94svt50

I would just keep the vehicle, keep checking the oil at every gas fill up and maybe switch to a heavier weight. You just have to hang in there, things always get better at some point. Just stick with what you got and before you know it your situation will be better and you will be in a position to do what you want with the vehicle.

thook

Just in case you've overlooked the obvious....

If you actually do have an oil ring or valve seal issue....anything internal causing oil consumption....two easy checks would be to inspect your spark plugs and PCV and breather tube (the one going to the intake from the valve cover). If you have either internal issue, you would also have blow by...which would appear as dark oil deposits on the plugs and/or sludge in the PCV and breather. And at the rate you are losing oil, it would be a fairly significant amount. If nothing in either case, you just have some oil leaking. A tune up is not a bad idea, but if it's just leaks they can all be addressed after the trip. In other words, it's nothing serious.....like internal issues. Even then, you can get by for a little while until you can address those.

Just a suggestion....
Until you stop the blow by... or the leaks, it's an awful expense using synthetic oil. It's really good stuff and I'm a firm believer in it, but you'd be fine using something more economical until your problems are solved. It would save a little money to actually fix your problems.

24Runna

Thanks for all the comments and tips guys. I REALLY appreciate it.

It was supposed to be warm today, but it is 27 degrees out. I hate the Midwest and can't wait for warm weather. Currently oil level is fine and I check it alot. Next weekend it is supposed to be lower 40's so I will do it then. I hate the cold. I get all like yea, gonna work on my Runna and then the second I step outside...Oh sh!#, fu*& this. Then go back inside and go by my heater. lol. When it's warm I can do alot, just not when it is cold.

24Runna

Well its official. This Saturday afternoon, after 4 hours of traffic school, me and my two buddies will do the work. Probably go pretty fast too.

Valve seal, some one want just give me a lowdown of the procedure? Searched.

thook

Search the FSM stickied on the main page of this forum. It's in there.

24Runna

Well the day didn't go as planned. I did some stuff, but found more problems .

I replaced the valve cover gasket, the old one was defiantly bad. Just peeling it out it cracked in a couple places and flexing it made it crack all over.

Snapped a head off a bolt (valve cover), so until I can get another one there is one missing. Would that be a problem to drive with?

No sludge, good wear!

Tried doing the fuel filter but gave up as we snapped off 2 bolts.

I checked the T-Case, and to my utter great horror, it was red nad smelled normal. Isn't the Transmission fluid red? Ahhhh!

The air intake tube is cracked, and and the middle sparkplug on the drivers isn't receviening any power because the wire snapped off. is it driveable?

I'm tired and exhausted, update tomorrow.

BigBluePile

iTrader: (3)

I don't know if I can help with the oil, except if you keep putting it in it will always be clean!!! The bolts though, I suggest using PB Blaster to help loosen them up. Good luck with repairs/upkeep...I'm preparing for a timing chain replacement/upgrade.

24Runna

Ok I'm awake now. lol

So heres what we did:
-PO had Bosch +4 in it, I hate those. Put NGK G-Power in. Let me tell you, my hands are sore as $#it.
Reason I replaced them is because they were lose, so lose that I could tighten them with mt finger.

-Tired doing the fuel filter, but we snapped off 2 bolts and nearly a whole can of PB blaster. Its done for. I cut off the cage and PB blastered the line nuts. When it gets warmer I'm going to fab a new cage and change the fuel filter.

-Put a little over 4.8 qts. of Mobil1 high Mileage in, along with a new filter.

-Replaced driver side Valve Cover. No sludge! Good wear! I did that because it was leaking. put a new Genuine Toyota seal on, and let me tell you, the old one was $#it. It cracked by just pulling it out. I'm really hoping this will fix the problem. After doing the spark plugs it looks like the passenger side is the same thing. Gah I think I'll pay some one for that side, lol. As for the drivers side, missing one bolt, should it be fine or no to drive?

-Middle sparkplug on driver side is not firing because the wire sort of snapped off when I was pulling it out. I need to know if it is okay to drive or not.

-Cracked air intake. Time to do ISR mod! But not till next weekend, because I don't get paid till Friday. Used duct tape.

