umm.. ok. How about, some smoke ok. LOTS of smoke, in particular BLUE.. means something bad. Just saying. Possibly a HG or something else.
No amount of seafoam or new cat will fix that.

Look in your coolant.. look oily? Milky? Catch it before it ruins your engine.

White smoke, sure a little is ok. Normal. valves a little old, burning alittle oil. No prob. wierd colored smoke.. ICK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes, have someone do a comp test on it... check your coolant. If you have a bad HG or something else.. catch it before it gets bad. A comp test would tell you if something is up, say the HG around number 2 or 3 or whatever is bad.. youd have very LOW comp..

Does it run even? can you tell? a 22r is harder to tell on as its a inline. On a v6, you can tell really quickly. The engine is bad out of balance and will literally kinda bounce in the bay as the dead cylinder does nothing.

 

did you go to one of our infamous smog shops that gives you another try free? if so heres what i would do. tune the engine, i mean TUNE it. new plugs that fire hotter and a cap and rotor and wires. new fuel filter and acat from summit or jegs or one of those type places, then run seafoam in it and it should pass with flying colors.

 

i've been driving this thing to work everyday since i bought it (illegally). The thing runs well. I do here what sounds like a timing belt in High RPMS binding or slapping. The only thing that is killing me is this smog deal!!!! When parked and given gas I get smoke. The coolant looks good. I did replace two spark plugs that were black.

 

Ok, so not that im opposed to any of these methods.. but a 90 engine had more then enough tech to make it pass with flying colors. If your having to do some serious voodoo to make it pass, somethings up with the engine. Im just saying, do what you need to pass but also look into the engine. As a mechanic, trust me.

I have a 90 runner, and it passes with flying colors.. no sneaking this or that. why? Its a well kept engine. Sure as they get older, theres a little more blowby, a little more oil usage. We all have the damn oil leak we cant find or know where it is but know its a rear main seal and are like, AHHH I dont want to spend 2 days ripping it out to fix it. But, a TON of smoke is serious. It is.

Seafoam only does so much. Its like adding Lucas oil to a bad Tranny, like sneaky used car dealers do. Sure, it fixes it.. FOR awhile. About as long as it takes the buyer to get it home, then WHAM! the tranny falls out.

SOrry. I see people all the time come to me with, well I did this to MASK it instead of fixing it. Sure it gives me A TON of buisness but it kills cars.

 

GVOLC- So what should I do???? New motor or rebuild???? I need something that I can trust in the middle of the mountains. I don't want to waste anymore money, I just want it fixed. I bought this truck for 2K. I wasn't planning on putting this much into it. It had an oil leak at the front of the crank that was an easy fix. I thought that was it and I was ready to go another 100k miles. The guy I bought the truck from left town and my dumba@# bought it before getting it smogged. I just want someone to give me the facts. I don't trust mechanics in my area!!!!!! You guys have been great!!! Can someone tell me what I need to do to make this 90 4x4, a 100k before anything major, truck!!!

 

dude DO A COMPRESSION CHECK! also, you got the title with his name, correct? report him to the state saying that he lied to you about it smogging perfectly (which i believe is AGAINST THE LAW) and he'll have to fix it himself. UNLESS he told you there was a problem with it. check the timing, run seafoam, do an oil change, (put 20w50 in there to try to slow down the oil burning, worked well for me), put new spark plug wires, new spark plugs (MAKE SURE THEYRE GAPPED PROPERLY!). trust me dude, my 22re has about 300,000 miles on the clock. (my sig says 260,000, but when you take into account the oversized tires, it goes to around 300). if all else fails, and you need it smogged ASAP and just cant afford all those repairs now, run your tank to 1/4, put a bit of acetone in the tank, so its 90% fuel, 10% acetone. dont do this all the time, cuz it could screw up the injectors. id get the problem fixed asap. tell us what you find with the compression check... i believe the compression is supposed to be around 170 in each cylinder. i have about 168 in each cylinder, so im not doin too bad. you should be in that area too. if not, then u got a HG issue. good luck!

