An addition to the family

[redcarpetdrew]

Since my very missed 94 Toyota Camry went to the SF Bay Area with the daughter when she went to college, I had to replace it so I wouldn't have to rely on the long in the tooth Mazda 929. I needed something reliable, solid and able to fill many shoes. After having done a ton of research, we settled with this. Meet Anika, our new (to us) 2003 Toyota 4Runner. Lots of creature comforts, great handling and came with a Toyota PreCertified Warranty without breaking the already skinny bank.

 

[redcarpetdrew]

Moneyshot...

Powered by Toyota's virtually bulletproof 4.0 V6 with vvt, this suv gets up and goes faster than I do going after a PA-900! LOL! I'm impressed with how nimble this is for a suv. QUIET! and not so quiet with the 6 speaker stereo. If my teenagers are impressed with how that sounds, it can't be too bad. The 4 speed automatic shifts well.

 

[redcarpetdrew]

Plenty of room!

The rear hatch opens like a dream with hydros doing the leg work with the door weight. Little cubby holes, lots of storage room and the ability to tow 5,000 lbs. Decent mileage with a good sized tank means I can even go to Southern California and empty RevvinKevin's garage... EErrrrmmm! Uhhhh, I mean VISIT Kevin and ADMIRE his collection... LOL!

 

[redcarpetdrew]

Lab Tested & Approved!

The dogs were a big part of this decision (as well as they should!) and needed room to enjoy the trip! Some of you had asked how Jenny was getting along. As you can see, she's getting big and she's only 8 months old! Of course, being the character that she is, she had to make a face for the picture! From left to right, George, Jenny and Mocha. George is giving his happy "CAR RIDE!!!" face and Mocha is ready to go as well.

 

[redcarpetdrew]

And just in case you thought Jenny's face was an accident, here's a second picture!

 

[frontaloadotmy]

Nice Rig Andrew!

That Jenny is a little nut!!!

 

[lebron]

Nice truck! Toyotas are the best, so I'm sure you'll enjoy it for years to come!

 

[pulltostart]

Nice Ride

But Charlotte and Bethann would prefer to see more photos of the dogs!

Lawrence (and Charlotte and Bethann)

 

[redcarpetdrew]

I can arrange that. Jenny is by far the smartest of the bunch. She ALMOST has the dispenser on the refrigerator figured out. She LOVES ice cubes and I've caught her playing around with the dispenser paddle. She will sit there and work it out in her head. If I see her sitting and just staring at something for hours, I usually figure out that it's the next thing to be worked out.

RCD

 

[peterh770]

Is this the one with the chain timing belt that never needs replacing?

I sure love mine. Congrats on yours!

 

[redcarpetdrew]

Timing chain?

Yes, it has a timing chain that should last the life of the car. This little V6 powered car gives my Turbo Diesel a run for the money at the light.

RCD

 

[qsd-dan]

Nice! Only one washer or dryer in the back though, no complete sets. I guess you could mount the dryer on the top rack

Timing chains are good for an average of 200K miles if you have tensioner(s). Beyond that mileage, the chain stretches and tensioner(s) wear out and the timing chain slaps against the cover. When that happens, the chains begins to wear through the cover and into the coolant passages and now you have coolant in the crankcase destroying the bearings. Using oil filters with top notch anti-drain back valves is mandatory in engines with timing chains and tensioner since oil pressure actuates the tensioner on start up.

 

[hydralique]

Tensioners can also fail. A typical tensioner failure happens when the chain has stretched to where the tensioner has no more travel. At that point the chain is no longer correctly tensioned, and will eventually jump a tooth or more on a sprocket. Many engines will damage valves if this happens, others will just run poorly. Because Toyotas are so common it should be easy to find some information on the web regarding what sort of service life this particular chain setup has. High quality oil and a good filter will surely help maximize the life of all components.

 

[redcarpetdrew]

Thanks for the info...

It has been suggested to me that running a synthetic oil will be great for this engine. Any body have any favorite engine oils that they have found to boost lifespans in their rigs?

RCD

 

[xraytech]

My preference on motor oil is Quaker State oil, and they have a good synthetic oil too.

Sam

 

[qsd-dan]

It has been suggested to me that running a synthetic oil wil

How many miles on the engine?

