Dziuggy

well first i would like to say hi to everyone as i am new to this forum and toyota 4x4's as well (i do have a toyota supra though - 87 turbo 450+rwhp)

anyways long story short i just picked up 94 4runner 3.0 5 speed with 123k miles. it is in great overall condition, but has couple problems.

1st it is leaking a bit of oil but not enough to be really woried i had not checked it out yet as engine is quite dirty down there and it is hard to pin point the leak im thinking seals somewhere.

2nd problem just happened today. when i start the car cold it runs on high rpm for quite a while (1500-1800) and even when you start driving it and stop let say at the light in neutral it keeps high rpm untill enine worms up. does anyone had that happen to them?

3rd as i was driving home today it was cold so i had heater on but it was not blowing very hot even at full hot setting, and then i parked the car heater became cold and temp gauge started to rise. i gassed it up a bit and hot air started blowing and temp gauge droped from hot (3/4 of the way) to warm (1/3 of the way) in a matter of 5 seconds.

anyways does anyone has any ideas, i was thinking it could be few things starting with termostat, to heater core, to head gasket

well any help is highly apreciated

cheers Ziggy

p.s. i will snap some pictures of it soon to post it up here

Jay1

check your radator fluid. Sounds like its low.

nix4x4

Doesn't sound like a headgasket or I'm sure you'd be complaining of lack of power. I'd bet its just in need of coolant

Dziuggy

i will check coolant tommorow, how ever i know that it just had full radiator flush performed before i bought it.

and any input on other questions would be great

thanks for replies

Dziuggy

ok i just checked coolant and it is low, however i did not see coolant leak anywhere. weird. any ideas what could be checked

thanks

jmazoso

Have your radiator checked for exhaust gasses. That will tell you if it is a head gasket or not (and you don't have to take anything apart). It picked up mine, even though all of the other checks said that it wasn't. And it ran hot at idle too, but was ok at speed.

notanymore

if it was just flushed, they might not of gotten all of the air bubbles out, hg is another possibility.

QuietGiant

Check the fan clutch. The fan may be free wheeling and not engaging.

Jay351

The place that did the flush might have put a hole in the rad. Mr lube did that to our old truck.

The hi-idle is normal. My truck does it till the temp guage starts rising. I usually wait till the idle is around 800-1200 before I go.

Dziuggy

thakns guys i put 1 galon of coolant in it yesterday i will see how long will that hold up

dont have time to check it thoughly atm. does all the shops can check for exhaust in the coolant ?

Jay351

Most shops should be able to do that.
Or at least pressurize your rad so you can find the leak.

t84bird

Hi, I am having the same overheating problem as the OP, with also a 94 4runner
v-6 auto.

Heat blows hot, then gets cold while engine temp soars to overheat, will do this for a bit, then engine temp drops and heat comes back...Coolant level full
thermostat good...I do have a coolant leak somewhere near water pump.

I am not having the rpm problems.

I found these guys in my radiator and hope they are not part of the head gasket...they are about 2" long x 1" wide.
They look alot like the openings in each head, and also the opening
in what the chiltons manual calls the water outlet (connects to upper rad hose?)