I can help! I've got the same issue with my truck (the lurch issue), looked into it on here and figured out it is "axle wrap" search that and you will know what to do, it's basically a u-bolt on your leaf springs and supposedly that takes care of it.

 

Ok, I'll look into that, thanks!


So I was just looking through the forums and noticed something odd. This is as far open as the carbon plate will open with the accelerator to the floor. I can push it open with a screw driver, but i've seen other posts where it's open all the way on it's own.... is this normal?

I took another look at this after I noticed that the truck idles very high on start up for a while. I've read that they can idle up to 1900rpm on startup when it's cold, however i'm in Arizona and it's 100* out. The truck will stay at 1600 rpm for a few minutes when left in park, and SLOWLY drop down to just under 1k rpm. Any thoughts?

Another thing is that the engine gets hot after 3 minutes of careful driving. It'll go from cold to where it normally sits (just under the halfway mark). Is this normal?

I figured that instead of creating ten million threads for every question I have, I'll just keep the one.

 

It's been a little while, so I thought I'd give a general update.

I replaced the fuel filter. When I poured it out a mud-like substance came flopping out. After I replaced the fuel filter, I decided to reset the car computer so it would relearn my driving habits, and that totally fixed my start idle. My truck used to start up and idle at 1600 rpm until I'd shift into gear. Now start up barely passes 1k rpm and drops to about 750.

I've also noticed a dramatically increased fuel efficiency. The farthest I've ever gotten on a tank was 274miles, but I would usually average about 245 to 250. The other day I just got above 300 miles, and that was with me driving like an asshole...

I seafoamed the engine on saturday too. I only did it through the vacuum line since I had a full tank. Truck smoked for about 10 to 11 minutes, and idles a lot lower at stop lights (usually just above 500rpm now). Other than the low idle, I haven't really noticed any performance gains. Still kind of a rough shift into 4th gear at high/racing speeds. Regardless of performance changes, it must have been good to clean it out. I think I'll be doing the deckplate mod at the arizona mod day this month. I'll post more on that later.

Can someone comment on my post above? I never really got an answer to that.

Also, good news. I found the customize profile button!!!
And for your enjoyment, my seafoaming video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tyKj00Fb4F8

 

I think that sea foam thru a vacumn line will eventually harm the cat converter, as will leaded gasoline.

 

I also wanted to add that I read this :

my coils are about 1mm from touching at the top. Does this mean i need to replace them? I want to get new shocks (probably some billys), but I feel like if the suspension is bad it will wear out new shocks faster... Any input on that?

 

X2

 

post some pics of the spring so we can see what you mean

 

There are some pictures posted on the first page, but here's some new ones.
Passenger side followed by driver side.

Anyone know how to rotate these once they're on tw? Picasa doesn't seem to save the rotation settings.

 

Change your spark plugs. That is one of the first things I would do after buying a used vehicle. I had that lurching issue with an old Saturn that I owned. Only happened at very low speeds or at a complete stop. It must have been a cylinder misfiring or something because after changing them it went away completely. 3 of the 4 plugs looked good, 1 looked completely burned up.

I am no mechanic and this may be the "axle wrap" thing, but I would at least change the plugs, it won't hurt anything.

 

Coils are defintely shot dude. Hit me up on a PM, I have some stock TRD coils with ~45,000 miles, I'll make you a deal.

 

Nice work on getting it fixed up and back in order! Way to go!

 

I'll give that a shot. It's pretty reasonable and would cost nearly nothing to do.

Aren't the coils on our trucks known for being bad or having a short life? I've heard that they're pretty much done at 70k miles....

Thanks!!

 

From my understanding the TRD coils are progressive rate while the non TRD coils are not which cause the TRD coils to wear out faster. My coils were shot around 80k-90k miles.