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

I've never actually looked at our FSE, but mine is set to 31. Subaru calls for 31 on the non-turbos and 34 on the turbo pans.

 

29 us what it says, but that's one fastener where I go by feel.

The Votex quick-drain plug I installed recently said "29 max!" on it. I set my torque wrench to 25 because I didn't trust it, and started to feel uncomfortable at what turned out to be closer to 23, so I left it and and it's sealing and holding up just fine.

 

Okay, I put 20 on this factory drain plug and I'm just going to keep an eye on it for the next week or so. If it leaks, I'll go up to 23.

 

I have CDO tendencies and it drives me nuts when I either don't have a torque spec or when it's wrong. Obviously, what I don't want is a situation where it works its way loose like it did this time because whoever didn't torque it down at the last oil change.

 

This is why I don't let other people touch my truck for routine maintenance. The reality is, that bolt could've rattled loose, dumped all the oil out of the crankcase, and your engine would be toast. And they'd have no repercussions.

If I do let other people touch my stuff, like after an alignment or something else I can't do, I try to go back over any fastener they touched and torque to spec. I don't think it's OCD, I think it's being responsible. It also tips me off on who I can/can't trust to touch my stuff.

 

+1 Our local Lexus dealer has been awesome, but the owner passed away this year and the dealership was bought by a company that owns a number of Chevrolet and Ford dealerships. Our trusted service advisor and the service manager left and I'm starting to look around for another place to take my wife's 2009 RX350. I may take a cue from you and have this 02 Tundra serviced at a few new locations and then check behind them to see if they did it right. For now the oil & filter change is done. Thanks @shifty` and @The Black Mamba .

 

Prepped my vehicle for the new skid plate this Saturday by changing oil and coolant while the underbelly is still accessible.

Didn’t bother taking the bumper off yet to put the new brackets on to hold the splash guards. Shoulder was hurting and I didn’t want to take another chance of getting frozen shoulder this year although it might be from the tetnus and flu shot I got the other day. Hard to be certain.

 

Checked the oil today in prep for a 4hr round trip to N. GA tomorrow, scoping out a LV cabling and technology setup job for next year. Figured it was wise after swapping in the Pennzoil Ultra Premium a week or so ago. I’ve put maybe 100-150 miles on the truck since OC, still looks clean as can be. I expected to find a little more color in the oil, but not complaining or anything.

I also noticed my fan shroud was missing the bolt closest to the battery. Weird. Popped the passenger-top bolt out to gauge it. If anyone is interested, it's an M5/0.8 looks to be roughly 25mm length with integrated washer in the shank and 10mm head, had one in my spares bin that will hold me over but it's +1 or +2mm longer. This style, with similar tip, but the tip is notched:

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I go by feel on drain plugs. Knowing my luck, the universe is just waiting for me to overtighten...

 

I put a sticker on

 

Too many pages to read, and I'm sure they've covered it, but where did you get that sticker?

I want one!

 

https://www.tundras.com/threads/wha...-gen-tundra-today.2558/page-2191#post-3757626

 

Ball joints.

Thanks to the part numbers and specs provided here, ordering the right parts was a breeze. My new favorite PNW parts site is definitely Lithia of Springfield. Good service, transparency over the phone, status updates via email, and prompt fulfillment. Sparks had good pricing, but realistically... feels too busy, hard to get ahold of, and parts took forever, which might not be their fault. Their shipping is too high to me, so this one time holiday promotion thing made it ok.

As far as the job itself... Easy! I think these were original, definitely OEM, and had zero rust. The hardest parts are poppin the LBJ out of the LCA, and the tie rod end out of the LBJ. O'Reilly rental tool 67025 will fit over and pop both joints with ease. This is SO MUCH BETTER than the hammer method, even on a clean truck with no rust. This is one of the easier front suspension jobs I've done on a Toyota Truck. I think 2-Hours is entirely reasonable if you have assembled the right tools. I used zero air or power tools.

Lastly... The driver-side LBJ definitely has some play, I'm not a fan. The passenger is a bit tighter. At 139,000 I suspect they were original and I am glad I replaced.

 

My Koyo wheel bearing and OEM outer tie rods arrived last night (Yota Parts and Serra Toyota), just spent a solid afternoon under the truck.

First, disconnected the tie rod ends on both side using the rental tool front end service kit from Advance. To my displeasure, the inners are drooping under the weight of the outers. I was hoping to just have to replace the outers but it looks like inners are needed. They have no in/out play though, what is the consensus on that? In/out or up/down as well? I have an appt. scheduled for the bearing and alignment at the local shop for the 23rd, but with the shipping time of Serra, they won't arrive in time so I'll have to push it back and the truck be down another week.

Other than that, spent the rest of the time pulling the bushing out of the rack. The bolt near the shaft would not come out, almost like its bound up in the crossmember. I was able to hammer it in far enough to get the rack back and remove the bushing still. They weren't awful, definitely worn and cracked. Rack had plenty of lateral play when turning the wheels. Bought a tub of the energy suspension formula 5 and will slather the ES poly bushings and install them tomorrow.

Oh, and while under there the valve covers were leaking...again. Went and tightened them back up ever so slightly (like super light), but reading the cracked t-case event above made me nervous...about to go check and make sure they're okay...

 

I need advice. My sequoia is starting to need a fair amount of work and I'm not sure if it's worth it to repair or sell and replace.

