(Ok, so 56k may not really even exist anymore, but I thought I'd warn you anyways).

Howdy all, I figured I would start this thread to show the progress I'm making on getting the engine rebuilt on my '85 4-Runner. This vehicle is one of the long sought after units with both EFI and a solid front axle. I got it from a friend of the family for cheap (relatively): $1,000.

It passed smog its first time out, and seemed to run fine overall, but appeared to have a bad head gasket or timing chain gasket. It was spewing oil all over under the engine compartment, but from no particular place (I did check the front main). I had been told it had been rebuilt 70k ago, but my family friend didn't know all the details of what had been done, so I opted to just pull the engine out and do a teardown to see what I was working with.

The following are the first few pictures I took after I got the 4-Runner in the garage:











The last pic is of a cool set of seats they added that are mounted in the rear and face backwards. This was to fit all 5 of their children in the car at once, haha.

So, this was my introduction, I've been working on this for about a month now, so I have a lot of pictures and information saved up. I will be posting additional information and posts as I make progress, so stay tuned.

 

So, when I started this project, my plan was to tear down the top end of the motor, see if it was obvious what was leaking, and then take it from there. As I started tearing into the top end, I realized the leak was pretty wide. It appeared to be coming from the Timing Cover and possibly the oil pump. Oil was just caked on everything. It was such a gross sludge I didn't even want to touch it.

So with all that, I decided to just pull the engine and do a full rebuild. Replace everything, make sure I have a good, stable engine and hopefully this thing will last me for a few years to come. Here's the current plan of what I'm going to do to her (why are cars always girls?):

• Full tear down to bare block
• All parts measured to determine re-usability and have machine work done on those parts
• Replace any major components which cannot be machined
• Replace all the major standard goodies:
  • Timing Chain and Cover (If needed)
  • Oil Pump
  • Water Pump
  • Pistons (if needed)
  • Full gaskets
  • Fuel Filter
  • All Rubber Hoses (Fuel and Vacuum)
• Rebuild or Replace Radiator
• Rebuild Power Steering Pump
• Rebuild the Transmission, or find a suitable used unit

Most of this is just part of a standard rebuild, but I figure, I have only sunk $1,000 into her so far... why not make sure she's real reliable? My ultimate goal is to have a mild trail rig, and the most important thing to me in that respect is to have a reliable vehicle. Lack of power can be overcome with gearing (in most cases), but there's not a whole lot you can do if your motor implodes on the trail. I plan to go with quality, recommended parts wherever possible (most likely a number from engnbldr), and quality machine and repair shops wherever possible.

This is the basic plan, but I'm sure it will be changed as I go through the tear down.

 

So, I made some progress today (ok, not literally today, but the day I took the pictures). Here are the things I have accomplished so far:

• Remove the Radiator and took it to the repair shop
• Removed the Power Steering Pump from the engine
• Removed the Air Conditioning Pump from the engine
• Removed the Upper Intake
• Loosened the Exhaust Manifold bolts

Most of the parts came off relatively easily, once I read the manual and made note of every bolt and bracket I was supposed to remove. All the parts that have been removed so far appear to be ok (except for being covered in greasy, smelly oil and dirt). I left the Power Steering Pump and Air Conditioning Pump hooked up and just set them off to the side.

Here are some progress pics:






I think I'm just about ready to bring in the big guns and yank this engine out. I still want to finish pulling the rest of the intake manifold off, and then I should be ready to go.

Also, as a note, I am taking numerous detailed pictures of all the vacuum hoses and wiring of the engine as well as marking all the parts to properly relocate them later. If you need a picture of something for an '85 EFI, let me know, I probably have a picture showing how it hooks up, so let me know.

 

Cause they are sexy as heck!

 

iam doing the same thing right know only i payed 2k for my truck and yours looks nicer lol good luck

 

Glad to hear you are doing the same on yours. Its nice to have a car I can work again, and a place to do it.

Just a small update, I still have a bunch of pictures that I need to add descriptions on, but I'm working on doing some of the rebuild right now.

I just got the block and crank back from the machine shop. Everything looks good. Sadly, the head had been shaved down to its limit, so that means time for a new head, guess that means a new Engnbldr RV Head and a new cam too (woohoo).

Due to all the costs stacking up on this project to do it properly, I am going to be taking more time to complete it, but I wanted to make sure things were done right. That includes not following my normal motto of getting everything as cheap as possible, and instead I am using quality parts and highly recommended shops. As an example, I had all my machining done by a reputable race shop in our area... I probably paid $100 to $200 more then I could have had it done at another shop, but the details they focused on tell me I am making the right decision.

