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The 3.4 is an amazing engine. At 300K it does not burn any oil. I’ve only done regular maintenance. I did have some framework done on the cross member above the exhaust. Rest of frame is solid. What a great truck!
Hit 300K on 98 3.4
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252 Posts
Curious thing I found the other day was a mileage calculator based on tire size changes. IIRC going up 1" in tire size lowers the odometer reading by 10% for a 265/75/r16 from stock. So my odometer reads 225K but in reality my truck is at about 250K.
Random but I found it interesting.
Random but I found it interesting.
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40 Posts
The circumference of a 265/75/r16 is 31.6. The stock size on 1st gens is 265/70, 30.6, and circumference of 96.13. 33's sometimes run small in true diameter, 32.5 for BFG, 32.8 for goodyear MTR. I run BFG ATs(102.1circ), so for me it's more like 6%. (I'd been using 6% whenever I run MPG calculation for the last 15 yrs, wanted to make sure my math was close)
My 98 V6 4WD has 250k+ hard miles. I recently did my third timing belt change and replaced the water pump and idler pully also (and of course all seals) with Toyota parts. Also replaced all rubber hoses (water and vacuum). Amazingly most of the water hoses looked pretty much the same as the replacements in terms of wear. Toyota makes very good hoses. Perhaps not to smart to spend this much on a 20 year old truck but I go to some out of the way places alone and a tow/rescue would be really bad.
If you do the maintenance repairs yourself I think it's reasonable to keep these going but they are high maintenance vehicles (timing belt, oil leaks, greaseable driveshaft) and I think that's mostly why you see so few. Or it could be that many are wrecked, mine does not even have anti lock and you have to be a cautious driver in the rain or snow. I'm an expert at recovering from the rear end sliding out.
If you do the maintenance repairs yourself I think it's reasonable to keep these going but they are high maintenance vehicles (timing belt, oil leaks, greaseable driveshaft) and I think that's mostly why you see so few. Or it could be that many are wrecked, mine does not even have anti lock and you have to be a cautious driver in the rain or snow. I'm an expert at recovering from the rear end sliding out.
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6 Posts
I have both a 2001 Tacoma 3.4 automatic and a 2002 4Runner 3.4 automatic and both are within a thousand miles of each other and near 240,000. Neither burns any oil. The Tacoma leaked a bit but I tightened the valve cover bolts and it seems to have stopped. Both have timing belts that are a bit over 100,000 miles on them, both have good water pumps. The 4Runner has a tick coming from the vacuum system I believe. It is not from the lifters as it does not change speed when engine speed increases and in fact it quiets as the vacuum lowers on acceleration. It also stops doing it when it settles down to an idle for about 20 seconds. These are used to go into places a tow would be a lot of money including the El Camino del Diablo and into Mexico’s Pinacate reserve for the 4Runner. I expect I should do the timing belt, water pump idler and seals. Someday. Both will get to 300,000 in about 5-6 years. Maybe then?
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1,555 Posts
My 02 is at 215k. Two timing belt, water pump etc. changes. Radiator started leaking somewhere around 150k-175k. I wasn't as lucky as most, needed head work a little before 200k miles. Had some remanufactured heads swapped in. The rest of the truck is holding up ok, no accidents but SRS and ABS lights have been on for years.
With the value being so high on these rigs its still worth the maintenance costs.
With the value being so high on these rigs its still worth the maintenance costs.
As far as oil leaks go, I finally got mine where there are no drops of oil on the driveway and oil pan is dry. I had to do the valve cover gaskets at about 8 years after truck purchase (bought new) and it only stopped the leaks for a few years. The problem is that the shop manual is a bit lacking in that it does not address the cam plugs and I more or less verified that is where the oil leak is using a mirror. It's difficult to criticize Toyota, but in the case of the cam plugs I do. They are metal plugs like freeze plugs with a very, very light coating of rubber. They simply won't seal for long.
One popular youtuber says don't put FIPG on them because Toyota does not but some say you should and I agree. Also, follow the dirs for FIPG, clean all surfaces with brake cleaner to remove oil and don't start engine for 8 hrs. Warning though - it appears some have pulled out the head threads on the cam plug clamps when removing the bolts. I also torque the valve cover bolts twice because the gasket compresses and torque goes to zero after first torque.
Other leak source is the oil cooler. This is actually easy as you can remove it (one bolt, two water hoses) through the wheel well. You have to put some grease on the o-ring so it does not fall out.
When you change the timing belt be sure to change crank seal and cam seals. My crank seal was leaking last timing belt change.
Lastly, change the oil filler cap gasket. I did all the above and oil drops started again and I was really scratching my head until I isolated to the oil filler cap. I guess the blow by will force oil out if gasket has failed.
One popular youtuber says don't put FIPG on them because Toyota does not but some say you should and I agree. Also, follow the dirs for FIPG, clean all surfaces with brake cleaner to remove oil and don't start engine for 8 hrs. Warning though - it appears some have pulled out the head threads on the cam plug clamps when removing the bolts. I also torque the valve cover bolts twice because the gasket compresses and torque goes to zero after first torque.
Other leak source is the oil cooler. This is actually easy as you can remove it (one bolt, two water hoses) through the wheel well. You have to put some grease on the o-ring so it does not fall out.
When you change the timing belt be sure to change crank seal and cam seals. My crank seal was leaking last timing belt change.
Lastly, change the oil filler cap gasket. I did all the above and oil drops started again and I was really scratching my head until I isolated to the oil filler cap. I guess the blow by will force oil out if gasket has failed.
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