What can go wrong with my truck - or RysiuM build

Update on the rear bumper. Got two nice bolts 12-1.25x40 grade 10.9. I tried to put one one but after few turns I encountered some resistance, more than I'd like to see. After removing the bolt I notice the thread at the tip of the bold deformed. Obviously the nut welded to the frame is mangled. I will probably end up with using additional nut behind it (40mm bolt is long enough to grab additional nut). Actually somehow I was smart enough and while buying bolts I got 10.9 grade nuts as well. Now I ordered 12-1.25 tap so I can chase the mangled thread in the welded nut, so it does not damage the brand new bolt anymore. That tap is not something I could buy in local hardware store, so now waiting for the tap to show up from my on-line purchase.

Sad thing, 20-30 years ago in my city we had few stores specializing in tools, and metal working stuff so buying any bolt or tool like tap or mill was not a problem - everything was on shelf. Now all these stores disappeared and really the only option is buying stuff on-line. I hate buying on-line. I'm the guy who likes to "kick the tire". Oh well.

It was raining again, so I could not finish painting the tail gate. Hopefully I will do touch up this weekend. Still to cold for Fluid Film.

 

Wow, on line buying experience here is quite good (so far). I ordered tap set on May 9 afternoon, and today I picked it up from the mailbox. I was able to clean only one welded nut before the rain chased me out. That welded nut is done - stripped beyond repair. I just put my new nut behind and was able to torque the new bolt to the spec. Tomorrow I will try to fix the other side.

Here is to old bolt



Strange thing, that bolt has unusual markinggs on the head: two parallel lines next to each other - I could not find what it means. Toyota does not use such markings and hardware store follow international standards.

And the new one in place



You can see the fluid film from last year is still holding well. That stuff is amazing every time I look at it.

By the way, I noticed that I have only half of 3 liter can left from last year, so I just ordered another one. It takes about 3 litters of NAS for my two trucks (Tacoma and 4Runner).

 

that sucks
i need to check my truck in this area, I am always pertinent of cleaning out foilage, leaves,twigs,etc. from the back gate or this may happen when water pools up and tries to drain but cannot (I see it on a ton of trucks in my area over past 2+ decades) so i know this is serious stuff

So far on my tailgate I have only found an oxidized part on the passenger side where it 'crimps' together looks like a weld (don't know exact terminolgy)
had the bodyshop fix that the best they could plus shoot some wax in the area where the drain holes are in the gate (they told me this would keep H20 from pooling in that area.)

a few weeks ago I found a 'tumor' in a spot I thought I would never see one (because I am pertinent about spraying and wiping my door jams regular during the winter here) Although now I found out these spray and wash might use recycled water for their soap/wash selection and that I should just use the spot-free rinse! (fresh water)
I was putting in some new OEM scuff plate screws and noticed the paint bubbling by the soft spot under drivers door on the jam (looks like an indentation on the metal)
i rubbed my finger on it and OH CRAP the paint came off and corrosion underneath the bodyshop did me a good favour and filed it and put some touch-up paint onit free of charge, I need to keep an eye on it.
the next spot for me to check is inside the fender wells where the splash shields connect to the metal...

 

Update on my coolant temperature gauge sender. As soon as I tried to unplug the sender the plastic housing started to fall apart, so I needed a new one. At the same time I did not know if contact will be corroded, so just in case I got a pigtail. So I ordered all three parts: the sender (part no 83420-20040), pigtail for that sender (part no

$11 82998-12440 Genuine Toyota Parts - Terminal, Repair W/W (82998-12440)

82998-12440) and the plastic plug housing (Part no

$14 90980-11428 MOTOALL 1-Way Connector 11428 for Toyota Temperature Sensor

90980-11428). The most expensive was the sender, pigtail and housing were about 15 dollars total):



All parts were available in local warehouse except the sender that traveled from Belgium (3 days lead time).

Todat was a perfect day. Fantastic weather, family members did not bother me, so I had the whole day to myself (and my truck). First I drained the coolant but before that I had to warm up the engine to the temperature when the thermostat opens. I found that I don't need to remove skid plate - there is a hole exactly where the drain hose goes down. Then get to work. This is how the sensor and plug looked originally:



plastic already broken from the first time I try to unplug it. Then remove the sender. I have a set of deep sockets but that set did not have 12mm. WTF. There is 10 and 13. The other set I have has 10, 11, and 13 but not 12. And the sender is, you can guess, 12mm. Fortunately there is enough space to use normal closed wrench so I did it. The sender gave up easy without any fight (after 24 years sitting there).



