SOLVED! Post 2853 Leaking Injectors, Dealer Techs Rock! Extended Cranking after Engine Swap 3.4L 5vz

I think in my case, this is simply beyond their ability to repair...they are going to bring in an electrical specialist to give it a shot.

Howard

 

Good one Knuckle, I am impressed! You guys have some talent! Your 3rd line is my fave

So sad you guys. I was just searching vehicles online, and for the umpteenth million time, I FORCED myself to include things like Nissans, Ford Rangers, etc in my results, and then FORCED myself to look at them in comparison with the handful of 4Runners and Tacos I can find that are worth considering. And I swear, every time, I go through with process of elimination, and guess which ones are eliminated first EVERY time? I just can't seem to convince myself to stray from a Taco or it's cousin the 3rd gen 4 Runner no matter how hard I try! Thinking we should really get our refi done before buying anything anyway though, so we don't reduce our credit scores with an auto loan. Gotta get that going! 1st coat of poly went on cabinets yesterday, gotta do 3 more rounds of poly/sand over next 3 days, then time to start refi. Once they've pulled our credit for the refi and we lock a rate, time to shop for a vehicle! Still leaning towards replacing Civic with a 4Runner and keeping Taco to haul DIY materials/run local errands/etc.

I looked up the stats on Tacos and 4Runners various widths over the years, since a big priority for me is something compact/skinny to make navigating narrow windy roads easier. Here's what I found:

1998 Tacos - 66.5" up to 69.5" wide
2004 Tacos - 66.5" up to 70.3" wide
2005 and newer Tacos - 72.2" up to 74.6" wide

1997-2002 4Runners - 66.5" up to 70.9" wide
2003-2005 4Runners - 73.8" wide
2006-2011 4 Runners - 75.2" wide
2012 and newer 4 Runners - 75.8" wide

WHY? Why did they increase the size of these vehicles so much? I have talked to sooooo many people, including my fave dealer parts guy, who agree that they really prefer the smaller old frames (1st gen Tacos and 3rd gen 4Runners). Why Toyota? This means I'd be shopping for an '04 or older Taco, or an '02 or older 4 Runner. That's gonna be a tall order to find in good condition for a reasonable price.

OK, you asked for it Keakar, Taco pics!

First pic was when Taco was just a baby. First camping trip in it, before we even had our topper. So shiny! We were SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO excited that we had this bad ass new truck that we could just drive off road to park wherever we wanted for a prime camping set up. Lots of celebratory drinking went on around the campfire that night! I remember I always used to insist that Eric back up a little more, a little more, so that I could sit on the tailgate by the campfire, and he'd laugh at me and point out that we don't want to set the truck on fire........

Second pic was a trip to the Steens Mts in southeastern Oregon a couple years ago. We were at like 7K elevation in this pic, and were about to come to one of those "oh shit" scenarios in that road, where some idiot in a RV nearly pushed us off the side of that exact road in the pic. Lots of colorful screaming when that happened. Sure, it was paved, but still, when the pavement ends and the 7K foot cliff begins, what do you do? I know! Drive a skinny truck!

3rd pic is this really pretty area of eastern Oregon - beautiful driving for miles and miles and miles over there. Just did a really cool hike right before this was taken.

Last pic was one of many, many trips that truck took us on to go snowboarding in central Oregon. We'd get our stuff ready Thurs night, put the topper on, and leave right after work Fri night. Drive through blizzards (literally) getting over Mt. Hood late Friday nights, then arrive in central Oregon in the middle of the night. Go snowboarding Sat/Sun, then drive back Sun night, again, often through a blizzard in the dark. Drag into work Mon AM, totally exhausted. That truck did that same trip nearly every winter weekend for probably ~5 years in a row. Don't know how many times we'd pass cars that had wiped out due to ice/going to fast/visibility/etc, but I always felt safe in the Taco, going slow and steady.

Oooh! That reminds me of a funny story. We DID wipe out just one time in the Taco in winter driving. But it wasn't the Taco's fault. It was ours. Our tires were ridiculously bald for the type of icy driving we were doing, but like idiots, we made the false assumption that all would be fine if we just put it it 4WD. Ha! Did a full 360 on a 2 direction highway, with plenty of other cars around us. Headed straight for Les Schwab driving very, very slowly and bought a brand new set of studded Bighorns.

