Introducing my 98 4Runner DD. (2 Viewers)

[jynx]

Well I finally decided that I needed something with a little more room to DD, so after researching and test driving I found this nice little 1998 4Runner Limited with 169k miles.



That is the only pic I have right now. I will get more this week. The interior is in excellent shape. It has a couple electrical gremlins that I have to sort out. The main one is that the door adjar light doesn't go off when the doors are closed and it seems to be something in the dome light circuit.

First order of business is getting the T-belt serviced since the service history doesn't reflect it ever being done, then a good base-line with plugs, wires, oil and fluids, etc. And I have some misc. trim pieces to get ordered to get the interior lined out.

This will be my DD so the build will be mild and reasonable. Current plans include:

-Replacing all the gold badges with chrome or "black" chrome
-Decide the fate of the gold pin stripe. I hate to admit it, but it is growing on me, but with the badges gone I may change my mind.
-Shrockworks front bumper, Lucky enough to find a nice GB over on T4R.ORG (ends 1/31/13 if anyone is interested)
-New tires: currently down to 265/75 cooper STT or ST Maxx or BFG AT (opinions welcome)
-Radio and speakers (already have a set of components and an amp left over from a previous project that never materialized)

Distant Plans include:
-new suspension, probably toytec front and a spacer in the rear, not looking for more than an inch or so, mainly after improved ride quality
-rear locker, either an ARB or a E-locker retrofit
-maybe gears
-TRD Supercharger..... this one is more of a pipe dream, but I might as well put it on the list.

The running boards will be staying for now. The likes them, and I have to agree that they do make strapping the little into her seat much easier. Once my Shrockworks Bumper gets mounted, I will re-evaluate the situation.

This build won't be very exciting at all but it is going to allow me to give my little 1990 pickup so much needed TLC. I will try to get some good interior and body pics up later this week.

 

[Haggis]

Looks like a great rig. Post some pics of that bumper!

 

[Mr Chuck Norris]

Looks like a great start!

Have you checked the history on the Toyota Owners website? They list all reported dealer maintenance on there...

 

[jynx]

I have not. Do you have a link or can you tell me how to get there? They gave us a carfax report and I do know it was a lease vehicle for the first 45k miles and then was purchased. It showed an oil change and service at 79k and then only registration renewals until the dealership picked it up, I am guessing in trade. Could have been serviced at a mom and pop shop that wouldn't show up on the report, but who knows.

Side note, I ordered my Shrockworks bumper today. The lead on their stuff is about 4 months. So I will hopefully be getting a BIG crate just in time for Summer. I am going to measure tonight and see if the LED bar I have now will fit or if I will need to order the next size up to fit in the space between the front hoop bars.

 

[Mr Chuck Norris]

Just go here: http://www.toyota.com/owners/web/pages/parts-service/history

Register under "Join Now", you just need an email to register. Then add your 4runner by the VIN number and it will pull up everything Toyota has in their system. I used this along with Carfax when shopping and had great results.

The Carfax reports and the Toyota history showed different events for mine too, but between them I got a pretty good history of the truck.

 

[Mr Chuck Norris]

And as far as the gold goes... the pinstripe is definitely unique! I'd keep it for a while and see if it grows on you.

For the badges, hit 'em with black Pasti-dip and see if you like it. If not it will peel right off!

 

[jynx]

Well I spent some time today trying to resolve the door adjar light in the dash that won't go out, EVER. Doors open, closed, car on or off, parked and locked, EVER! I checked all the door plungers and they all seem to work fine. The light will dime with all the doors closed but not go out. I pulled the dome light apart and fiddled with it to no avail so I pulled the dome fuse and it went out. Of course so did the radio and the power locks! So plug the fuse back in and light back on. And here is the kicker: car on, driving down the road with the doors locked and if I reach up and switch the dome light to "door" the doors unlock! WTF! I have to get an EWD and see where the harness splits and see if I can't chase down the short.

With that battle on hold for now I moved onto the roof rack. I flipped the cross-bars around to the correct orientation and resealed all the bolts with new grey RTV and found a couple bolts to replace the two missing ones.

