I replaced the timing belt on a 1999 Tacoma with the 3.4 liter V-6. It started quickly but ran a little rough. I was careful to align the cam gears and crank timing marks. Then I noticed an arcing sound and ozone odor. I had not reconnected all of the driver side spark plugs. It ran way too well on three cylinders. I think the small Toyota truck especially two wheel drive stick shift four cylinder is one of my favorite all general purpose vehicles. They drive so nicely. At some point though, the Tacoma has become too large. The 1999 I worked on is the right size.
I had a 1996 xtra cab. It was just about the perfect truck. Big enough for what I needed it to do, small enough to be economical and maneuverable. I had a 5speed V6 with manual hub 4WD. It was fairly basic and when I blew the headgasket well out of the standard warranty, toyota gave no resistance to picking it up and replacing both headgaskets for no charge. They even gave me a rental. I miss that truck.
I remember the stories about the head gasket replacements. They would apparently even cover you if you bought it used.
Yep. I did buy mine used and out of warranty. I bought it from a Toyota dealer, but that had no bearing on the repair because a different dealer fixed it. I came out one day to see a small puddle of coolant under the truck. Knowing there were some issues going on, I called Toyota customer service figuring the worst that can happen is they'd say too bad. Without question they asked for the VIN and my address, then they had a tow truck there within a hour. It was probably the best auto service experience I ever had.
I'll be looking for another tundra here soon enough, but only for an 05-06, late 06-~ got to be ridiculous in size w/ no true gains The Tacoma is now the size of the old Tundras, the specs suck once again, huge size no real reason Currently in a 94 X-cab 4X w/ 22re has almost the same numbers hauling wise... not stopping though Love the little truck, into it for $3500ish, rebuilt engine as stock as possible last year, little bigger cam, cylinders and exhaust, nothing impressive maybe up from 95Hp to 100. It has about 12K miles on the new stuff, 158K for everything else. It goes 85-90 MPH pretty easy, sucks the fuel up, takes some flat ground and a few minutes Generally travel at 70/75MPH, 80 or so miles to town, round trip and get 15-20 MPG Hard to get it stuck, chains have fixed everything so far and has pulled much larger trucks w/ no problem, great gearing. Repo
My next truck will be a Tacoma 4x4 double cab. If the planets align I want to build something like this... Interesting thread on this truck: http://forum.ih8mud.com/vehicles-tr...ditions-west-2004-tacoma-double-cab-sale.html
How difficult was that timing belt job? My sister needs it done, and its $700 at the dealer. I could be nice and help her, but I only have so much free time. I did the chain and cover on my 22re when it busted and mixed oil and water, but I have not done the 3400 timing belt. I love my old 4runner ( 1989) and my wifeś 1998 4runner has been good to us too.
Very nice WOW the difference in 4 cylinder performance 2006= a 159 horsepower, 2.7 liter, 4-cylinder engine. 1994= 2.4L 117 hp I4 engine I like the MPG too Repo
I have got a 96 t100, 3.4l, 5spd, 4x4 with 153k. No problems, just oil, gas, and tires. I replaced the timing belt at 96k. That was only thing outside the norm that I have done and that was preventive. Drove it from Alaska to Kentucky, debated about doing some vehicle prep before leaving with 140k on it, said f it and just made the drive. Didn't miss a beat, pulling a trailer and everything. Love it, if and when I get rid of it, I wish I could buy a brand new one
It's not bad at all. The kit with belt, idler, tensioner and water pump is about $200 or less. If the truck has a/c, removing the a/c compressor mount to access the tensioner piston assembly is a bit of a pain on the 4x4. You'll need to figure out how to hold the crank pulley to remove and install the bolt. The torque specification is 300 nm. Toyota says about four hours. It took me about eight including looking at a friend's Aston DBS project, getting lunch and bs'ing with one of the Rally Pan Am team members. Everything is marked. The timing belt has marks for the left and right cam pulleys and crankshaft sprocket. That actually complicates things a little. Because you have marks on the belt, you want to make sure they line up. That way, if someone looks at it later, they know you are a professional.
I have had numerous Toyotas, most previously a 1992 with 240k on it when I sold it. The dealer put a new long block in it at ~114k as part of the recall for the previous owner. Loved that truck-beat it to death, but wouldn't die. Burnt oil, but ran fine. Sucked gas-15-17 mpg with stock 4.56 gears. Sold it for $3500 in 24 hours on Craiglist. I bought a 2007 Access Cab 4cyl 4x4 new in Feb of 07. Piece of shit. Rattles, shakes, and for $22k you don't even get intermittent wipers. The 4x4 dial is a joke-only works when it wants to. Gas mileage? 17-21. Not great for a 4cyl truck. Headlights automatically turn off when you open the door, and if you turn them on again, there's no buzzer to remind you that they're on. Reliable after 48k, but I'll never buy a new Toyota again. I took it into the dealer to have them look at that the windows that rattled like crazy when cracked open, and the passenger seat that bounced around when no one was in it. Their response? The windows rattle on all the trucks, and the seats do that too. Gee, thanks. I've been tempted to look at a 99-03 Tacoma, but this one's paid off and still reliable...
Toyota quality is slipping blah blah blah blah. (Someone has to steal the initiative from the first tool to come along and ruin this fine thread) Carry on Edit: shizzola! 205'ed by 7 hours. Guess I should read further than the first sentence
I was thinking this needed punting to Shiny Things, but then since it's about Toyotas, the factory rusting keeps them from being shiny. 232k on my second-hand free hand me down 4Runner. Got enough electrical gremlins to keep an entire local of union workers in beer money, but it keeps on starting. An aircooled Volkswagon has a better heater. I'm letting a teenager learn to drive with it. Engine is about as powerful as a push broom against a tornado. Interior space is fine if you're smaller than a bridge troll. Anyone over 5'6" need not apply. I was offered $376 in trade in value. The junkyard turned me down when I asked for $500.
Have a '90 pickup 6cyl 4wd that simply won't die. I was towing my girlfriends '89 pickup (4cyl 2wd) in the rain over hwy 17 to the mechanic when a woman in an SUV brake checked us. Spun around and into the ditch behind safeway on Mt Herman (had to lay 'er down ). Aside from a flat tire, no real damage, towed her truck to the mechanics the next day. I should mention she ran her truck for 3 months with only a (1) quart of oil, and blew the head gasket. Mechanic drained the coolant from the engine, new gasket, new fluids and back to running.
We have a 1986 4x4 long-bed pickup with just over 290,000 miles on it. We've had it since November, 1989, and I just finished putting a newly-rebuilt 22-RE engine in it. It looks like hell with all of the body rust, but it runs like a champ. In 3 weeks we're going to Death Valley, using the Toyota as a trailer tug to carry the bikes and all of our camping gear. We'll never sell it.
I love these threads. Makes it easy to spend 70% of the price of a used Toyota on a Nissan to have the exact same experience. There are fewer of them on the market, but if you're patient, I believe them to be every bit as reliable as the old 'yotas.
I have an 02 Tacoma with 136k on it. It is the only vehicle that has cured my new car every 2 years habit. Only regular maintenance needed aside from a check engine light that was cured by cleaning the maf sensor.
Actually, that's an excellent subtext. I implied it with my comment about growth of the Tacoma. How much of a fight was it to get Toyota to acknowledge the head gasket issue on the three liter V-6 before they repaired them far out of warranty? Compare that to their handling off issues recently. Look up the sludge problems. How about the frame problems.
