Well, inspired by all the folks doing teardowns of the engines on here, I decided to open up the top of my 3VZE. GEEZ, is it nasty inside the TB, plenum & intake! I have a pic of the inside of the plenum I'll post tomorrow that you won't BELIEVE all the crap inside. Here's the preliminary pics:

Throttle Body:


TB Inside:


Intake:



See the bolt in the center down on the intake manifold? It was so loose it was wobbling in the threads!


I'm going to replace the injector O-rings as well because they just rotate in the socket very easily. I'm planning on a starter rebuild as well... more in the next couple of days...

The funny part is, it was actually running pretty darned good when I took it apart!

 

I saw the same carbony-stuff in my intake when I had the plenum off a few weeks ago. What are you planning on doing to clean it off? Someone said carb cleaner but what little I tried didn't seem to do too much.

Right now I'm planning on doing a seafoam treatment, but only after I'm ready to change the spark plugs...

 

I'm soaking it in gasoline right now, but I plan to use brake cleaner if that doesn't work. Brake cleaner doesn't adversely affect aluminum, does it?

Man, the plenum has so much crap built up inside you can hardly see through it! I can't believe the engine was even running worth a crap, but it showed no issues and had plenty of power...gas mileage has been down a little, though.

 

The early 3.0 valve covers are known to 'plug-up' as the years go by, restricting the PCV, forcing crankcase gasses into the plenum. Have your valvecovers hot-tanked as best you can; you'll see an improvement after you put it back together. I put a new PCV and PCV hose on while i was in there.

After all that- start running synthetic oil. It leaves 1/20th the mess that dino oils do. I'm a sworn beliver that my 89 has made it past 306K due in part to the Mobil 1 it has had since 230K miles (I'm the 2nd owner).

 

just go get some foamy engine brite, engine degrease, will make it look almost new inside and out... Oh and a pressure washer doesn't hurt either.

 

89934runr: I have used Castrol Syntec oil for almost 100k miles, but I recently switched to regular oil due to the high cost. I guess I'll go back to synthetic next oil change...

Q: Is it normal for the injectors to spin in the sockets? Or is this due to age/wear of the o-rings?

Thanks for the suggestions, guys--keep 'em coming!

 

A pic of the inside of the plenum:


And the end:

 

It is normal for the injectors to be able to move freely, infact thats a good thing. If they dont move then they are installed incorrectly. thats my experience anyhow.

 

Bravo!! Honestly your plenum doesnt look as bad as mine did way back in the day! lol You see those two gray spots on either side of the main intake were the EGR dumps? Imagine the left one being a 1.5" tall mountain and the right one being about 1/2" tall mountain! lol Needless to say I brought it to a customshop and they machined out the main intake to get the crud out and also cleaned up all the runners for me and in doing so fully cleaned it all up. Definatley the best 60 bux Ive spent on cleaning! hehe

My injectors are pretty damn tight but still spin, it just takes a little effort.

 

Here's a list of sites/parts/prices I've gotten in case anyone else wants to give it a go:

SOURCES:
http://www.partsandaccessories.com/ (free shipping on orders over $50)
http://www.sparkplugs.com
Dealership (starter contact set & battery terminal connectors)

------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------

PARTS/#x/PRICES:

Toyota 1994 Distributor Cap Price: $14.51 Qty: 1 Part #: F2010-28453
Toyota 1994 Distributor Rotor Price: $7.17 Qty: 1 Part #: F2020-28441
Toyota 1994 PCV Valve Grommet Price: $9.42 Qty: 1 Part #: B2140-37752
1989 - 1995 Toyota PCV Valve Price: $4.18 Qty: 1 Part #: HAHV85
Toyota 1994 Ishino (OEM) Intake Plenum Gasket Price: $9.14 Qty: 1 Part #: A8041-35920
Toyota 1994 Ishino (OEM) Fuel Injector Seal Price: $0.89 Qty: 6 Part #: C1010-184276
1994 Toyota Throttle Body Gasket Price: $5.20 Qty: 1 Part #: FP60904
Toyota 1994 NPN Fuel Filter Price: $37.10 Qty: 1 Part #: E1000-88740
Toyota 1994 Ishino (OEM) Fuel Inject Cushion Ring Price: $1.90 Qty: 6 Part #: C1011-144317
1988 - 1995 Toyota Fuel Injector O-Ring Price: $6.06 Q! ty: 2 Part #: FPES70600
1988 - 1995 Toyota Valve Cover Gasket Set Price: $28.51 Qty: 1 Part #: FPVS50371R

Sub Total:$144.09Shipping:$0.00Tax:$0.00Core:$0.00Total:$144.09

(from http://www.partsandaccessories.com/)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Item title: NGK IRIDUIM IX 89-95 TOYOTA PICKUP SPARK PLUGS
Web Address: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=230010340780
Item number: 230010340780
Seller User ID: sp.imports
Total: $51.00