There is no seal, just simple self sealing tapered thread. Funny thing, the new sender went in exactly the same and being tight in exactly the same 12-o clock position.




The old plastic case was way beyond it's life span. To remove the contact you have to pry out the locking latch first and then bend the latch holding the contact. Anything I was touching trying to pry or bend was falling apart. However contact was in almost like new condition. I decided to keep it, just replacing the housing. And so I did.



I added the coolant, checked that there are no leaks and started the engine. That's what I'm talking about. The gauge went back to normal behavior. I measured the ECT with my HF scanner and watching the temperature gauge position. This is what I get used to see. Here is side by side comparison of ECT reported by OBD II and Coolant temperature shown by gauge.







The temperature stabilized at 85 C (185 F). It took 5 minutes from starting the truck to get to operating temperature 85 C just sitting and idling. Within one minute the needle went up to 64 C (this is where heater starts doing some work in winter). So I am very happy with the result, and I can sleep well even with my OCD.

Besides this I did some other work on the truck. I discovered one of rattling noises I hear when I go over speed bumps. It was the intake resonator rubber posts broke off completely and the resonator was hitting the mounting bracket. I'm sure for these posts I will have to wait 2 months, so for now I used a combination of bolts and rubber hoses to mount the resonator. Actually works at least as good as factory one. But I will still order two of these parts (part number 1785375010).




And finally I replaced the driver side bolt mounting the bumper to the frame. The old one was even more chewed up than the pass side was.

 

Bad news, good news . Bad: That "insulator" will cost me 13 dollars each at my local dealer (delivered and VAT included). It will come from Toyota "Intercontinental", so up to 2 months. No biggie. Maybe these rubber hoses will survive two months in that location (thy are just above the exhaust collector heat shield).
Good: I was driving around the town doing chords and the temperature gauge works perfect showing the true coolant temperature all the time. One headache less.

 

Ha, 2 months my a$$. What about a week? I got a call from "my parts guy", they are ready for pick up. Arrived fresh from USA. Paid total 105 PLN (that is 28 USD) for the pair. Including shipping, taxes, customs and whatever EU wants us to pay. I will probably install them tomorrow. For now still in bags.

 

Finally had time to replace the air resonator box "insulators". Here is my ghetto solution I used waiting for delivery: bracket sandwiched between two pieces of high pressure rubber hose bolted together. It is actually not bad solution, just I don't know how long that rubber hose would hold just above the exhaust collector heat shield. Probably high temperature silicone would be better.










Now original insulators installed. I used black RTV on threads sealing the box and making sure it does not vibrate out. Here is the box just before it is installed in the truck




All is tight and good, probably for next 10 years or so.

 

what's the story with this? i am unfamiliar with this part ... perhaps this is what is resonating and vibrating like crazy on my truck at certain engine rpm speeds

 

does the 3.4 have something similar?

 

Exactly. there are two intake resonator boxes (in stock 2.7):




One is a plastic one (Number 7) that is suspended by a rubber/plastic tube (not bolted to anything), the other one (number 8) heavy metal box welded to the metal intake tube that is supported by these two "insulator" (basically two bolts glued together by big blob of rubber between them).

V6 has only one plastic resonator just hanging on the intake tube (number 5 on the picture below):

 

No repair or maintenance, just pure pleasure. Visiting my property in a village - Tacoma in it's natural environment. I did not need 4x4 to drive across that gopher infested field but I pushed into 2L setting (4L without front hubs locked) just to not bounce to much. Idling at 1100rpm (A/C was on) on the first gear not touching anything besides the steering wheel enjoying the ride.

 

has your nice truck made it to Berlin yet?

 

My Tacoma is a "short course truck" . For a "long haul" I use 2012 4Runner - same gas mileage and off road capabilities but much more power and comfort. So if I ever need to go to Berlin that will be in 4Runner.

 

I love the smell of fluid film in the morning

Yesterday I went to car wash to pressure wash the frame again but they were closed. So I dug my own pressure washer and gave the frame nice batch. Most of dust collected on last year's fluid film was already gone (when I pressure washed the frame two months ago) so I washed out some puddle splashes. But even after that I noticed that the frame remained a little bit sticky or oily. I guess that last year fluid film did not washed out completly.



