Spencer Huen

1990 4runner 3vze EFI

So the list continues and I'm more confused than i was when i started. It started with the rear window motor and regulator quitting on me. Very manageable planning a decent clean and overhaul to make that happen in the coming month. The next day i notice a rough idle after the engine was warm this was wednesday. Thursday startup shows a minor amount of white smoke, its starting to get cold i was naive and thought excessive condensation. Rough idle gets worse, started digging on the forum ( amazing help all you guys have been to me over the years I've owned my Runner. Thank all of you who take the time to read this and other posts offering your help) could be coolant temp sensor so i bought the sensor planning a fix on the weekend. freaky friday rolls on and i drive to the booze stop. when i go to start up it is billowing white smoke lots smells sweet like coolant. people are looking at me from across the strip mall. drive back to my place and look at fluids engine is still hot but the oil isn't milky or any loss of fluid level. go to start it again cranks once then dead heads. turns over the second time rough idle is really bad now i park it immediately. Swap the coolant temp sensor rough idle is gone. but it over heats slowly but climbs and a steady pace. coolant is significantly down. fill it up. decide to run compression test anyways for fear of a blown head gasket. for the compression test i remove all plugs block the throttle wide open and run the test twice on each cylinder once dry and once with a dab of oil. as I'm running the engine to get it warm i turn the heat on in my cab and nothing after a very warm engine and a long warm up there is just cold air coming through my dash and console. Compression results cylinders 123456 as follows #1 170D 185Wet #2 168D 176Wet #3 173D 180Wet #4 175D 184Wet #5 182D 185Wet #6 190D 219Wet. I still am very curious why cylinder 6 is showing so much higher it was the coldest and the last cylinder i checked as i did the left side than right side. so I'm imagining the head gasket is still good with just a variance of less than 10 % over the average. I put new NKG iridium plugs in and gap them a bit bigger than spec (some forum guys say better performance I'm just curious myself) On startup again today about 1/4 of a coolant jug goes in and Billowing white smoke till the engine gets warm. Im talking i have enough to cover a 8 man navy seal team through a square block in fallujah. If the heater core is ˟˟˟˟ itself it would explain the loss of coolant but Why the smoke?? I'm up to my neck in lord recipes and still am too afraid to drive this more than around the block.

Do i do the compression test agian when its cold? its the only time i see white smoke. I'm planning a positive coolant pressure test but as the kit cost 400$ i gotta book a time at my local shop

If anyone has ideas i am very grateful to all help. and remember boys, If they don't find you handsome they should at least find you Handy.

toiyodah4WD

Yes sounds like HG is going. Assuming you don't have thousands of dollars to pay garage or the time/ability etc to do the repair yourself I'd take my chance on a Bar's or other HG miracle in a bottle.
I would not drive runner again until you try this. Some people get lucky and it works. It's not like you are messing with some precious new engine. If it buys you a year, you are ahead of the game imo.

Spencer Huen

Thanks man I'm gonna give the sealant a shot. fingers crossed ill post and update for what its worth when **up to my neck in LORDCO RECEIPTS**

Spencer Huen

So for those still waiting on baited breath. I tried blue devil head gasket sealant, unable to get the preferred radiator flush supplied by blue devil i just got irontite from lordco(it says on the bottle not detrimental to have the blue devil flush over any other flush) . Flushed the system, filled with water flushed. filled with water Waited over night for the engine to get completely cold. Used the sealant didnt end up fixing the gasket completely i still get a fair amount of smoke and i burn through coolant. Im planning a full rebuild but money and space isn't available at the moment. I put my subs and speakers back in her, washed the truck down and its my smoke spot and drink spot.

Anyone still with me and can suggest upgrades or simple mistakes when rebuilding an engine all are welcome

Charchee

You need to diagnose the source of the coolant entry before you go any further. Check for compression in your radiator and maybe do a leak down test. I wish I could have stopped you before you poured that poison into your cooling system. That stuff should be outlawed. It isn't any good as a repair and is commonly used to stop a leak just long enough to trick someone into buying a used car with major problems before clogging up the coolant ports in the engine while the leak continues to get worse.

Locate your leak and address it or start looking for an engine. There is no such thing as a miracle in a bottle.

ewong

+1

Its a head gasket.
Strip it down and do the repair right.
Or get a new engine.

(I limped a 1983 Nissan Stanza - they were famous for blowing HG at like 30K miles - for months by packing water into the rad after every drive - it drank about 1/2 gallon of water every half tank o gas - which worked great until the un expected cold snap and the radiator froze up....)

wyoming9

iTrader: (1)

We could get into a big fight but some of the sealers work fine if you follow directions .

The guys at the school district garage love what they use a few years ago it was $60.00 a quart it gets a failed head gasket through till the summer when it can be repaired the correct way ( My Tax Dollars at work)

Then your 1000 miles from home pay a shop $1500.00 to tell you your head needs replaced as well

There is a time and place maybe when I was younger changing a head gasket in a rest area along the Interstate may have had more appeal

Charchee

I have been told of some high dollar sealants that have been used with ok results. My buddy uses something expensive like that in every home air conditioning system he replaces. I think he said it was like $90 for am 8 oz can. I guess you get what you pay for but I've never seen any of the professional grade stuff at the parts house.