Just another filthy 1990 DLX ExCab thread

[PNWTreeOctopus]

Greetings Mini Truckers...

I recently picked up a 1990 4WD DLX Extended Cab Pickup to add to our motor pool. I have a thread about endlessly baselining my 94 LC over in the 80 Series Tech...but its long and rambling. I'm going to shoot for brevity here.

Photo was from the CL post. Manual transmission, 279K. I bought it from my kids friends Dad. He used it run his fruit tree pruning/ landscaping business. Paid 7k.

Sale included:

• 1990 Toyota FSM
• Owners Manual
• 6 years of Service records
• Tire chains
• A set of Toyota spark plugs
• A fresh jug of Toyota red coolant
• Misc fluids and grease

Truck is in reasonable condition. The price was higher than I wanted to pay, but a number of factors made it seem "reasonable". I'll line those out briefly:

• Purchased from a known person (parent of my kids classmates) and I've seen the rig around town for the past 6 years.
• Service records indicated new Transmission 15K ago
• New exhaust within past 3 years, including a stainless header
• New Suspension in past 3 years
• New tires (basic a/t nothing fancy) with 1K on them
• New Starter
• New battery 2021
• Engine appears stock except for stainless exhaust header and K&N filter
• A copy of the FSM
• Two Toyota Tool kits, jack and spare tire.

It has some issues, as expected given its age:

• Pulls hard to L when breaking (suspect L front caliper is not functioning)
• pretty severe "ticking" at idle, (planning to adjust valves)
• Engine temp gauge seems to be always pretty cold ( I know they are woefully inaccurate)
• No tailgate...was destroyed by PO doing tree work. I have a wooden one made from 2x6 and half on with clamps.
• wooden ladder rack was beyond its useful life. It was a good design and well made, but the PNW moisture made it unusable so I turned it into firewood.
• Windshield leaks, carpet is perpetually damp.
• Interior had not been cleaned in years, lots of mildew, and the carpet is so caked in mud it's hard to tell its made of fibers.

So all in all I'm happy with this as a run around town, get dirt and haul yard debris rig. I've pressure washed the years of lichen off of the paint, and I've made a first pass in the interior with simple green to scrub the mildew and dust and grime off the plastic. I did a quick seat upholstery cleaning job, but the carpet needs the power of an extractor to really get the grime out. My LC and my Subaru need the carpet extracted too, so there will be a carpet cleaning rodeo soon. I'm planning on having the windshield replaced and dealing with the brake system ASAP so I can stop safely and avoid any rust (so far so good). The ticking noise I'll just monitor for now. I put some sea foam in the crank case, not expecting huge chances, but maybe it will help. I also put some sea foam in the tank with the thought it might help keep my injectors as happy as injectors from 1990 can be.

And more photos:

Shot of general grime

Tailgate made from driveway scraps.

Mystery fitting on transmission hump (with details of mildew grime)

 

[msahr]

I like it, but I've always likes that body style. The tailgate is... hmmm.

 

[brettk]

My temperature was doing that as well. At 350k miles, I just went ahead and replaced both temp sensors (one for gauge, and the ecu) and the problem went away.

 

[PNWTreeOctopus]

I like it, but I've always likes that body style. The tailgate is... hmmm.

Tailgate is designed to make my LC buddies cringe when I roll up to the mall for a Starbucks!

 

[pappy]

I would not put any effort into the carpet. Replace. Go to Rockauto.com, use the MUD discount code, and call it a day.

5% Discount Code: 5C1AF1F449C1AE
Expires: July 14, 2022

 

[mtrdud]

Great trucks. Had one like that but was a 92.

 

[PNWTreeOctopus]

I sold my 1987 SR5 when I bought my 80 Series, and regretted letting go of it immediately. Nothing special, but a great little truck.

This one is in much better shape, but the little bench seat isn’t nearly as nice as the bucket seats in the old one, and I miss the tach, and the trip meter.

 

[PNWTreeOctopus]

Today I removed all the old stereo gear/ wiring.

• non functioning 6 disc cd changer mounted into DS storage box. Will need some sheet metal to plug the hole when I replace the carpet at some point.
• removed lots of speaker wire and a huge 4-6 gauge wire that was wired right to the + terminal. It was spooky when I realized it was just a loose end that was hiding under my carpet. So that feels like a close one...
• I think at some point I am going to replace the old head unit. I had planned to take the older CarPlay Double unit in my Subaru and install into the Pickup, but literally last night some tweaker tried to pry it out of our family wagon and shattered the display. Super irritating, it's semi functional so its probably not worth switching over anymore.

I also looked around for the source of the carpet leak. We just had about 1" of rain over the last 48hours, which helped me have a look around under the DS trim. PS is dry. I am less confident it is coming in through the windshield. The carpet backing is wet, but not up high by the pedals. I'm not in a place to pull all the seats and trim and carpet right now, but I think that's the next step in combination with some strategic hose left to run softly over the windshield and the vents below the windshield.

I did lift up the carpet and peek under it all the way to the tunnel, not scary rust was visible, but it's hard to know without removing the bench seat. Project for another day.

