Topic: 1985 4Runner

[JohnnyCanuck]

I’ve been looking for another Toyota since moving here and came across one right here in Comox. It’s an SR5, is the first year of the 22re and has 393,330 km at time of purchase on 12/30/17.  This one has a fairly fresh rebuild and injectors, driveline seemed pretty solid on the drive home and has a good, solid frame and floorboards. I have a few issues to take care of:

Battery/brake light came on (dead alternator) when I was driving it home last night
Clutch needs to be bled
Has a small exhaust leak at the manifold, I noticed a broken stud today
replace vacuum lines with silicone ones
install rear license plate holder/light
Heater blows good, not a lot of heat  still needs a new heater core but heat for now
Lots of wires under the hood that have brittle casing, need to replace them
Horn doesn’t work, probably the pin not contacting the horn ring like my last Toyota
No power steering
Steering damper is shot
Interior is what you’d expect for a 30 year old vehicle, I’m on the hunt for a donor vehicle
Speedo, tach and all the gauges work - even the clock - but no dash lights.
emergency brake not working
Wiring looks terrible
Windshield is new but leaks, looking under chrome trim reveals a mess; I can actually push the windshield out on the top.  Chrome trim will have to go in the garbage, windshield removed and repair any damage, then sealed properly with a universal rubber seal.
Seats are decent, I want newer ones without 30 years of farts in them
Tires are mud tires and sound like it too, they need to go


















 

[seat safety switch]

That's really clean for the age. Has the dimmer switch gone out and knocked the dash lights off? Try wiggling it a bunch and see if it flickers.

[jellynuts]

Dang that thing looks rad.  Pics of said poor interior?

[JohnnyCanuck]

That's really clean for the age. Has the dimmer switch gone out and knocked the dash lights off? Try wiggling it a bunch and see if it flickers.

I sprayed some de-oxit in the dimmer switch, cranked it a few times and dash lights are working, thanks!

Dang that thing looks rad.  Pics of said poor interior?

I’ll post some tomorrow, it needs some love after getting a better look at it today.  I’m chasing down the no charging issue next.

[seat safety switch]

I sprayed some de-oxit in the dimmer switch, cranked it a few times and dash lights are working, thanks!

No problem. All those old Toyota dimmer switches go bad like that, older Hondas too.

It'll probably keep happening even with the Deoxit (Deoxit Fader Lube might hold it off a little longer), so you should eventually open it up and take a look at it. Deoxit's great stuff, though. One $20 can has saved me tons of time and effort in manually cleaning parts.

[JohnnyCanuck]

Some interior shots, at some point I have to find a donor with a good interior and replace the carpet.

Pulled the seat cover back to show the seats, they were replaced by the PO at some point

[mudferret]

Nice Runner! Don't see too many Toyota's on the road nowadays that came with a solid front axle.

[jellynuts]

Man, I see nothing wrong with that interior. 

[JohnnyCanuck]

It’s decent for the age, I’m going to try the green machine on the door cards and roof. They look worse in good light.

[LilDrunkenSmurf]

I'm in love. I miss my 4Runner.

[RedBimmer93]

Awesome machine!!

[05LGT]

I'm in love. I miss my 4Runner.

I miss your 4Runner too.

There can’t be too many of these in this kind of shape left around salty climates I bet.

[Dr Beans]

This is a good step from the forester! I've always wanted one of these.

[seat safety switch]

Some interior shots, at some point I have to find a donor with a good interior and replace the carpet.

RockAuto carries a bunch of ACC replacement carpets (both cabin and cargo areas) for this thing in a few different styles/materials and the usual dozen colours.

[Jukka]

RockAuto carries a bunch of ACC replacement carpets (both cabin and cargo areas) for this thing in a few different styles/materials and the usual dozen colours.

^^ this. They fit reasonably well too. You'll need to do some trimming and cut out the holes for things like the shifter opening, seatbelts, eyelets, etc. I threw one into my Corolla.