Look for more updates soon, including the rebuild process on the engine.

 

So, as always seems to be the case these days, work / life got in the way of working on my project, and more importantly: updating this thread.

I figured I'd start by posting some of my backed up pictures. So, last when we left off, I still had the engine in the engine bay. Well, I guess the first picture now has to be the engine out of the bay and on the engine stand:

Engine on Stand





Look at that oily mess! Keep in mind, this is what the engine looks like AFTER I spent the better part of a day spraying and scrubbing this block down. I probably pulled off 1 lb. of solid gooped up oil / dirt, and probably another 1/2 lb. to 1 lb. of Oil and Dirt that I cleaned off with degreaser. Despite that, the engine still looks like I dropped it in the Le Brea Tar pits.


Digging a little deeper into the engine, I removed the Rocker Cover to see what things looked like there. Now, this was another piece I had recently inspected (about a month prior to beginning tear down). Overall, things look good here... no major sludge build up, and the head components are looking good overall

Cylinder Head



And of course, no tear down thread would be complete without the gratuitus naked engine bay shot:

 

So, one thing you'll notice in the last shot: The Transmission bellhousing is looking mighty greasy. When I originally bought the 4-Runner, I assumed that all the oil leaks were just a bad front main seal. I determined later that there was more than just that, but I wasn't expecting the transmission area to be so greasy looking.

My thought: Looks like the front main on the transmission is going as well. I had a feeling I was going to dig deeper in the transmission then I really wanted to this early in this project because I was starting to have some issues with the synchros. Sometimes the truck wouldn't go into gear, other times it would partially click in and not lock in.

After seeing this mess, I think I'm going to take it to a shop and have them do a full rebuild on this tranny while I've got this thing gutted.

I talked to some friends and found out that there's a wholesale repair shop for manual transmissions here in Sacramento. Supposedly they do all the manual transmission repairs for about 80% of the tranny shops in the area. One shop even suggested I take it to this company instead of them, as their primary service is the removal and installation of that tranny (which I've obviously already done). That will come a little later though.

That's the progress for this update, more to come soon.

 

I'll be watching your rebuild thread. I'll be rebuilding the 22re on my 85 pick up over the winter. Funny thing is my engine has hardly any oil leaks, yet it's using a lot of oil. I'm also losing coolant somewhere. It still runs though, so I'm going to drive it a couple more months.

Whoever rebuilt your engine last time must have done a poor job installing the seals and gaskets. What a mess!

 

Its funny you should mention the last person to rebuild the engine. The previous owner recently got me copies of all the paperwork he had on the vehicle. This includes the major R&R he did about 70k miles ago. Not surprisingly, 70k ago was actually 11 years ago (1998), but I had a feeling this would be the case as this was their "spare" vehicle.

Anywho, it looks like they didn't have the engine rebuilt, but rather had a rebuilt / re-manufactured engine put back in. That would explain why some of the parts were of questionable quality and wear. The block itself does appear to be a "real" Toyota block, and not some cheap Chinese knock off junk, which made me feel a little better overall.

Another gem I found while going through the paperwork was the receipt for the last time the Radiator was replaced. It appears that the radiator had a "Lifetime warranty" on it. I'm contemplating the shop that did the work to reclaim that warranty, so I can have a spare radiator (or possibly sell it to recoup some of the other unexpected costs).

In any case, this build has been interesting... but I'm trying to really take my time, and replace any questionable parts with new / good ones. We'll see if it pays off in the end.

More updates this week.

 

great project man!!! i am jealous...i almost bought a 1st gen runner for 1500, but i let that one go.
im in the process of putting my rebuilt motor back in my truck and i had a question that i was hoping you could answer for me.

where does this hose go that i marked?
Thanks and i will be watching your progress hah

 

Hey do you maybe want to sell those wheels. I need some stockers for the 4runner I just bought and those would really look great on it.

 

hey Ty, that hose goes to your fuel pressure regulator.

 

thanks 85runner, its been so long since ive worked on my truck.
alright, hijack over...sorry

 

so what happened with the truck ??????

 

Wow, this is a flash from the past.

Well, a lot of things happened after I stopped posting updates. Work became insane again, working 70 to 80 hour work weeks, 7-days a week. Did that for 3 to 4 months. Once that was done, I started making progress and forgot to take pictures.

The following are some additional pictures I took during these later stages (sorry there aren't nearly as many as the tear-down).