 

[PNWTreeOctopus]

Water Leak

My whole family is down with COVID, but before I was feeling too s***ty to get out of bed I pulled the wiper arms, and the louver to access the fresh air intake for the cab. While I didn't find a massive amount of mud and debris, I did manage to blow out a bunch of nasty dried up fir needles, maple samaras, and other PNW nature bits. I used a bit of 000 steel wool and scrubbed the arms well before giving them two coats of satin black paint. Looks a million times better (gonna need to to that to my cruiser too). Fast forward three days and we have had about 1' of steady rain, more than enough to soak the the carpets to a spongy mess. I just went out to open up the windows and low and behold my carpet has not gotten any more water accumulation. Its still damp, but I am beginning to feel hopeful that I might have found the source of the water intrusion....thanks to posts here in this forum. I'll feel a whole lot better ordering a new carpet if it can stay dry now.

 

[liveoak]

pretty severe "ticking" at idle, (planning to adjust valves)

not saying your valves don't need adjusting but I've noticed the injectors on the later 22re's are quite a bit louder than the earlier ones. My 92 22re sounds like a diesel compared to my 85. I gave up long ago trying to adjust the valves to make it quieter. Runs great otherwise.

 

[PNWTreeOctopus]

not saying your valves don't need adjusting but I've noticed the injectors on the later 22re's are quite a bit louder than the earlier ones. My 92 22re sounds like a diesel compared to my 85. I gave up long ago trying to adjust the valves to make it quieter. Runs great otherwise.

I’ve only had one other 22re, and it was an 1987. It was quieter, but I know these engines are famously noisy…I’m doing my homework about timing chain guides, noisy valves etc.

 

[ALX4X4]

Pulls left would be RHS caliper not working I assume, not left

 

[PNWTreeOctopus]

Pulls left would be RHS caliper not working I assume, not left

Yes, I’m assuming the same thing. looks like I wrote it out wrong. Doh! Thanks for pointing it out!

 

[PNWTreeOctopus]

Update: Water intrusion

Took a bit more time to hunt after the water leak. I decided that I just needed to pull the carpet and clean out the cab and look for pooling water that way. The carpet was gross, and falling apart.

I gave it a good clean with the seats out. Vacuum, then simple green 3:1 with a brush and then a second vacuum pass. Fortunately there isn’t any huge hidden rust holes….but I think there would have been.

I’m no expert, but this looks like the beginning of big problems. I’m planning on removing the paint in all the bubbled areas, then sanding any remaining rust. I’ll then use a converter like Ospho then prime it before new carpet goes on. Undecided about converter and primer.

As for the leak, I think it’s come in from here:

So I pulled the fender too.

I think there are a couple of places water can ingress to the cab through some rotted old seam sealer. I’ll need to confirm after cleaning up the dirt, blowing out the cracks and resealing with some 3m automotive seam sealer. I’ll update when I’m on to testing.

 

[88repo]

Check up underneath the dash where firewall meets the fresh air duct that runs across base of windshield.

This:

led to this:

 

[PNWTreeOctopus]

Ok I think ai found the leak. After running the hose slowly on the windshield for A couple of minutes I started to see water come i through these failing seams. The old brush on seam sealer has finally cracked and failed. I can’t remove anymore body panels at this point. So I’ll clean it up and goop on plenty of seam sealer when it arrives. I’m not sure it will solve the problem completely, but it might be the best I can do for this old pickup.

Water is seeping along the seam you can just see behind the wire loom in the upper left of the photo. While there is a water track there, most of the drip is coming down behind the fuse and relay block.

I’ll obviously be removing/ loosening a few things around here to be able to spread on more seam goo.

On the outside, under the fender, I did find a few places where the factory seam sealer has cracked and failed. I’ll hit all these places too and see how well that thwarts the leak.

 

[PNWTreeOctopus]

Leak Free

After a heavy rain last night I confirmed my leak is solved. That feels good.

I began installing my new carpet from Rock Auto today. Was about $180 with tax and shipping. It’s pretty nice for what it is, but it requires lots of trimming and fitting and I’m not quite done yet.

The kit includes new carpet patches for the storage lids under the jump seat. It will look a million times nicer than the old rotten carpet, but it won’t fit quite as nicely. This may simply be because it’s my first auto carpet job.

Hopefully I can finish up tomorrow.

 

[pappy]

Leak Free

After a heavy rain last night I confirmed my leak is solved. That feels good.

I began installing my new carpet from Rock Auto today. Was about $180 with tax and shipping. It’s pretty nice for what it is, but it requires lots of trimming and fitting and I’m not quite done yet.
View attachment 3040994
View attachment 3040995

The kit includes new carpet patches for the storage lids under the jump seat. It will look a million times nicer than the old rotten carpet, but it won’t fit quite as nicely. This may simply be because it’s my first auto carpet job.

Hopefully I can finish up tomorrow.

I think I need to reread your leak solution. We had some nice rain this week and the carpet in my 4R is wet.

 

[PNWTreeOctopus]

I think I need to reread your leak solution. We had some nice rain this week and the carpet in my 4R is wet.

my photography skills under the dash with an iPhone are pretty low so no helpful photos.

I struggled to have enough room to use my 3m seam sealer with a caulking gun. I was able to reach about 2/3 of the seam that had crumbled away, but without total dash removal I’m sure there’s a chance the leak will migrate someday when the next section fails.

This truck is nice, but it’s not a candidate for a restoration for me. So I’m sure I’ll fight another leak down the road. Because of where I live my vehicles are parked in the weather, so it’s only a matter of time.

 

[pappy]

I seem to recall awhile back there was a discussion about a vent or something under a fender, or under the cowl that gets plugged up. I need to look into that too.