Also, those wheels are badass..lol.

[JohnnyCanuck]

RockAuto carries a bunch of ACC replacement carpets (both cabin and cargo areas) for this thing in a few different styles/materials and the usual dozen colours.

Dang, under $140 for front and rear seat pieces - awesomeness.

[seat safety switch]

^^ this. They fit reasonably well too. You'll need to do some trimming and cut out the holes for things like the shifter opening, seatbelts, eyelets, etc. I threw one into my Corolla.

I've considered doing it myself for some cars. Did you have any trouble smoothing it out?

[Jukka]

I've considered doing it myself for some cars. Did you have any trouble smoothing it out?

Nope. Just takes some time to find the proper way of fitting it. The nice thing about their carpets is they are pre-formed and pretty good too. They also give you a lot of extra material on the sides to ensure a 100% fit. I probably hacked off 6-10 inches off each of sides and probably 3-6 inches off under the dash when I fit it in the Corolla.

Once the seats are bolted in place, the carpet is nice and snug

[darthekai]

whew I had a panic attack cuz i didnt look at the username and I thought your photo was the 4runner....
JC if you get rid of that beautiful toyota steering wheel im deleting my account.

[JohnnyCanuck]

whew I had a panic attack cuz i didnt look at the username and I thought your photo was the 4runner....
JC if you get rid of that beautiful toyota steering wheel im deleting my account.

Fear not, it’s too purdy.

Today I’m tackling the charge/ battery light issue that killed the battery on the drive home .  Voltage reg is good, alternator shows no life so I have a battery and alternator to put in.  And a thermostat if I get time.

[JohnnyCanuck]

I checked and cleaned all the grounds, checked fuses put some heat shrink on wires that needed it.  The wiring needs to be replaced at different places, another to-do item. I noticed the alternator was loose, tired to tighten the belt and noticed the bottom was very loose.  When I dropped the tray under the engine, the lower alt. bolt and washer were sitting there.  I replaced it, tightened the belt and still had charge light on.  Replaced the alternator and battery and charge light gone, finally.  Next is to get heat sorted out, then fix exhaust manifold leak.

[JohnnyCanuck]

In the last week, I’ve driven this 100 Km/day to work.  I reverse flushed the heater core twice and now have some decent heat.  I tightened the e-brake,it works great.  It had a bad driveline vibration at about 80 kph, looking where the rear driveshaft and rear diff join, I found all of the bolts loose, all tightened up and smooth again.  A typical issue on this era of trucks is leaking through the windshield trim, P.O. put this windshield in them selves and it’s a mess.  It needs the windshield taken out and the area on the cab around the windshield cleaned up; a project for this summer.  For now, I’m going to clean it up and use some sealant. 

[RedBimmer93]

This video was just posted today, and I figured it was pretty fitting to share here

[WRX_RA]

Wow this thing looks super clean! Had a friend who had one of these back a few years, you definitely don't see them around anymore
If there's one thing I wish my 4Runner had it's a manual transmission haha

Any plans to make it into an expedition vehicle? Or just a daily driver?

[JohnnyCanuck]

It’s my dd now - 2 hours/day - and it’s doing fine.  It steers good, it rides like a solid axle rides and I’m quite enjoying it. I drive it on the old island highway which has a max speed of 80 kph which is just fine.  I took it on 19 which has a speed limit of 120, I am mildly surprised how well it handled, and aside from having to gear down on the steeper hills, it did pretty good. 

We are moving to Campbell River in April, and I will be able to walk to work, or it’s a 3 minute drive if the weather is ugly.  Then, I plan on using it to explore the island, I’m going to get a bed in the back so we can do some over night trips and some music festivals. 

I removed the after market roof rack as it was scraping up the fibreglass rain guard on the top.
PS - I’m having the worst time with photos, I’m aggravated that I can’t seem to link anymore after photo bucket.