Juicebox V.2

[elk]

Hello Mud,

I recently had the opportunity to purchase a 2006 100 series after a bittersweet relationship with my 2007 Tacoma. The Tacoma was mechanically reliable, 6spd, lifted, and a lot of fun. It was also slowly succumbing to the 2nd Gen chassis rot that plagues the model. I had 126k trouble free miles in the truck, but despite the available recall I was looking at a 10+ month wait at my local dealer for a new chassis. The dealer at last count had 52 Tacomas in the impound lot and was starting to send locals home with a "we'll call you when it's your turn". Needless to say, I didn't want to wait that long or be given a Corolla at best. I have two kids and a camping habit, so the added space, reliability, and comfort led me to search for a 100. My commute is about 25 miles round trip and occasionally done by bicycle, not to mention my Tacoma averaged 15MPG with 33's and a roof top tent. Fuel costs did not scare me as long as I had not payment.

I searched for about a year and finaly located a rust free, garage kept 100. It has one owner and 26 dealer upkeep records. It also had 174k miles. The timing belt has been done at 95k. The interior was clean, dry, and with good leather. Everything but the driver's door actuator worked, especially the AHC. The asking price was $16,900. I argued the price down due to the impending timing belt, traded in my truck, and after paperwork paid a little less than $4,000.

 

[re_guderian]

Nice!

 

[qwopzxm]

The asking price was $16,900. I argued the price down due to the impending timing belt, traded in my truck, and after paperwork paid a little less than $4,000.

Please tell me you meant to say "$14,000".

Either way you got a great deal, especially for a 2006. Congrats!

 

[elk]

Please tell me you meant to say "$14,000".

Either way you got a great deal, especially for a 2006. Congrats!

Thanks, the reasoning was that even if I spent a few thousand on maintainence or upkeep, I would still be ahead without a car payment.

The car threw seven codes, all of which seemed to be for O2 sensor issues. I used Rob's TLC FAQ for Denso sensors and ordered them from Amazon. I just installed them tonight. I found the wire couplings to be the most difficult thing to remove. The upstream sensors under the block came out easily after dropping the belly pan and accessing with an O2 sensor socket and an 18" bar.

The downstream sensors were easier to get to physically, but even with my smallish hands I couldn't seem to find a good angle to undo the passenger side clip between the driveshaft and cat.

 

[LEX]

Welcome. I too came from a Taco. An '11 4x4 Sport that I loved, but ended up getting T-boned. I was hunting for another, but got a 100 instead since I've always wanted one. Happy days.

Did you post on TW?

 

[elk]

Did you post on TW?

Thanks Lex, it has been a fun two weeks so far. I lurked on TW, since there was a strong knowledge base, but a bunch of young male idiocy as well. I get more involved on forums like this one where the commentary is generally more focused, knowledgeable and a little less "brah".

 

[RND1]

Congrats and welcome to Mud! So, it sounds like you bought this at a dealer where they gave you $10K for your Taco and you paid $14K for the LC? Hence the $4K price out the door? You'll love the LC, I can't stop driving mine!

 

[elk]

(*EDIT* warranty was not needed)

$12k for the Taco, bought a warranty for a few months, tax and tags, but yes. I wanted a short period of coverage in case of any head gasket or transmission surprises. There was a company that would offer a warranty at purchase if under 175k, which this just was. I normally hesitate at warranties, but I needed a small measure of reassurance.

 

[LEX]

Thanks Lex, it has been a fun two weeks so far. I lurked on TW, since there was a strong knowledge base, but a bunch of young male idiocy as well. I get more involved on forums like this one where the commentary is generally more focused, knowledgeable and a little less "brah".

Yep, definitely a younger crowd.
I've learned tons over there with the 3 Tacos I've owned and I appreciate it. Just need to dodge the clowns.

