what maintenace should i perform to a new used 90' 4runner?

[madmaniac]

can i go ahead and change all the fluids? i heard if you change auto tranny fluid it can open seals and start to leak? also would it be wise to change the timing belt now?

[JPad4]

Should have requested maintenance records when you bought it. That will tell you what was done and when and also what needs to be done.

No harm in changing all the fluids. At least you know all fluids will be fresh. Toyota reccomends changing timing belt every 60K but I changed the belt on my '90 4Runner at 75K and it still looked good.

Original clutch finally went out at 145K. Current mileage on my '90 is 214K and she runs better than a lot of newer cars out there.

[Brian R.]

Assume that the most recent or soon to be needed maintenance was not done and get it done. There is normally no harm to be done to a transmission by changing the transmission fluid. Get the transmission flushed. Don't just drop the pan and replace what fluid is in the pan. The majority of your tranmission fluid is not drained that way.

Change the timing belt if your mileage requires it or recently did.

[VTISC007]

On two different occasions I saw two different transmissions start to slip after changing the tranny fluid. In both of these cases, the trannies were neglected for quite a while. I was once told, that the reason for the slippage is that if there is damage, it's already done, and sometimes new tranny fluid, in some cases, is too slick for the internal components of the tranny. I'm no tranny expert, but that's what I heard (the word on the street). I would say, just to be safe, don't use any crazy super slick synthetic fluid. Just use the regular stuff, it's good enough.
I have a Honda Accord 1995 with 150k on it, I change the tranny fluid about every 20k and I have had it flushed a few times, it runs and shifts smooth just like the day I bought it new.
If you can, try to find out if the tranny has been serviced regularly. If it's been to the dealer for service, I'm pretty sure they could pull up the history by typing in the VIN.

[Brian R.]

Check the color of the ATF. If it is brown, don't change it yet. If it is red, then go ahead and change it.