slamigo

Hi all,

I have a 1989 4runner with the 22RE. I noticed that the heater wasn't working great and even after an oil change, there was some chocolate latte under the oil cap and coolant could be noticed on the dipstick as well.
The previous owner had replaced the timing chain and used metal guides but didn't replace the timing cover. He said it was grooved by the old timing chain, but not bad enough to leak in his opinion.
I replaced the thermostat and put in new coolant and oil change and it still has no heat and there appears to be coolant in the oil. To clarify, I wasn't driving around, I just ran the engine for a little bit in my garage.
I did a compression test and the cylinder 4 was low. It ran about 125 PSI. I put a little bit of oil in the plug hole and it showed normal pressure.
I was thinking this was the head gasket, but could it just be the timing cover leaking?
I've decided that I will tear it down and replace the head gasket and the timing cover. Now I'm wondering what to do about the low compression in cylinder 4. I'm also wondering if I should rebuild the engine. I was looking at the engnbldr heads and they look like a nice option, but is it really necessary?
Also, what about the bottom end? Should I be thinking about rebuilding the bottom end as well? I'd like to get some more miles out of this rig.
Thanks.

slamigo

Also, what's the easiest way to figure out what's causing the low compression? Is this most likely a leaky valve or worn rings? Cylinders 1-3 are great.
I was looking at the engnbldr stuff for a rebuild. What do you guys/gals think?

dcg9381

How many miles are on it?
How far up did the compression go when you added oil?

A leak down test can usually tell you a little more about what's bad on the motor and may give you a "for sure" answer about the timing cover. If you wanted to, you could start with the cover disassembly.. How has it been OK after you bought it?

slamigo

it's been fine since I bought it. The only symptom was the low heat level from the heater. The truck has around 160k miles.
After I added the oil to cylinder 4, it read around 184, just like the others. That PSI sounds high, but I didn't run the engine to warm it up first. I was worried about coolant/oil mixture messing things up inside the engine so I just did the compression test cold. I'm not sure how this would effect things exactly, but the compression all seems high. It might also be my compression tester? Even so, cylinders 1-3 were all within a couple of PSI of each other.
All cylinders tested (on a cold engine) were found to have around 184-186 PSI. The 4th had 128 PSI, then after oil was added it read 184.

Stock 87

I say head gasket. Coolant in oil. Low compression #'s my moneys on the HG

slamigo

well, when I get the head off I'll take a look at the block and see what the rings look like. I'm hoping it's just the head gasket. 160k miles is not that much mileage for a 22RE bottom end. I'm hoping to swap the timing cover and head gasket and see how it holds up. If I get 50-75k out of it I'd be happy. By that time, I'll just get an engnbldr head/cam and go to town on the engine with a proper rebuild.