Hey everyone,

I recently purchased a 1987 4runner. I took it in to get smogged yesterday and it passed with flying colors besides the failure in a fuction test. The engine was fully rebuilt 7,000 miles ago. The previous mechanic didnt time the truck right. The timing chain is off by one tooth in either direction. Any advice on what I need to do to get started on it? I have all the tools needed to work on it... except a gear puller... if needed.

Would love some advice!

 

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:wabbit2:

 

Have you had the valve cover off yet?

 

You will need to verify that the timing chain is really off by a tooth. The service manual will tell you how to chech it. It is a easy check to do.

 

It's pretty simple hand tools, a good torque wrench or 2 and some time.

 

If it is off how do you know??

One tooth off I don`t think you would have got through emissions

Does it really run poor either ping or no power??

You bought this in a unrunning as is condition??

The last owner drove it for 7,000 miles with the timing off which has me wondering what else is Fubar and how long till it grenades .Maybe it did already that is when the timing chain got installed wrong

Something does not feel good about this one.

 

There's no way it would pass smog off a tooth let alone survive 7000 miles of driving.

How does the engine run? At idle? At full throttle?

Fuel milage?

Engine temperature?

We need more info!

 

Something is not right Mechanic looking to get a big score for no work

 

The last time I took my timing chain off, I put it on and was one tooth off (well, i wasn't, but my distributor drive gear was off a tooth, whch is pretty much as bad). That said, I could not get the engie to idle for more than 15 seconds....so I'm with everyone else here saying it's likely not the timing chain.

Is it timed at all? Is teh valve cover off and if so what do you see at TDC?

 

The truck ran when I got it. There wasnt alot of power when I pushed the truck on the drive home. The gas mileage was around 7 to 11 mpg and the trottle lagged a whole lot. After I took the head cover off I noticed gasket sealer all over the timing chain cover and called one of my friends up at napa and he said that was a big time warning sign right there. He said that new gaskets dont need that and i should rebuild the full upper half of my engine. The clicking of the valves happened after pep boys adjusted the ignition timing but they said it was maxed out. The piston heads have a large amount of carbon deposits on them and the ceramic on the spark plugs are red. ( I think that is from the engine burning real hot.) The temp gauge power wire wasnt hooked up when i first got it.

 

There was an adjustable timing chain sprocketon top that looked like it was slipping back and forth throught the adjusting slot. I got a new timing kit with metal guides, All the gaskets for the header.

 

To check to see if its off. Remove the valve cover. U will see your timing chain and gear right in from. Ensure your truck is at top dead center. And not top dead center on intake stroke, but tdc on exhaust stoke. easy way of doing that is to take the #1 spark omit out. Then thread it maybe 1/4 turn and hand crank motor till u here the #1 spark plug whistle. That's the right tdc.

Now that your at Top Dead Center "tdc" look at your cam and timing chain and gear. Where the gear sits on the cam there is a little notch. The notch needs to be facing strait up. If this is not the case for u then review the factory service manual on adjustment. I haven't had to adjust mine as I rebuilt my motor in time like a smart guy and used a master gasket kit instead of sillicone.

Good luck. Let us know how it goes.

 

I meant take the #1 spark plug out. Sorry my phones auto correct is terrible.

 

After a long week and a half my truck is finally back together! On the second crack my truck started right up! New timing chain, new head gasket. Fully cleaned the engine bay. All that needs to be done right now is it needs to be timed!