So I went and bought a 1st Gen Tundra....

Good evening to all my fellow FGT heads out there. First post on this forum, feeling blessed to be part of this community of Toyota enthusiasts. I recently picked up a 2003 3.4L V6 Base Model. RCLB fam rise up. 240k on the ODO, mostly highway miles, was a fleet vehicle for a fire sprinkler company in Sonoma County, CA for the first 200k and then a work truck up here in Bend, OR for a few years after that. Proud 3rd owner. Very clean chasis, no rust, runs and drives pretty damn good overall. Really loving this truck, especially the RCLB factor, there are so few on the road. These base models, with the roll down windows, lack of trim / fenders, single pane rear window etc. just epitomize work truck, and there's something I find timeless about the design. I really would like to keep this girl on the road, in good shape and see if I cant double that ODO reading.

First things first I went straight to dealership, OEM oil and filter, (5W-30 Mobil 1 Synthetic is what I left with). I knew going into the purchase that the truck had mild oil seeps on the outsides of both valve covers. I got home, went to inspect the gaskets, and as many had suggested on this forum I simply tightened the outside valve cover bolts (they were loose, not finger loose, but loose) and I think that fixed it or at least reduced it significantly for now. I was only able to tighten down the more accesible bolts, planning on replacing the valve cover gasket, PCV valve, PCV hose, plenums, etc. with OEM everything when I have the time / space. Parts have already arrived. Tempting to just drop new gasket washers on the bolts I can access, torque em down and see what happens.

First or second day out cruising around with fresh oil / fresh gas and I could feel her coming back to life. She had a mild case of the ol' tundra tick when I first test drove her but assumed it was normal for a 20 year old truck. With fresh oil the diesel sound has definitely subsided. Guessing it's an exhaust leak. Slight disc brake grinding sound when hard braking at stop lights, so next up is brake pads. No dash lights on, only obvious thing not working appears to be the dashboard temperature gage. The previous owner installed a cheap aftermarket looking gage just below the dash but it doesn't provide any readout either. Looking to take that off asap but have not yet looked into the temp gage threads. All in due time.

3rd day out driving and I'm making my first hour long commute to work and she's running strong. After work, ten minutes into my drive heading back my battery light comes on. I already was planning to put in a new battery (previous one is marked 06/22 but the truck wasn't being driven much the past 6-12 months from what I understand). Pick up a group 35 AGM battery from Wally World on my way home, and install it that night.

4th day I'm on my way to work again and this time maybe half way through the drive my battery light is back on. Way home same deal battery light clicked on halfway through the drive. I get home, check as much wiring and connections as I can visually (don't own a voltometer and to be honest I don't know too much about electrical in general) and everything looks normal.

5th day (today) and I'm off to work again, this time no light pops on and I'm loving life, but I do notice my brakes are feeling very soft. I can get a good bite but it takes most of the compression to get there. Truck running solid otherwise. I start heading back after work, still no light on, get most of the way home, pull up to a stop sign, and as soon as I come to a stop the battery light pops back on and this time the brake light turns on same time. Brake light stays on the whole way home, battery light comes on and off throughout the drive. Stop to buy beer, start her up and both lights are on the rest of the way home.

I've read somewhere on here that brake light / alternator light together can signal alternator failure. But the squishy brake pedal is throwing me for a loop. The slight grinding sound from the front disc brakes is gone but now feels as though my rear drums are doing most the work. I'm planning on picking up a re-manufactured alternator swapping the front disc pads either way.

Has anyone else on here had similar issues? And is there anything else I should be looking into that could be causing these issues? Anything I'm missing here? Once again just happy to be here on this forum, I've already pulled so much knowledge from it and had some laughs along the way. First gen for life.

 

I had a Surf (Japanese 4Runner) and when the alternator brushes went bad, I got multiple dim dash lights. Most auto part stores have alternator tester. On area to look for corrosion is under terminals and wire ends. If you buy an alternator only Denso.

