tommyosr5

I just picked up a 96 SR5 4runner with 185,000miles for 1000$. Definatly a good deal but she needs some engine work. It starts up and seems to run fine besides a harsh lifter tick and lots of blue smoke billowing out.

Im going to be tearing down the motor soon to find out the cause of the smoke. I pulled the plugs to find they were so caked in carbon i dont know how it wasnt missfiring. Also one plug had been stripped and someone retapped it for a bigger plug size... no good...

So i guess ill have to find at least one head for it...

so what im trying to figure out is a few things...

-should i replace both heads?
-what do you guys think is the most likely cause of the smoke? (smokes all the time not just on startup)
-about the ticking... can i just replace lifters and put in new head gaskets?
or am i better off finding 2 complete heads?


Im sure ill have more Q's later but thats about it for now..

The body is in such good shape and i only paid a grand for it so im open to spend about 800 bucks or so right now to fix her up...

I bought this thing to fix and flip but ive fallen in love with it already...

camo31_10.50

JUNKYARD HEADS FTW!!!!!!!

but seriously..get a set of junkyard heads (good ones...off of a running motor)

have them checked out by a machine shop..and put em on!

just as good as buying new heads? lol







i'm the kinda guy who tries to keep prices down as much as possible.

DeathCougar

iTrader: (23)

My first gut feeling is once you get that valve cover off, you are going to find a lot of sludge, or burned up caked on oil. Very common on these motors if not taken care of.

I would just find a complete used motor and be done with it. If the top end is in bad shape, the bottom end isn't far behind it. If your budget is only $800, you are gonna have a poor quality fix that won't last long and likely won't fix all of the problem.

250000_yota

x2 on the sludge probablity and on the new motor idea. it could be a combonation of many, many bad things causing the buring oil. bad rings, pistons, worn cylinders, etc, etc, etc...

tommyosr5

thanks guys... I realize the bottom end cant be much better than the top. ive been looking at used motors online.. havent gotten around to calling junkyards yet... maybe ill find as good a deal on a motor as i got on the whole truck. there is absolutely nothing wrong with the rest of the truck besides needing a clutch and also rotting rear bumper which i hear is typical...

another question... since it has been burning sooo much oil i am assuming the cat is most likely trashed... but its a 96 and im not getting any check engine light... does it have a post cat O2 sensor? i would go look but its raining out and parked on dirt...