foppert

Well yotatech i come back for guidance again.
I have my 89 runner with 280k on the clock and recently it has developed a shake at idle that is particularly bad at cold idle, noticeable at warmer idle. When cold i get strong exhaust smell, hard to say if its lean or rich. In addition to this it has developed a new sound of putting at the muffler that it didn't have and a ticking sound. Once warm it is happier, but will smell leanish at freeway speed with the back window down, and really bad under load (My tail pipe rusted off a while back, after the muffler.) and the ticking/putting sounds don't go away. There are no stored codes on the CEL and no other symptoms to speak of other than being low on power, (not sure if its any slower than normal 3vze's, but i think it has gotten slower.)

Other background for abnormal things i've noticed about the engine is that it has the egr temp sensor deleted by a previous owner, and it has a hot start, low idle condition after long drives and a short cool down. I am running a generic el cheapo cat after some !@#$ relived me of mine. I also recently found the throttle body boot was cracked really bad and replaced it, It made no change.

I drive this car 300 miles a week in stop and go traffic and need it to keep working so i've become somewhat paranoid. I cant make heads or tails of this vacuum system, and am about to give up and take it to a mechanic... i figured id ask the experts here first. I've also tried searching a decent amount and found a few people with the symptoms i am describing but the thread never comes to a conclusion.

Thanks guys and sorry for the long post, this site is the only reason this truck is still running.

MudHippy

She's dying. Time for a rebuild. Not sure about the no start issue. Might be related or might not. But the rest of the story tells me you're losing compression. Or rather have lost a significant amount of compression.

But I could be wrong. You might want to get a second opinion. Just letting you know ahead of time what it's likely to be.

Good luck!

foppert

Do you think it is heads gasket? rings? or valves? or some combo of everything? (for my own knowledge base.) The shop i intend to take it to is still booked, so i'm still driving.

millball

At 280,000 miles, it's pointless to speculate whether its rings, valves, or whatever.

Its had a good run and it requires a comprehensive overhaul. Don't cut any corners.