2000 4Runner Limited sitting in storage for 15 years what to do before driving it

I just started driving a 2000 4Runner Limited. It has been sitting in storage for quite a while, 15 years. Regular oil changes throughout the times and it has been regularly started up. The battery has always been charged.

Anything I need to keep in mind before driving it?

 

Welcome

 

Welcome to the forum.

 

Nice! How many miles on the odo? After 15 years, I would definitely throw some fresh tires on. I'd change all the fluids, too, especially the brake fluid.

 

Brake fluid is critical. It absorbs water over time, slowly reducing it's effectiveness. Coolant (make sure you only use the Toyota Red coolant and distilled water!), and check the radiator and water pump for a corrosion build up, transmission and differential fluids, make sure it has the right weight oil in it, and a good, Toyota oil filter. Some of the nest oil filters out there.
Double check ANYthing made of rubber. Coolant lines, brake lines, vacuum lines, ball joint covers, heck, ANYthing rubber. After 15 years, chances are anything rubber is getting rotted. Especially, ESPECIALLY, the timing belt. I'd be willing to wager it cracked all through it's length. The rest of the belts and hoses, too.
Give her a good tune up. Plugs, wires, check the AF sensor and O2 sensor, knock sensors, and so forth.

Sounds like a lot, but that's because if it had been driven consistently, this stuff would have been done slowly, over time. As it is, it's all been put off till now. Once you get it all done, you can get into a regular maintenance schedule for all this good stuff.
AND be driving it around having the fun you should be in a 4Runner
Pat☺

 

Brake fluid is critical. It absorbs water over time, slowly reducing it's effectiveness. Coolant (make sure you only use the Toyota Red coolant and distilled water!), and check the radiator and water pump for a corrosion build up, transmission and differential fluids, make sure it has the right weight oil in it, and a good, Toyota oil filter. Some of the nest oil filters out there.
Double check ANYthing made of rubber. Coolant lines, brake lines, vacuum lines, ball joint covers, heck, ANYthing rubber. After 15 years, chances are anything rubber is getting rotted. Especially, ESPECIALLY, the timing belt. I'd be willing to wager it cracked all through it's length. The rest of the belts and hoses, too.
Give her a good tune up. Plugs, wires, check the AF sensor and O2 sensor, knock sensors, and so forth.

Sounds like a lot, but that's because if it had been driven consistently, this stuff would have been done slowly, over time. As it is, it's all been put off till now. Once you get it all done, you can get into a regular maintenance schedule for all this good stuff.
AND be driving it around having the fun you should be in a 4Runner
Pat☺

 

Thanks! About 28k miles, hasn't been used a lot so I'm really lucky. I'm changing the tires but I will plan to change all the fluids.

 

Thanks for the in depth help. There seems like a lot to do, but I can't wait to learn about the car. Thanks for all the help!

 

Congratulations!! It’s not real until you give us a picture!!

 

Tires also need to be looked into. Vehicles stored on their tires will eventually develop permanent flat spots on their tires.

 

Wow, that's a holy grail rig for a lot of folks - you scored big time. Pics for sure.

 

Put a new expansion valve in that bad boy. I just took a drive and almost caught pneumonia.....

 

welcome to the forum

 

Welcome from Wisconsin! Don't forget the air filters; engine, cab. Breathers to the differentials. It will be a little work, but, what a vehicle!

 

I know the radiator can go once you get up around 125k-150k miles. I imagine time can also cause deterioration. Replacement with an OEM one may be a good idea.

28k miles? Wow!

 

exactly. first thing I did after getting my 4 runner, was to flushed out the radiator...after viewing it, decided to replace with OEM..and I replace 02 sensors, and valve cover gaskets..it was money well spent..and peace of mind...

 

Honestly, I'm a huge fan of OEM parts. Having said that, I replaced my 87 trucks' radiators with all metal, 3-core, radiators. That was nearly 30 years ago, and the one in the pickup is still working great. The 4Runner's blew it's top tank off a few years ago, but I really feel I got my money's worth out of it. It's got a regular, plastic tank radiator in it now, but when I get the money, I plan on another all metal, maybe 3-core. Depends on the price difference between 2 and 3 core prices.

Other than the radiator, yeah, OEM all the way.
Pat☺

 

Agreed. The TOYOTA radiator is fine for cars going 150k miles and 12 years.

It is junk for our cars which go 30 years and 300k miles.

Next T-Belt change, I'm going to get a full metal one.

 

get the repairs and upgrades...etc.....it will be money well spent

 

if truely only 28k miles and if mint condition I'd clean it up and auction it might go for over $20k maybe even $30k

 

Welcome from Arizona! Sounds like a great find.

 

Dump all fluids.

See if you can drain the gas tank.

 

put seafoam in it .... dont spill any on your trim as will remove it

 

exactly....and that's why I ankled the Isuzu trooper group..after owning one for 28 yrs..I owned a first gen 2.8 v6 5sp...problem being, Isuzu has quit selling in the U.S. and no longer stocks parts...and unlike 4runner, Landcruisers, FJ cruisers, there's no third party vendors making decent OEM items...last time my Trooper broke down, I was down for 13 days, until I was able to locate a rare part....and it's only going to get worst for my Isuzu team mates...Always been a huge 4runner fan...and when the chance of getting a 3rd gen at a very reasonable price came up, I jumped at the chance...bought it..and sold off my Trooper and cache of extra parts within a day..

 

We need more to that story. Is it a family member's car?

I would run a Carfax on the vin. Sounds a little too good to be true. Pretty easy to roll back an odometer these days.
A carfax ought to show some service history and at what miles.

 

Try finding parts for a car that they only made 1500 of and maybe only 50 are left. I've tracked down some very hard to find parts over the years. Paid stupid money for some of them. Currently have a 90 year old car (probably 1 of a dozen left alive) and I need to get it started. She's complete but I pray I don't have to have something replaced. Luckily cars that old used parts across models AND makes. But I digress...

Parts for 3rd Gen 4Runners are easy to find now. But they will probably go the way of the 1st/2nd gens soon enough. I'm already seeing parts disappearing from TOYOTA's catalog. The interior stuff is falling away but the mechanical stuff is probably going to be easy to get for a good while.

 

Welcome from northern NY. Post up a pic of your ride

 

are you going to get any parts to hold onto? if so what?

 

Me?

For this car? I'm not. Not worth restoring. I don't think anyone will look to restore these cars.

But if you wanted to die on the hill of restoration, go on a hunt for "soft" easily damaged fabric/plastic parts:

Seat upholstery. It's almost all gone from TOYOTA. Maybe a search of dealerships across the US may net some. Alternatively, hunt for exceedingly low mileage seats.
Dash Pad. Good luck on this one.
Door panels.
Interior plastic parts.
Under hood fire pads. Been offered hundreds for one (not 4Runner).
Exterior plastic (side flares).
Weatherstripping.

Then you can get into things like the retracting antenna mast, radio, carpet, headliner, evap system...the list is endless.

Then after you've spent thousands, store it all in a climate controlled environment until you decide to do a proper resto.

I did buy rear hatch shocks and a retracting antenna mast from TOYOTA since I know those won't last forever.

 

the shocks on mine are out keep hitting my head and shocked I havent forgeten to put the antenna down for the car wash... I dont think it would survive lol