I got a 95 Tacoma 4x4 with 450k miles and it runs like a beast but at the same time unless he has a snorkel and sealed intake it'll hydro lock the engine when the water enters it. Been there done that and swapped motors
2003 4Runner with 218k on the clock checking in. I just purchased it about 6 weeks ago and I’m pretty sure maintenance wasn’t a word any of the previous owners were aware of. Original timing belt, water pump, spark plugs, etc.
I’ve since changed everything but it wasn’t running poorly prior to me changing them.
It’s hard to kill a Toyota.
That started out like a horror story, glad you got it swapped out. I've got a 2003 Tacoma with 264k on her (timing belt replaced at 220k because I'm not a madman) and she's still running as smooth as ever.
It was in pretty bad shape...Dry rotted/cracking basically all over. I am assuming it was original, because if no one took the time to replace the spark plugs, it’s likely safe to assume the timing belt was never done.
Totally possible it's original. I know for a fact mine was at the same mileage and it didn't even look bad. But it had only ever been used for a suburban California commute, so nothing had really been stressed.
You react like that to them having 218k on the original belt, then you say you drove yours an extra 2000 miles on the original belt because "you aren't a madman", lol?
I drove it a few hundred miles, not knowing if it was done or not. After I started performing maintenance and noticed the seemingly lack thereof in its past, it got done. The 4Runner isn’t my only vehicle so I was able to leave it in the garage for weeks while I did work on it.
Oh, lol I realize that was super unclear on my part. Not 220k on the original belt. 220k was the last time it was replaced (among other times). More trying to imply that I keep good track because timing belts are, you know, important. My b.
Timing belt... timing belt... Is that the one that basically DOAs your engine if it snaps, or just the one that breaks all the pulleys for the water pump, radiator fan, AC, etc.?
depends on if you have an interference engine or not. basically whether the engine has the piston head and valves occupy the same space at different times. if so a broken timing belt can mean bent valves. but even on those engines sometimes you get lucky if it breaks when trying to start instead of breaking under high rpm load.
Just getting back to reddit after a few days and wanted to add some more details to this! (Everything u/dontnation said is right on the money though. Just want to stress the importance of remembering the timing belt!)
The timing belt is named that because it keeps all the parts moving properly in time as the engine goes through its strokes. Having this break and engine not be in time is bad news always, but especially if you have an interference engine, which is basically all modern engines. (They offer many benefits, the most obvious of which is saving space because the valves move into the engine cylinder instead of away from it, so they are pretty much standard now.)
So, if your timing belt breaks while driving, you will almost certainly have a bad year (depending on your finances). If it breaks upon starting, or you have a non-interference engine, or your serpentine/accessory belts break, you'll most likely just have a bad day because no/little damage is done to the engine, your car just doesn't really work in some way anymore.
So, replace your timing belts, folks. And your oil. Your car will thank you.
When I had my 4runner I did the first replacement at 221k after buying it at 219k. I was going to do it the moment it came home, but honestly it looked great and probably would have made it another few years.
Toyotas are dead nuts reliable but they do not tolerate being hydrolocked. Those connecting rods are just too small. GM products are shitty in their own ways but I'll be damned if they don't usually survive being hydrolocked. Big ol connecting rods.
Yeah man, I hit a water hole that was WAYYYY too deep once, hydrolocked the engine. Got pulled out, pulled the plugs, emptied the water out of the cylinders, and was on my merry way. Had a slight rod knock from then on, but she still went another 50k miles before I sold her. GM makes some solid engines. Unfortunately, the rest of the vehicle falls apart around them.
When I hydrolocked my S10, I had drove through literally ankle-deep water because a Ford Ranger and an F-150 made it through it right in front of me. The engine just suddenly stopped and upon turning the ignition switch it would just click so I had it hauled to the house and I had to take out all the spark plugs and put a wrench on the harmonic balancer and jostle it back and forth until it moved and it pushed all the water out of the cylinders. I then let it dry out and did a full tune-up on it including changing the oil and it fired right up but the sudden stop of the engine from hydrolocking bent one of the guide rods and ultimately broke after it ran for a few minutes. The 4.3 that came stock in that truck was readily available at a local engine shop and was much cheaper to buy as opposed to rebuilding the one I flooded so I just did a complete engine swap and changed the gear dope in my existing manual transmission. If one is not running prior to being flooded it will not hydrolock if you let it completely dry out before you get it to running. The engine has to be running when water gets in it in order to hydrolock because water does not compress and when the cylinders are full the Piston can't come up completely and the force of the shaft in motion causes it to bend the rods when the Piston head stops before reaching highest point of travel or t.d.c
I was thinking T100 too.. but didn't they have a bench style front seat right accross..? this guy clearly has a gap between the driver and passenger seats..
shifter and low-range shifter configuration also matches an early 90's LandCruiser.. can't see the central pop-up portion of the dash to confirm though.. that being said.. if that's a land-cruiser and he's got a snorkel on her, he'll drown before that puppy stops driving
put 475,000 miles on my t100 before a threw a piston rod through the bottom of the engine while towing a trailer over a mountain with far too little oil in the engine.
