Novak Conversions Jeep Wrangler TJ radiator

Complain about your daily driver

The 4Runners are cool but after driving one I could never pay that much for a vehicle with an early 2000s grade interior that somehow drives worse than an old Jeep. I was actually so surprised with how bad it drove I figured the one I tested was broken and drove a different one. They were both the TRD, which might have to do with how terrible it rode/drove.

Sadly newer Toyotas are not immune to issues like they once were. Better than most for sure, but my buddy's 2008 Tacoma was far from perfect and actually way less reliable than his 4.0L ZJ was.

Weird , our 98 4Rummer drives as well or better on road than either our 99 or 04 TJ's .
 
Weird , our 98 4Rummer drives as well or better on road than either our 99 or 04 TJ's .

We have a 2010, which replaced a 2003. The 03 drove far better, felt more precise. I don't know if the front shocks on the 5th Gen are just mushy or if they screwed with the geometry and gave it no anti-dive but it wallows around like a pig and I can't stand driving it.

My daily is a 2000 Silverado 1500 with the 5.3 and 4L60E. It's got 175k on it, paint is black that hasn't been cared for so has lots of micro scratches in the doors, fender and bedsides, and the hood and roof are so sun damaged that the clear coat is basically gone. The rear leafs are squeaky so they chirp at me whenever I start from a stop. The transmission occasionally throws a CEL with a slipping code and maxes out the line pressure so the 1-2 shift is harsh and chirps the leaf springs as it lurches forward. There are some kits out there to replace some parts in the valve body that supposedly fixes that.

The 4runner has 220k miles and we'll probably bring another vehicle into the stable for my wife to drive within the next year or so, and I'll probably sell the Silverado and take over the 4runner....but I'm gonna have to do something to stiffen it up.
 
We have a 2010, which replaced a 2003. The 03 drove far better, felt more precise. I don't know if the front shocks on the 5th Gen are just mushy or if they screwed with the geometry and gave it no anti-dive but it wallows around like a pig and I can't stand driving it.

My daily is a 2000 Silverado 1500 with the 5.3 and 4L60E. It's got 175k on it, paint is black that hasn't been cared for so has lots of micro scratches in the doors, fender and bedsides, and the hood and roof are so sun damaged that the clear coat is basically gone. The rear leafs are squeaky so they chirp at me whenever I start from a stop. The transmission occasionally throws a CEL with a slipping code and maxes out the line pressure so the 1-2 shift is harsh and chirps the leaf springs as it lurches forward. There are some kits out there to replace some parts in the valve body that supposedly fixes that.

The 4runner has 220k miles and we'll probably bring another vehicle into the stable for my wife to drive within the next year or so, and I'll probably sell the Silverado and take over the 4runner....but I'm gonna have to do something to stiffen it up.

Both our daughters have 5th gens. a 2011 and a 2014 , they feel heavier than our 98 , but drive well .

FYI , if you lift the 4runner it's possible to have issues with the front differential axle needle bearings .
 
Premium costs more in my summer DDs
I got nothin else to complain about 👍

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With that being said, you wont find me buying anything “newer” then this. Im done with the new era shitboxes
 
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Both our daughters have 5th gens. a 2011 and a 2014 , they feel heavier than our 98 , but drive well .

FYI , if you lift the 4runner it's possible to have issues with the front differential axle needle bearings .

Thanks, wasn't aware of that specifically but just generally the potential issues lifting ifs. At most I was thinking of just lifting the front enough to level it out some, maybe an inch? If that's still enough to be to risky I'll just keep the stock height and put some bilsteins on it.
 
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We have a 2010, which replaced a 2003. The 03 drove far better, felt more precise. I don't know if the front shocks on the 5th Gen are just mushy or if they screwed with the geometry and gave it no anti-dive but it wallows around like a pig and I can't stand driving it.

My daily is a 2000 Silverado 1500 with the 5.3 and 4L60E. It's got 175k on it, paint is black that hasn't been cared for so has lots of micro scratches in the doors, fender and bedsides, and the hood and roof are so sun damaged that the clear coat is basically gone. The rear leafs are squeaky so they chirp at me whenever I start from a stop. The transmission occasionally throws a CEL with a slipping code and maxes out the line pressure so the 1-2 shift is harsh and chirps the leaf springs as it lurches forward. There are some kits out there to replace some parts in the valve body that supposedly fixes that.