I would replace th valve cover gaskets. Only OEM or Felpro. You can buy a bag of the bolts and then you’ll have new soft rubber captive washers. Be careful don’t over tighten as 10 mm inAl can strip easy.
don’t forget FIPG for the moons

 

Sounds like your alternator is potentially on the outs, although corrosion inside the cables could be a cause as well, as could bad grands, and depending on mileage, you should replace the alternator anyway if no known history or it's not Denso brand. Do the serpentine belt while in there. If you want to do this once, and not bother with it again, find the correct Denso brand part for your truck using their parts finder, and order from a reputable source (Rock Auto, Summit Racing). DO NOT buy parts on scAmazon or fleaBay due to their issues with allowing vendors to sell knockoff parts.

That said, you're aware of changes you should make when running AGM, right? You can prematurely kill AGM batts unless you do.

You should also be aware, your symptoms could be caused by corrosion in the battery cables, which is absurdly fucking common on these trucks, classic example, those look clean as hell, right? But naw. You should really read this sticky thread also, before you dig too deep into the truck.

Squishy brakes is also classic, explained in that thread. If your rears are not properly adjusted, and the parking brake cable/assembly isn't properly dialed in, you WILL have shit rear brakes. Period. The rear brakes being properly tuned is CRITICAL to proper, firm braking in these trucks. There's a sticky thread on that too.

Sticky threads are your friend.

 

Thank you shifty, you're a god damn legend on this board. I've come across the 'So you want to buy a 1st gen Tundra' sticky a few times now and theres so much great information there in that post. I'll look into the AGM battery compatibility and probably just downgrade to a lesser expensive battery when I have the chance, as long as it's not going to fry my ECU or over/under charge anything it will stay low on my priority list until I bang out these other repairs.

After the brake light coming on I checked my brake fluid the next morning and it is now way below the 'min' mark and probably has about an inch of fluid in the resevoir. The rear passenger side brake has what looks like a major leak and was running down the inside of the hub and onto the tire. I'm guessing the master cylinder or a brake line has failed but I don't know a whole lot about drum brakes and haven't taken the wheel off to inspect any further. I have the next couple days off and plan to motorcycle into the Toyota dealership, get a bottle or two of OEM brake fluid, top off the resevoir and then drive like a grandma to the mechanic to have them look into it further, maybe I can have them diagnose the on again / off again battery light as well. Can anyone out there imagine why a brake failure might trigger a battery light? Or why a failing alternator might trigger a rear drum brake issue? Or how worn front disc brake pads might cause a rear drum issue?

Valve covers etc. will be replaced with OEM everything when I have the time and clean shop space to dive into it. Getting the re-gasketed driver's side valve cover back in under all those wiring harnesses is the only daunting part of that job but I've watched probably 10-15 different youtubes on it now and I feel like it's within my grasp.

I have a temperature sensor gauge on order, seems like a good place to start to try and bring my dash temp gauge back to life.

Thanks again to anyone reading this, this forum is a life saver.

 

It's brake fluid man, any DOT 3 will do.

I really think you may have 2 completely unrelated issues. Brake fluid is probably a wheel cylinder, pretty easy job depending on rust.

You should probably get a multimeter, even a cheap one from Harbor Freight and see what your voltage reads at your battery while the truck is running and it may point you in some kind of direction.

 

If the alternator has been in for more than 150k miles, I'd update it.

FWIW, mine failed (caught fire, factory alternator) at ~65k miles, I just rolled over 78.5k miles now.

 

Thanks Shifty and Nick, solid advice. I'll make sure to pick up a multimeter, already have a cigarette adaptor / voltometer / USB-C charger on the way for easy monitoring while driving. I installed one on my motorcycle and it's been invaluable. I also have a remanufactured alternator to pick up tomorrow from autozone. Guy at the counter there has me convinced that it's an OEM alternator and remanufactured by Nippon Denso but at 148.00 I find that hard to believe? Won't know until I see the part in person.

