2000 Extended Cab Tacoma, mild, long-term overland build

[mbrewer]

@olbuford Thanks!

I just did the front brake hoses, pads, and the bleed that follows. I followed that up by adjusting the rear brakes... so at least my brakes are good. I expect once the pads bed it'll stop better than it ever has before, since all the brake components should actually be working properly for once (well, except ABS, but it was ****ty on this model year anyway).

After further research on the thermostat, it's probably not that at all. P0125 on Tacos is usually the O2 sensor. I screwed with both of them, since they are on the wiring harness running down the transmission. Using Torque and my OBD2 reader I established that the rear O2 sensor is working fine, but the front one seems to only read 0... which is bad. Tip: tap the accelerator, *something* should happen on the O2 sensor display (I used the one under "test").

two or three hours of clueless poking and redundant testing later (I actually had this post open): I was testing the front O2 sensor as per the FSM (checking ohms between black wires), it checked out okay. Testing the engine side though I didn't see the 12v on those same wires. To make sure I was testing properly I finally thought to check the second sensor (which is working) and compare. It didn't pass that test either... okay, my testing is bad, fine. But, as I went back and forth I eventually noticed... a wire hanging out. I get the same results on the front and rear if I connect to that wire... soooo, that's probably the issue. It looks like I probably put too much tension on it while trying to pop things back together last time, I may have broken it loose but not actually pulled the wire fully out of the back of the connector which would be why I didn't notice. The timing was too perfect, it had to be the transmission job that caused the new engine code... this makes a lot of sense. It shouldn't be *that* hard a fix either, just hoping I can get that pin to slide out.

I've got a soldering iron and solder, so tomorrow I need to partially remove the harness so I have space to work, remove the pin, solder it back together, slide the pin back in, put the wiring harness back on and reinstall the O2 sensor. Hopefully that's the only problem there and it'll fix my CEL.

 

[mbrewer]

Got the wiring harness! It went really smoothly actually, unplugged everything so the harness hung down, popped the white bit off the plug, lifted the little clip holding the pin in place and slid the pin right out. To repair I reclamped the wire on, soldered it to the pin (I didn't open the part of the clamp originally used for the connection... it looked too tricky), slipped the pin back in to the connector (pushing hard with needle-nose so it would pop), and put it all back together. To pop the pin out I used an eyeglass screwdriver we had lying around from Angie repairing her iphone a while back. I didn't time it but maybe an hour and a half?

Next I went on a drive to pick up some bolts that we're missing from the trans, and no new CEL (after the last time I cleared it a new code was thrown within minutes of driving). So, looks like that's fixed, and my truck is basically functional again. Yaaay! Onwards to boring stuff, just swapping a few fluids for the 120k service. Still need to do more reading and stuff before deciding on what I'll do about the boot.

 

[mbrewer]

Decision: Doing the entire CV axle, as olbuford suggested looks like the best option, pretty easy and like a good idea, just a bit tricky on the road later without jack stands etc. Still, if I use the spare or a rock as a jack stand it seems pretty easy. I'd also need a longer breaker bar to break the axle nut. All that said, this means that I really don't care if the CVs are shot by the time I do the repair, everyone says you can do 20k miles or so after the boot tears... Given that, I might as well wait until the boot tears, when that happens pick up the new part and a big pipe as a breaker bar extension, and do the job then.
Anyway, looking forward to just driving the truck for a little while and not doing work on it, hoping that CV boot will hold out for a while longer ;-)

 

[mbrewer]

Last update we were in Tucson. We went from there up through Arizona checking out flagstaff, and the grand canyon. Then we turned west out to Joshua tree for some rock climbing. Visited friends in Santa Barbara, a stop in Big Sur, then visited friends in San Francisco. After that it was back east out to the Sierra, hung out in Sierra National Forest for a bit, then south for some rock climbing in Seqoia, around the south end to Death Valley where we did lots of wandering and wheeling. Up to Bishop for bouldering. We did an epic 4 day early spring backbackping/montaineering trip in the Sierra going over 13k passes, here's the details: http://www.blog.smalladventures.net/2018/05/early-spring-in-sierra.html. This morning we did some limestone climbing near Vegas and our fingers our raw. We'll hang out near Vegas for a few days, then we're heading to an internship in Colorado to learn more about living off the land there.

Some Burro's on the road in Death Valley
IMG_20180430_120428 by smalladventures photos, on Flickr
Just before I put a new dent in my quarter panel... First time I've actually dented a truck offroading. The new dent is just behind the door, right next to the the only dent the truck had when I got it.
IMG_20180430_132612 by smalladventures photos, on Flickr
When people say the Eureka Dunes in Death Valley are really light sand, they aren't kidding. A bunch of people had clearly gotten stuck previously and tore the road all to ******** getting each other out. I was alone and really didn't want to get stuck, but by the time i could see the torn up section it was too late to slow down enough to lock the lockers or get in low range or anything. I was running only middling pressure ~20psi I think. I downshifted and and pummeled through trying to keep my speed. I shot sand all over the windshield so I couldn't see *twice* but made it. Here I am banging out the airfilter after we got through.
MVIMG_20180430_135843 by smalladventures photos, on Flickr
Rattlesnake at Buttermilk Boulders near Bishop CA
IMG_20180506_171224 by smalladventures photos, on Flickr
Campsite at Buttermilk Boulders with a pretty nice view
IMG_20180502_090902 by smalladventures photos, on Flickr
On top of a comparitively easy boulder problem at Buttermilk
IMG_20180517_173110 by smalladventures photos, on Flickr
Angie on our epic 5 day trek through the Sierra... lots of snow, lots of snowshoe and crampon work, exhausting but pretty warm weather.
MVIMG_20180511_103049 (1) by smalladventures photos, on Flickr
Getting a beer after the difficult trek
MVIMG_20180503_123951 by smalladventures photos, on Flickr
After Bishop we stopped by "King Clone" a Creosote bush that's over 9000 years old. There was a traffic backup due to construction so we decided to go around on dirt roads. Someone else did too, with a rather insufficient rig.
IMG_20180518_163751 by smalladventures photos, on Flickr
I started by attaching to the tow ring on the back of their car using a dynamic rope. DON'T DO THAT. I didn't realize the tow ring only attached to the bumper, I assumed it went through to the body... NOPE! After several jerks (making good progress each time) I ripped their bumper off, just like all those youtube videos of idiots who don't know what they are doing. ********. We tried a couple of other things but in the end I used the winch attached to a tree strap run around their rear A-arms (it's a rear-wheel drive). We had to chock the wheels with some logs this guys buddy brought but, we got the car out. That's the second little 2wd car I've pulled out of the sand, third time I've used the winch (the other was when I high centered on a snow-mound like a n00b). I've pulled a couple trucks out using the jerk strap (before I got my new dynamic rope, which is WAY better) in the past... but trucks tend to have tow hooks and stuff to attach to.

A beautiful campsite nearby in the Mojave National Preserve.
IMG_20180518_194117 by smalladventures photos, on Flickr

Many many more adventures occured in there of course as always, but there's a few highlights.

Oh, as for the truck, it's been running great. I drove it without a clutch pedal spring for a while, but finally got a new one in a little while ago. It worked fine before but it's nice to have the pedal feel back how it should be, and cruze control works again. The new dent is just a little guy, barely scratched the paint.