highlakesman

Hello everyone, I am a newbie here. I just bought my first Toyota project and am very excited. It’s a 1986 4Runner SR5 Turbo.
When I bought it the guy told me it had a new head gasket (is there a way to visually tell if he didn't have receipts?) He advised me the timing chain cover had been eaten through (the normal Toyota thing), I checked and it had the milky look in the oil. We ran it for a moment and it had a lot of steam coming out, it did not look like smoke but more like white steam. The engine ran very smooth though, no knocking or clicking. When I got it home I pulled the spark plugs and the back two plugs were wet and the front two were dry.
With the coolant in the oil from the hole in the timing chain cover, could the coolant make it into the cylinders?
To me this seems like it’s still the head gasket along with the timing chain cover, or possible even rings/valves. I got a timing chain front end kit from ENGNBLDR, I was hopeful to change that out and be on my way. After pulling the plugs and thinking about it, I am nervous to do all the work replacing the timing chain, etc. to have to end up redoing it if I have to rebuild the motor.
What do you guys think? Should I take my chances and just do the timing chain/cover etc., or do you think it’s best to just rebuild now and start out fresh? Did anyone else have this problem, how did you fix it? (Please keep in mind I am budget limited)
Thanks for the input and help.

85gijunk4x4

sounds to me like the broken timing chain cover was the reason the headgasket went in the first place...the broken timing chain cover is probably weakining (or already blew) the headgasket again

84YotaBuck

I'd put a new timing chain cover/steel backed guides on it, drop the oil pan to clean out any broken pieces, flush the motor to get any coolant out of the oil and fire it up to see what happens. Probably the most inexpensive route to go, so if the headgasket is still good then you are good to go. You'll learn a bunch along the way as well.

xxxtreme22r

compression check on the engine should tell you if you have a bad bad gasket or not.

waskillywabbit

iTrader: (-1)

Do the above and make sure. Nothing worse than tearing apart the motor to do the timing chain only for that not to fix it and have to tear it down again. Been there. Done that. PITA.

:wabbit2:

annoyingrob

Rather than a comrpession test, I would recommend you get (buy, rent, borrow, etc) a leakdown tester, and test each cylinder. If you have a leak into your cooling system, you will hear the cooling system bubbling, and see the coolant level rise in the rad.

A gasket kit, and new set of head bolts is like 65 bucks from ENGNBLDR, and it'sonly a few more hours of work on top of the timing chain, plus it makes replacing the whole timing assembly a little bit easier with no head.

I went through a similar situation last month, where my thermostat stuck, overheated the motor, and I started getting steam out my exhaust. It turns out I cracked my head. I bought a gasket kit, new head bolts, and a performance cam while I was at it. I already had a replacement head, and new metal backed timing chain kit. Took 3 days, and all is good.

highlakesman

hey everyone, thanks so much for the input, much appreciated.

I pulled the head this weekend and discovered it's time to research, "decent engine build on a budget" ;-)~ LOL

Currently searching other threads for more info on how the stock turbo affects the engine build, if anyone would like to point me in a good direction or has a suggestion, good key words, that would be great. Thanks again.

annoyingrob

With a turbo, I can't stress it enough, but buy a good quality head gasket. If you're going to be spending a little more coin on ANY part of the build, a good quality head gasket is a must, ESPECIALLY if you want to be turning up the boost on the motor. A turbocharger will increase combustion pressures significantly, and put an incredible amount of stress on the head gasket. OEM head gaskets are a good quality gasket. They're a bit more money than a n aftermarket one, but don't skimp on a turbo motor.

I would recommend getting the head machined flat, block too if you can. You can usually get away without machining the head and block, but I would recommend doing it if you can afford it, especially if the motor has had head gasket issues in the past.


So did you find an obviously blown gasket when you took off the head?

highlakesman

Thanks so much, that's the kind of info I need. I'm looking at replacing the motor.

When I got the head off there was a lot of rust in the cylinders. Also, the cylinders are really glazed as well, looks like it was abused (225k miles).

I was looking at the ported head from ENGNBLDR. I don’t know if because it’s a turbo if I need a special motor with stronger pistons for the compression and a higher presser oil pump.

Basically, I want to keep a strong reliable motor, and if possible, get a little more power.

Any keywords/links for my searches would be greatly appreciated! Thanks so much.

annoyingrob

The turbo motor uses a dished piston to lower compression. You'll need to get "turbo" pistons. Other than that, everything else is pretty similar enough to work.

Are you planning on just re-boring your old block and getting new pistons, plus a new head?

highlakesman

sweet, thanks for the info! Not really sure yet what direction im headed, lol. I have never rebuilt a motor myself before, done everything but the short block. Little nervouse to do it myself. Im thinking of getting a short block locally, and the ported head from ENGNBLDR, but still researching. lol.. thanks so much!

annoyingrob

If you get a new block, you will also have to deal with the turbo oil feed and drain. The non-turbo blocks have provisions for them, but they need to be drilled and tapped.Not that big of a deal, any machine shop can do it for you.