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I just picked up a 1994 4 runner 3.0 5 speed with 112k on it from my neighbor for next to nothing! Super clean frame and not a lick of rust on it! It hasn't been ran in 10 years. He said the truck was having a electrical problem and wouldn't run. It ran great before he parked it. When he gave me the truck he gave me new relays( EFI, STARTER,AND HEAD) new ignitor, cap and rotor, and wires that he bought and said he just never felt like messing with it.
So I took it home and started digging into it. First thing I did was put a battery in it some fresh fuel and gave her a crank. Turned over super fast and then slowed down and kept doing this as I continued to crank.(seemed to me timing was off right from the rip.) Before I checked timing belt I figured I would check relays, grounds, fuel, and spark. Everything checked out except for spark. I was getting spark at the coil but nothing coming out of distributer. Changed Ignitor, cap and rotor still nothing. Rotor is spinning as well. Check Mass Airflow unplugged and tried some starting fluid Nothing. So as im getting even more aggravated I decided I'd peel back this timing belt cover and check that. Timing belt is BEAT! split on the side and frayed. Checked timing marks and they are off id say about 3-4 teeth. Went to check crankshaft pulley timing mark and the pulley had so much rust on it that there isn't even a mark. Well okay so thats gonna get replaced as well as the water pump. But would that explain the no spark? I still should have spark. Right? Any idea what else I should check before I dive to much into this motor?
Driverside Pulley passenger side
Last edited by mikeyford3; May 22, 2020 at 12:48 PM.
You didn't specify: did you in fact change the wire between the coil and the distributor cap center connection? While you're at it, did you change all the plug wires? If you get the Denso OEM wires, I believe it was, they will be numbered, for easy installation. They're a little more expensive, but well worth it. They last a LONG time, and are exactly the right impedance the truck's system is designed for.
Easy way to check the wires, BTW, is to use a timing light. Clamp it onto the wire in question, and crank the engine. If the light flashes, the wire is good to the point the light is clamped on, at least. Probably through it's length. This will even work for the distributor cap center wire. Don't worry about exactly when it flashes, just that the light DOES flash.
Alternatively, you can just pull the far end of the wire, IE the plug end, hold it near a ground, like the valve cover, or the body (bare metal area), with a well insulated pair of pliers, wearing a good glove too, and have someone crank the engine. If you see a spark jump from the end of the wire to the ground, the wire's good.
Once you get the wires verified, THEN worry about the timing. From the looks of it, that belt NEEDS to be replaced
Set the timing In Accordance With the FSM.
Don't run the battery down too far while doing all the testing. Use a charger to keep it charged up, although you may experience a short delay while the battery charges back up. Make sure it's terminals are nice and clean, that the path to ground is good (no or very, VERY low ohms from terminal to ground, like the engine block or the body), and the level of water is correct. Only ever use distilled water to top it up.
Also, use a multimeter to check all the fuses, both in the engine compartment and inside the cab. After 10 years, there's liable to be some corrosion on the fuse terminals. Make sure they're all nice and shiney. A pencil eraser works great to clean them off. You can use one of the white pen erasers for really heavy corrosion, or just replace the fuse entirely. They're cheap. Put them into their fuse block, and pull them out a few times, to wipe the female connectors inside the block.
You didn't specify: did you in fact change the wire between the coil and the distributor cap center connection? While you're at it, did you change all the plug wires? If you get the Denso OEM wires, I believe it was, they will be numbered, for easy installation. They're a little more expensive, but well worth it. They last a LONG time, and are exactly the right impedance the truck's system is designed for.
Easy way to check the wires, BTW, is to use a timing light. Clamp it onto the wire in question, and crank the engine. If the light flashes, the wire is good to the point the light is clamped on, at least. Probably through it's length. This will even work for the distributor cap center wire. Don't worry about exactly when it flashes, just that the light DOES flash.
Alternatively, you can just pull the far end of the wire, IE the plug end, hold it near a ground, like the valve cover, or the body (bare metal area), with a well insulated pair of pliers, wearing a good glove too, and have someone crank the engine. If you see a spark jump from the end of the wire to the ground, the wire's good.
Once you get the wires verified, THEN worry about the timing. From the looks of it, that belt NEEDS to be replaced
Set the timing In Accordance With the FSM.
Don't run the battery down too far while doing all the testing. Use a charger to keep it charged up, although you may experience a short delay while the battery charges back up. Make sure it's terminals are nice and clean, that the path to ground is good (no or very, VERY low ohms from terminal to ground, like the engine block or the body), and the level of water is correct. Only ever use distilled water to top it up.
Also, use a multimeter to check all the fuses, both in the engine compartment and inside the cab. After 10 years, there's liable to be some corrosion on the fuse terminals. Make sure they're all nice and shiney. A pencil eraser works great to clean them off. You can use one of the white pen erasers for really heavy corrosion, or just replace the fuse entirely. They're cheap. Put them into their fuse block, and pull them out a few times, to wipe the female connectors inside the block.
Good luck to you!
Pat☺
sorry yes plugs and wires were changed I ended up using the ground method to check for spark and nothing. All fuses were checked with multimeter and relays with 12volt alligator clips and the meter.
I’m gonna order waterpump, timing belt and tensioner as well as a new crankshaft pulley. I’m also just going to run new ground wires. Get it in time and then go from there.
