'05 Tundra - 210k miles - Smart buy? (newbie looking for help)

Angle mounts?

Awesome, will do. Thank you.

 

Okay, that makes more sense. Kinda like washers. If I'm coming up through the handle, that'll still work, right?

 

The camera wire is already attached to the camera, so before you install the camera, you need to put the gaskets on the camera wire and then fish the wire back through the handle...I would say it's obvious, and it should be, but I forgot to put them on the first time I fished the camera wire through the handle and tailgate... DOH!

 

Haha okay, perfect. Just to be clear, if the camera is coming up through the handle, it won't show on the head unit upside down will it?

 

You have to cut one if the wires to get the correct view... don't cut any wires till it's mounted so you are sure to cut the right one...there are directions on this with the camera.

 

Cut one of the wires to get it to show right? The directions didn't seem to mention anything about that. It mentioned cutting the wires, but not for the video's orientation purposes.

 

sling him 8750 cash and call it a day.

 

Love it. Little late.

 

Re-read the directions...one of the these wires needs to be cut if you mount the camera the way it needs to be mounted in the handle...

 

Hey guys, so far loving the truck. And thank you for all of your responses, this would have all been way more difficult without them.

I took it out to the desert last weekend and the truck overheated. It was 100 degrees and we were crawling uphill. It was low on coolant so I put water in it and it was fine from there on out until later after getting off the trail and stuck in a Starbucks drive-thru (lol) it started overheating again. It looked low on coolant again so more water went in. And it's been fine ever since. My issue now is that A) it's got water where coolant should be and B) what the hell happened? Because after taking it to the shop for a quick look, it's not leaking anywhere and hasn't shown any signs of leaking.

I'm thinking faulty thermostat so I went ahead and bought a new one but now I'm not totally sure how to replace the thermostat. Sounds like a simple plug and play option, but I also heard something about vacuuming all of the air out and that sounds like it requires a special tool/machine that I wouldn't have. Shop would do it for ~$120.

Any thoughts?

 

When you overheat the overflow will boil over and dump coolant. Likely where your coolant went. Probably time for a new radiator and fresh Toyota pink coolant, with a new Toyota thermostat to start.

 

Shop said the radiator looks fine. I'm thinking, and hoping, that it's a faulty thermostat and time for a new one.

 

My 8 year old radiator looked fine, too. Temps running 195-200°. Put in a new radiator and temps are 183-185°.

Even cut into the old radiator in post-mortem for analysis. Looked fine.

Both the radiator and thermostat are easy to replace. All in all DIY cost about $150 (rad)+$30 (t-stat and gasket)+$48 (4 gallons coolant).

 

Okay, sounds good. How do you go about bleeding it? Sorry if that's an easy google question

 

they sell a coolant funnel, use it to fill the truck, start it with the funnel 1/3 full off coolant, heat on full blast, let it get to temp, rev it a bit till you have good heat. then let it idle for a while with the funnel, then remove funnel, fill overflow and install radiator cap

 

Awesome, yeah I found the funnel you're talking about. Does this sound right for steps?

Step 1) empty coolant and reservoir overflow tank. Close drain plug
Step 2) replace thermostat
Step 3) Fill truck with coolant (4 gallons? - how do you know when it's good?)
Step 4) Bleed by using

$22 EPAuto Spill Proof Radiator Coolant Filling Funnel Kit

funnel 1/3 filled, heat on blast, engine on and rev it till gets hot, let idle for several minutes, remove funnel once air bubbles disappear
Step 5) Fill overflow (may be a dumb question here, but does the overflow reservoir not fill up while filling the rest of truck?)

Thank you

 

it wont fill with the rest of the truck, and usually 2-3 gallons is enough unless your draining EVERYTHING (good luck on that) fill till funnels full, run it, make sure funnel doesnt run dry.

 

Nice, this doesn't sound so bad after all. Do I need a new gasket for the thermostat as well? Anything else other than new thermostat, coolant, and funnel?

 

thermostat gasket.

at the mileage you have, i would consider a denso replacement radiator. it just makes for a happy clean cooling system. plus, your at the mileage they like to fail (mine popped at 198k.)

 

Yeah, sounds like a good idea. And really not bad on the price. But I'm also needing to replace the Steering rack and Valve cover gaskets... so I'm trying to only spend money on 100% necessities at this point.

 

valve cover gaskets are pretty simple on these trucks, get the factory ones, like 20 bucks a piece but last way longer than any aftermarkets ive seen

 

The spark plug tube seals can be a pain to replace though.

 

Is there a specific kit I should be looking at? Easy to do myself you think?

 

youtube it.. im obviously use to much more difficult things being a mechanic, so what seems easy to me may not to others. there might be kits sold by dealers, but Toyota sells everything separate, each gasket is separate and you need 8 tube seals.

 

Touché

Interested to see what I find for parts. Would save about $230 to DIY. Definitely ideal

 

You’ll need to find a sloped driveway after filling the coolant and driving. This will help burp the system completely of air. I’ve had to add a little extra coolant 2-3 times after the job was complete and driven a few days. Top the coolant off at the rez to the F line each time after a drive (hot). Once the air is burped the F level is maintained at the precise spot. Any deviation will let you know if you have a leak in the future. Hot at the F Line.

Note: Cold engine will show a lower level than when its hot at the rez.

 

If there's anyway you can swing it, I'd replace the radiator. They tend to fail at about your mileage and if you're replacing the coolant and thermostat at the same time it will end up saving money in the long run. Plus I'm guessing that's part of your overheating issue.

 

Here are some of the OEM part numbers for the valve cover job. Just double check they match your 05 as this is for my 02.

11213-50031 Valve Cover Gasket $13.90
11214-50011 Valve Cover Gasket $13.90
11193-70010 Valve Cover Gasket(spark plug tubes) $2.69
90080-10330 Bolt not necessary but I always buy a few just in case I lose one.

$23 00295-00103 Formed-in-Place Oil Pan Gasket - 3 oz. Tube

00295-00103 Sealer $12.04

Prices are from Toyota of Cool Springs.

 

I am getting ready to do the valve covers on my truck after noting a leak for the very first time in 22 years. Thank you for confirming these numbers.