QuestionHi! I have a 1990 4Runner SR5 3.0L V6 4x4, 184k mileage. I
have a few questions, and apologize (for the bombardment) and
thank you in advance for whatever help you can give me. I would
like to do the repairs on my 4Runner myself, my dad and
brothers believe I can do them, I've worked on vintage American
made cars most of my life, but haven't ever had to work on a
Toyota, it's different, I'm nervous. And it doesn't help that I have
to read a manual to do the repairs, I can normally see what's
wrong and fix that, not so with my 4Runner.
Ok, on to the things that need fixing. 1) I need to change the
power steering pressure switch. where is this part located? and
how do I recongnize it to fix it? what are the steps that I need to
take to remove and replace? I know that sometimes the power
steering fluid is a part of the RWAL, but I'm not sure if the truck
has RWAL, how do I find out? Is it better to change the psps
itself or change the entire pump?
2) I have to change the heater core, but I'm not sure if I have to
go thru the dash or can reach it from under the hood or car.
Which is it, dash, or under hood or truck? I've changed a heater
core before, but besides the coolant, should I drain anything
else, and how do I drain the anything else? I have been trying to
figure out (without taking everything apart) if my heater core
contains AC components or if those are seperate, how do I find
out? I don't need all of the steps for this, but some, to look out
fors would be helpful.
3) I have a check light that stays on after I hit 3rd. it looks like
an alternator light, but I'm not sure because the alternator is
fine. I do have to change the batter, but am not sure if this will
fix the problem is there anything else that I can look at that
might be causing this light to stay on. The truck runs smooth,
doesn't stall, slow to pick up speed, but I think a tune-up will
help that.
4) Also, there is a small rattle whenever I acclerate. what could
this be? I was think maybe I need to check the valves, but I'm not
sure.
Again thanks for the help. And please don't suggest I take it to a
mechanic. I'm a sophmore in college, broke and trying not to ask
my dad for money. If I can do this myself.... well, let's just say I
need to do this myself.
Thanks
AnswerBy power steering pressure switch I assume that you mean the idle up switch, it increases the idle speed when the wheels are turned to keep the engine from stalling because of the extra load form the pump, it is located on the bottom of the power steering pump and has two vavuum hoses attached, if it has ABS you can see the actuator on top of the frame just below the power steering pump, you can't miss it there will be two power steering hoses and a bunch of brake lines attached to it.
The heater core is located almost in the center under the dash, the blower motor and the A/C evaporator have to be removed and almost all of the lower dash including the center console and radio etc., not a fun job.
I'm not sure what the light is but you can check the alternator output with a voltmeter with the engine running, anything less than 12.8 volts means the alternator is not charging, if it is charging 13 to 14.5 volts you probably have a battery problem.
Can't help on the rattle noise because it could be a lot of different things, too hard to diagnose without hearing it myself.
