Mysterious Problems...

Whats up I'm new on this page and joined for the simple reason because I bought a 99 4runner with 4x4! As excited as I was I knew this was gonna be a huge project. Soooo the car sounds like a diesel tractor, the 4 wheel drive is engaged completely and won't disengage. My old man took a look at it and said maybe new spark plugs and wires, and possible exhaust gasket is broken. I took a look underneath and there is oil galore all around the transfer case and front diff. This car was NEVER taken care of and the closer I look the more I see is wrong:/ As for the 4 wheel drive not disengaging I looked up how to turn on and off, and thought maybe that had something to do with it, but nah, it seems more of an electrical problem then mechanical but I could be wrong. I have no clue what I'm doing on this car and thought id reach out to the Yota Gods. I'll post pictures once I figure out how to

 

Welcome.

 

My first reaction is to attach an OBD and read the codes. That is always a good start.

 

I hope it was cheap as hell.

Sounding like a diesel tractor never sounds good to me.

 

Welcome, just got myself a 96 Limited 4x4 4Runner

 

Welcome from Wisconsin! Get a repair manual of some sort, Chilton, Clymer, there is a lot of info in them. For the things that the repair manuals don't tell you, try the forum, there are some "real world" Toyota guys here.

 

Welcome from Arizona!

 

Hello all and thanks for chiming in, I got an OBDII but it will not read any codes, I kept my battery charged and have not touch anything electrical since I got the car. I downloaded a service manual from online but its all over the place and hard to follow. I think it might be my actuator is stuck for my 4X4, but I will need to check all the connections also to make sure all my switches are good. also I have another question, will a 3.4 v6 5fe out of a 2001 tacoma work in my 99 ? and is there anything you have to wire for it to work?

 

welcome to the forum..

 

okay, I so happened to fix everything, thanks to Toyotas service manual. Ended up replacing DRL resister, disassembling cleaning and testing the problem down to the No. 2 4wd switch on my actuator, thought for the longest time I had a bad harness. My steering rack is leaking and missing bolts and my bell housing is missing bolts, PSP clamp was leaky on the bottom end and caused a 5lb crud build up on the skid plate. Pretty sure I'll be cleaning the previous owners bs and crumbs from cracks and crevices till the day I have this mf. The car says it has 380K on the dash but the guy I bought it from said it was replaced with one that had 220k.... I call BS. I going with everything is original and old as hell. I guess now my question for you guys is how do I preserve/ maintain the cars components. Should I buy rebuild kits for transmission, transfer-case, both the diffs, do as much work on them as I can, send them in to a good mechanic and maybe buy a low low mile engine from somewhere? I have always wanted to do an engine rebuild but would needs someones second opinion on that.
thanks,

 

Sometimes I say, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it"! There are some things that fall under 'preventive', if things are obvious, and appear to be trouble in the future, fix 'em! As far as wanting to do a engine rebuild? Take a compression test, see what that says. I wouldn't rebuild because of a couple leaks or something like that, the seals and gaskets that need to be replaced can sometimes be quite an education to replace/repair. As for the mileage thing, those numbers are all they are, numbers... The overall condition, should be your odometer, and of course the previous owner's attitude toward preserving the vehicle. Good luck, it sounds like you are observant, and ready to maintain, it's always a challenge to 'inherit' someone's chores!

 

I think that the true mileage is stored somewhere on the computer, and that it can be read by a mechanic. I think that the 99 still had the analog odo, so the past owner might of flipped back the numbers without also changing the amount in the computer.

Take the front skid plate off and take your 4runner to one of those diy car washes that have the high pressure washers. Spray degreaser on the skid plate and underside and then spray with the pressure washer. Just be careful not to get the nozzle too close to paint or anything that might be damaged by a strong jet of water like electrical connectors.

If you think it is still leaking, put that uv dye to track down where the leak is

 

Okay, yeah just from replacing the fuel injectors I have learned more about this car than I thought possible. This car has been one hell of a project but I know when I'm off roading in the mountains it gonna be worth it.

 

oh yeah I have taken off the skid and cleaned the absolute bananas out of the underside, when I said 5lb crud build up, I was not exaggerating, I was scooping handfuls of grease and grime off the skid plate, other then it being dirty as sin when you got down to the frame the sucker looked brand new. I left the skid plate off for a couple days and there was a pool up of power steering fluid underneath the pump itself, not the steering rack which is further back towards the rear diff. I saw that it was coming from a hose that met a metal pipe, so I'm figuring I just replace the tube and get a new clamp, along with a new steering rack since the rack is leaking as well.