(from www.ebay.com)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 - NGK OE identical O2 sensor
Stock Number: 24537
Part Number:
Unit Price: $84.85
Extended Price: $84.85

1 - NGK Premium wire set
Stock Number: 4416
Part Number: TX50
Unit Price: $35.96
Extended Price: $35.96

Subtotal: $120.81
Discount: $0.00
Tax: $0.00
Shipping & Handling: $11.17 (UPS Ground)
Total: $131.98

(from www.sparkplugs.com)
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Positive & Negative Battery Terminals: $18.95 ea
Engine & Battery Side Contact Repair Kits: $15.95 + 18.75
Total Dealership Order: $72.60

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Oh yeah, almost forget these:


$60 off eBay!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hopefully, all this will arrive by Friday & I can get 'er done before the weekend is over...

 

FYI--Here's a pic of the outside:

 

Checked the TPS out tonight & it has a good bill of health! More to follow...

 

OK, got the starter off (Geez what a PITA!), pulled the fuel rail & injectors, used FOUR CANS of Valvoline Throttle Body Cleaner removing all the gunk (boy, this stuff works GREAT!) from the plenum & intake manifold, & polished up the plenum & throttle body using my Dremel tool. I also cut some gaskets for my manual hubs & pulled the old spark plugs. I got some of the new NGK Iridium plugs; we'll see how they work. I also bought new battery terninal connectors...the old ones were almost eaten up. Hopefully the rest of my injector seals will arrive on Monday & I can start buttoning her up. Here's some picks of the progress (I had some BEFORE pics but my camera crapped out & dropped them off):



NASTY injectors


Old Hub with cone washers removed


Worn starter contact


Starter Plunger


Starter end view


Hole where starter WAS!


Old Denso plugs w 50k miles


Close up of old plug; looks a little toasty!


New NGK Iridium plug


Plenum after oven cleaner (Oh $h!t!)--looking a little DULL...also ate the pretty red paint off



Plenum all shiny after pressure wash & Dremel polish!


Can you say OVERSTRESSED bolt? Good thing I had some spares lying around...

 

Forgot a pic of the newly polished TB:

 

I'm at a standstill waiting on parts to be delivered. I'll post pics of fuel filter removal if it doesn't rain today....wish I'd pulled it into the garage before I started!

 

I had mine half in, half out of the garage with the battery disconnected and the driver's side window down when it started raining...

Didn't want to reconnect the battery with all the wiring lying everywhere so I just put a towel on the door and shut it. It kept most of the rain out.

Nice looking engine so far. Since I redid my valve covers and one of the rear cam seals my oil use has dropped significantly!

 

while glancing at the posts i didnt notice anyone mentioning this but defintly get your injectors cleaned/rebuilt.

its money well spent.

I used cruzinperformance for 18 i had done.

 

I cleaned & tested the injectors myself. They are all working great. I used a piece of rubber fuel hose, placed it under pressure with throttle body/injector cleaner in the hose, & applied 12v to the injector intermittently to ensure the flow was good and they were working properly. It's AMAZING to me that something like that can fire probably, what? 10 million times or more over the course of 12 years? Then still continue to work like a champ. Wow. Final thing before the new spark plugs & O2 sensor are installed will be to run a can of Seafoam thru the tank.

Check out these pics of the rear brake shoes. They have over 201k miles and have life left in them! The drums are sound & had no pulsing ever since I bought it in 2000 with 92k on the ODO. This is the first time I've checked them; hard to believe they look so good.



By the way; a 10-lb sledgehammer works GREAT for beating the brake drum loose from the hub!

 

I replaced all the seals/o-rings on the injectors; that's why they were so loose, the old ones were shot. I ended up having to get the lower seals/o-rings from the dealer as they weren't available at a decent price anywhere else. Over $70 bucks for all the injector seals & grommets! Hopefully, I'll be able to get the injectors, fuel rail & plenum/TB all back on this evening.

FYI: Valve cover bolts torque to 48 INCH POUNDS.....I wish I'd gotten a small torque wrench before trying them...

 

UPDATE: Installed a new fuel filter (110,000 miles on the current one) yesterday; it was surprisingly open when I blew thru it. Got injectors & both fuel rails in, left the old brakes on (looked good!), & pulled almost every electrical connector on the truck & sprayed them out with contact/electronic cleaner. I also got the new NGK wires/plugs and Denso distributor cap/rotor in. I've been checking vacuum hoses as I go & found the two that go to the ADD diff almost burned in two where they were contacting the starter heat shield on the exhaust. Glad I found that & was able to reroute them to a safer location.

Put the AISIN hubs on today; that's all I had time to do. They look good! I'll post pics when I get caught up!