How long do all the various parts last?

I have a 2004 4X4 Tacoma. It's got 126,000 on it. It's in perfect condition previously owned by my dad and garaged it's entire life in California. Until I bought it. It went to Utah and is now in Wyoming.

I just gave my '73 Cadillac Coupe to a friend and I had that car for 19 years. It was my only car all that time and was about as reliable as it gets. It left me stranded once because of a bad alternator and once because the idiot that re-installed the new engine routed the wiring harness wrong and it was torched in half by the exhaust manifold. At 120mph at 2AM in the middle of no where. The way I kept it running was I knew about how long an alternator would last, how long a fuel pump would last and usually replaced parts BEFORE I got stranded somewhere.

With this Toyota I have no feel for how long these various parts last. Considering the price of a new Toyota alternator I would assume they last a very long time but for how long? I'd like to have a new one standing by for the day the old one craps out on me 50 miles into the mountains.

Is 126,000 about time to start thinking about an alternator as well as a few other parts? The water pump was replaced about 40,000 miles ago and i would bet it will need another one in about 10,000 miles. What about the power steering pump and the steering rack? What about all the various emissions sensors? The serpentine belt?

Any first hand experience would be helpful so I can plan for future problems and fix them BEFORE I get stuck somewhere.

 

look in this section for the service manuals.

Timing Belt and Water pump at the ~90k marks (I did belts at the same time long with radiator hoses)

I have 132k and have only replaced fluids and steering rack bushings and I live in the salt belt so your creampuff should be fine for a while if it was taken care of.

 

Thanks, Frizzman.

 

NP!

now that's not to say you shouldn't check things every now and then obviously but well taken care of means lasting longer

 

I go over everything on a vehicle petty regularly I'm just trying to figure out what parts I want to have on hand for when something wears out.

 

I'm the original owner of my '01 with 230K miles on the OD - I am still running the original alternator, power steering pump, master cylinder, etc.
I have replaced, in the engine bay - the belts (timing 2x & others), changed the oil, plugs, cleaning the MAF a few times, and had the transmission serviced.
As you know PM (preventative maintenance) goes a long way!
I have seen very few Toyotas on the side of the road.

 

That's good news. I guess I don't have to worry about too much. I am a maintenance freak.

 

By the way, if your 2004 has the 2.7L 4cly as shown underneath your avatar, you don't have to worry about changing the timing belt. The 4cyl engines use timing chains, not timing belts. Timing chains on these engines should be good for the life of the engine.

Eventually you might want to check valve clearances. The exhaust valves can get tight, but at 126,000, they're probably fine.

 

166k on a 2004 v6 dc prerunner. Second owner, have had it since 2716 on the odo. bought it on valentine's day of 2004. Have only done fan belts once, antifreeze once, tranny filter twice, rear-end once, plugs and wires thrice. Oil a bazillion times. Recently flushed the power steering and cleaned said reservoir. Recently flushed the brake system and replaced hoses with stainless steel lines. Replaced the calipers a couple years ago, but honestly only needed to do one, and only cause i buggered up the piston seal on the original. Never, KNOCKING ON WOOD, have done shocks, water pump, alternator, timing belt, rear brakes. This truck also spent a winter in Minnesota, and five winters in anchorage, Alaska. So shes been ridden a bit hard, but was atleast only put up damp. Hope this helps a bit. One part you can expect to go through, at least in my experience, is disc rotors... Oh and here's a REALLY cool way to keep tabs on your alternator..

http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/1s...-change-factory-clock-into-voltage-meter.html

 

The main parts of the alternator that go bad are the brushes, rectifier diodes, voltage regulator and bearing. You can check how far the brushes are worn and check the rectifier diodes pretty easily. If you don't overtighten the belt, the bearing should last a long time (200k+). The regulator might be harder to predict when it will go bad. If you are worried, pick up a used one from the junkyard as a backup when you get a chance. You might be able to pick up a voltage regulator from other model Toyotas. The internal parts are the same on a lot of different models even if the outer part itself is different (bolt hole locations, pulley).

 

The valve clearances are something I've thought about. I'll get around to that fairly soon. I know about the timing chain so I'm not worried about that.

It sounds like other than normal wear items like brakes that these trucks last a long long time before they need any parts replacements. This one sees mostly highway 30 miles a day and when I take it off road I baby it. Nothing serious.

I've wondered when I can expect the boots on the steering rack and CV joints to start cracking.

 

Your buying a toyota, not to be rude, but id bet my left nut that it lasts longer than that caddy, but definitely wont be as smooth....

 

I don't take that as rude at all. These newer cars are FAR and away better engineered than the old American iron was. The engines last about three times longer although I have heard of more than one of the old ones going over 300,000 miles including one old caddy with 468,000 on it before the engine gave up the ghost.

All that being said, you may be right but the body and frame on the Toyota just aren't anywhere near as stout as the Caddy was. Those early 70's Cad's were built very well and were very reliable as mine was. The main reason so many went to the junk yard before their time was lack of maintenance and fuel prices.

As far as smoothness is concerned. You got that right. After driving the Caddy all these years I feel like I'm shoehorned into a buckboard wagon and no suspension mods to the Toyota are going to fix it.

 

03 DC TRD w/190,000 and only replaced plugs, fluids, timing belt & wp once, rack bushings and lower Ball joints.

 

Besides basic maintenance, my thinking is that if it's not leaking or making noise don't mess with it

 

That is exactly how I think about it. this is a DD and I drive around on dirt roads and do some minor 4 wheeling in it on a fairly regular basis. I'm very careful with it off road though.

From a couple of posts I've read it sounds like i might want to have some rack bushings and lower ball joints on hand though for when they are needed.