Gamfreak, yes I understand the overall concept now. Thanks.

SO...I've been thinking about the work I'm going to do tomorrow to figure out what my issue is. I'll now have tools to do the timing and I feel comfortable with it, FSM seems pretty clear about it. However, the compression test, I want some thoughts.

I searched online and found no CONCLUSIVE answer... but thinking through it myself I believe the following is true.
The compression test results of a newly rebuilt engine with just a few miles on it should be generally 'lower' than a properly broken in engine, true? I figure I will test multiple cylinders and compare the results to cylinder one which is possible a problem. What do you guys think?

 

The amount of variance between the cylinders is more important than the actual reading. The FSM states that there should be no more than 14 PSI difference between the cylinders and to have a rating of 171, with a minimum of 142. That's a range of 30 PSI, so it doesn't really matter too much what the reading is but rather how much of a difference.

Also, if you bought your compression check kit from Harbor Freight they have a tendency to read high. As in 40+ high.

 

I got a medium decent one, not from harbor freight. Had 5 star reviews..

I read and have printed the fsm sections. But it doesnt really mention if compression should be checked after breakin or not... ill report numbers here and wait for input .

Hate having to wait 4 days to work on it. Lol.

 

Just to warn you, it is a serious PITA getting a compression tester onto the #5 cylinder. I wish you the best of luck and maybe a cold one at your side (make sure it's not in glass though, as it may go flying at some point!)

I agree with Gamefreak that you will really be making sure that all of the cylinders are pretty close to one another in compression and that the absolute values are a lot less important.

Do be sure to unplug the EFI fuse. There are a lot of steps to checking compression on these engines, and I missed that one my first time.

 

Yah, im not looking forward to this job... hopefully I can get away with just checking the cylinders that are easily accessible and comparing to cylinder 1, which is the one im questioning.

I read through the fsm quickly and don't remember that i had to remove the efi fuse... the utulsa link is down right now so ill make sure to follow all instructions. not about to damage anything after all this work

On the good side of things.. carlos from j&r upholstery gave me a great price for the carpets and front 2 seats.

 

You know, the shop I have a relationship did it for me for free with an oil change once. Saved me a lot of hassle. Don't know if you have that kind of relationship, but if they only charge like $20 - $30 it might be worth it. My shop will also let me in the garage to observe.


Nice about the upholstery! Mine's starting to tear and I'm not sure if it's worth fixing up.

 

Good news!!!! Between cylinders 1, 3 & 4 I have an extremely consistent 150-151 psi!! No engine block problem. I started a new thread to deal with my timing issue which I believ this has now become.

The tools I bought for the compression test were great. It was easy

 

Gamefreak, it was much more worth spending the money on reupholstery than new seats. I really wanted the ease of new seats but the cost was ridiculous. Ill let you know the quality of carlos' handy work.. perhaps u can use hime one day.

 

OK! just keeping up sharing with you all the progress. Heater Core replacement / dash removal

This weekend I removed the dash to put in a new heater core. Holly crap what an involved job!!





Here is an idea of how filty dirty everything was.

But it was all nice and clean before it went back in


Blah, crapy pic sorry. But everything went back together well. I screwed up a little bit on the order of assembly but no biggie. Most importantly, it all looks healthy and fresh-ish (for a 23 year old car!)


I found the culprit of why the eater fan wasn't working.


And just because everythign was going well... I had to screw it up. SO NOTE TO ALL, these little vent thingies are super sensitive. I both broke them and ruined their paint (just the two in the middle) I removed them to clean and accidentally sprayed carb cleaner instead of the window cleaner (both white spray cans.. ) then as i was cleanign them every so gently I broke the little piece in the back holding the individual fins together so they move in unison... then I broke the super dried out plastic hinge. lol.. I'm looking for a new pair now..
Sorry, bad pic again.


And, as seems to be tradition.. I was not able to find where this one wire goes. It's a single wire, with a blue connector. Looks stock (i had to rip out all sorts of alarm and aftermarket stereo wiring!)
The wire tip shows in my hand in the pic.


All in all it was a lot of work but it went well. I put in all new weather stripping everywhere and fixed a couple of broken plastic tabs here and there. Cleaned up crappy wiring and cleaned up unhealthy dirt and dust.

Cars with AC, beware, you can not easily pull out the AC cooling unit as the high pressure coolant lines are connected to it. So, you have to work the heater core unit out, which is made to pull straight out if you have all the bolts removed. I note this because I was using a thread/write up by another member here (i just searched and couldn't find the dang thread to link!!) as a guide but his had no AC...

 

Looks like you're due for a junkyard trip! That's what I end up doing when my interior parts break on me. The more you work on the dash, the faster it is, I can rip most of mine off in 15 min or less now...

About that blue wire, it looks terribly familiar but I can't seem to remember. I want to say it was part of the original stock stereo but I might be wrong... I remember seeing it when I was installing my stereo. I had several wires and connectors that are no longer necessary because of the switch of the stereo. My advice (which is not always the best) would be put the dash back together and to leave in a location that easy to get to, say below the cig lighter so you can access it again without having to pull off the entire dash to get to it. The middle of the dash isn't hard to get to, you just remove some of the lower panels below the steering wheel and the rest will just pop off.

 

Looks good, nothing like ripping the dash apart to know your truck intimately, like doing heart surgery for your truck.