Today it was nice weather again. Fluid Film NAS (I got by a gallon) requires at least 77 F to flow and today was 95 F. Perfect. Imagine that:
- full sun on a driveway,
- 95 F in a shade, 110 in full sun,
- I'm wearing one piece full body overall (feels like a body condom),
- protective glasses and breathing mask,
- sweating like a whore in a church
- crawling under the truck and blowing stinky cloud of lanolin.

My wife said, I must really love this truck or I'm just plain crazy (which really is the same thing). As every year I did outside and inside boxed frame, third member, and inside chrome bumpers, all suspension parts, all visible bolts and nuts - basically any metal that is exposed. It took me a while to figure out the setting on the sprayer, so I had many places over-sprayed. It is a waste as it will be blown by the wind, but still better more than less.



I remember from last years that fluid film evaporates from a tail pipe and muffler very fast, so this time before applying fluid file I painted the muffler and tail pipe all the way to downstream oxygen sensor with heat resistant black paint. I hate that rusty look of exhaust system and that black paint supposed to be good for up to 1200 F. Time will tell if it's true or not. For now it looks much better.

Before:






After:







Now looking for another hot day to do my 4Runner.

 

did you have to sand or prep anything on the exhaust parts before you applied the black paint?

earlier this year i had to replace the whole exhaust from the cat back (hole in stainless steel muffler)
with an aircraft grade stainless steel that is non-magnetic and guaranteed for 1M miles. the magnet stuck right up to the old exhaust part
it cost a little less than a new OEM exhaust which I found difficult to find in the first place!

 

I have original factory exhaust and even when the truck was in California it was rusty color. I don't know if it is stainless or not.

I have not prepared the surface in any way except washing it. It is very light surface rust more like a discoloration and the paint supposed to stick to it. If it does not then "oh well" .

If my muffler or pipes rust through I wil have to do custom job at muffler shop - this is the only 95 tacoma in Poland. I hope it will be cheaper than OEM from my dealer.

 

I was curious how that overspray looks like after one day. Fluid Film (NAS version) does not flow or drip, it just spreads out on its own. That frame looks fantastic today.



Taking advantage of great weather (another 95 F day) I sprayed my 4Runner too. That gave me a chance to fine tune the sprayer. I reduced pressure from 80psi to 65psi and that helped a little with blowing to much fluid film in the air. I managed to get even spray without droplets and aerosol. It also helped with Fluid Film usage. I used only 1 litter of of it to do the entire truck.

At the same time I learned few things about 5th gen 4Runner. It is not as great about rust protection, I think it may still have the same problems with rusted frames as previous gens. After 7 years I already see some spots where the paint flakes off and surface rust stared to show up:



The other thing I saw and was surprised I haven't noticed before is that factory fuel tank skid plate goes over just 1/3 of the tank, not over full tank like we have in Tacoma. I already saw scrape marks on the plastic that will make me think twice before going through high brush areas. Or maybe I need to find or fabricate my own skid plate for fuel tank (like I did for transmission and catalytic converters)



And yes, that muffler starts to rust, not mentioning pipes. If that black paint holds up on Tacoma I will use it on 4Runner too.

 

Today I put some good use to my truck. Getting a lumber from "home improvement" store. This is spruce siding with planks 10ft long.

Around 2 ft sticking out of the back:



Same inside the cabin :



The rest is in the bed:



I use them to make barn door style windows shutters for my house.



It costs 10 times more to get them made "professionally".

And if someone asks, yes I did have the wood strapped to the rear bumper, so even in a crash would not go through the windshield.

 

Fluid film is done so the truck is ready for winter. So why not put some use to it. Again.

Cleaning up a bit my property from dead branches. On 2L (4x4 Low with front hubs disconnected) my Tacoma drives like a farm tractor = drives on idle doing all work without touching gas pedal. Hauling dead branches to be cut for firewood for open fire pit.

 

My lovely wife does not drive stick when it is not absolutely necessary so this time not Tacoma, but 4Runner worked as my farm tractor (it has to earn for fluid film treatment). I know it is not Tacoma on these pictures, but it could be .

So the goal was to clean up about 5000 sq ft of my property from overgrown grey willows. They look like big bushes (about 20 ft tall), but it is a tree with branches growing from the ground. I need to cut down all of them and haul away (for future firewood and charcoal). Of course for towing I (actually my lovely wife) used our second (luxury) farm tractor: 4Runner



After one full day we had cleaned one tree, still three to go. All branches are piled up for later treatment:




And here is the place where that thing used to grow



I am not worried about the stumps left over as this whole area will be back filled with about 300 cubic yards of top soil (about 2 ft deep). I hope it will just rot and never grow back.