1992 4runner Project

[PowellSixO]

I picked up my first Toyota ever a couple weeks ago. I picked it up down in Tucscon, and it's pretty clean for its age. The exterior is straight with no rust, and the interior is in great shape, with only a few broken items. It does however have a blown head gasket. I picked it up for 750 bucks.

 

[PowellSixO]

Here's what it looked like before I tore into it, and hopefully what it looks like once I put it back together.

 

[PowellSixO]

I got the top tore off, and confirmed that it is just a blown head gasket. I found no visible cracks in the heads. I found a clear gasket failure on the front passenger cylinder.

 

[PowellSixO]

So after compiling a list of things to replace, this is what I've come up with.

Head gasket kit
Head studs
Knock Sensor
Knock Sensor pigtail
Front Crank Seal
Water Pump
Timing Belt Kit
New Injectors
All new Sensors
AC Compressor
CV Shafts
Front Rotors and Pads
Power Steering Pump Seal Kit
Belts
Plugs and Wires
Edit: Vacuum Hose, and coolant hoses will also all be replaced.


Anything else you guys can think of that I might be missing while I'm in there?

Some of the items are just preventive maintenance, that I'd like to get out of the way now rather than later. My parts order came in at roughly 1250. After the price of the 4runner, and parts, I'm into it for 2k right now. After It's running, I'll probably do some more steering and suspension parts plus tires. But for now it's a start. Oh, and I'm dropping the heads off tomorrow to be checked, and decked. I want to be sure they're straight before I put them back on.

 

[giro]

Put a new air filter into it too

And it looks like your battery is missing

If the rear sags too much, put in new springs. I just ordered some Moogs today...cc255, for about $60. I replaced my front shocks once so far, and the starter is a common thing that goes out, which I replaced a while ago.

 

[PowellSixO]

Put a new air filter into it too

And it looks like your battery is missing

If the rear sags too much, put in new springs. I just ordered some Moogs today...cc255, for about $60. I replaced my front shocks once so far, and the starter is a common thing that goes out, which I replaced a while ago.

I do have a battery for it, but good call on the air filter. Lol. I completely spaced that. I'll look into the springs. The rear does sag a tad, now that I look at it. Thanks.

 

[giro]

LOL, there's always something. Personally I know the rear on mine has sagged since buying it 15 years ago. Even loading it down with 1100 lbs of rock and driving it up a mountain, or filling it much too much with rounds of pine, I've never had it bottom out. I'd put the springs on the "nice to have or needed if trying to make it 100%", but there's no reason for them right now when focusing on the engine. OTOH the starter might be worth it, though you might just rebuild it or clean the leads. If I remember right that's all it really needed, but when I replaced mine 10 years ago I just put in a remanufactured one from Kragen/oreily's.

Nice job on yours. In AZ rubber wears out quicker, but I think you got all the hoses and belts. If you ever get a good time to do it, switch out the old spare. Mine's still original, and I'm bugged I didn't manage to get the place to switch it out one of the times that I got new 15" tires. Now on 17" and driving so little, I don't really have a chance, though maybe they'll let me take a look at their bone pile the next time I'm in for a rotate.

 

[PowellSixO]

Well progress has been slow. Been busy with a broken transfer case on my truck. I got the block cleaned up a little bit more, and ran into a couple of problems. I noticed while cleaning the block that the top back freeze plug looked rusty. I poked it with a screw driver, and it pushed right through. I removed all three on top. The rear one was the only one that was bad. I believe it got coolant on the outside of it as some point, and rusted it from the outside in possibly. Any ways, I'm going to replace all of the freeze plugs just to be safe. I won't be able to get the ones on the back side of the motor at this time, but I'm going to take the chance that they are ok, seeing as all the other freeze plugs I've removed seem ok. The other problem I found was removing the crank timing gear. I didn't want to pry on it too much, so I didn't harm the aluminum behind it. So I created a little puller, that was just enough to pull the gear off. It worked pretty well honestly. The gear had a few small pieced of metal missing off the back of it, so I ordered a new one to be safe. I got the heads to the machine shop, and they should be finished by Friday I hope.

