Also forgot to mention that when I changed the oil it did not smell like gas. But it must have had 6 quarts in it and the oil filter looked brand new and dry as a bone. I put a little oil in the filter and around the filters gasket and just put it back on. It was almost like someone changed the oil without draining the old oil out. weird.

 

here is a copy of the Factory Service Manual link that is in my signature.
the first one is for 79-85's. it is a 58 MB down load but well worth it. IMO it will be better than the chilton's or haynes generic manuals

edit:
look for oil leaks...that truck kind of looks like the Exxon Valdez under there..

 

Was just out looking it over and pulled the dipstick... It looks like the truck is overfilled with oil again. So whats going on? If gas was mixing with the oil wouldn't the oil I drained yesterday smell like gas? If it was coolant it would look milky. So what could be going on?

 

I am downloading the FSM now. Thanks. There is definitely an oil leak somewhere. I think I need to clean it to find it. lol

 

The 4 bangers only take a little over 3quarts as I can recall from my last oil change. I'd drain the oil and leave the drain plug out over night so everything drains good.

 

Well since the dipstick is saying I am increasing in oil and the oil is starting to look a bit milky and watered down am I correct to assume this thing probably has a blown headgasket. I think Ill start tearing into it and take the head off and see what it looks like.

 

yep I do beleive you are correct...I had an '89 tercel that did that..coolant went down and oil level was going up....that car was great but it has served it's purpose when gas as $4.50/gallon

good luck!

 

was it me or did it someone put a double row timing chain in that for him?

 

my 81 2wd came with a double row chain it just depends on what was supplied to the line at the time and my 82 has double row too

 

yeah double row timing chain. I thought all the early 1st gens had 'em.

So is there any possible way it could only need a head gasket? Or am I going to have to rebuild the head or the whole engine? I guess there is no way to tell til I get the head off correct? If you cant tell this is my first "project" truck. I hope I am not going to get in over my head here.

Thanks for the help this far guys.

Chris Stokes

 

my buddys 83 has a single row

 

Drained all the fluids again...oil smelled like gasoline. I guess thats from flooding the engine trying to get it started? What else would cause gas in the oil?

Also got the exhaust manifold off and radiator, fan and shroud. Now for the fun part getting the intake manifold off. Man are all those vacuum lines intimidating.

 

It sounds like the headgasket, you don't have the remove all the vacuum lines, I just pulled the whole intake off and wired it to the side of the truck. That way you don't have to remember where all that stuff goes.

 

the diaphram in the fuel pump is bad it will pump fuel strigth down the timing cover
just fixed this problem with my buddys 83 took the drain plug out when he first got it and it gushed out like a fire hose filled up a 3 gallon dish pan and over flowed

 

go to crapa and buy a pack of vac line rubber caps and rip out all vac lines ecept for the one that goes to the dist advance side take egr off at the head and cut out a peice of beer can and sandwitch it between the egr and the head, or buy the block off plates from lc engineering i'll try and take pics of what line you need to keep and post tomarrow

 

Check your head for signs of electrolysis. If the head is rotted out that will allow coolant into your motor

 

Kinda leads me to my next question.... Once I get the head off how do I know if I need a new head? Obviously look for holes that are not supposed to be there.... but will it be that obvious that the head is shot? What else should I look for?

If all goes well I should have the the engine out of the truck and on the stand tomorrow. I have an engine stand and my uncle has a chain hoist. The plan is to lift the engine out with the chain hoist and then roll the truck back out of the way. Can you guys that have done this before let me know what problems I might run into. Is the transmission gonna support itself on the cross member? I need to look at that in the morning and see if it needs to be supported. I dont have a transmission jack.

Speaking of the transmission I really hope it works. The 4wd drive lever seems to be stuck in neutral. Or maybe I just dont know what I am doing. It does not seem to engage in any gears. I can move it around to where the gears should be but it doesn't stay there. Ideas? Is there any thing I can check?

Thanks
Chris Stokes

 

Man you really are digging yourself in deep eh?