Anybody got any ideas on the light? I am worried that the short, where ever it is may be draining the battery not to mention a continuous short like that can't be good for the wiring. I may have to just pull the fuse and do without the radio until I can sort it out.

 

[Jetboy]

I'd guess the door light is the rear hatch. The rear hatch door latch mechanism starts to get sticky at this age.

 

[jynx]

So the rear latch is the sensor for the rear door? I looked all over the rear door to find something. I will play with that and see what I can find.

But would that take care of the lock issue?

 

[Mr Chuck Norris]

I'm checking out the FSM... it looks like the "Back Door Courtesy Switch" is located INSIDE the rear hatch. It probably gets switched off the door mechanism.

Also, PM inbound.

 

[jynx]

Mr. Chuck, I got the email and I cannot tell you how much I appreciate it.

I am plowing thru the EWD currently. I have unplugged the dome fuse for now. Hopefully this won't get too deep.

Also, I checked the rear hatch and it reacts the same as the other doors, applying pressure to the latch dims the light, just like the other doors.

 

[Duane]

I wish you luck as I was just trying to sort out an electrical problem. Any chance I could get a copy of that EWD?

As for doing the timing belt..the 3.4L is a non interference engine so at worst a broken belt leaves you stranded looking for a tow truck.
I'd replace it when you have to go in and address the water pump leaking. Seems to be a common item to fix on the 3.4's

 

[jynx]

Thanks, after looking thru the 2002 EWD, I realized two things:

1. I am apparently too old school. Trying to look at all those pages on the computer is way harder than I thought.

2. I think they made some significant changes in the wiring from 98 to 02. Mechanically they are very similar but the fuse boxes and such are very different.

I am watching ebay for a FSM and EWD.

While still working thru the wiring, and since it is supposed to be 28 tonight and 19 tomorrow, I decided to check the antifreeze in the 4runner. I have one of those little floating ball testers and NONE floated. I spent some time draining the radiator to add some anti-freeze and a nice brown colored liquid drained out. Not sure if this is the result of it never being flushed or green being added to red or both but it was nasty. I ended up draining the whole radiator and refilling it with AF and distilled water. I will drive it the next couple days and then do a good flush this weekend. The overflow bottle had some nice sludge in it as well that I cleaned out.

Based on what I am finding this looks like it was a put gas in it, change the oil and as long as it started, GO, vehicles. Going to do both diffs and the oil this weekend too as well as get a good parts list to send down to Sam at LOWE to get it base-lined.

Anybody done the fixed antenna swap? That d@&^ thing is so effin annoying! I am going to swap it for a fixed mount antenna and want to get the part numbers together.

Thanks

 

[jynx]

My FSM arrived yesterday and I picked up a set of Limited 5 spoke wheels for it this morning. Going to be reading up this afternoon. Hope to get some good pictures of everything today while the sun is out.

 

[ken_79-fj40]

I would try unplugging each door plunger switch and shorting the wires to do more testing on that circuit. I recall our 00 we had not allowing the doors to lock if one was open so likely that's your issue. I would think either the hatch or driver's door would be the most likely culprit. Also if this truck is an automatic either bypass the stock trans cooler with an aftermarket one or change the radiator NOW. Google strawberry milkshake to see why. It happened to ours at 220k. I fixed ours but it was a messy job involving lots of ATF and repeated flushes. For a locker a factory locker rear axle shouldn't be too tough to come by. Most 00-02 limiteds and I think all sport models had them. Around here at least they seem to be plentiful in salvage yards. 3rd gen 4Runner's are awesome rigs. We had our 2000 for 10 years and it was pretty bulletproof.

 

[jynx]

Thanks. I have the trans cooler and rad on the to-do list. Right now the coolant I added is still nice and green. I have about decided that the PO added some green to the factory red and made brown! A good flush was on the slat for this weekend but snow yesterday made that a little difficult. I may try it this afternoon.

Going to go back thru the doors again, may even call Sam and price new ones and just replace all 4 and the rear hatch latch.

