mike88

Ordered a pair of warn hubs, and a door hinge repair kit from Summit Racing, shipping ground out of Sparks nevada. Shocks went on this afternoon, cannot remember an easier install, couple of hand wrenches while the back wheels were off. hardware looke pristine, old shocks not so much. One finger pressure collased both from the extended position. Nothing like hauling around 20 lbs of worn out pistons attached to the rear axel. Rear u joints tomorrow in the daylight. May even see the sun a little bit. MIKE

New Guy here, owner of an 01 LE 4x4 automatic , purchased at Portland Speeds Auto auction. 2310.00 out the yard gates, this included 20 buck auction member fee, 260.00 auction fee on the winning 2000.00 bid, and a 30.00 Oregon trip permit good for 30 days. DROVE HER HOME AND COMMENCED TO WORK. First was a set of tires, Les Schwab had Dean's all terrain in the correct size, 879.00 with siping, balance, valve core, and disposal of 3 out of the 4 tires it came with. 60,000 treadwear warranty, free flat repair , and free rotate and balance every 5k miles. Had the Schwab crew check the low and mushy feeling brake pedal turns out there was a substance added to the master cylinder other than DOT3 brake fluid. Called B&R auto wrecking in Albany Oregon for a master cylinder[20.00], a fifth wheel as the vehicle did not have one when purchased[40.00] and a left rear seatbelt assy.[35.00]. The belt had a tear and wouldn't retract all the time. Picky, I know. B&R was real helpful, had a fellow bring the parts out to the Corolla parts chasing rig and it was bck to Vancouver with the dog and me. They have Yards in Or, Wa, with a good amount of Pathfinder bits. Changed All fluids except for the brand new Antifreeze in the new radiator[score!], used Pennzoil Synthetic dot 3 for the brakes, lucky stroke, all bleeders were free, and it turns out there were nearly new front pads, brake shoes, and rear brake hardware on her. Found the jack and tools [complete] poking around while cleaning some of the carpeting. Good find there. Using Parts Geek online for belts, Power steering rack boots [EMPI], shocks[KYB] and a pair of greaseable Moog u-joints for the rear driveline. Get to use my grease gun again. Belt tensioners were in good shape, the fan idler was fairly new, as was the fan clutch. Went with a set of Iridium NGK plugs, the ones pulled out were def beyond pull date. Platinum NGK with a gap you could walk thru. Noticed immediate engine performance increase with that alone. New fuel filter installed, it didn't look too bad, but what the hell, it is part a tune up, amirite? Glove box was missing one of the plastic pins, had a bolt that fit the hole, and that was fixed. The cabin air filter looked to be a relic of the past decade, had to take the box apart to vacuum out an assortment of pine needles, leaves, and assorted other crap. The old lady doused the new filter with essential oil for a little better smell. Used peppermint I think. Glad I had latex gloves on handling the sodden filthy old filter. Center console had a jacked latch, used some Velcro superglued to each side to restore stability and function to that piece. Top latch was still fine. Costco supplied some heavy duty black floor mats[coupon deal Goodyear brand}, trim to fit , and they will do fine. Wiper blades and a pair of hold open cylinders for the back glass gate from O"Reilly parts in Portland. I used them for the Synthetic differential oil, and the two gallons of Synthetic Valvoline ATF for the trans and xfer case change out. Xfer case drain plug was not budging, so O'reilly sold me a plastic fluid transfer pump to suck the old out. got about 3 qts out, topped up with new. The LSD additive was also put in the rear diff with the new Valvoline gear juice. LSD diff, how cool is that? Used that transfer pump when changing the Power steering juice after the boot renewal. Tie rods were fine, the adjustment to 1/16 to in went real east. Front struts are passable, will put a loaded set on after some driving, the rear shocks are def jacked tho, probably find rusty piston from sitting. Found a left rear o2 sensor no continuity fault when going thru the AAPLUS Wa. State emission test, paid for the waiver and have one on order from Parts geek. The other 3 originally tested bad at O'Rielly, a bottle of "Garuanteed to Pass' wonder fluid cleaned em up, the only one bad is a mechanical fault which no amount of additive will fix. Top of the pistons looked sanitary tho , I marveled at the cleanliness as the long plug change chore was done. Bottle of Lucas Injector Cleaner was also put in with the first fill up since I don't know when. Got plates on the last day of the Oregon trip permit, glad to get full value out of that. Day 32 of ownership has me putting a second coat on the plastic front bumper, going with black Krylon Product after a dent fix and thoro sanding /cleaning. Will actually use a reasonable amount of fasteners on the bumper, it had 3 holding her on when taken off. Picked up a pair of SKF wheel seals to use when repacking[hopefully not replacing] the front wheel bearings. starting on the driver side as the lower driver door hinge need help, and on the way out renew the inner fender liner which went missing in the vehicle's past life. should keep me out of trouble for a bit. thanks to the forum, learned some good tips already on maintenance. This is my story, I am sticking to it. MIKE

Newbie member here, just picked up a 2001 Le 4x4 for my wife at the Speed's auto auction in Portland, Oregon THIS FEB. 2360 USD with fees, 211000 miles on the clock. So far 4 new tires, 6 Iridium NGK Plugs, LOF with 10w40 Mobil1 High Mileage synthetic , Wix filter from O'Reily parts store, new fuel filter, New Air cleaner, new belts{internet} Drained and changed front and rear differentials[ Rear is LSD}. Vehicle had near new front pads, and rear shoes with new hardware when purchased. Needed a master cylinder, Previous owner put something other than dot 3 in ther and the pedal was mushy to say the least. Went with a rebuilt from O'Reily, used A RESERVIOUR FROM A USED UNIT PURCHASED IN Albany. a GALLON OF Prestone Synthetic Dot 3, flushed out and bled all 4 wheels. A pleasant 3 hours in the garage bonding with the bleeder screws, clear tubing, and a qt mason jar. Figured out the Proportioning valve above the rear axel, and the rear axel went real good. The tire shop quoted 1500.00 to renew all components, gonna drive her now, don't think the foreign fluid went past the first hardline junction which I drained prior to blleding the system. As for the spark plugs, got to practice patience and the ability to bend my fingers into hitherto unknown configurations. I honestly think this was the 3rd set of plugs for this gal, one was not threaded all the way home. they were NGK Platinum, and thankfull all came out clean. .

878.00 USD out the door, lifetime rotate and balance, free flat rapair, 60,000 Mile prorated tread warranty. And Siped for better braking. Vehicle had no spare when purchased, found one in Albany Oregon for 40 bucks at B&R auto wrecking. 5419262300. Got a driver rear seatbelt assy, and used master cyinder for 35.00 and 20.00 respectively. I put the one good tire from original purchase on the spare. Vehicle came with all the tools and jack, was grateful there. MIKE

Hi all, new new member here just picked up a 2001 le 4x4 for the wife in Feb. Bought at Speeds auto auction over in Portland Or. Drove her home, and commenced to get her road worthy. Out of the 4 [mismatched] tires one was roadworthy, a standard load paasenger tread type. the other 3 had weather checking, and the tread was shot on 2 of the weather checked. I use Les Schwab , and had them install a set of 4 "Back Country" M&S all terrain, 245/70-16 107T , The only American Made they stocked. new valve stem, spin balance, had Schwab "sipe" all 4 on their equipment. Rains a bit around these parts. Vhicle is primarily for my sweetie, she loves the Heated /Seats, as she has back problems. Easier to climb in and out of than the 380000 mile 04 Corolla we shared. Quiet on the streets, haven't yet been off road. Thanks for the forum, learned a bunch already. MIKE