An Uncle of mine had this van before I did. He actually gave it to me. But I didn't have a license at that time. So my dad drove it. I was already in love before I could get a chance to drive it.
When we got it, the transmission slipped real bad and everything. Then I checked the transmission fluid. Ah ha. Nothing on the dipstick. Put some in and it works much better. But we had to keep topping it off. Then we got a new set of tires for it. Just some cheapies. Nothing fancy, for now.
It really didn't like the freeway. It'd go 70. But one little hill would nearly kill it. And one time, my dad was driving it, we heard this rattling sound. It went away though. It also had this "anti-freeze" smell too.
Then we decided to take a trip from up past Seattle, from Skamokawa, to visit some relatives. Had no problems getting there. Then on the way back, the water pump had failed. It wasn't a pretty sound either. You think having a belt break under the seat is a lovely sound? Try going down the freeway at 70 MPH and having the shaft of the water pump snap on ya, fan and all, and bounce all over the radiator shroud. And with the engine under your ass, you'd think you hit something. But it sure didn't take long for the engine to heat up. Past the redline too. So, we had to get off the freeway. Then the engine shut down on us and we coasted through stop signs until we parked at this truck stop. It was too late at night to call anybody at home to come get us. So we rented a room.
The next day, a relative from around the area came and got us and brought us home. My dad called a so-called "Toyota" dealer to get the van and try to fix it. Replaced the water pump. Headgasket blew. Head was also warped. After doing that, the valves wouldn't close. So they had to make new pushrods. They also said the cylinder bores were badly scratched. Ok, they're this far. Just rebuild the fucker! So they did. About $4000!!! Heh, better start a new page.