I took my truck into Les Schwab last week to have the brakes inspected, and they were the only brake shop close enough that could get me in same day. Despite having two OEM rear wheel cylinders ($110 a pop from dealership) with me they refused to use anything but their own parts, which I think were 'Raybestos' brand. I had the entire brake assembly replaced on both rear wheels, new shoes, new drums, cylinders, springs, everything for about $550 which seemed fair enough. Returned the OEM cylinders. Front pads still have 7mm of meat on em. Brakes are now working great.

Leaving Les Schwab I'm drivin down the freeway, battery light still on, and my drivers side turn signal / headlight pops out of its socket and is dangling by it's wires, pulled over to inspect and one of the upper brackets had broken. Don't want to blame it on the Shchwab guys but they did manage to snap one of the wheel studs on my front wheel as well so wouldn't put that past them. Fuck it I got a 4-piece set of aftermarket headlights on the way now from Scamazon.

Zip-tie the headlight back into place and fire it up, this time the starter takes a tiny bit longer to crank than usual, then a check engine light appears on the dash. I keep an ODB scanner in my glovebox at all times, and I've scanned this truck before and she throws no codes. For whatever reason I got a P0134 code, I think 02 sensor? I try not to think too much of it and continue on my way to the car wash, give her a good wash, then go to leave and she won't fire up. Battery dead. Wait around for someone helpful looking to pull up and here comes a nice dude in a brand new Tacoma. We hook up the cables and she fires right up, I then drive about 2 miles back to my storage unit where I currently park this Tundra. She's driving great untill I get to the 3 point turn to back into my unit, as I'm backing in I see my dash lights fading in and out, then a bizarre electrical 'tick tocking' sound coming from the dash, like a tirn signal noise but louder. I barely make it inside the unit and then shut her down. Truly nerve racking. I'm assuming the alternator finally shit the bed. First day off since then tomorrow and I'm diving back in. Should I assume the brand new battery is compromised? It's definitely dead... I have a trickle charger but I don't really have a place to charge it right now. Tentative plan tomorrow is to ride motorcycle to unit tomorrow, uninstall alternator, uninstall batt, swing by autozone to pick up new alternator and test the old one to see if it's worth the $40 core reimbursement or holding onto for future use, then go to wally world to try and finesse a battery replacement out of them, then back to the storage unit (thank god I backed in) to install new alternator, new battery, and see what happens from there.

Does anyone have experience driving on a dead battery and dying alternator? Does all that sound more or less normal? Im really hoping it's as easy as just installing new alternator and battery. Thanks in advance for any input and thanks for reading another long rant.

 

I think that sounds normal for the issues you seem to have going on. Autozone will charge the battery for you for free but it will usually take a day or so.

I'd say the battery could be saved, you could even get your alternator replaced jump start it once and let it run for a while to charge back up.

I wouldn't focus too hard on check engine light or other weirds things going on, get your known issue delt with and see where you're at.

I've also had one of my front corner lights have the upper bracket break just like yours, ziptie held it on until I replaced. Beware of some aftermarket headlight assemblies not throwing light very well, if you aren't satisfied there are a few different ways to upgrade the bulbs.

If you don't own a jump starter I'd highly recommend one, I've bought three of the one I'll link here, 1 for myself and two as Christmas gifts. They're actually on sale for $60 right now and that's a hell of a deal

$100 GOOLOO Upgraded GP3000 Jump Starter 3000A Peak Car Starter (Up to 9L Gas or 7L Diesel Engine) 12V Jump Box Auto Lithium Battery Booster SuperSafe Portable Power Pack with USB Quick Charge, Type-C Port

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B09HYVM6ZT?ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title

 

Battery light may be alternator, may be corrosion in the wires if we didn't already say that.

P0134 could either be bad upstream O2 on the driver's side, or an issue with the O2 sensor wiring.

If someone is a fuckwad and cut the harness to install a universal or aftermarket sensor and didn't use appropriate sealed splices, or if something snagged a wire and cut/pulled it out, that would do it too.

