The Cold War Kid

Good mornin! How yall doin?

I'm a po boy from Indiana. And I DON'T borrow money - never have, never will. Even if I could. Credit report full of lies... When asked to produce the contract (promissory note), they can't. Ah, but the credit agencies don't worry about little, insignificant details like that. Might mess up their extortion scheme

So anyhow, I bought an '04 Sequoia on Jan 2, this year. Flew down to Nalpes Florida to get her! 135K - $7,000 OUCH! No rust - for sure. Now that the miserable weather has let up I am in the process of putting her in shape. It's OK - I was born with a wrench in my hand.

Just completed the timing belt thing today. What fun! Paid cubic dollars for the Aisian Kit. Should last as long as I own the big girl. 150K, at least.

Tomorrow I will replace the differential. Bought a new one (posi) for $1800. O U C H !! Can't find a used one and people have advised against that, saying they're problematic and finding a good used one is almost impossible. Pinion seals leak, it seems, and the rich (!)s that buy them new don't notice, until it's too late.

I'm really diggin' this truck (imagine your tundra, with a body where the bed is). I'm steadily getting 16 mpg and 18 on the highway. I know a few tricks... lol

The motor makes a ticking sound when first started. Putting it in reverse immediately causes the noise to become much louder. Sounds like a lifter but, guess what - no lifters in there. I don't like it. I just changed the oil for the second time. The Rotella T 15w40 made a world of difference. I saw all the crud it lifted from my 16 year old motor today. I think the uber high detergent diesel oil might clear whatever oil passage is blocked. The noise goes away as soon as I rev the motor for a few seconds. Anybody else have this noise?

So are there many sequoias in here?

 

Welcome aboard from SoCal.

 

Welcome from Ohio

 

Y thankee

 

That's a clean truck!

 

Welcome from Oregon!

 

What part of Hoosierland do you reside in?

A little Seafoam in the fuel, and some in the oil 500 miles before your next change should clean things up without causing any harm. Other than all of that extra climate controlled interior space, your Seq also rides on a more refined rear suspension.

This is my 1st Gen Tundra, built in Indiana. It has a lot of interior space in the back, but none of it is climate controlled and the seating sucks.

 

Welcome from SoCal

 

Welcome from CO

 

Welcome from Maine

 

Welcome from NY.

 

You’re an odd summbish

 

Welcome from northwest Indiana!
These engines all have a slight tick. The older Toyota without lifters when they stopped ticking meant the valves gotten too tight

 

I think "Goldy" was built in Indiana too - says so on my account in toyota.com

The truck is... kinda waky. It has rear heat/air as well. Psngrz have their own controls. based at the back of the console. When I was driving it home it took me a while to figure out how and why a fan was coming on, all by itself... rof;

I live in Terrible Hole, Indiana. Right where i 70 crosses the illinois line.

 

Oddly, the tick went away after the oil change...?

We will never know - rofl~!

 

thicker oil will kill the noise too.

 

I used shell rotella t, both times. I always use that stuff - it's great. And yes, I know it's supposed to have what I call water in it's crankcase... Not my truck. 135000 might be nothing for a toyota v-8 but it's plenty to use rotella.

 

you should be fine. the rotella would just cause issues with the VVTI engines since they rely on oil pressure to mess with the valve timing. 04- no VVTI

 

WELCOME

 

You're a Hautian! does the town still smell like a giant cat box? lol.

I lived in Indianoplace & Greenfield many years ago and made a few trips across I-70 back then.

 

Well, no. The paper company and the creosote plant closed. The sewage disposal plant - built upwind of the... I can't bring myself to use the word city - is still here, of course.

The air may have improved but the Terrible Hole is STILL living proof that everything has to have an anus - including planet earth.

 

Interesting concept - tweaking the vvti by changing the oil!

Somebody ought to look into that. Maybe some with it engineer built in a way to make these things run even better, then just waited for someone to figure it out...

vvti improves performance already. maybe there's more potential but tapping it would cause the motors to fail pollution specs.

 

Thanks for all your replies )))))

 

Welcome!
My wife drives an clean 2004 135k sequoia with a tick when cold, the bulletproof 4.7l exhaust manifolds like to leak. I'd bet money that's your issue.

 

people have successfully modified ECU parameters on other toyota VVTI engines to improve performance. oil pressure could technically change it. but it would be less "controlled" than doing it through messing with the Oil control valves. thicker oil raises the pressure and throws the computers preset tables off. pressure is higher than anticipated in that case. Rotella in a toyota 1.8 caused a check engine light on a customers car. but hey, it quit burning oil! lol

 

Well, apparently not. The noise went away with the oil change.

Only difference is I did not put greased lightning oil treatment in it this time. I used it the first oil change, which was only 1,000 miles, then the second. Now I will use it twice a year. That stuff is golden! It is a major part of why I can get 16 mixed and 18 highway with this tank I'm shooting for 20. Maybe. We'll see

I just happened to ride in a sequoia a couple years ago. Been kinda looking for one, ever since. I dunno - I just like them. Real cars. V-8 motor. Front wheels steer. Rear wheels push. On the downside - they're all truck. Ride rough as he77! But hey, I've never seen a vehicle that had it all. And, of course, they'll pass anything on the road, except a gas station!

Finally saw one in florida. Most of them have several million miles on them. And 4x4 and soooo many damn gizmoz it would make my head swim. Long ago I learned that the gizmoz are the way car makers make money, after the sale. The car still runs fine but the gizmoz break... And so I looked for a simple truck - no 4x4 and no push buttonz in the steering wheel - etc. Goldy (my pet name for it) almost fills that bill. Only fancy things on her are the moon roof and the damn dual-zone climate control... (barf)

I'm hoping that, once I get her going (running perfect) she will not cost me a lot to maintain. Has yours been in need of a lot of repairs?

 

Pour 1 8oz can of dot 3 brake fluid in the crankcase, 2 days before an oil change. This will stop most newer cars from using oil. It rejuvenates the valve seals. I'm 70. I've done this to my own cars, all my life. I do it once a year - even if they don't burn oil. It cleans the motor - REAL good

As I said in the last post - I'm not a fan of gizmoz. A car with points will still run, after the EMP attack

I think all of the 5.7 motors have vtti? If not I'd think about a swap... lol. It'll never happen.

 

Good to hear the noise went away, update us if it returns?
Yeah I love our sequoia, I have a lot of plans for ours when the time is right. My wife will probably get a new 4 runner in 2-3 years. I want to mod the sequoia into a hunting/offroad rig.
No major repairs, only issue is the exhaust leak that I haven't fixed yet.
I had the timing belt done @ 110k, I drain & fill the trans once a year, the diff's & transfer case every other year.

 

Yea, the 4.7 was the last of the simple (mechanically) v8 Toyota engines. The vvti isn’t too complicated. But everything else on the 5.7 is. A lot more moving parts too