The 4runner has 220k miles and we'll probably bring another vehicle into the stable for my wife to drive within the next year or so, and I'll probably sell the Silverado and take over the 4runner....but I'm gonna have to do something to stiffen it up.

These were newer models, a 2022 and 2021.
 
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These were newer models, a 2022 and 2021.

all 5th gens, so pretty much the same though yours are post-facelift and probably have some different interior features (i assume probably things like a screen and a backup cam, and probably pushbutton 4wd where ours has an old-fashioned CD player w/ bluetooth and a stick transfer case).
 
2021 Tacoma TRD Off-Road with the 6-Speed Manual

  • 3.5L is the most lethargic V6 I've ever driven. It was a CAFE choice by Toyota and it pisses me off everytime I think about it. The 4.0L was available in the 4Runner beyond discontinuation of the Tacoma V6...plain and simple, it should have had the 4.0L.
  • 3.5L in the Tacoma is known for about 5 or 6 different major problems. May not happen to you, but a good chance of at least one of them happening by 200K, and they are all large inconveniences.
    • Burns valves due to valve guide failures
    • Timing cover leaks from poor timing cover-cylinder head-block junction design
    • Plastic long to short runner flap in the intake manifold likes to break and drop parts down onto the tops of the intake valves and cause limp mode
    • Plastic coolant bypass pipe at the back of the motor connecting the cylinder heads likes to crack and leak coolant. Can only replace by spending 10 hours on it either removing transmission or laying on top of the engine and removing all of the intake related stuff including direct injectors.
    • Rocker failures leading to needle bearings being picked up by oil pump and grenading the motor.
  • High pressure fuel pump on the 3.5L makes a chirping noise on many different brands of fuel. Seems to depend on additive and ethanol. If the fuel has ethanol, it needs additives to combat the chirping caused by ethanol. If it's Ethanol free fuel, I have never heard a chirp regardless of additive. Makes it sound like a beater when your constant chirping noise is deemed "normal."
  • AC evaporator box likes to condense and drip water on the floor. Has nothing to do with the condensate drain being clear or not, it is a poorly insulated box design that sweats on the outside and pisses all over the passenger's feet.

Any other complaints I have would be minor. Just really don't like the engine. It doesn't drive well, it doesn't boost confidence in reliability, and overall is just the plain wrong choice of engine for the truck.

I am excited about the 4th Gen tacoma and really want to pick up one with the manual. A well-designed Turbo 4 should be much better than a bad V6, IMO. After thoroughly reading through the engine design document, it seems like a really well designed engine. It checks almost all the boxes for what you want as far as reliability and power go.
 
2021 Tacoma TRD Off-Road with the 6-Speed Manual

  • 3.5L is the most lethargic V6 I've ever driven. It was a CAFE choice by Toyota and it pisses me off everytime I think about it. The 4.0L was available in the 4Runner beyond discontinuation of the Tacoma V6...plain and simple, it should have had the 4.0L.
  • 3.5L in the Tacoma is known for about 5 or 6 different major problems. May not happen to you, but a good chance of at least one of them happening by 200K, and they are all large inconveniences.
    • Burns valves due to valve guide failures
    • Timing cover leaks from poor timing cover-cylinder head-block junction design
    • Plastic long to short runner flap in the intake manifold likes to break and drop parts down onto the tops of the intake valves and cause limp mode
    • Plastic coolant bypass pipe at the back of the motor connecting the cylinder heads likes to crack and leak coolant. Can only replace by spending 10 hours on it either removing transmission or laying on top of the engine and removing all of the intake related stuff including direct injectors.
    • Rocker failures leading to needle bearings being picked up by oil pump and grenading the motor.
  • High pressure fuel pump on the 3.5L makes a chirping noise on many different brands of fuel. Seems to depend on additive and ethanol. If the fuel has ethanol, it needs additives to combat the chirping caused by ethanol. If it's Ethanol free fuel, I have never heard a chirp regardless of additive. Makes it sound like a beater when your constant chirping noise is deemed "normal."
  • AC evaporator box likes to condense and drip water on the floor. Has nothing to do with the condensate drain being clear or not, it is a poorly insulated box design that sweats on the outside and pisses all over the passenger's feet.

Any other complaints I have would be minor. Just really don't like the engine. It doesn't drive well, it doesn't boost confidence in reliability, and overall is just the plain wrong choice of engine for the truck.

