Recent content by JDUBinCO

I don’t think anyone mentioned the oil sensor o ring. Easy to replace and was a big leaker. My oil pump was leaking a lot too. I did all the easy gaskets 2 years ago and only get the occasional drip from the rear main.

This is really good info. Thank you for taking the time to explain. Mine more recently developed this sound, particularly when backing a trailer up the driveway and if I "stab" the throttle. If I ease onto throttle I don't get the alarming clunk/squeal. So I had my wife do it while I lay next...

On my '85 4Runner it was the knuckle bearings.

I second the Powerstop recommendation. They will lock the tires up and their rotors last forever. I'm past 120K miles on my Powerstop slotted rotors. Maybe 2nd set of pads in that time. I tow and drive in the mountains a lot - I've literally smoked the pads and they were fine after cooling...

I'll close this thread out with findings - I messed up when I put the throttle body back on (from doing the valve cover gasket) and the transmission cable was not installed. I re-installed the cable and a flushed transmission with AMSOIL so I should be good for another 100K miles. It shifts...

I believe that I shattered two impact bits doing this last year, one of them leaving the bit in the screw. I ended up welding a bolt onto the last stubborn SOB and it came right out. More and more when I have a stuck bolt I bring out the wire feed welder, which has become one of my best tools...

No, I didn't think about that or realize it could be a factor. Would that cable only affect the 1-2 shift? The other shifts feel fine.

Follow up and a question... I did the full flush with Amsoil ATF and all the fluid is now a nice cherry red. The 1-2 shift still feels long, so I measured it at full throttle and got 1.4 seconds. Anyone care to share how long theirs takes to shift from 1-2 under full throttle? I'm thinking...

I frequently tow 3500 lbs of trailer and a car full of kids and stuff. I have the 0" lift Dobinson's and airbags with 0 PSI of pressure as bump stops. I previously had the stock springs with the air bags and towed many miles with air bags. The bags were fine until the heat underneath got to be...

Looking for some help here on next steps... Background: '97 LX450 with 288K miles, original transmission, which had Amsoil 100K mile ATF for more than 100K miles. I drained it because I was worried about towing and heat. Everything work fine, oil was still red, and the shifting was normal, if a...

I did the new aisin clutch with the RC car silicon oil and it was not hard at all and totally worth it if you have a non-toyota fan clutch. The fan clutch that was there from the PO's mechanic was a POS. It was very small and I was having overheating issues, even at highway speeds under...

Update on this... Thanks a bunch to all for the suggestions. I rented a coolant contamination tester and the results were negative, in fact the rented fluid was a bit contaminated and it turned fully blue in the test tube with my testing. Seems good enough for me to call the HG good to go. I...

You make a good point here... I've seen some quickly evaporating spots under the car (front passenger side) that I'm thinking are the "constant tension" hose clamp not providing good tension and letting some coolant out of the lower radiator outlet, and the radiator reservoir is not down. Could...

I checked the radiator and the fluid is lower than the fins, so yes, I'm missing a lot of coolant. This is what the underside of the oil cap looks like:

I keep a close eye on the oil and its pretty fresh, however, I've never seen foam on the dip stick or cap. I think I filled up this tank of gas over the Thanksgiving weekend and trips have been of varying length, from 10 to 30 minutes and all in the cold. I'd think that a 30 minute drive would...