The rule of thumb is you don't want to switch to a synthetic after 50K miles if conventional oil was used. It's pretty much guaranteed to cause leaks since synthetic oil molecules are smaller and synthetic oil is loaded with detergents.

There seems to be a big misconception that synthetic oil keeps the engine cleaner. Nope, it's the detergents.

There are some really esoteric synthetic oils out there but at ridiculous prices. For a synthetic oil that is readily available at any parts store and at a decent price, I would recommend Valvoline. I never was a fan of Mobile 1 synthetic oil since I always got a lot of valve train noise while using it. Valvoline recently conducted a few tests against Mobil 1 and it appears Mobil has a few shortcomings.

http://www.jobbersworld.com/December 11, 2008.htm

 

[yogitunes]

regular oil, and add Dura-Lube, try the test at home like in the commercial, this stuff will run up hill toward the heat source...get the "package", for the whole car, trans, engine, power steering, brake, and gas treatment, repeat every 50,000 miles...my Navigator has 212,000 on it and no problems, I have many mechanics in the family, and they swear by it, better than Slick50.....and don't get the stuff offered by sears or jiffylube or the dealer...it's not the same....

but otherwise a nice vehicle you got there...and beautiful dogs too..........

 

[redcarpetdrew]

Anika has around 72,000 miles on her. As far as we can tell, she's been dealership serviced her whole life. Thanks, Yogi. My dogs have been a joy to have. Don't know what life would be without them. (Other than less fur, less slobber, less barking, more of the bed to myself, no fighting over who gets my recliner, etc... LOL!)

RCD

 

[revvinkevin]

Congrats on the new acquisition!

Ah, 2003... The first year of the current generation 4Runner! So RCD, is it a 4X2 or 4X4? In any event it should last you quite a while.

My ex had a 2004 4Runner Limited V6 4X2 (leather, Nav, etc) and even though I am not an "SUV" person, I have to admit it was very nice, quite comfortable (front seats anyway), drive well and got surprisingly good fuel economy!

Its daily commute was about 45 miles round trip, which including a pretty even mix of surface streets and highway. On this commute it would average 21.5 – 21.8 MPG.

Much to my surprise when we took it on road trips, San Diego, Palm Springs or beyond, if I stayed between 65 - 70 mph, it would average 26.5 - 27 MPG!!! Pretty dam good for a large SUV!

Since the 4Runner there has been 2 Prius and my current daily driver is a Camry Hybrid. Oh, did I ever mention I work for Toyota?

BTW RCD, you are welcome down here any time and who knows, maybe we can find something to put in the back of the 4Runner for the trip home!

 

[iheartmaytag]

My congrats as well

I have used Mobil-1 in both my Jeeps since they were new. The first one (1998) didn't get to do a long-term test as the drunk hit it with only 60K on the clock

My new one (2004) now has 30K on it and I have used M-1 since the first oil change. I also use the Mobil-1 synthetic filter. I used to use only FRAM, but the guy at AutoZone said that they were having some probs with FRAM filters seperating and plugging the oil passages with filter material. I didn't want to chance it.

In any case I used the synthetic because it is more thermal resistant, and today's engines run much hotter than Dad's Oldsmobile did.

BTW--I noticed recently at the Snapper dealer that Briggs & Stratton requires synthetic oil for the Air-cooled engines now. Must be something to the thermal breakdown theroy

 

[redcarpetdrew]

At least your job's more secure with Toyota...

The 4Runner is a 4x2. She's not as fancy as the one you talked about but still very nice. The previous owner installed a Karr alarm system and had it fully integrated with the Toyota factory security system so it all works with the factory remote. Anika sure is capable of letting strangers know she doesn't appreciate being poked at! This is my first experience with an ignition key that has a chip in it. The Toyota dealership in the SF Bay Area where we got her was going to only supply one key and one remote. As soon as I found out how much Toyota wanted for a second set PLUS the service department's labor charge to 'mate' them to Anika, I insisted that they include a second set. OUCH! $200-$300 MINIMUM for a second key and remote... I can't believe they cost Toyota that much to make...

Don't tempt me, Kevin! I'd have to get a trailer so I could bring the wringer and two dryers for a little wash in... I'd dare QSD-DAN to bring a few of his but it'd take too much time for him to dis-assemble his collection and fit the whole thing in his Honda then re-assemble once he got there...(see example of how he packs below!) LOL!

RCD