bucketofsoupyum

Hey guys, been a long time since I lurked on here much, just picked up another Yota the other day. Paid $400 for a 95 4runner 4x4 with the 3.sl0w V6. I was really hoping to get something with a 22re, but they hard to come by in the 4runners, and being on an island in Alaska I figured I would take what I could get. So 5spd, v6, 4x4 4runner for $400, sounds to good to be true right? Correct! It has a rod knock, I suspect that it probably spun a bearing, this is going to be a trail only rig for me, so my cheapo attempt to fix it is slapping up some new rod bearings, crossing my fingers, measure clearance with plastigauge, cross fingers again, hope it comes in spec and crank isnt damaged to much and hope that my $18 rod bearings fixes the knock. If it doesnt fix the knock im gonna drive it till it dies then yank the engine and try to find a cheap replacement for it (yes I know everyone loves the 3.4, but this is a trail rig that I will be selling in about 3 years when I leave the island, the 3.4 is not cose efficient for me most likely)

Wish me luck, going to get out in the rain this weekend and drop the oil pan and check out the bearings.

Once I get it running, I plan to throw on a hitch/bumper so I can pull some ATVS around 4/5 miles to trails, and rock it out on some offroad.

Cheers!

bucketofsoupyum

oh. and yes I realize



I will try to snap some pictures of the rig tomorrow.

bucketofsoupyum

As promised, hers some pics of my $400 rig:

toyota4x4907

Nice. I love cheap beater rigs. My Tundra cost $800

toyota4x4907

Personally, I wouldn't trust an engine off-road with just new bearings. But its been done before.

bucketofsoupyum

$800 tundra sounds like a steal. A tundra came up for 2k that needed some work a few days after I got the runner. I figured bearing is only$18 and maybe it will work. If it doesn't then I'm not out much money. Figured it's worth a shot. I have other transportation if it breaks down so not a big deal.

bucketofsoupyum

Just an update, havent had time or weather tog et outside and work on it recently. But got under her on Friday, dropped the front Diff, dropped the oil Pan, found the #5 bearing t have slop/play. The bearing outer surface doesnt look super black or sooty like I would expect to see on a bad bearing cap. Was hoping to pull bearing today, but didnt get a chance too. Hopefuly tomorrow back under the truck.

Heres a video I took underneath the truck showing the slop:

rattlewagon

Thats a knock alright! hope the new bearing fixes it.

Hugh_Mann

Not too shabby for $400, especially if you clear up that knock.

Those tires though... You should definitely get some used 31s or something.

bucketofsoupyum

Well the bearings probably arent going to work. Once I got everything pulled off, the bearing on #5 were worn thin and spun. Gouging on the crankshaft has occurred. I checked all the other bearings, 1,2,3,4,6 and they all were non-spun, although #6 was worn pretty thin. I installed new bearings on all 6 cylinders and emasured oil clearance with plastigauge. All 5 non-spun were about .0015-.0019" clearance. Which is in spec:

(j)Measure the Plastigage at its widest point.
Standard oil clearance:
STD
0.024 – 0.053 mm (0.0009 – 0.0021 in.)
U/S 0.25 and U/S 0.50
0.023 – 0.069 mm (0.0009 – 0.0027 in.)
Maximum oil clearance:
0.08 mm (0.0031 in.)

Unfortunately #5 with a enw bearing still had way to much vertical slop, and would either not touch the plastigauge or barely mash it around .003 or .004ish. No good and outside of limits.

So at this point traditional wisdom and advice would say "trash the crank or get it machined and reinstalled with undersized bearings, or better yet, trash teh whole motor and install a 3.4" (yes I know how yall operate)

However I am a stubborn and cheap SOB and refuse to give up on this idea, so I ordered a set of .010" undersized bearing from napa. Going to put them on and see how they fit, I assume they are going to be tight and im going to go against traditional wisdom, and guidance (most people are probably cringing now and yelling at their computers at me). but I am going to grind down the crank by hand with some sand paper, emry cloth, and corcus cloth, using my micrometer to ensure I get the right dimensions and attempt to keep it in round. Then throw on the undersized bearing, cross my fingers and say a prayer.

If that fails and still knocks, I just came across a deal on a free 93 runner with blown headgasket, going to pull that motor, put it on stand and rebuild it. Or possibly buy a beat up 99 on the island that has a runing 3.4, $1000obo, but auto tranny is failing and rear diff is shot. Might be able to make something together out of these 2 maybe 3 runners.


Some photgraphic evidence of my craziness....

Good journals:


Good journals again:


#5 spun bearing, you can see the edges of the bearing only, both halves were sitting on top:


Rod End cap pic:


Spun Bearing pulled out #1:


Spun bearing pulled out #2:


Spun bearing pulled out #3:


#5 Journal pic #1:


#5 Journal pic #2:


Unreliable plastigauge reading on the #5, it had vertical slop, it would be not touching the journal or I could pull it down and seat it.





