Hi All, Have a question about mileage obdometer. I just purchased a 1999 runner with 54K on it. I was wondering if it is very easy to turn of the digital obdometer? The truck looks good in and out but i am starting to get a rattly/bearing sound from the front of the engine. I'm thinking a water pump or a Altenator bearing. But is this expected with a Low mileage runner? Thanks in advance for any info.

 

unless they replaced the whole guage cluster like on older vehicles you cant just turn it back, newer cars are too smart for thtat... actually a lot of the newer vehicles have it programmed in with the PCM and cannot be changed or set back like that

 

Thanks Jim, I was tinking that the whole cluster could just be turned off by taking out one the of the fuses. It would bug me to drive around without knowing whats going on, but someone who is tring to keep mileage down it mite not matter. Thanks.

 

Yea, the digital odometer is harder to tamper with than the old analog from what I know. Rest asured. Better look into matainance though. Some people just don't do ANYTHING but change the oil so you might just have a few minor repairs to do.

 

You could run a car fax vehicle history report just to see what comes up. I get one for everything I buy. Once I bought a 1988 Saab 900 base model that had 70,000 miles on it but the interior was a mess, the guy told me that the car was used to drive his dogs around. I bought it as a mountain bike beater, the old Saabs are tanks. Anyway to make a long story short, when the oil pump failed 2 months later I ran the car fax. Salvage title discrepancy, and a mileage discrepancy. I did a little more research and had a buddy at the Saab dealer dig in the computer a little deeper. The car had been vandalized and all the windows knocked out and banged up, that’s where the salvage title came from. The part that pissed me off, the car was brought into an Atlanta Saab dealer for something back in like 95 and had 94,000 miles on it, how could I have bought it in Stevens City VA in 2000 with 70,000! Needless to say I got a nice refund AND kept the car because of the work I put into it! It may be worth checking into. If you call your service department and explain to their service manager that you think the mileage may not be accurate, see if he can pull up the history with the VIN, it will show any and all work performed by a dealer since new. Just my .02!

 

The 99 and 00 4Runners are prone to fuel gauge problems. What does this have to do with odometer, you ask?

To fix the gauge reading stupid, the circuit board in the gauge panel must be replaced. The odometer circuit is on this same board. At one time, the new boards came unprogrammed and mileage was reset to 0. A sticker was supposed to be put near the door jam information label to indicate the odo had been reset. And yes, running a Carfax may help in determining this.

 

Thanks All, I'm going to run a CarFax.

 

This has nothing to do with the Yotas, But I know the gauge swapping in bikes is verrrry common here. It just reminded me of the issues of buying a bike that wasn't tampered with.
Can't buy anything used I guess.
EDIT: Does a "carfax" for motorcycles exist? Just popped into my head.