 

[PowellSixO]

Cylinder heads are back from the machine shop. I'm hoping to get it back together this weekend.

 

[Jimmy Two Dogs]

Seven hundred-fifty bucks?!? And no one called the cops on you as you trailered it away? Wow. I'm sure you'll spend (or have spent) a good bit of money on it, but still...long as you have the time, that sounds like a bargain to me.

:cheers:

 

[PowellSixO]

Slow going everyone. I had to put a new transfer case in my truck this weekend, so I would have 2 reliable vehicles at the house. My black chevy got the dreaded transfer case pump rub hole in the side of the transfer case. So I put a new one in it, with the upgraded pump kit in it. Any ways, I was able to get the new AC compressor in. I flushed the system, and added the proper amount of oil to the system, and replaced all of the orings throughout. I pulled a vacuum on it, and I'm going to let it set for a day or two before I drop the 134a into it. I also got the water pump installed, a new oil filter, rebuilt the old power steering pump, replaced the freeze plugs down the side of the motor and top, and a new front crank seal installed. It's coming slower than I wanted, but it is making progress. Hopefully this weekend the heads will go on, and start to wind it up. I ended up having to clean the block and the heads out the best I could with water and long brushes. The previous owner had put so much stop leak in it, that the system was filthy. The radiator was completely plugged, so I had to buy a new radiator too.

 

[PowellSixO]

Made a little more progress with the 4runner this weekend. I was able to get the heads on, and the exhaust hooked back up. I had to stop here though, because I had to order some shims for the valves. The drivers side head was within spec on the intake and exhaust valves. The passenger side head was tight on almost all of the measurements. I was able to then rob some of the shims off of the passenger head to put the exhaust valve clearance to the higher end of the specs, on the drivers head. So now I'm waiting on the correct shims to show up to finish shimming the passenger head. But it's progress none the less.

 

[PowellSixO]

Shims should be in tomorrow for the valves. Made my own emissions delete kit while I was waiting. If everything goes well, I should have it running this weekend. Fingers crossed.

 

[itrinethran]

Shims should be in tomorrow for the valves. Made my own emissions delete kit while I was waiting. If everything goes well, I should have it running this weekend. Fingers crossed.

What's the advantage of the emissions delete vs new cat?

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[PowellSixO]

What's the advantage of the emissions delete vs new cat?

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I'm not quite sure what you mean? I removed the egr and the pair valve. I did so with intentions of simplifying the engine, and helping with carbon build up in the intake. The intake was almost completely blocked off where the egr tube sat in the intake plenum. I'm still running a catalytic converter. This is not a daily driver by any means. It's mostly going to be used for 4wheeling, hunting, and for my wife to drive to work (half mile from the house) when it snows.

 

[PowellSixO]

Well good and bad news. I got it back together, and it fired up almost instantly. Timing was dead nuts, and I only had one coolant leak (missed one coolant line on the intake, but was an easy fix). Bad news, was that cylinder number 3 fuel injector is leaking bad! It almost seems like its leaking from the injector itself, and not the oring in the fuel rail. So I'm going to have to pull the intake back off and inspect it. It's a brand new injector, so I'm hoping it's just the oring. I'll post pics later when I can get to my work computer. I can't seem to post pics from my phone for some reason.

 

[Dropzone]

great write up so far

 

[PowellSixO]

As promised, here are some more photos of the 4runner.

 

[PowellSixO]

I tried to post a video, but it won't play. I'll see if I can figure it out.

 

[PowellSixO]

So one more problem that I ran into, was the pig tail that comes off of the main wiring harness for the AC compressor is gone. Not sure where it went, but I can't find it. If anyone has one, I'd gladly pay for it plus shipping. Thanks. Here is a picture of what I need.