Styled

Ok, i bought this '90 sr5 r22 4x4 4runner, just over a month ago. When i gave it a very basic tune up i noticed it had soot (sp), carbon residue, on the engine side of the air filter. I thought maby it was back fireing. I changed the oil, changed the plugs, changed the air filter. After a 500km trip i checked the airfilter again, and again there was black soot on the filter. Now today i went to put a new cap and rotor on, and noticed #2 plug on cap was broke/rusted up. I must have been running on near 3 cycl only. The lady i bought the runner off must have been running this way for a while.

My question is, if #2 wasnt firing could that have caused the black soot to be coming out my exhaust, through my emitions, into my intake and then into my EFI? When i took off the big hose and looked into where my throttle is, its all covered with this soot! My whole intake all the way through to the exhaust is covered!

The weird thing is that this engine is running good, just a little chatter from the valves. So far ive put about 1500km on this engine in this condition.

What can do? would it be possible for me to clean this mess up some how?

Corey

iTrader: (1)

Welcome to the forums Styled.

My '90 truck I use to have ran on 3 cylinders by accident one time too.
That is more than likely the cause of the soot you see as that cylinder had raw gas going through it unburned.

No one here yet has done a write-up on how to clean the throttle body, but there is an article on ODW's forum on how to do the 3.0 V6 which should work for you.

Cleaning all that gunk out of there should make a big difference.

Styled

Thanks for the quick reply corey. I was wondering how in the world i can get all this soot out! Might i have to take the complete throttle body off to get behind the throttle flap/window? the round canister that go's from under the TB and then into the intake is completely sooted too. Im talking this thing looks like a chimney :eek: maby take every hose and submerge in carb cleaner? im just worryed about the stuff i cant get at with a tooth brush. if i dont get at all of it, wont it just recycle back into the front of the TB? Also, just remembered that my new air filter is also damp with a little bit of liquid collecting in it, also coming from the engine. Thanks for the help

jx94148

It sounds to me like one of your intake valves is not closing all of the way sending air and fuel back into the intake manifold on the compression stroke. Then the spark plug fires and ignites the mix in the intake manifold and throttle body rather than in the cylinder. Or maybe it has something to do with your EGR, I dunno.

mark from uk

not to sure on this but could a valve sticking open cause this?

jx94148

Oh, and simply cleaning the soot away probably won't stop the cause of the soot forming in the first place.

mark from uk

you beat me to it

jx94148

If the valve was stuck open it would have broken off at the stem or bent very badly the first time the piston came up to the top of the cylinder. In either case air and fuel would be going back into the intake on compression. It could also happen if a hole has been burned through the valve due to a previous pre-ignition (ping) condition.

Yoda

Hey Styled,
Welcome to the forum.
I am assuming you have the 22RE engine (fuel injected), the 22R is carbureted.
I would start with a complete tune up, starting with a compression test.
You should have about 145 (+ or -) with slight variation between cylinders.
Do the cap and rotor, plugs, probably plug wires (especially if that rusted/burned contact was on the outside of the cap), PCV valve, fuel filter, etc.
Disconnect the battery cable before doing the fuel filter. Its not easy, and it is just above the starter (gas and battery cables don't get along if you spark a wrench) Make sure they are tight and no leaks when done. My neighbors car burned to the ground after he tried to change his Cadilac fuel filter.
I don't hink I would worry so much about cleaning the soot until I was sure it was done creating any more. The trottle body would benefit from cleaning though.

Styled

Thanks for the fast replys guys. Its nice to have some place to get info. I hope its not as serious as a damaged valve. I see where a compression test would help. Im trying to do most of my own work, so ill see if its possible to get some compression testing equiptment, and learn how to use it. I was just worried that the soot would cause some major damage. Would it be alright to drive it with the soot left alone? After cleaning the TB and most areas i can get to? It might be a few days before i can get to testing compression. New wires are a sure bet though. Again thanks for all the Help guys

Styled

Ok today i went out and bought some new plug wires, a compression tester, ingector cleaner and TB cleaner.

I tested the 4 cycl's and all came in at 150 +/- The plug's looked like they were doing fine, also.

Next I took apart my intake piping from the filter to the TB. I cleaned it out as best as i could, and also did the AFM, and regulator?(round thing). Next I sprayed the TB down and used a tooth brush to clean as far back as i could. I noticed that the soot wouldnt brakedown if i didnt scrub with the tooth brush, so i dont know how well the cleaner did farther into the TB.

The plugs wires I bought were NGK, but when i went to put them on the store gave me the wrong kind. 2 wires were to short. They cost about $40 Can. I dont think the stores going to have the right ones, so i hope the dealer wires arnt much more.

Any how, how much would a cycl be out in compression if there was a sticky/damaged valve?

My 4runner seems a little smoother to ride but not a huge difference.

What do you guys think?

Fred Anarat

Hey styled, welcome to the forum.
So glad to see another person from the Great White North find thier way here, I think that makes 3 or 4 of us. What part of the wasteland you from? (please oh please don't say the East)

As for a sticking valve affecting the compression,,,,very much so. There would be a much lower reading if the valve was bent or stuck open. The compression would also drop over time if the valve wasn't seated correctly or was starting to burn through. Did you also try running injector cleaner? I found that, and a good cleaning of the TB and intake made a world of difference in mine.

Good luck chasing down the problem, the only real fix would be to find the source of the carbon.

Styled

Thanks for the welcome Fred
Im in saskatoon, SK. so not to far off.
This is a great place to come and read for a couple hours, and of course get help.
It is nice to have other candians around.
I put some injector cleaner in a couple days ago, so i hope that helps. I was also thinking about this engine tune up in a bottle stuff. Says to help with sticky lifters, valves ect. I may try some closer to when i get an oil change.

BTW hows the weather over there? Feels like snow is on its way over here. I have the feeling we've been lucky the last few years with warm winters, and this year its going to be a cold one or a long one.
Or maby its just that i want lots of snow to 4x4 in this year?