well i did a lt of reading issues that terry caught an some others that id experienced thus why i went overboard on the grounds rust an gaskets to thread locker can insulate a part of the engine from itself then the coolant can become a conductor an it can kill the engine the head to block to body ground is the electrical injectors i didnt like the thin factory wire for a ground so it got improved

 

Congratz my brudda! And nice work on the restore on the terminals!

 

OMG you gotta be kidding me..... I just lost my entire post! I was working on a write up for all the drama I encountered this week with my 4runner. urgh.... Well here goes to typing it out again. I think this time im just gonna do it on Microsoft word. wow this sucks. it was a hell of a lot of info.

 

This past Tuesday I came home from school to see this. Coolant spilling all over the floor. Apparently I had busted another radiator.


I let my girlfriends uncles know about this issue and although my warranty has long been over they said they would help me out by replacing it anyway to help save me money. That little favor helped me save $120. SO that was a plus. So I let the truck cool off for a bit then I opened the radiator cap to see the coolant level and I saw this! My first thought was omg.... I think my head gasket finally gave out! and I seriously belived it due to the oil floating on top there.

This picture was really discouraging to me because I start my hospital internship this coming up Tuesday and without a truck for transportation I am screwed. Not to mention I cant drive any of my parents cars anymore because now we have different insurance companies due to my recent car crash activity. So I pretty much had to sign a contract stating that I will refrain from using their cars or I can be sewed by their insurance.
Upon removing the radiator I found this
(VIDEO)

I just assumed it was where I had been leaking from. Then it dawned on me. DUHHHH ATF fluid is the only thing that should be in there and if I don’t have an auto transmission then there isn’t any way I could have been leaking from there.

So later that day I picked up the new radiator from my girls uncles shop and when I arrived it began to rain lol as if my luck could not get any worse that day right?!?!
(VIDEO)


After setting up my shelter I went ahead and installed the radiator. I was going to keep my original radiator but my girlfriends uncles told me to just go ahead and keep the new one and swap it out so I could completely rule out the radiator out of my truck issues. Just so I could keep a clear mind about it.


After I finished the installation I called it a night and went indoors to stay up late at night to try to learn as much as I possibly could about Leak Down Tests I read a lot of how to articles and watched a lot of videos. The most helpful to me was this one made by EricTheCarGuy

I ended up buying a Leak down tester which I soon learned was the wrong decision to make. DON’T GO CHEAP WHEN IT COMES TO A SERIOUS TOOL LIKE THIS! IT AIN’T WORTH IT!
So I removed all 6 spark plugs and all 6 were covered in carbon build up. None had less than the other. My Haynes Manual pretty much described my engine symptoms perfectly. Misfire, hard start, rich mixture or weak ignition. ---- I dont know about weak ignition but everything else sounds like what im going through. ---- the Haynes manual recommends to make sure if the plug has the correct heat range. I don't remember gauging these plugs but they were supposed to be the correct distance another recommendation says to check for a clogged air filter or problem in the fuel system.
I mean you guys can read for yourselves in the picture.


I ended up doing the leak down test on all six cylinders with the Harbor frieght tester. And came up with the conclusion that Cylinders 1 2 3 4 & 6 we're all ok. Number 5 on the other hand ended up being the defective one. You can clearly hear air coming out of the tailpipe. According to the instruction manual sound of air leakage from the tailpipe indicates a burned, stuck, or worn exhaust valve that is not sealing correctly. And yeah it was some crummy news at the time. But on the good portion about this news, none of my adjacent cylinders, such as #3, were affected. if that were the case I may have had A damaged head gasket. but since I only had air leakage coming out of cylinder #5 the chances were most likely going to be the exhaust valve was not seeling properly.
(VIDEO)

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On a side note if any of you guys ever decide to buy a leak down tester do not go to harbor freight for the tester. The one I bought today ended up being crap. and according to it I had 100% leakage out of all six cylinders which was completely inaccurate because I could definitely tell the difference of numbers 1 2 3 4 & 6 compared to the leaking number 5 cylinder. but luckily #EricTheCarGuy on YouTube showed a quick method to fix a faulty tester and that was to connect the pressure directly to the hose on the cylinder rather then through the guages. and luckily for me he had the same exact leak down tester I bought. So this just confirms Harbor Freight has piece of crap tools and I would definitely not rely on them ever again.

The next day I returned the cheap harbor frieght tester and BOUGHT THIS NICE NAPA AUTO PARTS LEAK DOWN TESTER. I Figured I might as well spend some good money on a quality tester So I did just that. $130 later I had myself a decent tool that would read correctly and be accurate in doing so! I figured if I was gonna have a tool tell me I have a busted head gasket or worse I would rather pay the extra money to make sure I wasn’t getting incorrect results.


