jcrimboli

Ok so here's a little background on the vehicle. A friend of mine purchased this 1995 4Runner about a month ago. When we picked up the vehicle the owner had receipts for a new timing belt and water pump, wires, plugs, thermostat, oil pump, and a few other basic maintenance items.

We had a bit of a cold streak in the Reno/Tahoe area and the test drive proved to be solid, minus the need for some new (or machined) rotors.

About a week or so after the purchase, my friend noticed some overheating under load and mentioned a lack of power when he drove over the mountain pass.

As a cheap(er) fix I thought thermostat, but after pulling the housing, I found it to be empty. My next thought was a clogged radiator, however after testing that, it checked out. Then I starting thinking maybe the T-belt and water pump hadn't actually been replaced so I decided to pull the timing cover and take a look; both were new, however I noticed the timing belt had some wear on the outer edge, like it had been rubbing on the fan bracket. Further inspection showed a pretty solid amount of rubber shavings throughout the rotating components (tensioner, fan bracket, ect).

Knowing that these motors are notorious for head gasket failure, I decided a compression test was next on the list and I went ahead and proceeded with the test; all solid numbers. Since I still had the timing covers off, I poked around a bit and took a closer look and found a little trail of dried coolant that was coming from the right bank head.

I tore down the engine only to find a newer set of felpro head gaskets which initially bummed me out. I read a post about someone putting the gaskets on upside down so I figured this could be the issue. Upon closer inspection, I found that the right bank gasket was on the left bank and the right bank had an unknown gasket (possibly from the 3.4??) which was blocking most all coolant flow to and from the head. Anyways, I replaced the head bolts and gaskets and put it back together.

When I put the truck back in time, I noticed the belt wanted to pull itself off of the right bank cam pulley when I rotated the crank. I inspected the tensioner as well as all the pulleys and nothing seemed to be worn or bent. It seemed when I loosened the tensioner and pushed the belt back that it stayed in place. First question: is that a tensioner issue??

I thought I had resolved the belt problem so I put it back together and try to start it up. It cranks strong, I have spark, and it's most certainly getting fuel (plugs are wet), but it won't start.

I went over my grounds and plugs, vacuum, fuel, and coolant hoses and everything is in order.

Spark. Fuel. Compression. It has to be a timing issue right?

I take the timing cover back off and it's still in time when the crank pulley is at 0*. What was weird was that it seemed the marks on the belt I had used for aligning the pulley and belt had moved? Cams were still in time, but it looked like the belt had jumped?

I'm confused. I haven't struggled with a timing belt job in some time. Basically what I want to know is a) why is the belt misaligned and rubbing? and b) why won't it start?

All knowledge is much appreciated, this site has done wonders for diagnosing thus far!

scope103

Don't worry; it's supposed to do that. The marks on the timing belt will "come back" after about 60 revolutions (no, don't bother counting them). The marks are just a convenience to get the belt on; don't worry about it after that.

You checked the VALVE timing, but did you check the ignition timing? Especially, are all the plug wires on the correct plugs? The plugs all have to fire at the right time for the fuel and compression to work.

jcrimboli

I made sure firing order was correct.

5 6
3 4
1 2

Is that right? Is there a possibility the distributor could be a tooth or 180* out like on the 22re?

Also, what about the fact that the T-belt seems to want to pull itself off of the cam gear and rub the fan bracket?

scope103

The firing order is (conveniently enough) 1-2-3-4-5-6 http://www.ncttora.com/fsm/1990-1995...e/services.pdf

Um, sure. The way you ask that question makes it sound like you're guessing. You'll never know anything about ignition timing without a timing light. http://www.harborfreight.com/xenon-t...ight-3343.html

Obviously, something is wrong with the timing belt setup. One thing to look for is the cam sprockets. They are identical parts, but they are flipped over compared to each other, so the lip is on opposite sides of the belt. If both of your sprockets have the lip on the same side, that isn't good.

jcrimboli

The way i described firing order was kind of weird I guess. Right bank is 1, 3, and 5 from front to rear and left is 2,4, and 6. As for the cam gears, they're on correctly. No pulleys seem bent or seizing and the tensioner is ok according to the FSM tests so the belt issue is kind of confusing.

As for the distributor question, I was asking if it's even possible to put the distributor back on a tooth out, or even 180* out for that matter. It seemed it only fit in one correct way, like it was designed as a fail safe so you don't put it in wrong. I'll pull it out today and take a look.

jcrimboli

A little update. Upon further inspection, I noticed the bolt (or idler shaft as they call it at the dealership) holding the idler pulley effected by the tensioner was bent. I'm confident the $24 bolt should alleviate the T-belt creeping issue.

scope, thanks for the feedback. I went back and pulled the distributor out to find the mark on the gearing in the distributor was nowhere close to where it needed to be. Rotated it and reinstalled. Once, I get it back together I'll hit it with the timing gun and report back.\\

Thanks again.