1987 4Runner 4x4 22RE SR5 (4 cylinder, fuel
injected) Five Speed Manual Transmission, $15,000 or trade for a
high quality, smaller vehicle with an automatic transmission and 50,000
miles or less.
I've owned it for 10 years. It's a first generation 4Runner, an
attention-getter, and semi-collectible.
It was my regular around-town driver on the other side of
the state and still has good power. I've never seen it smoke. In late
2018 I drove it to Washington State and back, and it's been on two
other trips, one to Central California and one to Southern California.
Cons:
1. I have successfully
re-wired a several components of the car. After being re-wired the
circuit got better electricity and often worked better. Some of the
re-wiring acts as anti-theft.
2. It has a
semi-persistent valve cover gasket oil leak as the rear half
moon is not as high as the engine block. When I raise the half-moon
with silicone the leak stops for a while. In no other place
is engine oil leaking in any significant amount.
I drove it loaded down with my stuff from Sonora to Santa Cruz and the
oil didn't get dirty. It can get dirty just sitting in the
parked car though.
A compression test was done roughly 600 miles ago ago by a
professional mechanic shop, documented results are: 140,
150, 140, 130. I've never seen smoke come out of
its exhaust pipe.
3. A body filler repair to the roof has
come undone in all the winter rain, some sanding and body filler always
takes care of it but until then it can make a whistling sound after
around 35 MPH. To temporarily stop the sound I put black 3
inch painter's take over it.
There is another mystery sound that comes and goes. It was not there
last I drove it and of course both mechanics I asked to check it out
heard nothing 'unusual', or said it's nothing to be concerned about.
Nothing acts broken when it happens. Actually I haven't heard it for a
while now.
4. One of the linkage connections to the AC and
heater is broken so I push it in place for the season manually. I'm
pretty sure I know how to fix it but haven't been able to. The fan
control and the air conditioning activation switch still work fine. The
fan always only had two of the four speeds working, the higher two
speeds, the most important ones fortunately. That lever/control still
works fine. Also the separate control mechanism for using outside air,
or recirculating the inside air, still works fine.
What I have to adjust by hand, and haven't fixed yet (I tried) is (1)
the adjustment to how much air goes to what part of the car (the
defroster, upper body, or to the driver's legs) and (2) what
intensity of cold air is sent out, or hot air, so in the summer I keep
the later at on one extreme position and in winter in another extreme
position which I set manually.
To fix this the upper area of the dashboard needs to be opened up (I
think.) There is an area way up under the horizontal top part of the
dashboard where these connections merge and connect but the ring (?)
that connects them (I think it's a ring) broke so these control arms
are hanging there unconnected. The opening to connect them all together
at is small too, I tried to put a paper clip through them all but
couldn't reach it well enough to make it work. When I held all the
pieces together with my hand, the whole thing worked great.
5. This is not a good vehicle
to drive in long stop-and-go traffic jams. I have not found the
transmission to need fluid topping off in multiple years now but in
2017, a while after it was installed, when I checked the fluid for
maintenance, I found a bit of metal powder glittering in the
transmission fluid. Since then I have not seen metal in the fluid for
several years now. I always put Prolong Transmission Treatment in the
fluid.
6. The passenger front seat is gone (I
don't have it) so I could put a dog comfortably in its place, or
groceries in the front seat area instead of only the back. Passengers
can still ride in the back seats which have head rests and seat belts.
The seats in the 4Runner now are not original, those were put in before
I got the vehicle and are Toyota Corolla, Tercel or some other older
Toyota seats which are available at salvage yards, thus another of the
same seats can be found.
7. When hitting bumps as it's driven, the back
window can jiggle, making an irritating sound but nothing is broken.
There is a way I know to make it quieter or stop making noise, for a
while anyway.
8. Rear window windshield wiper and washer does
not work, I've never tried fixing it. The mechanism is there though, it
likely just doesn't get electricity to operate.
9. Rear window defroster is jerry-rigged but is
not particularly effective. The original defroster never worked for me
and I only half-heartedly tried to fix it.
10. There is some kind of minor oil leak showing
itself under the power steering pump. I haven't had to put power
steering fluid in it for over two years. It might be engine oil from
the chronic bad valve cover gasket. It isn't enough to leave drops or a
puddle on the pavement under it.
11. Steering feels a bit loose but not enough to
affect my driving. I see at least one bushing on the steering linkage
that I think could use replacing at some point. The power steering
works well and frankly I think the steering feels normal for an older
car.
12. The dashboard light(s), front parking lights
and rear interior courtesy light operate on a separately added circuit.
Those are brighter and easier to see now.
13. This has no affect on anything and is just a
sound - A clunk might be heard on occasion when braking, it is from the
rear brake linkage hitting part of the chassis (it's easy to see) as
explained to me by a Toyota mechanic, it's an issue a number of these
older 4Runners have and was nothing the mechanic was concerned about. I
haven't seen it do any harm in all these years of owning the car.
14. The backup lights work fine but part of the
circuit's wiring harness along side the transmission (which is easy to
access) it is held together informally and should be replaced.
15. This rarely happens but if you turn the steering
wheel too hard (very hard) I think the steering linkage rubs against
itself and makes a horrible, scary noise, but doesn't seem to hurt
anything. If the steering linkage bushings were replaced that might
eliminate this issue.
16. The car's dark paint is not naturally shinny like
on many cars, it's duller in color but looks fine. Unless looking
directly at it's hood (where the clear coat is peeling off a lot,)
people think the car looks good. Waxing makes the paint shine a lot
like newer cars.
17. It has a ding in each rear corners,
both of which can be fixed. Also the clear coat is
scratched on a small part of the rear driver's side. however it doesn't
show when good wax is on it.
18. The rear differential works fine (as
far as I know,) it has a newly replaced pinion seal oil and nut
(but may already be leaking some differential fluid, though that
doesn't affect the driving as far as I know.)
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Sorry but due to insurance reasons only I can
drive the car during our test drive.
The car and its owner (me) have a good reputation thus it's never
been involved in a crime or had people mad at it. That is significant
because it's a vehicle which stands out a good deal.
No warranty
on the vehicle, this 4Runner is sold as-is. Thank you.