The following day I read that one of my instagram followers suggested I do the SEAFOAM treatment on my intake. He suspected it could be a sticky exhaust valve after seeing the picture of my dirty spark plugs. So I went ahead and did what he suggested.
Insert sea foam into vacuum line that leads to intake plenum.


After I did the seafoam treatment I figured I would do another leakdown test.
Here are sparkplugs for cylinders 5, 3, and 1. You can see they are much cleaner this time that I pulled them out after using the seafoam can. Not bad. That stuff really does work. I can’t believe I had never tried it before.


My girlfriend Faby came over to help me do my test since a Leak Down Test is more of a 2 person job on this particular vehicle. I can’t tell when each cylinder is on Top Dead Center while turning the pulley from under the truck and checking the screwdriver going upward from the top of the engine.


Way bigger quality difference on this NAPA Leak Down Tester vs the Harbor freight brand. This is definitely one tool you dont want to be cheap with. Do yourself a favor and pay a bit more to get yourself a quality tool because the cheap ones are just gonna give you bad readings and make you think youre gonna have to replace your entire engine like it did with me. Haha


Dads air compressor took a dump on me. And won’t pump past 60psi. And his larger air compressor wouldn’t pass 65-70. So I had to buy one of my own now.


The unboxing of my new toy. I chose this one at Home Depot because it was pretty compact and I can actually strap this one down on the bed of the 4runner for off-road trips so I can air up the tires. And have it out if the way so the rest of my stuff can fit in the bed. I almost went with the porter cable brand. It was 30 bucks more and I know it is worth the difference but this one was more compact and is the reason I chose this one. It ended up being plenty strong enough to air up my tires. And to hold up 125 PSI for a good compression test


After 1can of seafoam on 2 different days. I re-tested all 6 cylinders and everything looks great . I tested each cylinder 2 to 3 times each. And every time the cylinders came out to be within 10% difference of leakage from each other. Which is normal range. The manual states that if a cylinder has anywhere from a 15%-30% difference from other cylinders that I do have excessive pressure escaping. But mine are reading perfectly fine. Heck yea! Almost made me want to cry out of joy to get this news. Lol jk. But I was super happy! Here are the results to each test:
#1 @ 86psi was at 16% leakage
#2 @ 90psi was at 14% leakage
#3 @ 90psi was at 15% leakage
#4 @ 86psi was at 18% leakage
#5 @ 85psi was at 20% leakage
#6 @ 85psi was at 24% leakage.

At least now I know that I don’t have a head, head gasket, exhaust valve or any other major fix ahead of me.


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Now the search begins to find the stupid monster/gremlin terrorizing my engine and making it have a cold start, wasting gas, and slight hesitation in power.
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On a side note. I do not have any milk shake looking oil at all. And I havent found oil in my radiator so I am completely lost. Maybe it might have been the funnel or the redline water wetter coolant additive that I gave it a few months ago Because I use the same funnel for my oil and collant. I just usally give it a good wipedown.


Yesterday I ran another can of seafoam.
(VIDEO)


After treating it with the 2nd can of seafoam I went to the local pick your part and got a huge find.
I found about seven 1990-1995 4runners. So I took off 2 fuel pressure regulators, 2 cold start injectors, and 2 interior dome lights for the future bed LED lighting modification that I plan to do to replace the weenie light that I currently have in the back there. And a replacement horn that has the 2 wires vs 1 like the majority of the newer vehicles have.


After the 2nd can of seafoam treatment I changed out the slightly dusty air filter, and changed all 6 spark plugs out to brand new NGK V-Power plugs. And after running the motor it a bit it seems to be doing much better now. The exhaust sounds better. There was no cold start when I fired up the engine. And I didnt smell a lot of unburnt gasoline coming from the exhaust anymore. Also before when I would step on the gas upon start up then let go I noticed the RPMs would drop to 400-500rpm then slowly pick back up and go back to 800. So far everything seems to be back to normal.
(VIDEO)


Even after i got done driving the truck a few times around the block and it really seems to be doing better. I really don't smell any unburnt gas from the exhaust. It doesn't hesitate, and it doesn't feel like it has a lack of power when trying to take off quick. And when stopping abruptly the RPMs don't drop down low and pick back up like before, it will just drop to the normal 800rpms. I am contemplating getting a new DENSO o2 sensor. That poor sensor must be all jacked up and obstructed with carbon like the exhaust valves/spark plugs were before. Plus I did the sea foam treatment twice. I think it would be wise to change it out just to see if I get an increase in gas mileage too. Lately I had been getting about 9-10mpg. And that's not acceptable.