I am excited about the 4th Gen tacoma and really want to pick up one with the manual. A well-designed Turbo 4 should be much better than a bad V6, IMO. After thoroughly reading through the engine design document, it seems like a really well designed engine. It checks almost all the boxes for what you want as far as reliability and power go.

I'm curious why you believe the folks who designed the 3.5 V-6 , would have a total change of prospective designing a turbo I-4 ?
The problems will unfold for the I-4 with time and mileage , just like they did for the 3.5 . Sad but true in my opinion.
 
I'm curious why you believe the folks who designed the 3.5 V-6 , would have a total change of prospective designing a turbo I-4 ?
The problems will unfold for the I-4 with time and mileage , just like they did for the 3.5 . Sad but true in my opinion.

Well, for one, the 3.5 was shoehorned into the truck. It has a different block and cylinder heads than all the other 3.5s, which they came up with pretty quickly. The rest of the stuff was adapted to fit the longitudinal mounting layout, so I doubt any of it got much attention. It shares cylinder heads with the Highlander version of the same engine, which is the only other vehicle from Toyota with a V6 known for burning valves. Basically, they made the engine work. They didn't really design it for this truck.

Being a 4 cylinder, there is no coolant crossover pipe. The timing cover has been redesigned to have front and rear timing covers which eliminates the point where all of the single timing cover setups leak. Front/rear timing cover setups are known to work well. Intake manifold could still exhibit issues with the flap breaking, just depends on how they designed it.

Not saying I think the 4 cylinder won't have problems, but it's just a different circumstance. The 3.5L was a stopgap to bridge the gap between 2nd gen and 4th gen. It was not the engine that was always meant to be for the truck. The turbo 4 they knew would be in this truck from the get-go and has had longer engineering time and it is missing critical components that are known to fail. I have a lot more hope for it. But of course, only time will tell.
 
Their first mistake was buying an Equinox. Those things are known for lots of trouble.

Yep. My stepmother bought a new 2012 off the lot and had a string of problems for the next three years that she owned it. About 1/2 through ownership, driving average annual mileage, that thing started consuming about 2qts of oil over 5000 mile changes (4qt sump fyi). It was still under warranty and visiting the dealer for issues every few months at that point. When the oil consumption was addressed, GM basically said it's "normal", pound sand. I forget what the final issue was, something with the trans I think, but they hit a point of done-with-this-shit and trade it in for a nice Acura.
 
We daily drive Hondas, so our complaints are having to put gas in and change fluids at reasonable intervals. You domestic vehicle owners just won't understand that struggle since yall struggle to make it the first scheduled oil change. :sneaky: Toyota guys can understand my struggles.
 
We daily drive Hondas, so our complaints are having to put gas in and change fluids at reasonable intervals. You domestic vehicle owners just won't understand that struggle since yall struggle to make it the first scheduled oil change. :sneaky: Toyota guys can understand my struggles.

Is that why you own old chrysler boats? To balance the ledger?
 
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We daily drive Hondas, so our complaints are having to put gas in and change fluids at reasonable intervals. You domestic vehicle owners just won't understand that struggle since yall struggle to make it the first scheduled oil change. :sneaky: Toyota guys can understand my struggles.

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Couldn't be me
 
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2018 Ram Power Wagon
Bought brand new

within 1 month dash would light up, saying, no trailer brakes, service brakes, but no issue w/ brakes, the chime would drive me crazy

Took the dealer 6 months to say nothing is wrong, lost the lemon law fight b/c I added steps and 35" tall tires ( at that point I said I would never buy FCA again, I now have 4 FCA vehicles)

Beginning of 24' I drove thru a puddle at about 40mph, blew the motor, 6 months later, finally get truck back. Dash check eng light is on, dealer shows me their middle finger tells me to pay again. After replacing the sending unit twice, we figured out dealer crushed a wire making the rig think it was out of gas. Runs great now, but leaks thru the marker lights on the roof...
 
Is that why you own old chrysler boats? To balance the ledger?

Hearing some of the stories and struggles of the modern electronic gizmo vehicles, I think my old '60s rides are more reliable and up to the task of daily driving, but with a little extra maintenance.
 
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We daily drive Hondas, so our complaints are having to put gas in and change fluids at reasonable intervals. You domestic vehicle owners just won't understand that struggle since yall struggle to make it the first scheduled oil change. :sneaky: Toyota guys can understand my struggles.

