Hi all,
now that the shed is in some sort of order it's time to rebuild the motor in my wife's V6 4Runner - makes me realise how EASY my old 60 Patrols are to work on ! Some of the bolts on this V6 4Runner are in the most ridiculous positions imaginable...to get the 3 seized exhaust dump pipe bolts out the sequence is:
1) attempt to get 2 of them out from underneath the car using 2x 12" extensions and a deep socket ( the third is completely inaccessible ),
2) round off the seized nuts,
3) a lot of head scratching,
4) search the internet for solutions without success,
5) remove the LH wheel, a heat shield and a plastic trim piece,
6) realise a nut-splitter won't fit between the nuts and the weld on the flange,
7) spend 5+ hours filing the nuts down to the stud through a tiny gap with only a couple of inches to move the file,
8) knock them off with a cold chisel,
9) curse the Toyota name repeatedly and look fondly at your simple old Nissans,
10) finally pull the engine out - woot !
The 3VZE V6 in full flight...
What's left of the 3 exhaust pipe nuts...
cheers,
D