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…aaaaaaaaand a Friend on instagram suggested I check to see if I have stored Check Engine Codes. I hadn’t even though about doing that because I didn’t have any CEL turned on. But upon jumping the T and E terminals I found that I had 2 check engine codes stored. They were a code 24 and a code 31.

I mean I’m happy that I don’t have a head gasket issue anymore and sticky exhaust valves thanks to the 2 seafoam treatments I did. But now I need to get to the bottom of both of these 2 check engine lights. First thing is first. I need to clear those 2 codes after doing these changes to the truck. Then I will check on the CEL’s frequently to see if the codes reappear again. Obviously if they don’t come back then I may have fixed it. But if not then I got a problem on my hands that needs fixing.
1) Code 24 –
System = Intake Air Temp Sensor Signal
Diagnosis = Open or short Circuit in intake air temp. Sensor signal (THA).
Trouble Area = Intake Air Temp Sensor Circuit, - Intake air temp sensor, - ECU

2) Code 31 –
System = Air flor meter signal or vacuum switch
Diagnosis = Open circuit in Vc signal or short circuit between Vc and E2 when idle contacts are closed. Open or short in vacuum switches
Trouble area = Air flow meter circuit, - Air flow meter, ECU - Vacuum Switch signal - Cacuum Switches, EGR

I have no clue what this means but I’ll be doing some research along the next few days. Pitch in some advice if you guys can everyone I would really appreciate some help. Especially because im on crunch time. I start my hospital internship this Tuesday!

 

Also something to get your stomachs growling.
Today I made 40 Spicey Hawiian BBQ steak and veggie skewers for tomorrows pot luck at school. These things came out so freekn good! had to keep myself from munching out or else there would not have been enough for everybody in class haha

 

my 2 cents of advice
never trust plugs to be gap'd outa the box always check them they can be way off to just a tiny bit and use a separate funnel for oil / water products OR use brake cleaner after use to clean them

 

Thanks William. I bought myself the coin gapper tool this time around so I could make sure everything was up to spec.. Thanks for the advice with the brake cleaner. I guess I really should just buy another funnel lol not like they're expensive or something.


So... Update time. Since the last time I was logged in I did 2 seafoam treatments and i'm guessing it fixed my issue. I don't havea wonky RPM level all the time. My truck starts up great on a cold start. ANd drives with perfect power (for a 3.0) after I let it idle to normal operating temp. And yesterday I checked my MPG and I seem to be back up to my normal 13mpg. much better then the 9.8-10mpg I was getting when I was having all the issues.


So I haven't had a chance to check my radiator fluid or the oil on a cold start yet but i'm hoping to get to that tomorrow morning. I've just been so dang busy now that I have started my internship at UCLA. I drive 40 miles every day to nd from the hospital and the truck seems to be holding up very well. I'm really happy with the turn out that happened considering I thought I had jacked up head gaskets! Thank god for that leak down tester that I bought. Expensive but definitely a well worth tool to own when trying t diagnose stuff as serious as this. I seriously thought I was gonna have to replace the motor again; I was so mad. Anyway I will give you guys an update with the truck to see how that coolant and oil looks like tomorrow when I start it up at 4:30am. it should be good to check after letting it sit for about 9 hours.

 

if you ever do another leak down.. make sure all the valves are closed. its a 50/50 if you just drop a long screwdriver in the hole and turn crank till the screwdriver maxes out at the top and starts to go back down.. this will be TDC but it is 50/50 if valves are closed. hook up leak down and pump it with air. if it doesnt leak than valves are closed. with about 80 psi. you can open your radiator cap and just watch it. may take a second to a minute but just watch it.. if you start to see bubbles or the radiator starts to push fluid out. than its a blown headgasket at the hole your testing.

the 3.0 needs to have its valves checked and adjusted every 100k and basically anyone who has a 3.0 now should get theirs checked and adjusted. this is the number one cause for burnt valve. because no one ever checks or adjust them. i can understand why because it cost alot.

 

Hey guys. IT has been quite a while since the last update and i'll have you know that everything seems to be up and running well. Whatever it was im guessing the seafoam unstuck. but it runs much better again and my MPG is back up to normal.
Here is a picture of the radiator fluid after all these weeks. It looks nice and clean. and I haven't overheated at all.