Please refrain from the comments of "just pull it and put in a 3.4" or "you better pull the crank and have it machined 10/10 and throw on some .010" undersized bearign on all 6" I know both of these statements already to be true, at this point im taking it on as a personal challenge to TRY to get this motor running without a knock, without removing the crank, I realize I am likely to fail, but im having fun toying with it and I cant break this motor anymore then it already is.


Cheers!

bucketofsoupyum

Been a while since I updated. But getting parts here is NOT a fast ordeal. So ordered and recieved my .001 undersized bearings, still a lot of vertical and lateral slop in the rod, I knew it would still knock with that much slop. So ordered a set of .002, .003., and .004 bearings. Started with the .002 and they fit in their good and snug, no more slop. Smoothed out the crank with some sandpaper and emry cloth, checked the roundness as well as possible with a digial mic, ensured proper oil clearance with plastigage. Torqued everything down and turned motor ver with rathet on front of crank, turned it over 4-5 times by hand, dropped the bearing and checked for wear.Looked good. So grabbed some good ole RTV and sealed up the oil pan and baffle. Waited a day for it to dry, topped it off with oil. Next I pulled all the plugs from distributor cap and turned it over with the starter a few times to get the oil sloshed around in everything.

Then I hooked everything back up, said a prayer, and started her up. She ran good and quiet, no more rod knock (yet), let her idle off an on throughout the day, for about 45 mins total. Gave her a little RPMs a few times and she maintained her dignity.

Next I need to put up the front Diff, cross brace, CV joints, etc. and take her for a drive. It might spin the bearing again once the engine is under a load and driving, then again, maybe it wont... either way, im having fun tooling around with it, if it breaks it breaks, but who knows maybe I can tool it around for a few years as is.

Cheers!

bucketofsoupyum

oh and been keeping my eyes peeled for some mud tires in 31-37 size range, but had no luck yet finding anything.

rattlewagon

Nice work with the bearings.. let us know if it holds up!

RJR

I'll bet there's a lot of 'yotas running for long periods in 3rd world countries with those kinds of fixes. Not every place has the resources to fix things "right", and with a little ingenuity and persistence it's amazing what will work. Good job on figuring this out. Hope it continues to work for you.

I spent a couple of weeks in Kodiak a few summers ago. It's an awesome place - I envy you! I wanted to volunteer at a park up there for a summer, but my wife wasn't keen on the idea.

bucketofsoupyum

Well, I got everything drive train related bolted back up today, and bought a new battery, drove her to work, home, to the gym, home to work, and home, only about 1/2 Mile trip each, but she's holding up so far

Hugh_Mann

Keep this thread updated. It'll be interesting to see how that bearing fares.

bucketofsoupyum

I was gone for work for a few months, but been driving her since back and so far shes holding up good, I got to get the odometer hooked up so I can track miles.

dropzone

iTrader: (6)

getting parts to Kodiak would be a PITA. I was stationed at Ft. Richardson in the 90's and it seemed like the shipping charges were more than the parts sometimes..

bucketofsoupyum

Yeah, it is incredibly expensive to get stuff shipped up here. Luckily we have a NAPA and they are usually pretty good with standard parts. But anything OEM is a PITA.

For instance my runner right now has a really low front end, I figured the torsion bars were just sagging and needed a little turn, well I climbed under to PB blast them the otehr day to start freeing up the bolts. Right side worked fine, but left side looked different... It looked different because it had no seat or torsion bolt, but someone had stuck a cariage bolt up inside of the hole. So right now I have been looking for the "Torsion Bar Adjustment Bolts, Nuts, and Seats" an OEM only part, but all relatively small. NAPA doesnt stock em and every place I find online for the parts is looking at $40-50 for the parts and an additional $40-60 for shipping. Also, dont get me started on "Ground Shipping" in AK, because Ground shipping to an island is a multistep process:

1. lower 48 post office
2. truck to seatle WA
3. wait in seatle for barge to fill up
4. barged to anchorage
5. to anachorage post office for sorting
6. sent to another barge for Kodiak
7. Wait for that barge to fill up
8. barge over to Kodiak
9. Kodiak post office
10. Deliviery

What does all that mean to me? It means anything sent via ground takes roughly 3-5 weeks to arrive. :-( Thank God for Priority Mail! Thankfully I found a parts guy for a toyota dealer down in TN on toyotanation forum and he is going to order me the parts and drop em in a box for me.

And, I love your Trekker build, I have been a huge fan of them ever since I seen my first one when I was stationed in NC 8 years ago. I started at page 1 and saw that nice looking black one, then went to the last page and seen that seriously built tan one. Then not believing they were the same one I read the other 71 pages and watched it transform. Nice work! Page 24 paint changed from black to Tan. And Page 56 the awesome Round headlights went away :-(