-Cleaned throttle body.

-Friend gave up on fuel filter, so he did a little cleaning of my engine bay.

-Checked the T-Case and to my utter horror it was red, like trans fluid but still smelled strongly of gear oil. Trans fluid level is the same as it ever was.

So my main question is, is okay to drive on 5 cylinders? And is my T-case okay?

TIA. Oh pics! Be back in a minute.

24Runna

Guys, please I need to know if this is drivable with the one spark plug not firing. It's my DD.

24Runna

bump. Sorry I seem impatient (I am) but I know for a fact that there are really knowledgeable guys on here.

rowdy235

well whether or not to drive on 5 is a tough decision. I wouldn't go more than a mile at most. If you do, you'll have crappy power and you can probably forget about it idling. Do it for a long time and I think you may damage your motor.

But you can fix that wire, just clamp the end down onto the wire with some pliers. It'll get ya to the parts shop, or however far you want to go. If you ohm test it and its better than 12, you should be good to go.

24Runna

Thanks rowdy235. Luckily I can use my mom '04 4Runner till Tuesday when sammie89 gets a wire for me. Thank god for that. I most defiantly don't have the $50 for a new set right now. Well unfortunately I did let it idle for 3 minutes and revved it a little. Hopefully that didn't screw up anything. Funnily it idled just fine. I still placed the boot on the spark plug, so maybe it actually passed the electricity through. lol.

sammie89 said that one of the 3.0's he got only ran on 5 for awhile, and when he got new wire for it, it still ran on 5. I just hope that doesn't happen to me. Now my concern is the red fluid that was in the T-Case. Smelled like gear oil, looked like transmission fluid. Never seen anything like that before. I just changed it 2k miles ago. With at least 200 miles of 4WD. poop.

24Runna

!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I just found out that on my trans A340H with the 4.88 gears, the T-Case and trans share ATF fluid! sheeeeeeeet. That mean the PO had hear oil in it, because when I drained the T-Case, it was all gear oil. What the hell did I screw up now?

OK this is really weird. Awhile ago I drained the t-case, gear oil came out. I put gear oil in. I checked it the other day and it looked like ATF fluid. Cooler maybe made it mix?

rowdy235

oh sh it

If the oil and ATF mixed there's no telling what went wrong, or what is going to go wrong. I'd do a flush and change tranny filter, and change t-case fluid right away.

A friend of mine killed his automatic transmission in 1500 miles by adding 80W-90 to it.

1990Runner

i had a bad injector for like 8000 miles and ran on 5 cyl for the first year i had my truck thinkin the miss was an exaust leak or something, so when i got that fixed i was amazed at the power gain. and i didnt mess anything up so your good. but i dont know about the auto tranny seein as i have a 5spd

TOYOTA 1

is the t case chain driven? some toyota t cases take atf!

24Runna

Thanks for the response guys. IIRC, I don't remember my what my tranny is. I do have 4.88 gears though. If I find out my T-Case takes ATF what should I do? are the T-case and trans fluids separated by a seal?

yotaman90

I don't think that they are separated by a seal. If it is an A340H, the tranny and t-case will be one unit. Update: You do have the A340H. If you had a 22R-E 4runner, the tranny would be an A340E, which does have a separable t-case. I'm also almost certain that the A340H t-case is chain driven

thook

The transmission code is on the placard along with your VIN and axle code, trim code, etc. With your set up and year, I bet it's the A340H. But, the tranny code will tell for certain.

If so, they are one unit and the t-case is chain driven. You'll have to have the entire unit flushed and refilled. Monitor the transmission for problems after that.

Running the motor on 5cyl. is not good for the motor over an extended period. It creates excessive wear on the bearings, piston, and cylinder walls at that cylinder. If that cylinder is still dead with new cables, you'll need to look at either that plug or the distributor for the cause. Maybe even that injector....which would create even more problems.

24Runna

F U C K !!!

Well I have the A340H. Which means that it is one unit. So there is 1.7 qts of gear oil in my tranny. *sigh* Well there goes 2 weeks pay for a trans flush.