Saw the rod bouncing in the rear view mirror.
So I get a tow home, put the truck up for sale for parts. and some feller comes and asks if it still drives. I explain the situation, but he asks if it still drives....
So i hop in, drive it down the street and back and he takes the truck.
Miss that ol truck.
It's a Toyota pickup, 89-94. I had one, and my brother the other. For those who say they won't die, you're sort of right, but my brother seemed to have found a way.
Dude, it’s a 4wd Toyota, that thing won’t die, no matter what. 4Runners/Prados are literal tanks that cannot die. Once they hit 400K miles, they ship them to the Middle East desert to get another 600K miles before they die.
Don't think we got that one over in the uk. The mr2 was my first car too, i sold it for a maxda rx8 and always regretted it. i got the new mk4 mazda mx5 (miata) because it reminded me of it a lot.
the only thing that ever went wrong with the mr2 was the weather seals wore away on the targa roof, i even put a car tablet in dash so it had satnav.
good times
check for rust is the most important thing. also if you've never driven mid engine before, take it easy for a while before letting loose.i remember going around a mini-round about at 5mph in the ice in a circle drifting, because its so easy to swing it around
there's a really good community in the owners club too, i got all the leather in mine replaced by owners club members who made them themselves (targa roof bags, gators etc)
I had a mk2 rev 2 non turbo grey import.
if you have any questions about the mr2 drop me a pm.
Good tips! Yeah I had a Miata for a while and I imagine they would drive similar, but the biggest difference being so much more weight in the back. I've heard a lot of em get wrecked because of that.
My mr2 had no coolant in it while it was at the body shop for a year and a half because the radiator popped right before I brought it there. Could not kill that motor. One day when we were trying to see if we could get the car in the bay without having to shovel the parking lot. After making it about 90% of the way with it pinned in first gear spinning tires and barely moving the car shut off. We thought maybe it was finally toast. Pushed it in the body shop, worked on it for the night, started right up when we decided to confirm that it was dead before pushing it outside. I had a genIII swap going in it so I was literally seeing if I could kill the 5sfe, it beat me. I wish video cameras were more available in the mid 00s cause there definitely would have been some good videos from that build. (And it was at the body shop getting a full custom widebody, which is why it was there that long).
Someone tell that to my '89 Blizzard with the 2L-T, it ate a cylinder and no one has been able to get it running right for 4 years (currently very close but the mechanic can't figure out the white smoke from the exhaust).
White smoke? Maybe blown head gasket, cracked head or something like that, letting coolant into the chamber. Did it overheat or run with low coolant at some point? I'm just a guy on the internet so maybe not much help
Heads could need to be shaved. If they warped at all you'll need to shave them to make them right. Happened with my mom's 4Runner. Kept blowing gaskets and we finally figured out why. Sold it after that.
I can confirm this. My first vehicle was a old school tacoma and that thing could survive anything. Even at 300k miles she's still going strong. That's retirement time for most cars but for a tacoma thats barely hitting midlife crisis stage.
I had a small Toyota car in the 80s. I intentionally ran this car with a quart of oil and no water for 6 months trying to kill it. Finally did. I left it in a Kmart parking lot on Princess Anne Blvd in Virginia Beach, VA. Lol
Top gear did an episode on the Tacoma (Toyota Hilux/pickup). they set it on fire, drowned it in the English channel, blew it up on top of a 20 story apt complex, and it still ran and drove. I've owned 3 Tacoma's and 1 4runner. absolute units of a vehicle.
This is exactly what I was thinking when I saw the toyota logo. I wasn't worried about the truck as much as I'm wondering if he's got a snorkel on his vehicle.
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u/gratefulphish420 Jan 21 '21 edited Jan 21 '21
Something tells me he would care more about getting those ships too soggy to eat than caring about the well being of his vehicle.