What have you done to your 4th Gen 4Runner today?

Maybe the tariffs has taken the price UP, way UP!!

 

You can just unplug it so no power goes to it. This is a known issue over on T4R.org

 

Somewhat concerned with the amount of oil I got from an oil change. 5k on the money. Only got a bit over 4 quarts. I know for sure I put 5.5 in as I do them myself. She's coming up on 194k miles. I don't remember if this is normal or if it's less than usual.

I've also noticed my coolant reservoir seems a bit low sometimes. Hopefully it's not gonna start flipping out.

 

Got the poke I wanted, 1.25” Spidertrax.

before/ after in the first 2 photos:

 

All fixed! Drying out the back now from the torrential downpour on the way this morning

 

My invoice showed $355 for the glass and then $130 for labor.

 

Seems legit!

 

Do you know if the replacements develop the same issue over time? I would rather not deal with this again in the future..

 

Looks "right," now! Nice work!

 

I hope not… that happened on our 07 a few years back but has been good ever since.

 

Most people pull the fuse, so not sure honestly.

 

Semi-informed speculation is that they don’t. The issue IIRC is a manufacturing defect in the integrated heating element. This causes parts of the window to heat when the defroster is on while other parts don’t. The partial heat expansion causes it to shatter. I have a pic of my plug somewhere with the telltale burn marks. It’s still intact but I only ever operate the rear window defroster for a few seconds when the side mirrors are fogged (same circuit).

So assuming the replacement glass doesn’t have the defect, should be good to go.

A nice benefit of the Wolfbox dash/rear cam setup is that I don’t need to see out the back window anymore b/c the cam is mounted on the spoiler. That’s also nice when the back is full to the headliner with whatever. Don’t even need to run the rear wiper anymore.

I may look at unplugging it at the rear window if that’s possible so I can defrost the mirrors without worrying about the rear glass.

 

Being a "do it while it's on my mind" type, I did indeed unplug the two small defroster plugs from the passenger side bottom of the rear window, feeling silly the entire time b/c it didn't occur to me to do it when I inspected them years ago. Hopped in, hit the rear defog button, and the side mirrors heated up and the rear window didn't. No more on/off/on/off when the mirrors fog for fear the window would break.

I also took the opportunity to add a quick disconnect plug to the wiring for the button that opens the hatch from inside. Considering the window up/down switch mod if I get more serious about car camping. I contacted the guy who does those and he quoted me $80 shipped since I only need the window functionality and not the hatch opening feature.

 

I washed the 4runner but then the driver front door handle broke afterwards. Parts ordered to take care of that. Also did another transmission drain and refill yesterday

 

I'm curious what your D&F routine interval? I'm on 40k since it's first time Im currently at 108k...

 

My first pan drop, filter replacement, & refill was around 216k and I think that was the first time it was serviced. I got the 4R at around 207k.

Since then, I’ve done 3 more drain and refills, but I’ve been trying to get the fluid back in better health. It looked very similar to lightly used motor oil in color when i first started. It’s more of an orange color now, so we’re getting there.

I’m considering towing my 3.5k lb trailer to Ouray this summer with the 4R, so I’m trying to make sure the trans is ready for severe duty over the mtn passes.

if you don’t tow and since yours came stock with a trans cooler, I’d probably do a drain and fill every 60k if the fluid is in good shape still. I have a dipstick on my trans pan so it is very easy to refill. Because of this and since I tow, I’ll probably do mine every 30k once it’s looking red again.

 

Full d&f at 114K and 218K miles. Just did a pan only (~3.3 qts.) at 271K and the fluid looked good to me, especially considering I towed a 4K lb travel trailer around the mountains of the northeast last fall. (I have an external cooler.) I had chosen 50K miles as my interval but may go to 65 or 70K now.

 

Washed the ol gal, then it rained the next day even though the forecast didn't mention it. Cool cool.