motoman555

I have a 89 runner W/3.0 with 170,000 mi which has over heated and sence then i lose water not sure were ? cylinder i think...altho exhaust didnt seem to be white ....i want to do a pressure check on the motor can anyone tell me what the pressure should be on a cold motor. and if i have a bad headgasket should i replace it or do motor swap to a 3.4 or other option? because i have heard horror stories about the gasket problems with the 3.0's
I just want to get some advise before i find out if i have a cracked block,head warpped or what and if i do where i should go from there.

thanks
motoman555

Guardian_Saint

Replace it if you can, a 3.4 swap cost more then replacing the HG, drive it couple more month and see if any white smoke is coming out from the exhuast.

When you start up your truck in cold, does it fill weak on idle than idle strong when it is warm? or hesitating when you accellerate?

When I did my cold compression test it shows around the 160/165 except cylinder #1 show 150, after warming up the truck it shows 165/170, cylinder #1 show 155.

if you find a donor of an 3.4 engine truck then it is a good option but I wouldn't think it is an easy task, but I am also thinking of the 3.4 swap myself, maybe alot of work but if you fill like diong it do it...

motoman555

Gaurdian Saint,

thanks for your post

I drove for a few months after overheating never did see any white smoke

just loss of power lost radiator fluid somewhere and overheating....never

getting too hot.. so it has been sitting for about a year...but i like my runner

and i want to get it back on the road...it always idled good and fired right

up...never hessitated while excellerating just loss of power espesially uphill and would start to overheat

I will do a compression check and repost results

if anyone else has any comments i am all ears



thanks again
motoman555

motoman555

i did my compression testing and all 6 cylinders where between 175-185
on a cold motor....and it is a lil chili here about 45 degrees ..so i may not be getting an acurate reading...i hate to put the motor together to get it to run so i can do a comression check

can you loose water in a cylinder and still have good compression?....is there anyway to check other than taking the head off? cause i really didnt notice steam in the exhaust ...my overheating problem could be that when i took off the thermostat the water was REALLY dirty and sludgy as well as behind the thermostat was some gelatin crap in the hose and thermostat.

thanks for your opinions/help

wayne

dcg9381

If you lost a significant amount of water into your oil, it'll be sitting at the bottom of the pan after a while.. Also open the filler cap - anything white or gray in there?

A better test if you expect a gasket failure is a leak down test, similiar to compression, but requires a compressor and a positioning of the piston.


Sure you lost water to the cylinder?