I just bought a little 91 2wd 22RE truck for my 15 yr old daughter. It has 154800 miles. It was only $300. The body was straight and with a little cleaning up I thought for $300 it's worth a try. I think it has been sitting for at least two years.

The guy I bought it from said that it needed engine work, that it ran really rough and had white smoke coming from the exhaust, he said. So I thought, it probably has a blown head gasket and I can handle that. I towed it home and started cleaning it up. Last night after I pressure washed the engine I pulled the plugs to see what they looked like, they looked pretty bad. They were moist with almost a rusty smell to them, in fact, I could see small beginings of rust on the plugs. I was wanting to try to start it up and see how bad it ran but that rusty smell on the plugs scares me. Could there be rust on the cylinder walls? Do you think I ought to pull the head off and check it first? Also the oil was pretty nasty, kind of a black sludge.

I'm on a pretty tight budget with this and didn't want to pour a lot of money into it. I'm not sure if I can handle anything beyond having the head done.

Any suggestions?

Thanks a bunch!

 

Use a flashlight (bright) at night to look into the cylinder.. If that doesn't work for you, there is a scope for such purpose... beg borrow one.

What was the water level? A blown gasket, leaking water inside results in rust very fast.. It usually don't get rust in all 4 - where to plugs all the same?

 

A perfectly sealed cylinder won't rust unless a head gasket blew and the radiator fluid is sitting in the cylinder. The white smoke is probably from exactly that. Rust in the cylinder is more than likely just surface rust but I'd do a compression test and if any cylinder is really low, it's probably a blown head gasket. If the truck has been sitting for a while, you'll need to do a major tune up before you crank it over.

 

Yes, the water level was pretty low, it took almost a gallon to bring it up to near the top of the radiator.

 

The plugs were all in about the same shape, pretty gunked up. Also, can I do a compression test w/o starting? Or can I plug in the tester and crank it by hand?

 

One more thing. Last night when I had the plugs out and notice the traces of rust I sprayed some WD-40 into the cylinder, hoping that would add some protection since I don't think it had been cranked for a couple of years. I hope that won't do any harm. I plan on changing the oil ASAP when I get an idea of what my next plan of attack is.

 

wd-40 is fine.
There is a real possibilty of significant rust if it sat for years with water in it...
Consider turing it over via hand first (remove plugs, obviously).

 

If its too bad you can get a 22re for about 350+or-.

 

WD-40 won't do any harm. If anything it would help. You can do a compression test without starting it. Pull the coil wire so you have no spark. If you really want to do it by hand you can too. If you have the screw in type of tester, you can just screw it in and crank it.

 

Oh yeah, I was told you could get a 22RE for about $350 too but I was really hard pressed to find one in these parts for that price. I ended up rebuilding mine because I couldn't find anything decent for less than $600.

 

I'll be selling one for $500, but I'm aways away... TX.... I see em on ebay for less - so many that's an option if you're willing to freight.

A GREAT rebuild is Ted's kit + maybe $300-400 in machine work (tops).. So you're talking $600 - 700 + your time for a motor that will do another 200k.

 

If you haven't drained the crankcase oil yet, watch out. We did the same thing and there was more H2O that drained than oil. ICK

 

I would do a compression check before tearing it down. Being that its a 22re it is quite possible that the timing chain guides are gone and the chain wore a hole in the water pump section of the timing chain cover, allowing water to enter the oil and blow the white smoke. If/when you do decided to tear it down take the timing cover off before cracking the head bolts loose (part of the process but just wanted to mention it), have a good look at the drivers side portion of the cover where the water pump is. If there is any sign of damage to the cover (i.e reverse train track ruts) replace it. Another good idea is to not drain the oil until after you finish the rebuild, that way anything that falls into the oil pan gets carried out with the old oil when you drain it.