Joa

Hi,

just a short introduction to me: I am Johannes from Germany and currently work in Australia, where I bought a 1986 4runner: IFS, detachable canopy, 4Y engine with carby (4cyl, 94hp - only used in Australian 4runners as far as I found out - have a look here).

My plan (sounds crazy, probably is): Ship the car to Asia and drive back to Germany!
What do you think, would my truck survive the trip? At the moment it is just an idea, but if I can earn enough money I would definetly love to do this journey.
The car is not a beauty from the outside, but in good mechanical condition. I already fixed a couple of things, including an almost brandnew steering, new brake discs and pads, new brushes in the alternator and new bearings and a cleaning of the starter motor. Clutch has been replaced about 4000kms ago, the engine has 216.000km.

The car is driving fine so far, just the aircon is out of gas I believe the car is perfect for the trip, easy to repair (every "mechanic" in India should be able to fix up things it and spare parts are available as Toyotas are used in this poorer countries), unobtrusive (I don not want to take my shiny Mercedes Benz to Pakistan...) and capable of driving on bad roads.

I noticed that the car smells extremely strong sometimes, it is the smell of exhaust fumes. The exhaust gaskets have been replaced recently, I have three suspicions: 1. mixture to rich, the car drinks a lot of fuel too. 2. Leak in the exhaust, I noticed that the car is pretty loud - maybe the preowner took out something? 3. Oil, the engine burns a bit of oil, but with 216.000kms that is ok.
I am not sure, but I think the smell occurs mainly after starting up the engine, might be related to a cold engine?

I get some backfires sometimes, only when i use the engine brake (shifting back) or letting the car roll without pressing the accelerator. Is this normal?

Please tell me your ideas about my idea and tell me how you would prepare your car!

sweitzerworks

Backfiring indicates you're running to rich. She may simply need some carb work. As for the smell, rich mixture could also be the cause, but if it's really bad I'd look around for fuel leaks, and make sure there are no vacuum lines flailing around not connected to anything.

Follow the exhaust from the engine to the muffler while the car is both running, and not running. Use your senses, any major exhaust leaks should be pretty noticeable (loud). That said, make sure your "loudness" isn't coming from the engine (describe it if you can't pinpoint it.)

Not familiar with that particular engine or these mysterious "kms" it seems to have so many of, but if it's not leaking oil externally you've probably got headgasket/piston ring/piston issues (internal) in which case you're gunna have to tear that thing apart. That said, I know many people with reliable old Toyotas that "eat" oil for miles and miles without any issues. Fixing the problem is often personal preference.

I'd start with your carb, it's probably the reason for your backfiring and stank.

Good luck, sounds like an adventure!