Idk, I had to do both front wheel bearings on the last Honda we had and something in the engine bay sounded like a dying power steering pump (but it wasn't the pump). Everything I could find on forums was just "yeah, a lot of them do that". Not a failure, but I don't like driving around in something that sounds like junk. Last Honda before that was a prelude that apparently had a fairly common issue with a bent crankshaft snout making the balancer wobble and the varying tension on the belt would kill alternator bearings. Replaced the alternator, started squealing again in 2 weeks. Replaced the balancer, still wobbled. Only owned the car for a month and took a bath (as much of one I could take on a $3k car) because I was more honest about it than who I bought it from.
 
something in the engine bay sounded like a dying power steering pump (but it wasn't the pump). Everything I could find on forums was just "yeah, a lot of them do that"

100% someone put in the wrong fluid, probably a generic power steering fluid. I've seen it too many times. I've "fixed" a few simply buy draining and refilling. Hondas are very pick about using Type H in the trans and power steering, and people who don't know Hondas don't know that. If something different is in there, I'll know as soon as it's started. If you still have it, you can "fix" it for about $30.

Idk, I had to do both front wheel bearings on the last Honda we had

I have never had to do a single wheel bearing. I'm not saying it doesn't happen, but I've never had an issue. Did you hit something hard? I currently have 4 Hondas with approximately 750K miles between them, one with 285K on it. That one, beyond regularly scheduled maintenance, I've had to change a failed motor mount and rebuild the starter at 250k.
 
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100% someone put in the wrong fluid, probably a generic power steering fluid. I've seen it too many times. I've "fixed" a few simply buy draining and refilling. Hondas are very pick about using Type H in the trans and power steering, and people who don't know Hondas don't know that. If something different is in there, I'll know as soon as it's started.

After dealing with a tsb for an o ring that could supposedly let air into the loop, and topping off with genuine Honda fluid, I started the engine with no belt on it and the noise was still there. The forum wisdom was that it was in engine or transmission, don't remember because it's been a couple years and I lost interest in fixing it once I determined it was gonna be more painful than a ps pump and found people that had been unsuccessful making it go away.

I have never had to do a single wheel bearing. I'm not saying it doesn't happen, but I've never had an issue. Did you hit something hard? I currently have 4 Hondas with approximately 750K miles between them, one with 285K on it. That one, beyond regularly scheduled maintenance, I've had to change a failed motor mount and rebuild the starter at 250k.

Not while we owned it. We bought it with about 130k for my wife to put miles on when she went back to school. It only had the engine compartment whine at that time, the wheel bearings started making noise about a year in. It was gradual enough that my wife didn't notice anything weird, then I took it on a road trip to southern Missouri and had to put on my ANC headset. Felt like someone replaced the rollers with gravel when I took them off.

I forgot between the 2000 Prelude and the 2008 Accord I had a 2005 Ridgeline. It didn't give me any mechanical trouble but I began to describe it as a Chevy Avalanche with less towing and payload, less power, and worse fuel economy.

Altogether unimpressed with my Honda experiences, but willing to acknowledge that since I always buy used, i don't have the data to distinguish between the bulletproof reputation just being wrong, or the reputation leading people to think they can abuse and neglect them before selling them to me. Then again I've fully neglected our 4runner for 120k miles and nothing has happened yet.
 
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Well, for one, the 3.5 was shoehorned into the truck. It has a different block and cylinder heads than all the other 3.5s, which they came up with pretty quickly. The rest of the stuff was adapted to fit the longitudinal mounting layout, so I doubt any of it got much attention. It shares cylinder heads with the Highlander version of the same engine, which is the only other vehicle from Toyota with a V6 known for burning valves. Basically, they made the engine work. They didn't really design it for this truck.

Being a 4 cylinder, there is no coolant crossover pipe. The timing cover has been redesigned to have front and rear timing covers which eliminates the point where all of the single timing cover setups leak. Front/rear timing cover setups are known to work well. Intake manifold could still exhibit issues with the flap breaking, just depends on how they designed it.

Not saying I think the 4 cylinder won't have problems, but it's just a different circumstance. The 3.5L was a stopgap to bridge the gap between 2nd gen and 4th gen. It was not the engine that was always meant to be for the truck. The turbo 4 they knew would be in this truck from the get-go and has had longer engineering time and it is missing critical components that are known to fail. I have a lot more hope for it. But of course, only time will tell.

It would appear that the entire "turd " gen. was a stop gap.
 
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Novak Conversions Jeep Wrangler TJ radiator