Last edited by mikeyford3; May 22, 2020 at 02:28 PM.
Hi.
It appears that the passenger side cam sprocket is off by at least 3 teeth, while the driver side is aligned properly, is that the case?
If so, the compression numbers that you posted are baffling, in that one would think that the odd numbered cylinders would be radically different from the even side (Your engine, all cylinders=149#-151#.... the FSM=171#)
The crankshaft timing mark that should be used to position the crank, and align the belt, is marked on the sprocket that slides on to a key that is cut in a slot of the crank, not the belt pulley you are holding.
The notch on that pulley is used to witness the ignition timing with a light, while the engine is running.
My advice is to install a new belt kit first (OEM-not Chinese)before trying to shotgun a no start problem.
The odd side cam pulley being 3 teeth off while the even side is aligned could indicate that the odd side pulley was tampered with in a previous life.
The locating pin could have been left out, and the bolt not torqued to the required 80 foot#, or the pin could have sheared, and the pulley slipped, etc. etc.
Cleaning up that belt and timing carnage will make troubleshooting a no start much easier. If the problem even still exists. LOL!!
Good Luck.
Art.
Well i guess I found out why it skipped timing! Look at this! never have I seen this before.. sand was caked inside of this and the crank gear itself had pieces of the belt melted into it
Last edited by mikeyford3; May 26, 2020 at 06:07 PM.
Remove the distributor cap and crank. Does the rotor move? Are you sure the timing is at least grossly correct? (Does the rotor point somewhere near #1 when #1 cylinder is at TDC on the compression stroke?)
Remove the distributor cap and crank. Does the rotor move? Are you sure the timing is at least grossly correct? (Does the rotor point somewhere near #1 when #1 cylinder is at TDC on the compression stroke?)
Timing is correct. Distributer is good cap and rotor is brand new. Rotor spins and it points to number one cylinder on compression stroke at tdc. I have checked that I have also swapped out Ignitor woth one out of a working 4 runner. new plugs new wires. I have spark coming out of coil but nothing coming out of distributer
How do you know you have no spark? The easiest way is to use the inductive pickup of your timing light; if the light flashes, you have spark.
If your distributor is not sending out spark, that method shouldn't work on the coil-to-distributor lead (because the spark is not making it to ground. Unless the distributor is internally shorted to ground.)
There isn't much to a distributor (once the igniter fires the coil). It just has to reach the rotor then jump a tiny gap to the cap contacts.
I've gotten bad distributor caps from the store. Had a hairline crack in it. It was enough that I had no spark, as checked with a timing light, to any cylinder.
Just because a part is new from the store, doesn't necessarily mean it's good. It PROBABLY is, but it's not certain to be.
I always keep the previously installed part I replace with new parts, if it worked. Like when I do a tune up, and replace the cap & rotor, plugs, wires, and so on, I always keep the old ones. Throw them into my "emergency parts" box I keep in the truck. When I do, I discard the ones I had in there from the last tune up before. They may be worn down, but I know they worked, and are only a year or less old, so if I get a bad part from the store, I can put the old one back in to keep me going until I can get a new, new one.
It saved my bacon when I got the bad distributor cap. I just threw the old one back in, and went back to the store (Napa. Yeah, I know...). Since I live 20 miles outside town, just walking or riding a bicycle to the store is out.
Just some thoughts. I get so few of them any more...
Good luck to you!
Pat☺
How do you know you have no spark? The easiest way is to use the inductive pickup of your timing light; if the light flashes, you have spark.
If your distributor is not sending out spark, that method shouldn't work on the coil-to-distributor lead (because the spark is not making it to ground. Unless the distributor is internally shorted to ground.)
There isn't much to a distributor (once the igniter fires the coil). It just has to reach the rotor then jump a tiny gap to the cap contacts.
I tested coil I know I have spark coming out of coil to distributer. (Tap year with test light)No spark coming out of distributer wires. This was tested by disconnecting a plug connecting a wire and grounding it out and looking for a arc. 6 wires no spark.
Last edited by mikeyford3; Jun 9, 2020 at 07:46 PM.
I've gotten bad distributor caps from the store. Had a hairline crack in it. It was enough that I had no spark, as checked with a timing light, to any cylinder.
Just because a part is new from the store, doesn't necessarily mean it's good. It PROBABLY is, but it's not certain to be.
I always keep the previously installed part I replace with new parts, if it worked. Like when I do a tune up, and replace the cap & rotor, plugs, wires, and so on, I always keep the old ones. Throw them into my "emergency parts" box I keep in the truck. When I do, I discard the ones I had in there from the last tune up before. They may be worn down, but I know they worked, and are only a year or less old, so if I get a bad part from the store, I can put the old one back in to keep me going until I can get a new, new one.
It saved my bacon when I got the bad distributor cap. I just threw the old one back in, and went back to the store (Napa. Yeah, I know...). Since I live 20 miles outside town, just walking or riding a bicycle to the store is out.
Just some thoughts. I get so few of them any more...
Good luck to you!
Pat☺
absolutely I did keep rotor and cap that was on the distributer which I must say looked brand new as well. I was not getting any spark out of either
Are you saying you tried to fire the coil with a test light? That's pretty much the opposite of "I've got spark coming out of the coil." What you want is spark when the distributor calls for it, not when you hit it with a test light.
May 22, 2020 | 07:18 AM