 

Oh myy friend. You are very correct. I know the engiine bbay and now the guts under the dash very well. Minus one blue wire which may noot have a home since it has aftermarket stereo..??
Gamefreak I allreadyy put everythiing back annnd i hhavent run into something that issnt working yet, lool

 

If everything works fine and you have no issues then just ignore it! I've got 4 plugs connected to absolutely nothing behind my dash, I'm thinking they were for stuff like cruise control, daytime running lights and the like which I do not have. Out of sight and out of mind.

 

I just typed up a long post and it didn't go through Anyway, I know this is long, hope you guys can help!

I'll try to re-write it shorter i guess.. lol

GUYS I NEED HELP! I tested spark and compression and am suspecting cylinder one is not getting fuel.. but it is an intermittent problem. I drove the car down through the city today. many stop and go and off and on throughout the trip. about 9 miles into it on the way back the car lost power and engine started to shudder a little.

I waited a bit, it was ok for a little bit and then not good again. I pulled over and removed tps, started and drove about the same for a while then got worse. I plugged tps back in and barely made it home. the engine was at this time idling rough/shuddering. I tested spark to cylinder 1 and it was good. I checked timing, it was right on 10 degrees btdc. Then i did a test the mechanic told used to suspect a problem with cylinder 1 last week. unplugged cylinder 1 when the shuddering/rough iidling was occurring and the engine didn't respond, no change in how it idled. however unplugging the other plugs resulted as expected. thoroughly checked tps and confirmed for good it is all in spec. I took a break form that issue and did some other things... then after just a little while whne i started the engine it was working well again. smoothe and no shuddering. I removed plug 1 and it responded as it should, signifying no issues. I took it up the street and it started shuddering and not working well again... upon releasing of throttle (as it had done few times before) it died. Made my way back to the driveway, removed plug 1 again when idling rough and again, no change.. so the problem is intermittent. And, I have checked spark, i have checked compression.. we are left with fuel.

Do you guys have any suggestions to check things for this issue without removing the plenum? I am not looking forward to it and i want to throw in the towel and take it to the mechanic.

I NEED this car, it's going to be an everyday driver for a while now that my wife used the A4 since she got a job.


Other issued and things I've tested... EGR vacuum control. I know when idling if vacuum goes to egr car dies. i thought this may be seperate issue from issue above and proceeded to test EGR. I unplugged vac hose from egr and plugged it, drove up the street and it still died on throttle release. In addition, i saw smoke under hood. Turns out the steering fluid i refilled in the PS pump reservoir burped out from under cap and got over the exhaust. SO, is the cap made to do this??? should I get a new cap?


Thanks for reading all this!!! now, share your knowledge

 

Look at my thread mainly the pics of my fuel rail. I know you just rebuilt the motor but did you look at the fuel tank? Just a thought.


https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f116...oblems-276982/

 

So, after you read my post above and help me with my problem.. you can come to this post and see pictures

To balance my engine problems with some progress...

My windshield wipers were working extremely slowly and making screeching sounds. I somehow had the idea it's probably the motor and took the cover off. Sure enough, one of the two magnets was dislodged form the motor casing and was jacking up the motor.. surprising that it was spinning at all! Here is the best shot i could get of the dislodged magnet (look left side)


Here is the replacement installed today. Cost, $18 ebay.


Since I was this far, I decided to grease up the other joints inside the firewall and overall clean up the vent area.
Here it is all cleaned up.


These original 23 year old wiper arms look ugly.. took them out, sanded and painted.
Sorry no pics yes of painted ones.. we'll live!.


And, I got my new left corner light in. (turns out I accidentally ordered the blinker from a guy in Singapore. lol should be here next year)
This cost me about $19, ebay.. but used and inside was dirty. I didn't want to take the old fragile clear plastic off so I sprayed glass cleaner through the light hole and with a long screwdriver and some paper towel, was able to clean it all up nicely!


So, the cold start injector connector isn't in the best condition and was missing the clip.


One paperclip + some bending later....


And as a side note to the progress.. these stupid seat belt clips are pissing me off... I can't find a good pair for a 'good price' online.. Anyone have any aftermarket suggestions, please let me know!



OK! All in all... the Runner is ready for a new clean interior before it can be my everyday driver.. minus the previous post engine issue of course

 

Sphealy,
I followed your thread ... I had that in mind during the troubleshooting. I haven't checked my tank yet.. but I don't have a reason to suspect i am not getting fuel to the injectors. Perhaps something on injector one has lodged itself in the way.. but i doubt it since the problem is intermittent. Also, I put a new fuel filter in before ever starting the rebuilt engine. I doubt this is my problem.

I borrowed my buddies fuel pressure tester but haven't gotten around to it since I don't think fuel pressure is a problem.

 

Here is a little video I took earlier today driving in town.. at this time the engine was running well .. albeit a high idle.. (at the end of the 30 second video I accelerate.. took video to record how it performs when running well and when running bad to show mechanic since problem is intermittent.

 

Yeah I wasn't really expecting to find that either and I'm not saying that this has to be your issue too but it is a possibility. Even if you have good fuel pressure you can't test fuel pressure at the injectors and if something is caught for a lack of better words in the rail it could be causing your intermittent problem by getting in the way sometimes and out of the way at other times.

 

Yah. That makes sense actually. Well the worst case scenerio is that I remove plenum to get to injectors. Im hoping to avoid it. Lol