 

[elk]

177,441 miles

Things have been going well so far. I've become acquainted with the extraordinary Beno and replaced my MAF as well as O2 sensors in an effort to baseline the car. The dimmer switch was disconnected when I purchased the car (I originally thought it was malfunctioning). I went back through the dash to find it and removed my gauge cluster, only to find that it was hanging behind the steering wheel kick panel. Great, the lights dim perfectly now. This leads me to my next problem...

After pulling the gauge cluster, my ABS light came on. I have put almost 3,500 miles on the car since buying it and never an issue with the ABS, I'm fairly certain that I've even engaged it in the wet. There are no other warning lights present, so brakes work, but apparently this means the ABS is disabled? Is it possible that I caused a fault by moving the dash panel? The light would test during startup so it was always connected.

I checked the MC fluid level and performed the 40 pump depressurization procedure, but the light is still on. I guess I will have to try to jumping pins 4 and 13 on the OBD port, or perhaps visit Advance Auto to see if they have an ABS diagnostic, my Innova 3100 does not

 

[elk]

Lesson learned. I went to my mechanic and plugged into his ABS tool. No codes, nothing to report, but the light was still on. Frustrated, I went home and pulled the trim panel and rechecked the connection screws. The left hand panel connection turned another 1.5 turns. Really? Everything was reinstalled, and the light? Gone again.

Everything is now normal.

 

[elk]

I completed a few preventative items for the coolant system today. I replaced my heater T's and hoses with parts ordered from Beno. I'll be keeping a T as a spare, but on was definitely well past it's useful life at 178k miles.

^ As others have stated, being able to cut off and replace the old hoses is a nice luxury. I replaced mine because at almost then years and over 175k miles, it was an added peace of mind.

^ Using a styrofoam cup made it really easy to collect almost all of the fluid in the T hose. I admit to spilling about 1/4 cup.

^ The first T wasn't in bad shape. It actually made me wonder what I was doing replacing them. I'll keep it as a spare.

^ The second T however proves the necessity of this routine maintenance.

 

[elk]

My wife had a few days off from work, so we decided to take the family camping at the Outer Banks.

We still have an old Camping Labs RTT from my Tacoma which worked nicely on top of the Cruiser. The National Park campground in Frisco is a nice little spot in the dunes.

We have been going to the Southern part of the Banks for the past 14 years, but I had never made it inland to Lake Mattamuskeet.

The drive from Roanoke Island through the Alligator National Wildlife Refuge takes a little over an hour. There is a lot of straight swamp road with little vehicular traffic.

The lodge is all that remains of an effort pump the water out of the lake between 1914 to 1930. The lake is 2 feet deep and stretches almost 16 miles. All three efforts failed as the lake continually refilled. The pump house is often confused for a marsh lighthouse but was actually the machinery used in the massive endeavor to drain a lake for farmland. The Great Depression ended efforts and a Civilian Conservation Corps program converted the pumping station into a hunting lodge. Operations of the lodge ceased in the 1970's and the State of North Carolina attempted to restore it in 2006, but funds dried up.

Miles of gravel road surround the pump house and the lake offering views of waterfowl.

The waterfowl were mostly on break I suppose (not being migration time), but the views were still stunning.

 

[elk]

 

[elk]

Time for wheels and tires...

I've wanted to run 255/85r16's for a while now on the 100 for the winter. I picked up a rough set of LX470 wheels from a seller outside of Baltimore. It was pouring rain at the IKEA parking lot and the transaction resulted in four rims for $40.

I have a local industrial powder coated I have worked with for years who will shoot these in an Anthracite Grey called "Near Black", which I think is a PPG industrial color. It isn't the conventional black and I had it on FJ 17's for my silver Tacoma. It touches up easily with Duplicolor as well.

I also sourced a set of Rock Warriors and BFG's from a Tundra owner in South Jersey. They also come with a separate set of TPMS, black powder coated rings and red bolts.

I have to place a call to Slee for some spacers and then begin my AHC lift.