Nick1994
$100 site donor 2024
How hard is it to get to the thermostat? It might be easy, throw in a $4.71 thermostat from RockAuto and change the oil with the $1.62 oil filter they have and drive it until it dies.
Maintaining a beater?
- Thread starter Ponchinizo
- Start date
I actually looked at it again today and wouldn't be too bad, a little double jointed reach for the bottom nut but I've done worse. I could pull the alternator to get room the way im supposed to but where's the fun in that? Gonna need a long penetrating oil soak or those studs will snap right off, but I can start that way before I do the work. I wonder why they made em so dinky. Very un-toyota like of them.
Can do the oil without raising the vehicle so it's getting hard to justify not doing that.
I'll do the sway bars if the rust hasn't ruined that Allen keyed bolt completely. Thermostat and sway bars are definitely dependent on the rusty parts cooperating with me but I bet they'll go with a long time soaking. I've gotten real rusty bleeder screws to go for me that way so it might just work.
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I've been successful removing old rusty stabilizer bar links a couple of times, but only after repeatedly soaking them with penetrating oil over a period of several days.I actually looked at it again today and wouldn't be too bad, a little double jointed reach for the bottom nut but I've done worse. I could pull the alternator to get room the way im supposed to but where's the fun in that? Gonna need a long penetrating oil soak or those studs will snap right off, but I can start that way before I do the work. I wonder why they made em so dinky. Very un-toyota like of them.
Can do the oil without raising the vehicle so it's getting hard to justify not doing that.
I'll do the sway bars if the rust hasn't ruined that Allen keyed bolt completely. Thermostat and sway bars are definitely dependent on the rusty parts cooperating with me but I bet they'll go with a long time soaking. I've gotten real rusty bleeder screws to go for me that way so it might just work.
Sometimes, if they have to be done now, a grinder is the best way.
Perhaps remove the valve cover before getting too vested to get an idea of how slugged it all is. My 95 GMC beater gets proper maintenance for cheap insurance and reliability.
I feel like @Ponchinizo has been properly indoctrinated into the bitog way…
STAY AWAY FROM THE DARK!! WALK TOWARDS THE LIGHT!!
STAY AWAY FROM THE DARK!! WALK TOWARDS THE LIGHT!!
If you have to rely on the beater to get you back and forth to work with your tools, I wouldn't treat it as a beater.
Fix what's wrong, establish a minumum baseline in maintenance and drive it.
Fix what's wrong, establish a minumum baseline in maintenance and drive it.
I'd at least change the oil filter and keep all the fluids topped up.
Sounds like it's just a farm/down the street type beater, an old Toyota will live forever on that duty with pretty much no maintenance.
Sounds like it's just a farm/down the street type beater, an old Toyota will live forever on that duty with pretty much no maintenance.
It’s a beater.
Make sure the tyres and brakes are good
Oil an oil filter once a year, do an air and fuel filter plus proper geometry adjustment on purchase.
Other than that repair and replace as needed.
Make sure the tyres and brakes are good
Oil an oil filter once a year, do an air and fuel filter plus proper geometry adjustment on purchase.
Other than that repair and replace as needed.
Is your fuel tank in danger of ripping loose and spilling gas everywhere? Fix that for sure. I hope that it is not driven on a public road, everyone elses safety matters even if you don't care about the car.
As for oil, if you do short changes in any other vehicle you own and maintain, the "Mobil 2" concept could work great for you. If you drain out something like Mobil 1 or Pennzoil Platinum etc. at 5000 mile intervals, reuse that for another 5000 in the RAV4.
If it keeps rolling you keep ignoring.
I would change the oil and make sure the tires and brake pads had some life in them. If it still got me where I was going without a safety issue such as no headlight or working turn signals I would do nothing else. A/C is a nice option, but I ain't gonna fix it if not working.
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Do they have emissions and or safety inspections where you live? If yes and the vehicle is current, I would say don’t put anything into it and drive. Because you wouldn’t want to spend money then have it unable to pass an annual inspection.
If inspections are not a concern, then change the oil and keep an eye on fluids.
If you live in Philly we do have inspections, but you’re ok to not register insure inspect add 5% tints and no registration. May as well use the money saved from the above, and restore the vehicle to showroom quality
If inspections are not a concern, then change the oil and keep an eye on fluids.
If you live in Philly we do have inspections, but you’re ok to not register insure inspect add 5% tints and no registration. May as well use the money saved from the above, and restore the vehicle to showroom quality
Umm, WHUT?!
Don't treat an older vehicle any worse than you would a newer one, then it won't be a beater if you just keep up with everything, unless something that makes a squeak is a beater, or starts to rust out... yeah I guess if you can see body rust then I might call it a beater too but the maintenance strategy still doesn't change for something as inexpensive as oil.
He said:
picked up 05 Rav4 for a few hundred bucks last spring to scoot me the two miles to my farm job and back. 408k miles
That fits reusing M1 or PP with just 5,000 miles on it, IF he wants to extreme economize. M1 and PP are easily good for 10K miles, so an additional 5,000 miles on them won't hurt a thing. IF thats what he wants.
This is a rare circumstance. I do not generally advocate for it but it would work well here. IF he wants.
Since the thread is still alive I figured I'd let yall know how the old Rav4 is doing. I changed the oil and am doing it again soon. Settled on a 1yr interval with Supertech 5w-30 (synthetic even!) and a supertech filter.
The thermostat fixed itself last fall so I had heat all winter which was real nice since I was helping out at a maple syrup farm about 7 miles down the road for some extra winter work.
Front brakes wore out and I ran it metal to metal for about a week until we finished up with planting then did new pads and rotors. Cheapest ones I could find. Front right caliper is dragging a bit so I've got a reman one for $35 coming to put on it.
415k miles and counting! Guess the old heap is worth a little bit of maintenance after all.
The thermostat fixed itself last fall so I had heat all winter which was real nice since I was helping out at a maple syrup farm about 7 miles down the road for some extra winter work.
Front brakes wore out and I ran it metal to metal for about a week until we finished up with planting then did new pads and rotors. Cheapest ones I could find. Front right caliper is dragging a bit so I've got a reman one for $35 coming to put on it.
415k miles and counting! Guess the old heap is worth a little bit of maintenance after all.
I would fix the broken things, within reason. No big deal to throw in a themostat and some of the suspension components. Don't need the most expensive parts out there. eBay, Rockauto cheapies, etc. Spend an afternoon, do the work, change the oil/filter.
Then, going forward, maybe do an oil change once a year. Fix something as it breaks.
Then, going forward, maybe do an oil change once a year. Fix something as it breaks.
I had a 2004 Rav4 that had a transaxle leak. I topped it off for the last 150,000 miles. They keep on ticking.
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