What have you done to your 1st gen Tundra today?

We are planning to hit moab on our upcoming road trip. Never been there before. Wanting to do some light trails as to not tear anything up 1500 miles from home. Any recommendations are welcome.

 

Does anyone still make some simple bent tube bed bars for these trucks? I'm trying to put a plan together. I may just end up building one in 80/20 t-slot.

 

New battery. Older one couldn’t hold a charge beyond a couple days after 8 years.

 

My Tundra hit 220,000 miles, so I just replaced the timing belt, water pump, and thermostat. The last timing belt change (also performed by me) was at about 110,000 miles. Overall, the job was a pain with a few hiccups but not impossible. The old timing belt still appeared to be in great shape (see pics), but I am definitely happy that I replaced it.


The biggest problem that I had was that the idler/accessory pulley simply would not come off. I tried using penetrating lubricant and a breaker bar before rounding over the bolt. Then, I destroyed a set of bolt extractors. Eventually, I had to cut off the idler pulley with an angle grinder. This destroyed the pulley (see pics), which I was not expecting. Plus, it meant that I was delayed because I had to order a replacement pulley and bolt.


Other notes:

• Ordering the replacement idler/accessory pulley was a pain because it was unclear, which part number was correct. I ended up ordering bolts for multiple pulleys, and in the end, the "correct" bolt had a slightly different length (longer) for the unthreaded portion of the bolt. I overcame this by adding a washer and still had adequate clearance for all moving parts.
• I used the Aisin kit and all OEM parts (unless specified). Below is a list of all newly replaced parts:
  • Timing belt
  • Water pump
  • Water pump gasket
  • Water housing inlet O-rings
    
  • Tensioner pulley
  • Tensioner
  • Idler/accessory pulley
  • Idler/accessory pulley bolt
    
  • Thermostat
  • Thermostat gasket
    
  • AC compressor ground screw
  • Nut with spring washer (because not keps) for fan - NOT OEM
    
  • All five (5) skid plate bolts
• I ended up needing to add about a gallon of coolant back.
• I also lost some transmission fluid, so I added about a quart back.

Questions:

• My temperature gauge will operate normally at startup and for the first 15 minutes. Then, the needle will suddenly drop to nil (peg low). I at first thought that the new thermostat was "sticky", so I tested it a few days in a row without improvement. I replaced the new thermostat with the old thermostat yesterday, but the problem persists. Any ideas?
  • I did not see any leaks when I made a visual inspection of the water pump, and I did not see any debris/FIPG in the thermostat housing when I changed the new thermostat for the old one.
• I added about a quart of transmission fluid back (because I lost a small amount), but it is still reading outside the "hot" zone when I check it with the transmission fluid dipstick. I am pretty confident that I did not lose more than a quart of transmission fluid during the job.
  • I am using AT-IV from Toyota. Before checking, I run the truck for about 10-15' and go through all of the gears. I also leave it running when I check the dipstick.

 

Stuck on the bottom of page 1310. Will catch back up one day, but not today.

 

Are you saying it's showing overfilled? It's possible you didn't lose as much as you thought or it was overfilled to begin with. Maybe take a little out?

It's also been stated the dipstick is a guide, not an exact science.

 

I'm saying that it is showing as underfilled.

 

Your method of warming doesn’t sound like it’s sufficient. I usually drive on a back road for 15 minutes when cold doing 30-40 mph before I check it.

 

Ok, I'll try to warm it up a bit more. Any ideas about the thermostat.

 

Sounds like a gauge issue in the instrument cluster or a temp sensor issue. If you have an OBD2 scanner that records data, you can verify there’s no temp sensor issue by checking for drastic changes in the recorded data.

 

I'd replace the temp sensor just to be sure you're getting a valid reading. Not like it's super expensive or hard to do. Of course, I'd also check its wiring, but ... at 200k miles, it's going to fail eventually anyway and it's not a bad idea to rule it out.

Still, I'm thinking bubbles could be an issue, and just to check, did you happen to notice if the t-stat was "clocked" and needed to be installed in a certain position?

(Also, unrelated to your issue, double-check your crank position sensor wiring to make sure the serp belt won't nick it! Need to tuck it out of the way fully, this is something others have screwed up)

 

You should talk Santa into getting a new battery holder from @Coupe

Custom Battery Hold Down Brackets for 1st Gen | Toyota Tundra Forum (tundras.com)

 

Thanks! Unfortunately, I do no have an OBD2 scanner, so I will replace the temp sensor next. I think it is a bit odd that it happened immediately after the timing belt job, but maybe a damaged it unknowingly.

