250k mile 97' head gasket journey

[97HoRunner]

Hello. Awesome forum. 1st post.
I started up the good old 4runner the other day to a nice little rough idle and white smoke combo. I drove it around for a little while that day and no over heating. I've let it sit for 2 weeks while I was contemplating fixing it or ditching it for a newer one. I've decided to fix it.

I'll be tearing it down soon to check for cracks or warping. I'll probabaly put a new radiator in it since its got the original still in. My parts budget is $500. (Assuming the heads and block are ok) I've done a good deal of searching on this forum which has helped a lot. I'm mainly starting this post to have a place I may need to come to for certain questions along the way. Also any advice would be great. Thanks and wish me luck!

 

[PitbullRescuer]

I'm pretty familiar with the job you have at hand. Assuming heads and block are okay, expand your budget a little to do this:
1.) New radiator
2.) Timing belt/Water pump kit. Aircabinman on eBay $303
3.) get the heads rebuilt. (surfaced, valve seats done, valve seals, adjust the valves)

If you do the labor, you're still under a $1000. And you're ready for another 250,000 miles.

 

[HCurphy]

^ what he said.

 

[97HoRunner]

I'm pretty familiar with the job you have at hand. Assuming heads and block are okay, expand your budget a little to do this:
1.) New radiator
2.) Timing belt/Water pump kit. Aircabinman on eBay $303
3.) get the heads rebuilt. (surfaced, valve seats done, valve seals, adjust the valves)

If you do the labor, you're still under a $1000. And you're ready for another 250,000 miles.

Sounds good. Thanks for the feedback!

 

[97HoRunner]

Just a heads up for anyone else in my shoes. I went to start the tear down and noticed pools of oil in the intake manifold. After doing some research I saw a few people with the same symptoms as mine (white smoke and shaky start up) and replacing the PCV valve did the trick.

PCV valve replaced and no smoke on start this morning. Still no coolant in the oil also. I'm changing the spark plugs this weekend and will be doing some other minor maintenance to it as well.

I am also going to attempt to attack why its running so rich. I'll probably start by cleaning the MAF and swapping the upstream O2 sensor or Air/Fuel sensor. Anyone else had this fix their running problems?