My junk: 88 4runner. 22re 5spd. not the original motor. swapped in by a previous owner from a low mileage truck. so to the best of my knowledge not a fresh rebuild. i am told about 60-70k miles since swap, but who knows what was on it when it was swapped. anyways....

ok, sometimes, but still often, when i crank up the 4runner after it has been sitting for a while it takes 2-3 seconds for the oil light to go off on the dash. but sometimes, even after it has been setting for a while, the light goes off almost instantly after i start it. if the truck has been running for a while and i shut it off, then crank it right back up the light goes off immediately.

so, i was thinking that the rod bearings at the crank are getting worn out. but i am running 10w-30 oil. i have heard people running up to 20w50 in these trucks.
what do you guys think? am i just running too thin of an oil for the tolerances built into this motor? or am i running on borrowed time here.
thanks in advance,
bryan

 

You should be checking it with a manual pressure gauge.
Anything else is just guessing.

 

that is my next step. i think i can look in the fsm for the oil pressure at idle, but my question is where is this pressure supposed to be measured from?

i can pull the oem pressure sensor out of the side of the block and meausre it there, but is this the beginning of the oil circuit or the end? cause the pressure will vary at various points throughout the motor. i mean, simple fluid dynamics will show that pressure will drop the further down the line from its source it is.
so basically, my question is, if the fsm says 9 psi at idle or whatever, is that measured from the port on the side of the block or somewhere at the end of the circuit, like up at the lifters or what?
thanks
b

also, what weight oil are you guys running?

 

According to the '93 factory service manual for the 22R-E, pull the oil pressure sender, install a gauge and at "normal operating temperature" using 10W30, oil pressure should be "4.3 psi or more" at idle and "36-71 psi" at 3,000 rpm. That's all it says.

You didn't mention any unsual noises so it might just be a bad oil pump or relief valve spring causing the weirdness.

 

Try running a 10W-40 before a 20W-50. Valvoline MaxLife 10W-40 is a synthetic blend & a great oil. Make sure you're using either a Toyota 90915-YZZD1 or better yet the 90915-YZZD3 filter, or a Purolator PureONE PL20195. Many aftermarket filters either have insufficient filter media area or a bypass valve that doesn't follow Toyota specs.

 

huh, thanks for the info, i will try those things first.
thanks
bryan

 

I'm leaning towards the oil filter. Especially if the problem changes if you park at specific angles

 

Mega oil filter info: https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f116.../#post51222793

 

Doubtful that the oil is your problem. Running thicker oil is just a bandaid anyway, so the end result might be pushed further into the future, but rod bearings will need to be replaced anyway if it's knocking.

That being said, I run either 5w-30 or 0w30 and have never had any problems in the close to 100k I've put on my truck.

 

If all your going by is the oil light, that`s not going to tell you anything. I had the oil pump on my 86 4Runner fail and i never would have known if it wasn`t a leaking crank shaft seal. I pulled the oil pump to replace the crank shaft seal and the inside of the oil pump was full of metal chunks from the oil pump. I had to replace the oil pump and drive gear. There were no strange noises or anything, so i got very lucky that i found it when it when i did.

 

well,
i thought i would try the quick fixes first.
i replaced my engine oil with penzoil 10w-40 for higher mile engines. put on a toyota filter with the anti-drain back.
i also picked up a quart of lucas oil heavy duty oil stabilizer. says right on the side of the bottle, "never have a dry start again". put it in as it says by replacing one quart of engine oil with the stabilizer.

well, i wish that lucas was right, turns out the problem still exists.
my next step is a pressure gauge, but i am still trying to locate one that is not dampened like many car oil pressure gauges are. i need to see what is happening real time, and the dampening that most automotive gauges have to eliminate the needle jumping all over the place will not allow me to see that.

so assuming i get a gauge in the near future and it confirms my worst fears,
i am going to have to put rod bearings in this thing. while i am at it (since i have no history of this motor other than what the po told me) i would probably go ahead and do a timing chain, guides, tensioner, timing cover, and oil pump.

i really always try to go OEM with the parts that matter. and this is one of them, but its going to be god awful expensive. anybody have a clue what ballpark i am in here for a timing set from toyota?

 

i run 15-40 rotella to keep the motor quiet, some say its a band aid but a good one, always have high oil pressure and all the ticks are gone even the early morning knock at start up and its been a couple years

 

Something to consider when stating that you have high oil pressure.

Pressure is resistance to flow.

 

yea but it knocks at start up and ticks like hell with 10-30. plus the oil seems cleaner coming out with rotella. with 15-40 it is all good and has been for a while. the knock at startup is i believe from my #6 rod it spun a bearing and with a new crank and bearings i kept the same rod, i believe my clearances are a hair more than .002 on that cyl more like.003 or .004 but as soon as the pressure would climb it would go away. with rotella it doesnt make a sound its wierd i know should be the other way around

 

For what you're trying to do as far as an un-dampened, "real-time" oil pressure gauge, go to an industrial supply or farm supply store and browse through the hydraulics/pneumatics and even pressure washer sections and you could piece together a solution. All sorts of un-dampened gauges are there along with numerous hoses and fittings to make something work. An engine oiling system is a simple, low-pressure hydraulic circuit.