albrow75

Good people, i'm new to the forum so please work w/ me! I got a '95 4Runner w/ 140k miles. Just had the engine replaced in March along w/ a major tune-up. Still got a few problems...

1. It has no power when merging onto the interstate or pulling a hill
2. Had to take it back to the shop that replaced the engine because a puddle of oil was under it on Wednesday morning.
3. It's drinking coolant! Can't find a leak and it's been pressure tested and found nothing. the 'yota shop did recommend replacing upper/lower radiator hoses.

Any help on the above would be great. i'm down $6500 for 2008 in this bad boy!!

$5,000 for engine
$400 for stolen Cat Converter
$400 to replace CV boots
$500 to replace ignition module.

toyminator2000

Sounds like a blown headgasket.

toyota4x4907

check. double check and check again your whole coolant circuit.park in a garage or on a level, dry surface over night and take off the skid plate, then check underneath in the morning for wet drips. When my radiator first started leaking a year or so ago, I didn't know it was leaking until last march when I thought I blew the head gasket.
There could be a HG failure from the water routes to the outside, but not to the combustion chamber. That could be why you're having good pressure. If any of the cylinder's pressure was lower than the other ones, even by a few psi, I'd look into that cylinder.
Where did the oil leak from?

jener8tionx

If you aredrinking coolant, it can only go two places, into the oil, or onto the ground. Check for both like toyota4x4907 said.

mnmontana

sorry dude, definately sounds like head gasket...


$400 for a cat???? Damn dude.... I paid 60 for mine at Kragen.

albrow75

not sure where the oil leak came from...i got out the truck and woke up the next morning to a nice puddle of oil in the driveway. i thought it might have been a blown head gasket but the truck is running as "normal" and no white smoke or loud knocking. I threw a new radiator and hoses on this boy w/ the engine.

im not much of a mechanic (yet) so i'm pretty much paying a local shop to do most of my repairs...

SEAIRESCUE

Your experience crops up on this board quite often. There must be a lot of ineptitude in those repair shops these days.

Tell us if its a V6 or 4 CYL.

No excuse for the oil leak. No excuse for the coolant consumption. All that rests on the shoulders of the repair shop for doing shippy work. Start keeping track by date and issue of all your problems. You may have to take them to small claims court to get your justice.

In my younger days, we always pulled the engine and took it to the local machine shop to have the engine overhauled. You generally talked to the shop supervisor once all the parts had been cleaned and inspected for next course of action. In the end, you picked up your long block ready to install and hook up with minor parts replacements along the way.

If your goober shop did all the work in one of their stalls, good luck. They do that to save money while charging you for a "engine rebuild" that often doesn't turn out so good.

I would expect the repair shop to discuss at length what they did to your engine and where was it done. Lack of power can be many things. Incorrect cam timing, cutting too much off a 4 cylinder head will retard the cam timing and can only be fixed with an adjustable cam gear. If its a 6 cylinder, a tooth or two off on the belt timing will usually affect the power. Poor job of installing the rings and breaking them in will affect power.

Best of luck with the mess. Have another shop pressure test your cooling system. May as well have them perform a cylinder leak down test or at least perform a cylinder gage pressure test to check the rings. Listen to the exhaust for any flutter at idle. Maybe some of the exhause valves are not seating?

My $0.02

Dan.3

is the oil milky? if it is its a gasket. lack of power is normal typicallyl. ask anyone with a 3.4 swap.

space-junk

iTrader: (1)

also, check the drain petcock on the bottom of the radiator... i accidentally left mine open a hair, and when it got under pressure it would leak out, but as soon as the truck cooled down, no more leaking...

GorgeRunner

Coolant can also leak directly into an engine cylinder where some portion of it will be burned off, look for anti-freeze smelling exhaust fumes. I believe this may be happening with the 3.0 in my 95 4Runner, meaning a head gasket replacement in the near future. The engine runs fine and there is no smoke, coolant in the oil or oil in the coolant.

I think the 3.0 is pretty much gutless even with no problems, but if you paid $5K for a new engine, it shouldn't be leaking anything. If you paid your "mechanic" with a credit card, I'd threaten to dispute the charges unless he made good.