Sparkyonfire

I have a 1980 Toy 20R 4x4. Just got it a few weeks ago and love it! It ran ok until a couple days ago then I noticed a loss of power. Maxed out 30mph in 3rd gear and had to use 4low to get up the hill to my house. Checked the plugs and it looked as if only 2 of them were firing and checked the gap. Checked the distributer and vacuume advance. Fired it back up and now I have full power. At higher RPM it will miss just a bit sometimes. Any Ideas?

peow130

New plugs, wires, check the coil/ignitor, cap and rotor, etc etc.
Basic tune up on a new rig

Sparkyonfire

Thanks! I think thats what I'm gonna do.

Unicorndeathmachine

I am having a similar situation with my 76. Rough idle and acceleration sometimes. Runs fine sometimes as well. However, it will not go over 63mph any more. And it takes forever to get there. I did a full basic tune up 13 months ago. Bad wires already?

peow130

pull plugs, what color are they? you want them to be an ashy grey or tan, which indicates theyre firing correctly.
black and moist means too rich, or oil.

Unicorndeathmachine

The plugs were great actually. Tan tips and slight black on the outer base. I was impressed and the were all similar and cleaned before being reinstalled.

Unicorndeathmachine

Also, the truck hit a deer about 4 months ago. Could that have done internal damage that is just now showing up? Would these be fitting symptoms for poor compression or anything? Just to add, the timing is spot on.

motolifer313

yes hitting a deer will for sure lower your compression. it might of damaged ur muffler bearings as well. so i think u should tear apart ur muffler and check them just my 2 cents

Unicorndeathmachine

How much will a compression test tell me? Should I just start looking for a new pickup?

motolifer313

spray some starter fluid around the carb and listen for the motor to cut out

Unicorndeathmachine

My gaskets and things are great. I clean the carb in and out every two months. And all te vacuum lines are perfect as well.

motolifer313

doest mater your carb or adapater plates can be warped.what did u do to ur distriutor to make it run better? also what carb r urunning?

Unicorndeathmachine

Nothing happens when the carb is sprayed. And I didn't do anything to the distributor. Been on time since I got the truck over a year ago. Still is.

Unicorndeathmachine

My compression test came out as 1: 40 2: 60 3: 40 4: 50

85TurboRunner

That is way low. It should be around 180 or higher IIRC.

motolifer313

ya man thats bad u should have aleast 100 in all cyilnders. i think the deer lowerd your compression. ur gona have to rebuild it. have u checked ur muffler bearings?

Unicorndeathmachine

So when doing the compression test, I spaced flooring the accelerator. I redid the test just after posting the last results. My cylinders are all 70 -85. Still pretty low. I think this is the reason my truck is struggling to reach 65mph. I have not checked the bearings, nor do I know what they are yet or how to check them.

I'm starting to think about a new vehicle... Thoughts on a cj55?

bat_mobile

CJ55?

Don't give up on your '80 just yet. Try and find yourself a cheap rust bucket Toyota with a great running 20R or 22R and replace your motor.

Unicorndeathmachine

Actually, it is a 76 and I have a 77 rust bucket. We jokingly talked about resurecting it last night over beers.

As far as swaps go, I don't have the time or tools (or current knowledge) to do a motor swap.

southernZ

Muffler bearings? Are you serious? The only logical way hitting a deer will affect how your engine is running is if it damaged the radiator, causing the engine to overheat. There are absolutely zero bearings located in a muffler, or exhaust system for that matter.