hey all,

i am rehabbing a 87 4runner and im running into a weird issue. Lately it feels like the truck has about half its normal power. I live on the top of a hill and i can barely get up it these days.

some history... i purchased the truck from someone who didnt keep the best care of it. when i got it i did a full tune up and got it ready to be carb legal in CA. And it ran well for months.

The previous owner did some electrical mods that im slowly finding. Like a kill switch and what looks to be a bull horn.

randomly the truck will lose power to the turn signals/dash (hopefully not breaklights but i havent been able to test that ) i cant seem to pin point why this is happening, like trying to find some kind of pattern that would cause things to randomly shut off. I mention this issue because im wondering if i have a grounding problem, that could be affecting the power out put.

my first thought would be a vacuum leak, which i hope isnt the case because im not sure how to diagnose that.

maybe something to do with the ignition electricals? cap / rotor/ wires everything has been replaced this year but something could have gone bad... not sure how to test that either

my mechanic is pretty backed up so im hoping i can solve this one on my own. i miss driving the truck around. i havent been because im nervous its going to leave me stranded.

thanks for reading

-mv

Your post is a bit confusing, are you loosing engine power or electrical power ?

Let me recap the issues:
-Undocumented electrical mods (not repairs)
-Losing electrical power to: turn signals and dash
-Engine loses power

It's possible that it's a vacuum leak but it seems to coincidental.

To rule out vacuum leak get yourself a can of brake cleaner and while the motor is running go around and spray a variety of spots that it might be leaking. If you get a surge or the motor dies, you've found your spot. If you don't get any surge/dying, try spraying the cleaner elsewhere in the engine bay.

I have a feeling that your motor being down on power at times is indeed going to be a grounding issue.

Thanks for the technique, ill give that a shot. I ordered some replacement hoses and honestly i was going to replace them all just for posterity. i already noticed that im missing a full line coming from the crank case.

i also need to replace the timing chain guides, i read that it could jump a tooth and that could cause it.

its definitely running rich, atleast to my nose meter

might not be the best place to ask, but is there a more visited 1st gen 4runner forum that is out there? i find it hard to find any info here via the search

Yotatech. First gen owners are more active there.
Use "google' search option. The other options are lame and will give you irrelevant results.