Gonna be a lot of work!

So I took my truck (her name is Joan) to the dealership the other day for a check up like you'd walk into the doctors for. She's a '97 2.4L 4 banger, with a charmingly terrible red paint job. Anywho, I asked them to make me a list of things that are due to be done and their prices for doing those things. Here's the list yall:

1. Rotate Tires and Alignment = 79.99
2. Clean and adjust throttle body = 83.94
3. Flush and Change Brake Fluid = 156.64
4. Flush and Change Powersteering Fluid = 112.16
5. Flush and Change Differential Fluid = 349.86
6. Flush and Change Coolant Fluid = 149.94
7. Oil Leak Clean and keep an eye on
8. Replace Leaky Washer Fluid Resovoir = 15.14
To pay the dealership... Total = 947.67

My goal is to do all of these things myself figure out how much it cost as I do each thing myself. Then compare the totals at the end and see how much money I save!

For reference I found this and the threads attached to it:

http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/4-cylinder/37648-complete-30k-maintenance.html#post612865

I'm gonna document my progress. I'll be more than happy to post it here if you guys would like as I get things done as well as update the costs etc. This is gonna be my project for the summer. Any other bits of advice you guys have before I start are most certainly welcome!

 

Id do it all myself only thing I would think 2 on would be a major oil leak somewhere...

Good luck!

 

I could do that all for $200. And 350 to change diff oil is nuts! you can change it your self for $40 and about an hour of your time

 

This right here /\. Thats a Sunday morning project.

 

Thing about the oil leak is that I've known it was there as long as I've had the truck. And it's never really been an issue. It's just enough of a leak to get the engine dirty over the course of a year and a half. But I'm going to clean it off and I have some stuff to put in with the oil to seal up the leak.

 

this could all be done in one day easy with minimal tools for under $250

 

The alignment is the only thing you will not be able to do yourself... unless you have access to the equipment.

Food for thought... if you plan to keep her for many many many years, look into a lifetime alignment.
It originally cost me about $109.
I have used it a number of times and the cost out the door to do a RE-alignment was only UNDER $4.

Well worth the upfront cost.
I use Brake Check.

One other thing, if the fluids have never been flushed before (other than oil) - - do not do a flush.
Do a partial flush/refill operation.
The way to do it is this way.
THis pertains to the tranny and power steering fluids.

Drain say about a 1 quart....refill with fresh. Run engine.
Drain again a 1 quart... refill with fresh.... repeat.
Yes this takes time... I have read that this is the best way for those type of conditions.
You will have to do this, until you see the fluid come out a similar color as the fresh fluid going in.

Good luck and have fun.

 

I've been derailed!!!

I haven't started these little projects yet because I'm really tight on cash. But I did put some seafoam into the fuel line.

Now the Check engine light keeps coming on and off and first gear needs WAY to much power to get going otherwise the engine stalls. And I was going up a hill yesterday in third and the engine was running at really low rpms. Way lower than it is supposed to run.

I might take it to a shop today and see if they can figure it out because I can't. Was hoping you guys might now a thing or two about what could be causing this problem.

 

What did you do? Are you saying you put it in the fuel tank?

 

where did you put the seafoam? sounds like you did something wrong

 

yep, typical of the dealership.

They wanted about 540 to replace a inner axle seal on my tacoma (seated mine to far, so it leaked)

They said they have to replace the axle bearings and everything else. I was like "what the actual fuck?" you pull the half axle, and replace the seal. Maybe an hour of time...

 

Sorry... I put it in the fuel tank.... With the gasoline...

 

Well, I'll tell you what everyone says. Clean MAF and reset ECU.

You might have clogged your fuel filter or something, but I'm grabbing in the dark at that.

 

I still haven't been able to start this list of stuff yet due to other problems popping up. Put some Seafoam in the gas and that lead to a CEL. And my OBDII can't read any of the codes except first thing in the morning. I kept getting a P0130 so I replaced the upstream O2 sensor. Now when I get ready to go to work in the mornings there's no CEL until I've driven around for a bit. But no codes show up when I check it in the mornings. The only thing it tells me is that the Catalyst Monitor is incomplete.

The truck runs like a dream until the CEL comes on at which point I have to give it a LOT of gas to get going from first, the engine gets much louder, and the idle is rough, and really shaky. But this only happens AFTER something triggers the CEL. I thought that if I got on the highway and nailed it I'd clear out a bunch of crap that the Seafoam cleaned. Sure enough a plume of thick black smoke came blasting out of the exhaust. Since then I haven't seen anything else getting cleaned out. Yet the CEL persists.

So aside from the on board computer needing to probably be reset or something (since it can't read any codes after being warmed up), I have something triggering the CEL, and bogging down my engine. For the life of me I can't figure this out. Any ideas?

 

Are you sure you put the correct sensor in? Seems like it's running fine in open loop, then as soon as it switched to closed loop and uses the sensors, it runs rough.

 

Try an OEM sensor and not the one from Autzone (not saying this is what you did, but with 02 sensors, its hard to beat OEM).

If you need help with the maintenance stuff and have space to work on your truck - PM me. Im in Alexandria/Arlington and can come over to give a hand. I got everything you'll need - just provide the fluid/parts and we'll be good to go.

 

OP, you will obviously be able to save you a good bit of money by doing yourself as you will be saving all of the labor charges. If you feel comfortable enough doing it, then go for it!

I'm going to side with the dealer here and this is why:

Dealer replaces just the seal......200 miles later you return with a bearing noise....Dealer is expected to go back in and replace the bearing and other seals. It is in their best interest, to replace the bearing. Now maybe YOU would be one of those who realizes that hey, I just want the seal replaced, and I will be good. HOWEVER for every 1 of you, there are 10 who would do everything they could to screw the dealership over. When running a service department you should err on the side of caution and prudence.

 

Good luck!

 

Use the turkey baster method to remove/ replenish PS fluid.

EZ to do.

 

I was thinking even LESS if you do it yourself-$150-200 total