Sounds like a killer fun project and good luck to you. My advice is to be as methodical as possible. It's hard to really know what the truck needs.

If the oil smells quite gassy then consider a new fuel pump. The fuel pump problem can also explain the lack of power, smokey nature, and poor running. A milky oil that smells sweet is usually a good sign of head gasket failure. You could try to observe a fuel pump diaphragm leak with the valve cover removed, or you could simply guess at the $35 pump. Make sure you got your facts straight before you going pulling that engine. Even in a simple vehicle that is still a very impressive undertaking without a nice garage full of tools.

Onto your cylinder head woes, once removed the best solution is for a machinist to inspect it and magnaflux to check for cracks. That may be out of your price range. Then again you are rolling the dice on this one because there can be bigger problems that you can't see if you just guess. In general you should see smooth coolant passages. A machinist's calibrated straight edge should be able to tell you if the head is warped in any way.

I think it silly to attempt to pull the engine and leave the transmission in the truck. In general realignment of the clutch pilot assembly becomes a royal pain in the butt if you do it that way. Removing the transmission first is the best solution. If you are "lazy" about this you can normally leave the transmission attached to the transfer case. Simply pull the driveshaft (4 bolts for the Ujoint straps), pull the crossmember, get a floor jack, block of wood, and helper, and once the bellhousing bolts are out just wiggle it around until the transmission comes out smoothly. You can whack at the transmission but make sure you don't strike the casting with a hammer - use a block of wood. Wooden wedges can be particularly helpful for this process as they will not mar the mating surfaces.


So here is my suggestion overall:

1) Diagnose the fuel in oil problem. Run engine and hope for improvement. The fuel pump guess here sounded good. A WAAAAY out of adjustment float level could cause this - or a sticking needle valve assembly. You could start by checking the float window while the engine is running. If very low this can mean bad fuel pressure or a leaking float. If high it could mean sticking needle valve.

2) Diagnose for a potential head gasket problem. This may include compression, compression leakdown, and coolant leakdown checks. At the very least inspect for blocked coolant passages and head warpage before reinstalling head with new gasket. Consider a cylinder head exchange. Remember doing the timing chain at the same time is likely recommended when you don't have a detailed service history on the truck.

3) Get the engine to run right. Tuneup, timing, desmog if necessary, caruretor cleaning, rebuild. All of the above. Check carefully for vacuum leaks. Use a can of carb cleaner to spray around vacuum hoses and fittings. Spraying near a leak will cause the engine to run like crap for a bit. Starting out by simply plugging it all off is probably not an awful way to start. Even the power brake booster should be plugged. This could be very simple or it may take a serious time commitment and many frustrating hours.

4) Figure out any driveline issues and make it safe to drive again!

You will have to make the call on how deep your pockets are. No offense intended but many people seldom realize the cost of fixing up an old jalopy these days. You could be looking in multiple-thousands of dollars in parts alone. If you are frugal and diagnostically minded you can probably bring it in for a lot less than that though. Good luck!

 

I have been through every thing from the motor and the chassis on my truck less the body work it needs (last on list since it see's the trails too )but i find that i still dump money in it every time i turn around just fixing it wasnt enuf.every time i change something from stock it needs something else to make it work correctly(mainly money)
like if you put larger tires on it you want lower gears(money again).then you'll take it offroad and want a loker in there trust me it just spirals out of control faster than you think. this truck has now become a addiction.just work on it little by little and you'll have a sweet truck in no time.plan on replacing allot of parts and rebuilding others.

 

Well I appreciate the advice. I believe I will start by tearing the engine a part and putting it back together. A new head may be in order depending on the price to get the old one thoroughly examined. I have the engine out of the truck but have to get longer bellhousing bolts to get it on the engine stand. Looks like it will have to hang til monday because nobody that would have these metric bolts is open. I tried napa and home depot with no luck so I will go to one of the specialty fastener shops on monday and get some longer bolts to go in the block.