EDIT: Yes, that's me in the 2nd and 3rd pics. Sorry, that's about as clear of a pic of myself as I will post.

EDIT #2: This is one of my favorite Taco pics. From a trip this past 4th of July in eastern Oregon, along the border of Oregon & Idaho - this long windy dirt road that borders the Imnaha River. Might be the prettiest scenery I've ever seen. This pic is also a great example of why I insist on having a skinny truck.

 

The Alvord Desert, on the eastern side of the Steens, is worth visiting. I'm in the habit of taking my taco up to south eastern Oregon in June.

Using the Hi-Lift as a winch to get out of a bog somewhere in SE Oregon.

 

thanks, now we at least know what the patient looks like, kinda adds a better connection to it then just "some random truck"

 

We did the Alvord Desert on that Steens trip and it was awesome!! There's that Alvord Hot Springs, we went there and actually got it to ourselves for a few minutes, it was really really cool. Then that little tiny town of Fields - did you go through there? One little tiny store/hotel/restaurant/gas station combo place, and they make the best burgers/fries/shakes in the world. Such a neat area.

That pic is cool!

 

Heck yeah! She's purty, isn't she? I'm sure she looked a lot purtier to others when she was a lot younger, but she gets purtier to me every day.

 

Only bad thing about that...My wife has a penchant for black trucks. Gonna have to delete the pics. Don't want her getting any ideas.

 

With only 4 feet of pull at a time, it can take a while...but I carry the hilift, chain and recover strap 24/7

Nice job.

 

Happy Saturday TW!

Got a call last night from the angel mechanic. Apparently not only did he and the current mechanic talk, they also worked on the Taco together for 4 hours last night! After having a falling out between them ~1 yr ago! So cool that this knarly situation brought about something good like that. So angel mechanic said he went down to their garage and reviewed all the data on the digital scan tool that current mechanic has been saving, and he agreed that there was an abnormal voltage drop plus too many amps going to the starter during hard starts. So while they can't be sure that it's the starter, they are leaning towards replacing it. It's so cool that they are putting so much effort into doing everything they can to properly diagnose before watching us spend more money on parts! I am so grateful to both of them. Anyway, we let him know that we are all for going ahead with them putting in the starter I took down there Thurs morning. So I believe the plan is for the current mechanic to put it in Monday, then another employee there is going to drive it Monday afternoon (get it nice and hot, etc), then angel mechanic is going to go back down there again near closing time Monday to see what's going on/help out. I can't believe how lucky we are to have found mechanics that care so much to give their personal free time to working on this for us, and especially doing it together after their falling out. Really cool. Eric & I are still very hopeful about the starter, fingers crossed. Thinking I will probably hear something either way Mon evening, so I will definitely share whatever it is on TW!! Have a great weekend everyone!

 

Maybe that's what your truck needed. To be threatened with a resale.

Truck whisperer.

Looks like you two have some memories with that old hunk-a-junk.

 

I like your thought here Mod. I'm going with it!!

Just went to play "dirty deeds done cheap" on my I Tunes and realized it's by AC/DC, not Joan Jett! Oops! Ah well, either way, I like it!

I almost posted a video of us driving the Taco into Hell's Canyon on this really cool windy road, blasting AC/DC's "Highway to Hell" and singing/yelling along with it too. But then I thought some of you might be scared of me if you saw/heard that. So never mind.

 

lol.

Let er rip!, I'm not scared.

'Mericas gots talents!.

"Breaking the law" by Judas Priest,,in my roller cam 406 1956 Chevy. And yes, my chocolate lab did start howling. It was hilarious.

 

I'll end my part of this thread jack here. Let's leave it simple, you do things your way, and I will do them mine when it comes to dielectric grease. Nuf said.



All these comedy song bites are getting me laughing. One old one that I used to laugh about all the time was when I was younger, a friend of mine had me convinced that the song was "Dirty deeds, done with sheep!"

 

We don't judge here.

 

Ha! Nice one.

 

Bama! You're back! Nice to see ya man! And thanks for making me laugh my ass off the second I sat down at my computer this morning, good one indeed!!!!!

 

Do you know this little lady?

 

You guys are killin' me today!!!!!

 

Alvord Desert? Steens? Gotta include Glass Butte.

 

Whoa, where'dya pick those up DP? Very purty indeed!