Sean878

Hey Guys,

I am new to toyotas but not to backyard car repair but when I bought a 1988 4runner with a 3vze, 180xxx, automatic with little body and frame rust I thought i got a deal. It ran fine when I test drove and i let it sit idling for a long time to see if it would act up but nothing. Drove it up some step hills and the tranny shifted fine. It had slow leaking valve gaskets but I thought no big deal easy to replace.

Ran ok since november but now the gasket are leaking none stop, I think the rear main is gone too. The timing belt it hitting the cover and making a heck of a racket. I replaced the drivers side valve gasket but now its leaking again. But i think that the cover might be bent or warped because when i went to take it off the lower right rear bolt was sheared off.

Just yesterday I went to leave work and the car will barely crawl forward till it hit 2000 rpm and then it has pick up then shift and the samething for every gear but not all the time just here and there which comes with a loud sound of water rushing or something to that effect but that too is not predictable. It will always bog down going up hill. Didn't know if it wasn't firing on all cylinders or the timing was now off or if the tranny was going.


Sorry for the long rant but its starting to get to me. I didn't know if you guys have any clue with what is wrong and a rough est. on replacing. I've always either done it myself or took to a mechanic I know but he doesn't work on toyotas. I'm in the portland, me area if you had any suggestions on shops because working outside right now sucks at below freezing temps.

Thank you and Sorry again for the many jumbled problems listed

91Toyota

I'm in the Salem area. If you need a hand with anything let me know. I love working on cars though. Need anything? I'm right down the road. lol

scuba

WHEN GOD HANDS YOU LEMONS!! GET A NEW GOD !!!!
AHHH!!!

91Toyota

Or just kill the already non-existent god

abecedarian

ummm... based on what you said-
you need a new transmission, engine, cooling system and person to diagnose your problems.

Sean878

Thanks 91toyota but im in the other Portland, in Maine

a4runnerfreak

Time for 1)total rebuild......2)new engine

abecedarian

in that order- rebuilt it, then replace it.

24Runna

then swap a 3.4 in

86Toyrunna

haha i almost made the same mistake 91 made.. took me a minute to realize that he wasnt talkin about the west cost portland lol ... ya iv been told that if life hands ya lemons...make lemonade, but in this case sounds like a 3.4 and 5spd swap are a very good answer to your issues, but then again.. i think this is the answer to most of our issues here on yotatech

UKMyers

You bought an old tired 3.0 and an Auto tranny. Probably the worst possible Toyota combination out there.

Sean878

I went for a drive yesterday maybe ten miles and it was running okay except it was sluggish going up hill. About 2 miles before I got home it stop running. The engine was bogged down and it barely made it up the hill. I pulled into a gas station and it stalled. Restarted it and it surged between stalling and 500 rpms then it would stall. When I throw it into gear and try to move with throttle all the way open it only got up to maybe 1000 rpms and wouldn't move, forward or reverse. If I put it in neutral I could rev all day. I got it to idle once I removed the wire attached to the throttle body(don't know the name). Tranny issue? My thought was fuel filter because I had something similar happen to me in a VW GTI where it would rev in neutral but wouldn't move in gear or go over 1250 rpms in gear. It was a 5speed so I knew for sure it wasn't the clutch. I checked all my plug wires, nothing was loose, haven't checked the plugs yet cause its freezing and snowing outside.
The rushing water noise seems only to happen on startup.
You guys have any new ideas on what it might be.

Ron Helmuth

Guessing the thermostat is stuck open thus the rushing water sound at startup.

Sorry to hear of your troubles but you sound like you were already aware of 3.slows head gasket issues. Pretty well documented. I would guess you could swap in a 3 slow from a wrecked runner but likely same thing will happen if not already rebuilt.

Shawn6string

If the motor is not knocking and the valves are not ratteling to bad. Park it and start tuning it up. Get a FSM manual. Put a timing chain and head gasket on it and go from there. As far as the tranny, I would flush it and check the ohms on the silenoids. Bad silenoid will make it not go anywhere or shift funny or not at all. My #1 solenoid went out, I could put it in Drive and it would barely go anywhere, try to pull it down into first gear and see if it goes, if it does, you can manually shift it. I have the fsm on the tranny so if you have any questions on that, PM me. there is a lot of info on here and most these guys and gals are here to help. X2 on the thermostat, which may be causing more problems with it running

thedude42

time to rebuild!!!!

corax

thermostat won't have anything to do with a water noise in the dash. That's an indication of low coolant level. Remember on start-up the thermostat is closed anyway - even if it's stuck open, the noise wouldn't happen. the heater core is plumbed off a separate cooling circuit, where flow through the core is always possible regardless of what teh thermostat is doing.

zlathim

It's a 3vze.

Jay351

The rushing water noise is air trapped in the coolant lines. I used to have it all the time before I replaced my leaky radiator.

Check the system for leaks and burp it:

Jack the front end up (or park on a steep hill)
remove rad cap, set heater to hot
start engine and let idle till its at operating temp
fill rad with 50/50 mix of red coolant and water
reinstall cap


When you did the valve cover gasket, did you torque the bolts in the proper sequence to 4ftlbs?
Did you apply FIPG or RTV on the 4 spots the FSM specifies?

As mentioned, the toyota auto (untill 96) SUCKED! Their 5sp are where its at
Check the fluid, see if its dark and smell burnt.
You might get away with a flush (unhook the lines and let the pump pump the oil fluid out, fresh fluid and a new filter..

If the timing belt needs to be replaced, there are a few things you should get done while in there.

For instance:

Water pump
Front main seal (if its bad or looks bad)
t-belt idler

And a full tune-up is always good.

Sean878

Thanks guys for the info. Jay351 When I replaced the valve cover gasket I used ultra black RTV which usually works so good on other cars that you could probably put it on without a gasket. I think that the previous owner over torqued the valve cover and warped it that why it leaking but not sure. I read on another site that you might need to grind down the metal flanges in the cover for it to seat properly but that sound out there. I have the parts to do the timing belt but it is too damn cold outside right now. I was hoping that it could wait till spring but the way it sounds right now that doesn't seem like a option.
I have:
-belt
-tensioner
-water pump
Whats the t-belt idler?
What gaskets do I need to do the job?

Thanks

CyMoN

is it leaking from the front or the back of the motor on the valve cover I replaced my leaking gasket and it still leaked I thought but after I pulled it again and added more rtv I found out it was my front cam oil seal that was leaking also, but that leak was much smaller then the valve cover one.