cjjaneiro

i am 17 and have ah 1994 4runner 3.0 sr5 that blew a head gasket. I got the truck torn down, put the new gaskets on, had the heads cleaned, pressure checked, decked and reinstalled them. I had the bottom end on TDC when putting the heads and cam back on. I now have both camshafts installed and the holes for the key's are matched up perfectly with the camshaft cover. The main question I have is do i have my camshafts in the right position as long as they match the camshaft marks on the cover and the crankshaft is on TDC. Also when tearing the engine apart i noticed that when my camshafts were alligned with the camshaft marks on the cover my crankshaft mark was on 15 and not on 0, could you please help me know why this was and do i need to put it back on 15 when i am doing the install. Thank you

OutlawMike

Some golden rules:

The crankshaft should be on TDC of the #1 cylinder for all of this work. Regardless of where it was before, it needs to be on TDC when installing the new timing belt.

When measuring the position of the camshaft you need to have the crankshaft pulleys installed to get a good eyeball of alignment. Aligning off of the key will get you close, but you will most likely find that when you get the pulleys on it is off by a tooth or two.

So, as you stated below, as long as your crankshaft is at TDC of #1 and the camshaft pulleys are aligned with the marks on the sheetmetal cover behind the pulleys, you have it alligned properly.

Congrats on doing this job at 17, very industrious of you and says good things about your attitude towards a hard job. If you run into problems, PM me directly or post up here, the guys on this site will get you the info you need.

Picture below of my motor with the belt installed, as a reference for you (note, my motor is an '89 3.0 and has a different tensioner than your motor, you do not have the spring style tensioner that I have).

cjjaneiro

i appreciate the help, i should have the engine done tomorrow or thursday so ill let you know how it goes. and just to be sure before doing it, you say it is best to have the pulleys on to judge where to have everything alligned and as long as my crankshaft is a TDC and my camshaft pulley marks line up to the sheetmetal cover it will be fine? And also, why was my crankshaft at 15?, thanks for the help

OutlawMike

Exactly, get the crank lined up at TDC, and leave it there. Put the camshaft pulleys on and align them with their marks on the sheetmetal shield behind them. It is best if you have two people to put the new belt on, to keep tension on the belt as you feed it over the various sprockets. The camshaft sprockets like to move, as they are being pushed on by the valve springs. Having a second person helps keep everything in place.

The first time I did this, after rotating the crank through the specified number of turns, I was off by a tooth on the driver's side sprocket. So, had to line up the crank again and go for round two. The key thing is making sure you pull all the slack out of the belt between the crank and the driver's side sprocket. That is the one that goes over the water pump idler. Then, when going between the two cam sprockets, you need to get the slack out, but not move them, that is a bit tricky. If you do that right, all the slack is taken out by the tensioner and you are good to go.

As for your 15 degree issue with the crank. You very well could have bumped it without noticing that you did it when you tore it down. Or, you could have slipped some teeth on the belt, but it would have run like crap if that was the case.

Just ignore that part of it for now, as the correct way is as described above. It is not an interference motor, so no damage would have been done if it had slipped on you by 15 degrees.

Are you doing this project by yourself, or is someone helping you out?

Good luck, let us know how it goes.

Mike

cjjaneiro

the story behind the truck is that a guy i new had bought it brand new when living in florida. He drove the truck until 2001 when the head gasket blew. After being fixed he moved to asheville, nc which is where i lived. At the beginning of this month he was pulling in his driveway and the head gasket blew again, fortunately it happened right at his house. He no longer wanted to fool with the truck so he sold it to me for 600. The man that owned it was the most picky person i have ever met, there truck litereally doesnt have one dent, ding, scratch, or flaw on the exterior and the interior looks like noone has ever sat in it. Ive done everything so far alone in my fathers shop.

cjjaneiro

and also just to make sure even though im sure this would not be the reason for the crank being at 15, if the shims in the head have been replaced could this be the reason why my crank is at 15, i really appreciate the help.

OutlawMike

Sounds like a sweet find, a good one to put back on the road.

By shims, are you referring to the valve shims? The shims on top of the valve buckets? They would not affect the timing of the crank relative to the camshafts. The only thing that affects that is the belt. The only mechanical linkage between the camshafts and the crank is the timing belt. The relative clocking of the camshafts to the crankshaft is only controlled by the belt.

If you had a 15 degree difference between the two, there are only three possibilities that I can think of:

When the head gasket was done last time, the 15 degree error was done with the belt installed incorrectly.

The belt slipped some teeth at some point since the head gasket was last done.

When you tore it down you bumped it a bit without noticing once the belt was off. (My vote, as it would have run like crap with that amount of camshaft timing error. If the guy as as meticulous as you say, he would have noticed and had it fixed.)


But, regardless, you have had the heads off, have had them reconditioned, and have inspected the cylinder walls. If that all looks good and the decks on the block are straight, then you are good to go.

Oh, did you replace the head bolts? According to Toyota they can be re-used, but it is good insurance to put new head bolts on a motor that has had head gasket issues.

Let me know if you have any other questions,

Mike

cjjaneiro

The gasket kit i got came with the head bolts so i went ahead and installed the new ones. Thanks for the help and i will let you know how it turns out

cjjaneiro

hey, i got the 4runner put back together and it cranked right up. It is blowing white smoke and misses really bad. No fluids are leaking out of the vehicle. I checked the engine oil ( which is brand new ), and it is some what milky, but i assume this is probably from any left over antifreeze that was in the engine. Could my distributor timing be causing me to miss and blow white smoke. I appreciate the help. thanks

cjjaneiro

i also have 2 hoses that are T shaped that when looking at the motor from the front of the truck are located in the back left hand side. Both of theses hoses have rubber hoses on the ends that hook into the intake chamber, but both tips that form a T on each of these hose connectors have no hoses on them. One of them is sucking in air when i run the vehicle, the other does nothing. I also have 2 hoses that are dry rotted that go from the power steering pump to around the same area as the T's, but do not connect to anything but both odviously connect to something because they have the metal locking bands. i dont know if this is related to the way the truck is running right now, i highly doubt it because i plugged up the one that was sucking in air and it did not make a difference. Thanks

cjjaneiro

i also figured i'd tell you i think i know why my miss is so bad. I left the crankshaft pulley on 0 when i installed the distributor. I just bolted it up in the same position is was before i tore it down. I honestly dont have much knowledge on distributor timing. im going to send you a email to just to make sure you get this. thanks

bob hennig

That power steering switch on the pump is set up to bypass some air to raise the motor speed when powersteering is run from lock to lock I repaired one unit which was always low on power steering fluid and fountd that valve had ruptured internally and was allowing engine to steal powersteering fluid and burn it, made some white smoke out tail.
Engiine roughness, seal all vacumm leaks off, check timing, set to factory spec. Warm up and recheck timing after run in. Also can check belt mark alignment if desired by removing top cover, set crank to 0 degrees and check for alignment of marks on cover. For future reference, the 3.0 is a long belt with a lot of turns, most belts have marking on the od of belt where if you put line on crank pulley at 0 degrees and follow wrap around cam pulley, the line on belt will position in cog tooth at timing mark and loop to next cam pulley and go to time cog again. Helps out especially if old like me and bad eyesight. white smoke can also signify water into combustion chamber so look for possible leaks. Spark plugs can be read to see if possibility. B