Block Fresh From the Machinist


Shots of the Cylinder Crosshatching - Sexy!


Front Shot of the Fresh Block


Prepping the Block for Paint


Priming the Block


Painting the Block - I went with Silver


Painting the Accessory Brackets


Painted Block w/ Crank Test Fitted


Close-up of the Freshly Machined Crank


Radiator Test Mount



Sadly, that was the end of the rebuild shots. After that point, any second I got to work on the Yota, I focused on making progress, and not taking photos. I had the Yota back on the road almost exactly 1 year after I started the rebuild. Total hours into the rebuild was probably about 50 hours, but at 30 minutes to an hour at a time, it took quite a while.

I'll post an additional post with some other update information.

 

The following are some pictures I took of the Yota as it sits tonight.


Front Engine Shot


Iso Engine Shot


Exhaust Engine Shot



As you can see, the engine is sitting nicely in its home. It has about 8,000 miles on it since the rebuild. It runs VERY well overall. Lots of power through the whole power band. It does burn a little oil, appears that I didn't have the correct hone for the top-rings I installed, so they never quite seated properly. It burns about 1 qt of oil every 1,000 miles, but it runs AMAZING. I've been contemplating tearing it back down to do a re-ring, but I'm hesitant with how well it runs.

The engine now also has an upgraded exhaust and LCE Header. It's also got an Engine Builder RV Head and 261C cam. Again, the thing runs great.

Since this I have done the Zuk rear coil install (12"), an AAL up in front, as well as installed a set of 32" BFG KMs. in this state I have taken it off-roading about 4 times now. Sadly, life still doesn't afford me the opportunity to drive it as much as I would like.

Here's how it's sitting in the garage right now:

Front Drivers ISO


Front Passengers ISO


Rear End



As you can see, it has some other upgrades as well: TG Rock Sliders and a TG Rear Bumper. It is currently under the knife again. About 2 months ago I installed 4.88 Gears in the rear to overcome the larger tires at high altitude. As I begun doing the install for the front axle, I realized the axle hadn't previously been maintained much, and decided to do a full axle rebuild.

I'm about 40% through the process (about 80% through the tear down process). I'm hoping to be done with this process in the next month and then have it out on the trail for the whole Spring / Summer / Fall this year if possible.

Overall I'm extremely happy with Yota. I can drive it daily if I want, and it always starts and runs great. On top of that, it does well on the trails. The biggest limits were the gearing (which I'm fixing) and the fact that it's still open / open. I will probably resolve this before the axle goes back together.

So that pretty much catches you up to the present. I am working on unloading my DD Truck right now for an older Toyota Tacoma. Once I do this I will have some extra money (no monthly payment) and hope to be able to dump more money into the interior of the Yota, the place needing the most help right now.

 

Did you use a Rock Engine kit from Engine Builder?

That sounds exactly like my engine that I recently built....rebuilt stock head, no header, same cam.

Runs fantastic, great low/mid range (pulls hills in fifth that used to require a downshift to fourth) and getting 19-20 mpg on 35s (5.29 gears) on my daily 70 mile commute (35/35) that includes a lot of stop and go BUT, it's burning oil.....started out about a quart in a 1,000 miles or so and hasn't gotten any better......it's actually gotten worse!

I too have been thinking about pulling the pistons and re-ringing but, it runs soooo good.

It's frustrating because I am very meticulous about engine work....checked every ring gap (had to file a couple) during assembly and did everything to spec only to have a great running engine that uses about as much oil as the old one!

There's a thread here: https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f116...ealing-215113/ that's interesting reading.

Hans

 

What machine shop did you use and how much did it put you back? I need to get mine done

 

I had all the machine work on the block, heads, crank, etc, done at Rex Hutchison Racing in Sacramento. They are a race shop, but came highly recommended from several friends in the area. The machine work set me back about $650 (Keep in mind, this is a race shop). The work was done well and I was very happy with all the results.

If I were going to be building a near stock engine again, I would suggest going with Bud Walmer's Automotive Machine in Orangevale. They also build race engines, but also do basic rebuilds and engine work as well, and also come highly recommended. I have used them for several other machining projects and all his work has been of equal quality to what I got with Rex (while being less expensive).

BTW, I am somewhat of a machining snob. I grew up in a machine shop, and rebuilding race engines with friends, so I have a tendency to spend more money to ensure quality. There are cheaper shops in the area, and many of them do adequate work for a stock rebuild (at a reduced price), but I'd rather spend extra money and get higher quality results.