 

welcome. i'd recomend a basic tune up: pcv, spark plugs, air filter, oil change, and of course a sea foam treatment for high 02 and for knocks a cat. converter should help. as for the paint do a good rattle can heres my old truck that i painted myself, its the one on the right of course, the toyota

 

James if I were you I would buy a new engine for $1600. A shop up in Lake Arrowhead told my son $1300 to $1600 to just put a head gasket on it. At that time, I just had a massage heart attack so I could not work on it. Therefore, I ended up with it. Since they would only give him $150 for it. I found my engine on ebay. Your end up with less problems.

However, if you want to try to smog it again. Instead of replacing, the 2 spark plugs replace them all. What did the other 2 spark look like? And check all your vacuum lines.



http://www.jaroca.com/4RUNNER/Hooked_4runner.htm
87 4-Runner 4X4
New Engine
New Clutch
2 Inch Body lift
Silicone Lines
32X15.50X15 Pro Comp Mud Terrain Tires
15X8 51 series Pro Comp Black Powder Coat Rims

 

a new cat. did the trick. I PASSED!!!!!! I brought the HC's down to 82 at 15 mph. My trusted mechanic said i still have some issues with oil going through the motor, but I should run it till it dies. He said it would be more expensive to do head work then to just by a new motor. As for now, I am happy for the next two years!!! Any suggestions on how to keep this thing running good???? I added some 20/50 to it and she really liked it (almost no smoke).

 

Well good. HAHA, a little to much oil burning through. HA. If I were you Id seriously check your oil every day.

Other than that, good job. Just remember a couple things.
1. that cat of yours will clog in no time flat, just be aware and make it a semi regular thing to change. That much crap shooting out your exhuast it going to make you clog it quicker. Just something to be aware. Also, make sure you change your oil often...

2. I would still run a comp test, just to get an idea how the cylinders are holding up. Remember, if the vavles and various other pieces are allowing a large amount of oil by.. you would notice a lack of compression. SO, I mean.. a comp test will let you know if its just cylinder 1 thats funky or 1 and3, understand? lets you know which one to watch down the road.


Also, good luck. Weve all had beaters at one time. hell, theres just something about them. They are often as loyal as dogs, depenable and quirky.. like dogs.
I had a old subaru station wagon, I mean OLD. This thing was flooded, 2, dont ask me why and still ran to 300k miles. Anyway, good luck. Check your oil, watch your comp and have fun.





This I would recommend you save up for:
1. FIgure out which cylinder is the bad one, hopefully its just one or 2. Maybe get those fixed? Or, hell a new remaned engine is nice. They usually come with a warrenty. Go Jasper, not rebuilt but REMANDED. Everything, and I mean everything on the engine is put back to factory spec and it comes with a multi year warrenty. on a little 22re, you should actually be able to install it yourself over the weekend.

2. CHeck your plugs OFTEN.. if you are blowing by as much as you say.. every 6 months. Also, this is a cheap way to tell which cylinders are bad. The ones in which your plugs look like crap, well there are the culprits. JUst keep good plugs in there.

Thats about it.

 

Good old Lake Smellsomemore, hahaha. I grew up in Lake Elsinore. My wife is from Canyon Lake. Brother still lives in Murrieta. Still hot as hell there? I haven't been down that way in a long long time. Thinking about coming down that way in July. Where in Elsinore do you live? I grew up out off of Lake street. Just to the north of Terra Cotta Junior High. Back then there was only one housing tract, with maybe 150 homes nearby, I hear it's full of homes now. Anyway, Good luck with the truck, I myself am in the same boat, but with a broken rod in a 3VZE.
Tim

 

I live just above canyon lake. YES, IT IS STILL HOT!!!!!! I haven't gone outside yet today due to the heat. There is homes on every square inch of land. Thanks EVERYONE for your help! THis site is awesome!!!!!!

 

At least past now it time to have fun. when the radiator fluid streight through the exuast or the engine won't crank. Run it tell it dies.

http://www.jaroca.com/4RUNNER/Hooked_4runner.htm
87 4-Runner
Just wait for ups for my 488 Gears Aussie Locker in the Back
Rock Sliders
Making my own 1 1/2 Ball Joint Spacer
Rear Shackles