But as you know this truck has proven to be very stubborn. and i'm sure it wont let me go free without giving me something else to break my had over.
I just came up on a new noise this past Friday. Here is a bit of history. I don't have low gears or dual transfer cases so when I go offroading I do burn my far shareof clutch in the more difficult areas. Now Since I began driving to and from UCLA hospital I find myself stuck in traffic for 1.5- almost 2 hours every day. During that time it is a lot of stop and go traffic for 16 miles! So i'm sure if there was previously something wrong with my trans or clutch or something within those components I may have pissed it off driving in traffic. So flash forward to this past week, I had been having my fair share of lead foot (don't know why but the Los angeles traffic just gets to me. it may pick up to 30mph then drop to a 3mph and then stop and go on repeat over and over. So its a lot of picking up and stopping. and every now and then I hear my gears make a grind noise when shifting way to fast. I don't force it. But I know if I go slow it doesn't usually do it; and this noise was usually in 1st gear changing into 2nd. or 2nd changing into 3rd. So I noticed that the gringing-ish noise would happen when quickly shifting. and this past Friday i accidentally shifted fast a few times and tat grind noise happened quite a bit. finally upon arriving to my house and i was parking. i noticed a different noise.
To me it almost sounds like a super soaker water gun when you are pumping the squirt gun. that squeaking noise. hoping you guys know what I'm talking about here. So i tested it out trying to provoke the sound because it has never made this noise before. And i learned that it does not make that noise when i take off normally. But when i go slow in any gear, kind of balancing the end up pulling my foot off the clutch, and gas i noticed the sound will happen. And that noise happens in all the gears including reverse.


Im breaking my head over what it could be. My guess is the closest sound other then a super soaker water gun would be a spinning slip like noise. i cant explain it too well. I don't know if it is gonna be my clutch, bad gear teeth in the transmission, pressure plate, flywheel or full transmission. I've never dug into a trans problem like this before let alone diagnose it. Maybe you guys can help me out with your experience.


any suggestions?

 

I've got the same stuff happening in my truck. It's starting to feel like it's grinding into gears, and there's a loud slow-squeak noise coming from my transmission when I operate the clutch. I thought it was the slave cylinder going bad, but I swapped it out and I still have the same problems, and they're getting worse.

I wonder if it's related to the clutch fork lever and throw out bearing.

I've got the transmission out of my E30 right now tackling leaks, and it's built up my confidence. I think I'm going to drop the transmission out of the truck and do the clutch and have the transmission rebuilt. My friend just got his done for around $400 I think, and he said it goes into gear perfectly now.

 

Does it make the water gun squeek when press the clutch by itself?

 

Sounds like your 2nd gear synchro is toast.

 

sounds like synchros like RBX said.

 

dang bro. $400 bucks for a rebuilt tranny. Did they use all new parts? That sounds like a decent deal.



The lunch won't make any noise when I use only the clutch.
It will only make the noise when I use it paired with the Gas pedal at low like 1-3mph speed. Almost like when you just ride the clutch to move slightly forward but just with barely gassing it. You get me?

Hey RBX & Toyo. Thanks for that feedback. I'll have to look into that issue and see what exactly that is lol I've never worked on a tranny or clutch before so them is is all gonna be a first time for me. What exactly is a synchro part of?

 

Sycro is inside the trans and it aligns the gear to the rpm when shifting gears so you don't get a crunch/grind when you shift.

If you plan on rebuilding the trans yourself, you will need a large table area to disassemble the trans so you can lay it all out in an 'exploded' style. This will make reassembly much easier.

 

Hmm makes sense. I'm no transmission pro but my friend had a similar squeek when pressing the clutch alone and all it was that the throwout rod needed to be lubed or something.

 

So my truck hasn't made that weird noise lately. I think I may have learned to drive it properly to avoid causing the sound. But I did notice the 1st gear taking off does have a slight power loss at times. Like that hesitation to take off that I spoke about in the last post. I'm guessing the tranny may need to get rebuilt, and if I have the transmission off I might as well make do a clutch job. Total bummed about the news. Wondering if I should just search Craigslist to find a replacement transmission. But if I do that u won't know the condition of what I'm buying. Also I may just do a marlin crawler heavy duty clutch.

 

I'd get a used trans and new clutch. Heavy duty clutch will be harder to operate and if you are driving in traffic....not fun.

 

Thanks for that info. I didn't know they were harder to use then regular clutches. My clutch doesn't seen very hard to operate. It is very light. Does the HD clutch feel really firm? Kinda like racing clutches for cars?

 

I can't tell you if it's heavy or light but to me it's harder to push. If you noticed it slipping on the trail, then get a heavier clutch.