 

[robustbambi]

Sweet new 4runner! my little brother is looking to get this gen truck since he doesn't really want an "old car" like mine haha. I'm very interested in seeing this thing "finished" since I'm a big fan of your 80. Good luck and congrats!!!

 

[jynx]

Thanks, and "Finished" is always a moving target as we all know.

Well, I took some time to take a few good pictures this afternoon. I apologize for the glare in a couple of them, the sun comes in just right in the afternoon.

Couple more exterior pictures
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k8/mrtucker80/IMG_3194_zps5ff27cba.jpg

http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k8/mrtucker80/IMG_3195_zpsc95ba909.jpg

Body is straight, gaps are good and from all my inspection, I can't see anything to take exception with on the exterior. I did notice that someone has apparently removed the factory fog lights. Plugs are there, switch inside and the bumper is made for them, but no lights. Course I have plans for that anyway so it really doesn't matter too much, just odd.

And the bigger reason why I was soo impressed with it, the interior.

http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k8/mrtucker80/IMG_3196_zps9773cbc2.jpg

http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k8/mrtucker80/IMG_3197_zpsdb132d69.jpg

http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k8/mrtucker80/IMG_3200_zps9d6a59f9.jpg

http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k8/mrtucker80/IMG_3199_zps95f640ec.jpg

Not bad for 15 years, about as close to factory fresh I have seen. The only major thing is the steering wheel is pretty worn and came with the awesome cover pictured below. I am going to pick up a wheelskins cover this week to rewrap it. I have also contacted Shane at MetricTLC to see about some new leathers for it.

http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k8/mrtucker80/IMG_3198_zps2c7f52cd.jpg

And a preview of the new 5 spokes that I picked up this morning.

http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k8/mrtucker80/IMG_3201_zps56e19487.jpg

http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k8/mrtucker80/IMG_3202_zpsc21c522d.jpg

The set of split 3's will be up for sale as soon as I get some new shoes mounted up. Probably a couple weeks if anybody is interested. (sorry for the shameless plug)

And my trusty War Horse that went up into Southern Kentucky this morning to pick them up. Notice the nice Salt spray camo job. They got an inch or so up there and a couple of slick backroads took me to the guys house. The new DD is going to allow for me to give her some much needed TLC over the coming months, but that is another thread entirely.

http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k8/mrtucker80/IMG_3203_zpsc405dcc0.jpg

http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k8/mrtucker80/IMG_3204_zpsdab49460.jpg

Well there it is. As far as I can tell it is a prime candidate for a DD. I have my Shrockworks bumper on order with my 21" ELS LED bar ready and waiting, new wheels waiting for some new shoes and an electrical gremlin to sort out. All in all I am very happy with it and at only 169k miles, I figure it will be hauling me around for another 10 years or so at least.

Stay tuned.....

 

[jynx]

So I need something that all of you have, opinions. I am working with Shane at MetricTLC on some new leathers for my new ride and I would like you guys thoughts. Shane makes some of the best leathers on the market and I am torn between the factory Tan and the Brown.

I am leaning toward the Brown. But thought I would see what some of your opinions are. My primary concern is that I think most of the plastic trim is colored to match the Tan color. So unlike the 80 and LX whose plastic trim is the brown color and matches pretty well, I will end up with the reverse effect of the Tan leathers. The Leathers will be dark brown and the plastic trim will be lighter. I am having trouble picturing it in my head.

 

[Mr Chuck Norris]

Wow, that is a tough one. I personally think that the brown would look amazing in leather, I love rare color leather like on BMWs. Brown, dark red, coral, etc.

If you are a stickler on matching to the rest of your interior, you should also have him use the same leather to recover your door card inserts, and maybe even the center console cover, steering wheel (if possible) and some other small bits. Then the brown will match some of the interior, and the contrast with the rest of the tan interior will give a cool 2-tone look.

EDIT: Another idea... depending on cost, can he do brown leather outers and tan leather inners to make the seats 2-tone? Like this: http://esunroof.com/100_2765.JPG Then do the door cards too to match.