If the sensor is truly bad, it's recommended to change upstream and downstream on that same bank (driver's side for V8, or pre-cat on V6) with Denso brand "exact fit" part. Part number lookup is @ www.densoautoparts.com

Be careful, upstream is often listed as "air/fuel" sensor in their lookup tool. Also, they'll usually list a couple, one "direct fit" and a "universal". Finally, 2WD and 4WD sometimes have different sensors for bank1 or bank2. Sometimes Manual vs. Automatic have diff't sensors, like here, note underlines, showing the front is different depending whether your V6 is manual or auto:

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Thanks for the input shifty!

I went and changed the name of this thread as an ode to the legendary 'So you want to buy a 1st Gen Tundra' thread as I'm hoping to capture all of my experiences here as I go through and restore this truck to her full potential. I feel like many of the repairs and improvements I'll be needing to make are common and most all of them have their appropriate threads on here but maybe it'd be helpful or fun to see the process for anyone else out there just getting into the game, especially RCLB base models. For the old heads on here who know these trucks inside and out thank you so much in advance, and for already sharing so much wisdom on this board for so long.

I'm really loving my truck and since purchasing I've yet to see another RCLB on the road. The 8' bed and bench seat seem like relics of yesteryear, at least in the Toyota world, and it's a unique little version of the 3.4l V6. I've dug around extensively looking for photos and forum posts from people with similar rigs and it's pretty limited. Couldn't find an image of an RCLB with a softopper for example, when I was shopping around for campers. Had to pull up reg cab Tacomas and squint my eyes to imagine what it would look like. I need something with a full size bed without compromising wheel-base or mpg, so reg cabs what I naturally gravitate towards. Yeah it's RWD but I generally spend only the summers here on the west coast and spend the winters in Central and South America (on motorcycle). Winter driving is for psychopaths. I previously owned a base model 2011 Tacoma reg cab 4-cyl 2WD that I built out into a very fun truck and with Bilstein lift and KO2's took me absolutely everywhere I needed to go and beyond. More gravel scrambling and forrest road smashing, less mudding, minimal rock crawling.. but it happens. Summers are very dry. I'm currently living out of this Tundra and working a summer job in central Oregon, camping in the outback and exploring the mountains/ deserts around here on my days off. I've been building out the bed these past couple weeks and installed a Softopper. Pics incoming.

To recap what's been done after a month of ownership:

-air filter (Denso)
-oil filter (OEM)
-oil change (Mobil Sythetic 5W-30)
-tightened outside valve cover bolts
-rear brake replacement (Les Schwab generic)
-new battery (Group 35 AGM / Wallmart)
-alternator replacement (AutoZone Re-Man)
-after market in-line coolant temperature gauge deletion
-8ft Softopper install
-Carhartt bench seat cover
-cigarette adaptor voltometer /usb-c
-rear cargo lamp deletion

Next on the list:

-valve cover gasket replacement
-PCV valve / hose replacement
-lower ball joints
-rack and pinion
-upper radiator hose replacement
-headlight / fog light replacement
-body work / ding repair
-rust prevention
-rat prevention
-clean fuel system
-BFG KO2 upgrade

And so much more...

 

I'm shopping for some rear seat covers so my girlfriend can ride along with me without tearing up my rear seats.



How are the Carhartts? I'm looking for rear 60/40 coverage not just on the front but the entire back of the seat as well. Any insight here?

Thx!

 

Carharrts are nice, I’ve had them in multiple trucks in both the seat saver and precision fit varieties, as well as the regular fabric vs the new-ish super dux. I just had front and backs delivered from Tiger Tough, made in USA. Smaller company, but the fabric is also comedies/just as nice as the Carhartt super dux. Haven’t put them on yet so can’t speak to figment but as far as the fabric goes they’re equal to Carhartt, and I wouldn’t be surprised if they fit a little better but we’ll see.