My cats got stolen and I've been limping by with Ebay cats that won't pass emission, I can get a waiver if I spend over $750 so I'll get one universal magnaflow cat welded in.

Cat - $750
Wheel bearing - $250
4wd actuator - $400
Blend door actuator - $400
Timing belt - $600
Front shocks and coils - $700

$3,100 in repairs.

It has 340k miles and runs like a champ. Interior is in great shape, exterior is rough. I can get a 1st gen sequoia with half the miles for $6-8. I can probably sell my sequoia for $1,500

I've also thought of a 4th gen 4runner. My kids are getting older and don't come on road trips as much so it's usually 3 or 4 of us now. 4th gen 4runners are in the same price range.

Thoughts?

 

That’s a tough one. Spending more than the car is worth on repairs is a tough one to swallow. Although I feel like that’s what most of us do here on this forum. I think I’d be more inclined to cut your losses and get something a little fresher and more current like the 4th gen 4runner. Or maybe a very nice 1st gen sequoia. There’s always the risk of the previous owners maintenance but I’m sure you can find some good specimens if you’re patient.

 

Might as well so you don’t have to pay for a 2nd alignment. Moog makes a decent set for the inners only unless you’re a strictly OEM only kind of guy. The fact they’re limping means you probably only have another year or two before they absolutely need to be replaced.

 

Remove throttle body or leave on to clean? Thoughts? Looks like one coolant lines running into it?

 

Greased up her undercarriage with fluid film so I could show off the T.I.T.S.

 

I removed mine to clean it thoroughly, made it so much easier and wasnt hard to remove at all. I also removed the IAC Valve and cleaned that as well.

I believe if you remove the IAC valve, youll want to install a new gasket for it but its been years so I dont know for sure.

I think if you are doing some light cleaning you might not need to remove, but I did it when i bought my truck used and got it very clean again by removing it.

Edit: Also when you remove the throttle body you dont have to worry about getting any debris or cleaner into the engine.

 

Hard to make a call like that. We keep limping my wife's honda odyssey along because it's just cheaper to keep her. So I feel ya there. However - my mom is 73 years old and has had her 4th gen 4runner for like 15 years or something. You couldn't pry that car out of her cold dead fingers. She loves that car so much. It's not my favorite body style 4 runner, but hers has been a toyota to the core. Marginally taken care of, paint fading, driven in town in stop and go situations for Lord knows how many miles and it just keeps rolling. I don't know what the stock gearing is on it, but that dang thing still takes off like a rocket when you let off the gas and just idle. It's really peppy and I think she just has a V6. She loves it. So +1 for the 4th gen 4runner. Especially if you could snag a 2uz.

 

With the correct prep, i’m betting the epoxy will work just fine. Once of my friends is a hot shot transporter, and he currently has about 650,000 miles on his 2018 ram cummins. He kept noticing a transmission fluid leak coming from near the right side frame rail. We put his truck on a 2 post lift and inspected everything. Turned out the right side engine mount rubber collapsed, which in turn let the engine drop further down between the frame rails. It was just far enough that the turbo housing was resting against a transmission line that went to the cooler. It was resting and rubbing long enough that it wore a hole through the steel hard line. This was a sunday afternoon project that turned into a sunday night emergency fix. He happened to find an aftermarket engine mount at the parts store and a stick of JB weld. Normally i’m dead seat against doing something like this, but i covered the transmission steel line with JB weld. The next day i called my friend up and asked him if there are any leaks. He said it was dry as a bone. I slowly asked him, “so what do you think about just leaving it patched until it starts to leak again?…you know just to see how long it will last.” My buddy was onboard and fully supported the experiment. That was about 30k miles ago.

 

How bad is it? Post pics?

The important things are:

• ALWAYS use products specifically labeled as "THROTTLE BODY* CLEANER"
• NEVER spray anything directly into the throttle body, spray your cleaner onto a rag, then wipe out the TB
• NEVER let the butterfly slam shut
• NEVER wedge anything in the butterfly to hold it open

 

Oh

 

Did you use throttle body cleaner instead of THROTTLE BOTDY CLEANER? I made that mistake too

 

Sorry, I meant THROTTLE BOOTY CLEANER. i.e. Strong coffee.

 

Fairly sure I did all of the above the 1st time I cleaned it.

 

Somehow I don’t think you can damage a stepper motor by moving it while unpowered. Perhaps the sensor is sensitive to it being moved around unpowered so I’m not sure.

Common sense would tell me not an issue but I haven’t heard the logical argument on how the electronics are so sensitive they’ll be damaged.

 

LBJ's and outer tie rods. Obviously an alignment too. Now that the LBJ's are out of the way, that's the big three done (Timing belt kit, radiator, LBJ). LBj's actually looked and felt OK. No play at all, but easy to move, not stiff like the new ones. Had not idea when they were done before, so did them anyway. Got them really cheap off Amazon... KIDDING. Used OEM.

Also ran the reverse and parking brake wire for the stereo and installed the GPS antenna. For now, the reverse is not connected at either end as there was a convenience wire already in the camera feed that gives the signal to the reverse wire on the head unit, but thought I'd run it anyway so it's there and change over to it if I want to.

Parklng brake wire is only hooked to ground right now, but will connect it to the correct wire in the next day or two. Not really interested in a bypass kit, have no intentions of watching video while driving, or for that matter having my passenger do so either.

 

I used excel mold cleaner