sdjnco1

Hey everyone, im new to the forum and need to get my hands dirty with my 89 pickup 3.0 4x4 233k miles. So my yota recently left me sitting along side the road. I've been searching the threads and havent really found my issue. The summary of what happened is I was driving down a slight incline going 55-60mph. When I put my foot on the gas I noticed there was no response from the engine and I started decelerating. I did not hear any noises from under the hood. I coasted into a pulloff and the engine died. I noticed smoke from under the hood and when I looked under I noticed fresh oil on the driver side engine compartment. It looked as if it shot out from around #6 plug area. Now it wont even attempt to fire up. Oil level is fine. Ive been in the process of pulling plugs which I found out were seized after I bought the truck. I got 2, 4, 6 plugs out currently and they are definitely worn, brownish tan color but all look the same. I havent gotten 1, 3, 5 out yet. The truck sits an hour from my house so I can only work on it on my days off. I was wondering if anybody has had a similar situation happen or any ideas of where to start would be greatly appreciated as I dont have money to take it to a shop. I had been noticing a slight lack of power and an occasional squealing sound from the drivers side under hood area but usually only until it warmed up. Thanks for everybody's time

millball

Not near enough info for a diagnosis.

You should check that the cams are turning. Might be simple as timing belt failure.

bswarm

Does the engine crank over when you try to start it? If it cranks over, does it crank over faster than normal or uneven?

scope103

Fresh oil all over the place is not usually a symptom of a broken timing belt. Of course, it could be a Rube-Goldberg combination of things, like a leaking oil filter slinging oil up into the distributor. But my guess is head gasket.

So I'd try to find the oil leak first. Use spray-on engine cleaner and a garden hose. Then hope that you still have enough oil to crank it a few times to see if you can see the leak.

The easiest way to check "if the cams are turning" is to remove the distributor cap and turn the crankshaft with a socket wrench (19mm). If the rotor doesn't turn, it's likely a broken timing belt (or a few other, less likely, things.)

Another (usually) easy but useful test is compression; that will usually tell you if you have a blown head gasket. But, if you can't get the plugs out this is all going to be a lot more difficult.

Good luck!

sdjnco1

Thanks for the responses. I will try to turn the crankshaft to see if the rotor is spinning. That seems like a good place to start. Unfortunately I cant get to it until Monday