I did check the alignment when installing the thermostat. The jiggle button was at 12 o'clock exactly, and I think that the service manual says that there is a 30-degree tolerance either way. I will double-check the crank position sensor wiring too!

 

I hope you mean by driving it a bit. I’ve found the typical method of running through the gears as you suggest just doesn’t work for our trucks (at least mine anyway) and I’ve had my truck since it was new.

 

Drove the double cab after replacing a leaf spring, the whole exhaust, all parking brake cables, and found a leaking brake hard line up by the driver's cat.

What's the best way to go for replacing brake lines? Search does not yield high confidence in finding a kit that fits.

 

Finally got the door checks repaired today. I have not had door cards for months, between all the door lock actuator and front end rebuild mess. Mother Ukraine has this repair figured out! I would say the door stops operate better than new, has heavy resistance now when opening and closing. I only did the fronts, will do the AC doors at a later date. Started to put the door cards back on, but it started raining on me. Here is link that has some instructions and where I bought them: https://www.ebay.com/itm/293470918933

 

Hell yes! Knocking one after another down.

 

Could someone help me understand how to diagnose that the door check replacement is needed? You open the door on level ground and it auto closes? Or on a mild incline?

I'm unsure what "normal" is.

 

Yeah I was wondering the same. Mine work fine. I’m not getting how they go bad.

 

On most cars when you are sitting in it and open the door, you feel some resistance and the door even stops and stays at a couple of points. Mine had no resistance and definitely had no spots you could feel it stop or stay at. Before if I was parked on non level ground and opened the door from the outside to start loading groceries the door would be closing on me during that time, or close when I stopped holding it open and went to get more bags from the basket. Basically you need it if your door feels like a freshly lubed door opening and closing in your house.

 

They are just plastic on plastic when you open and close the door. In the pictures I posted above, I show an old check next to a new check. The hinge chews away the plastic over time and leaves you with no resistance when opening and closing the door.

 

How do we contact the guy that made the machined metal parts for the rear access cab window hinge to make metal replacement door checks? Someone here has to have that knowledge and access.

 

I got mine on scAmazon bakc in January 2020. I think the scAmazon seller was a machinist place based out of one of the Carolinas, making things out of Billet? Dasher Deals was the name of the company supposedly made in USA versus all the others clearly out of China.

My only regret is getting natural silver, not anodized black. But all the black ones were totally Chinesium. Either way, I need to get the damn things installed. This is tiny, 10min/window job.

 

The answer is using the right kind of plastic and graphite lube. No reports of this fix ever wearing out yet, think they give a 3 year warranty though. There are a ton of reports of buying new OEM checks at 80 a pop and only getting a year or two out of them. Metal wouldn't work in this case. The hinge arm is plastic, inside the check is up against a rubber bushing on each side.

 

Thanks for everyone’s help, I felt like the new tech calling into the parts house for help……

so definitely loosening the mirrors help. And I think the best way to go about this, is setting each white clip into the proper key way in the door, then come straight downtown as best as possible and everything should snap into place.
As for the weird clip that hangs out in the rear of the back doors, I’m almost sure I could see double sided tape that once held it to the vertical section of the molding, almost on the outside of the sheet metal if that piece were removed. Not sure if I got it in, but it was dark and I had enough fun!

 

That looks so good!

 

It does!!!! It even feels good! My window motors were groaning at me!

 

First thing I'd recommend is picking up Charles Well's book on Moab. It has all the trails listed in the region and ranks their difficulty level (green, blue, red). It includes a description of the trail, camp spots and points of interest on each trail. There are other books in the series as well including Colorado and Arizona

$51 Guide to Moab, UT Backroads & 4-Wheel Drive Trails: Easy, Moderate, Difficult: 80 Trails

https://www.amazon.com/Guide-Moab-B...313&sprefix=charles+wells+moab,aps,250&sr=8-1

Some easy recommendations are Gemini Bridges, Long Canyon, Onion Creek. You could probably do probably do blue rated trails as well depending on your comfort level and setup. Blue trails usually have one or two difficult sections that aren't all that bad.

 

If doors don't stay open on their own on slight incline, replace/repair the door checks. Mine stay open on level ground but my driver's side rear slams closed on slight incline. I ordered the Dorman part and will modify my stock check with it when it arrives.

 

Before you get all excited about this install, check to see if they are actually the proper thickness. The set I got was .0625" too thick. I had to chuck 'em up in the mill, gave 'em a shave!Nice!
Being 6061, the window will destruct before these things do!