Shagool22

Today on the drive home when I pulled into driveway it sounded like me 85 22r was running a bit goofy. Sounded like a bad miss. Pulled into the shop and sure enough it had a bad miss to it.. I just bought the truck a few weeks ago and replaced plugs and plug wires about a week ago doing routine maintenance.. and it's been running flawlessly..

anyway, under further investigation I checked all plugs and plug wires everything looked good. Made sure everything was still plugged in and tried to locate any vacuum leaks with no avail.

Finally as it was running, I started pulling plug wires to check for change and I got to cylinder #2 and sure enough with the plug wire disconnected there was no change at all. If I unplug #1,3,4 it runs even worse.

Im getting spark on both ends of the plug wire.. I swapped around plugs and wires with still no change. Could this be a cap or rotor issue? I've never had either go bad before in any of my toyotas so not sure what to look for.
Is there anyway to test these?
Can I swap cap and rotor off my 87 EFI 4Runner?

Shagool22

Alright I'm even more confused.. I do not notice any power loss or miss while driving..
Could this be a major vacuum leak at intake around that cylinder causing it to bee too lean at idle? I don't know if this is possible but just a thought I had...

i will further investigate that tomorrow

L5wolvesf

Do you get spark, to a ground, from the #2 wire? Have you looked inside the cap to see if it is damaged somehow?

Have you checked the valve adjustment, or compression since you got it?

Shagool22

Thanks for the response! Appreciated. But yes I get spark to ground. I swapped out cap and rotor with no luck. Yes I set valves when I got it and just rechecked them and all is good. I did compression test when I got it and all was good. Tried again last night but I think my compression gauge finally took a crap. It's about 25 years old lol. Won't read of 40 on any cylinder and tested it on the 4Runner with same thing so I'm gonna pick a new one up today after work..I will get back to you.

i swapped a plug wire again with an old one and it's now running a lot better still has a bad miss at idle.. now when I remove plug wire on that cylinder and any other cylinder there is an obvious change in performance.

Shagool22

Okay..... did the compression test multiple times with 2 different gauges. And got the same results.

cylinder 1,3,4 checked out good at about 150.. cylinder 2 reading absolutely nothing. Needle won't even budge. Added oil into cylinder 2 no change absolutely nothing.

Now when doing these test with both gauges even the good cylinders will not hold their readings. As soon as I stop cranking and get their best number they instantly bleed off before I can even get out of the truck to check the gauge. I had to rig the gauge up so that I could see it while cranking. Is this just bad quality gauges or what's the issue here?

its strange. Never in a million years would I believe anyone that told me this 22r had a cylinder reading 0. It runs a little rough at idle but when driving i can barely tell any power loss from when it wasn't having issues. Were comparing this motor with a miss to almost as much power as my rebuilt 87 22re in my 4Runner. And while driving it today sometimes the miss would go away and would run exactly like it did before with no issues. I'm not understanding..

But when the miss is their I am getting blue smoke out the tailpipe. Miss goes away, no smoke.

L5wolvesf

Was the test done with the engine warmed up or cold? And with throttle open or closed?

Shagool22

Engine was fully warmed up choke disengaged and throttle wide open..

L5wolvesf

It sure seems like #2 is deceased (moment of silence . . . ). You could look into it with a bore scope and perhaps see the damage..

Shagool22

Yeah I figured! Any thoughts on what you think failed? Wouldn't adding oil bringncompression up if it were rings? I was thinking bad valve

in no way does it feel like it's only running on 3 cylinders. And like I said earlier, at times the issue disappears...

L5wolvesf

Now that I think more on it bad valve is possible.
It could possibly be a head gasket, but you don't have the classic symptoms. I had one go long ago without the overheating etc.

A leak down test would give a better idea. I'm thinking do it cold - the leak would/should be more pronounced cold.

Shagool22

Yup I'm really thinking burnt valve. And hopefully a leak down test this evening. Might even be getting my hands on a scope to take a peak in there.

Shagool22

Well looks like bad exhaust valve! During leak down cylinder 2 will not hold pressure what so ever. Air Just dumps right out the exhaust pipe.

The good news is the other 3 cylinders are in great shape! So I don't see much of a point in rebuilding the bottom end right now.. but one the head comes off we shall see what it looks like.

Hoping to just do the top end and call her happy..

L5wolvesf

Well that's kinda good news. Did you get any air out of the crankcase from any cylinder? What were the numbers?

Shagool22

No air out of crankcase or intake on any cylinder.. I had no blow by at all with motor running just very little/normal crankcase pressure. I have no numbers, long story short I made a cheep diy leak down tester out of an old spark plug and an air fitting welded together. Didn't put a gauge on it.

Anyways, I tore the head off last night. I expected an obvious burnt valve which I did not find.. but on that suspected exhaust valve I might be seeing what I think to be a "hotspot" that may be warped.. I pulled the valve spring and when I spin the valve to me it looks like there is quite a gap right there. Am I seeing things or does this valve look okay to you (too portion of exhaust valve)?

Also a few valve seals were definitely leaking.

Shagool22

And how do the cylinder walls look? Can still see crosshatch. Hard to get a decent pic. They have not been wiped down or anything yet.

L5wolvesf

All I can tell from the pic is the valve face looks semi-discolored compared to the other ex valve in the pic. Fortunately nothing terrible happened like a seat coming loose. But now that you have gone this far you might as well take it to a machine shop and have them go over it completely. If it hasn't overheated it shouldn't need a shave. Give it new guides and seals and seats as needed.

L5wolvesf

I think I see a bit of the crosshatch. Is there a ridge at the top of the cylinders? How many miles on that engine? Given what you've said it seems like just the valve was the problem.

Do yourself a favor. Do the timing chain etc. while it is apart. Also, once it is back together do a compression test, with numbers, so you will have a baseline later on if/when you have to work on it again.

Shagool22

Check out this video.. look at the white spec at the bottom on the valve seat use that as a reference when I spin it the valve seems to be out of round at the spot..

Shagool22

No idea on miles. Previous owner told me the guy before him rebuilt it at some point but that is all he knew. Pistons tell that is the truth they are marked 20 over. The head gasket was not very old at all that's for sure.. The valves are factory valves. I'm wondering if he just did the bottom end? Although I don't know who would rebuild just a bottom end.. not sure what's going on here. Compression numbers were great. 155-160 in the other 3 cylinders. Was the leak down numbers I didn't get. And yes regardless I plan on getting the head a complete makeover. As well as timing chain

L5wolvesf

It does seem to be off a bit - could be fixable or just a new valve. Shouldn't cost too much.