'00 Tacoma PreRunner maintanence question.

If you can do oil changes, you can do the whole 60k service pretty much yourself and save a ton of $$$. If you really don't feel comfortable with my story, at least wait and see if you get a coupon in the mail or the dealer is running a small discount on the 60k service.

You can easily change the coolant and transmission fluid yourself. Just drain and refill the radiator... 5 years and 53k the coolant should still be fine and you will get 90% by just draining the radiator. Make sure you only use the Toyota 'red' coolant.

Auto trans fluid is very easy to change yourself. Even the dealer won't drop the pan to clean the filter. Its just a fine wire mesh screen. They supposedly do a reverse flush that sucks anything in the screen out. I would be more worried about some particles getting lodged somewhere they don't need to be. For the flush, all you need to do is disconnect the line that runs to the radiator, its the one on the right side of our trucks. Get a gallon milk jug or something similar and mark off a 2 quart increment. Put the line into the jug and start her up. When you get two quarts, shut her off, then add two quarts thru the tranny dipstick tube. A complete fill on the tranny takes 12 quarts, so I ran a total of 16 quarts thru mine to make sure I got out as much of the old stuff as possible because of dilution when you add the new fluid. Even the flush machine the dealer uses is going to cause fluid dilution. It replaces old fluid with new fluid as it goes, just like using the method I just described. Cost me about $90 for 16 quarts of Mobil One synthetic ATF. Dealer price was $110 with regular fluid, and they wouldn't cut me a deal with bringing in my own fluid either. Its been 15k since I did it and absolutely no problems whatsoever.

I would change the fuel filter, though I hear its a royal PITA on a 2.7. Belts and hoses need a good look. Check the PS fluid too. It's actually ATF just like in your tranny. You can flush that too, but I have not attempted it yet. Another method I heard of is to use a syringe suck out as much as possible from the resivoir and top it back off with new fluid. Start her up, turn the wheels back and forth a few times, and do it again 3 or 4 times.

As far as a 'tune-up', just change your plugs, and be sure to stick with the OEM NGK plugs. Don't fall for the platnium BS or any other gimmick with plugs. Copper is a better conductor than platnium, it just deteriorates quicker. The only ones worth mentioning are the iridium plugs, but not worth the $12/each price tag. Check spark plug wires for any wear/cracking and replace if needed. They should still be in good shape. Only other things to do would be cleaning your throttle body and PCV valve. Clean air filter is obvious. If your truck is running smooth with no hesitation or rough idle, no reason to even worry about the injectors. I use a fuel system cleaner every oil change.

Thanks, Dave.

I'll see what I can find on that. I have a couple of dealers from which to choose.

Ah. The legendary 'red' coolant is what I'm after. Again, I'm trying to head off premature radiator/water pump corrosion/loss way down the road.

I'd have preferred a manual tranny, but it wasn't a choice. Flushing is the way to go. I'll look into the Mobil1 syn ATF. I've used the oil in a couple of my vehicles.

I'll see what I can find about the fuel filter, instuctions, manuals whatnot.

As I suspected, NGK it is.

What brand and weight fluid do you prefer?

Thanks again -

Stew

I used Mobil 1 synthetic Gear Oil. The recommended weight is 80w-90. Same stuff is used for the regular rear diff and the TRD locker. This stuff isn't cheap, around $10/quart if I remember correctly.

Also, another item to look at is your brakes... Most dealers or brake shops will give you a free inspection. If you ever go play in the mud, the rear drums have a tendency to trap some of it, and that has a sandpaper effect!