trevor1985

So, recently I completed (sort of) a 22re swap from a wrecked 94 2wd pickup truck into my 85 that originally had a 22r. When i first bought the motor, it did run, while lacking a cooling system, but i was able to test the oil pressure, compression and all that. It was a good motor. Fast forward a few months and the motors been cleaned up, put in the truck with a new cam chain, and after figuring out how i would do the wiring, it ran great. Last night, however, me and my friend were driving around in a little desert lot for fun testing out the 4wd (even though the truck is barely driveable) and we came back and the engine was surging and running hot. So, i figured the surging was because it was hot and put it away figuring that it needed a new thermostat and a coolant flush. Today, I went to start it up to back it out and drain the coolant. When it was cranking over, it sounded as if one of the spark plugs was out. Curious and concerned, i immediately pulled all the plugs and did a compression test to find that the number 3 cylinder has NO compression. Even when i put my finger over the hole, i don't feel much air coming out. Being as concerned as I am, the first thing I did was see what you all had to say. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

934runnerdeluxe

You will have to dig deeper into it. I’d pull the cover and look at the valves. Do you have coolant in the oil? Oil in the coolant? Do a wet compression test if the rest checks out.

trevor1985

Ok, thanks, I will probably be doing that tonight

934runnerdeluxe

I know it sounds simple but heat of the moment you get forgetful. Been there. Good luck hopefully it isn’t rings.

trevor1985

Ok, so I Took the valve cover off and everything looked good. So then I drained the coolant and there’s no oil in it. Then I turned it over with the valve cover off just to see if everything was moving right. Then I heard air coming out of the number three spark plug hole (the compression test adapter was still hooked up) I did another compression test and it was about 160 psi cold, well within spec. The only thing that’s different from before is that the valve cover is off and there is no coolant. Any thoughts what could cause something like that? I’m thinking it could be a stuck valve or something.

934runnerdeluxe

A valve could have been stuck. Freed up when the engine cooled down. Anything is possible. But it sounds like the problem occurs when warm? Or operating temp. I’d inspect your lifters and valves very thoroughly while you have the cover off and see any sign of real excessive wear.

trevor1985

Ok, thanks, I’ll definitely look into that. Like I said It overheated before, so that’s what might’ve caused it. I will be flushing out the cooling system and probably getting a new thermostat so there won’t be any more overheating. I will keep this forum updated on what happens and probably adding pictures.

EFI85

Just a little food for thought.
Sometimes these little buggers can be hard to get the air out of the cooling system . I usually put the truck nose high and squeeze the hoses a bunch and sometimes even pull that heater hose thats up on the firewall and let it burp out air from there . Hopefully it just got hot and didn't really screw anything up . Good luck to you

Co_94_PU

iTrader: (-1)

"Sounded like air coming out of a sparkplug", you mean like an air compressor only twenty times louder right? That's what it sounds like when you lose a spark plug from its threads. Since that's essentially what you have minus the air lines which cut the sound down quite a bit.. (Yeah I've seen that happen a few times, it's pretty darn frightening when you hear a spark plug bounce off the underside of the hood also..)

Or maybe you mean some air passing around the sparkplug which is more of a hiss..?

If you had a stuck valve it's very likely to have been damaged or damaged the piston. This means at best you can not trust the valve nor piston are OK. On one hand you could have dinged the piston which can cause pre-detonation due to the hot spot. On the other you could have bent the valve, if it's the stem it's going to eat up the valve seals and bushing and if it's the valve face you'll likely lose some compression or have a hot spot which turns into a burnt valve and pings the rod bearings to hell and back.

If it's not firing you're pumping raw fuel into the catalytic converter which best case scenario wears it out prematurely and worst case melts the screens and clogs it up.

Anyways.. Surging on the 22re is almost always air on the temp sensor or a too high idle which triggers the ECU cutoff.