Hello all,
Originally this was something I posted in member section but it's probably better here in the 3rd Gen area. New to the forums but a longtime fan of the knowledge and picture porn that's available here.
So... here we go with the back story and my situation.
In 2011 (October timeframe) I purchased a 1997 Toyota 4runner SR5 177k miles in Temecula, California. At the time I was pretty excited with the condition of the vehicle, appearance, paint, interior, state of the engine (no leaks, codes, idle issues) etc. I took the truck for a test-drive and walked away with a 5,400 dollar purchase... but... the 4runner was hiding some secrets.
Fast forward- I went on to drive the 4runner for another 7k-ish miles before I started having issues. Spring 2012 I was sitting in a parking, idling, with the AC on when the truck started to get hot, as soon as I turned the AC off the truck returned back to normal (I never really figured out why this was happening. About a week later I was out in the Altadena, CA area doing some minor 4 wheeling when I started having issues again, truck started overheating again, this time with the AC off. I ended up taking the truck to mechanic "friend" where he informed me that I was having head gasket issues. I had another vehicle and a street bike to ride so I decided to let him perform the work on it, I figured "better now than later". Upon disassembly of the heads the mechanic informed me that "the heads were warped" and "the heads are different". I have some knowledge, a little, of cars and know that warped heads can occur during periods of engine overheating. he picked up two heads, had them machined, and reassembled the truck. $3,700ish dollars later I was back on the road.
August 2013 rolls around... I'm in the 4runner headed up the hill (North 15 Freeway, top of the hill past the 138, for those of you familiar with So Cal). Anyway I hear a sound, sounded like a small bomb detonated in my engine... next thing you know I have smoke THICK SMOKE coming out of the exhaust. I stop the truck, eventually get it towed back out to LA with the help of a friend. Mechanic pulls the engine apart and said that a piece of the sparkplug broke off into the cylinder, which ended up destroying the head of the pistol for that cylinder. So another $600 dollars and 4 weeks later I was back on the road.
Now it's 2018... 30k-ish miles on the rebuilt engine. I was driving from So Cal to the Central coast of California when I started noticing, while at a stop-light, that my temperature was increasing while stopped and would go back to normal while driving. I read that this could have been due to the fan clutch or the thermostat... So I replaced both and completely flushed the cooling system. I thought all was good to go... but... things were not. A few days after doing the flush I noticed extra condensation coming out the exhaust, I thought nothing of it due to it being a common thing here in the central coast. The next day I was on my way home from a weekend trip about 70 miles out when I started experiencing heavy white smoke coming out of the exhaust. I had to get the truck home, I did the only thing I could do at the time and added some K-seal to the radiator which stopped the smoking so I could get the 4runner home.
4runner is now back to the house with a check engine light (knock sensor) and the previously stated issues. I have since done some research in an attempt to find a solution. I thought possibly that there may be other issues contributing to why there would be radiator fluid entering the a cylinder other than the head gasket being bad. Since I had to remove the manifold anyway to get to the knock sensors I figured I'd use it as an opportunity to investigate...
This is were I am:
Passenger side of engine is to the left
Close-up picture of Passenger side of the engine. What would make this cylinder look like this? and could it be a contributing factor to why there is moisture/oil in the top portion in every other valve passage.
Manifold
Bottom portion of intake plenum
Is the right portion of this picture not connected to the cooling system as a cooling passage?
Intake has buildup that looks like a mixture of water and oil?
To be continued with my dilemma...
Originally this was something I posted in member section but it's probably better here in the 3rd Gen area. New to the forums but a longtime fan of the knowledge and picture porn that's available here.
So... here we go with the back story and my situation.
In 2011 (October timeframe) I purchased a 1997 Toyota 4runner SR5 177k miles in Temecula, California. At the time I was pretty excited with the condition of the vehicle, appearance, paint, interior, state of the engine (no leaks, codes, idle issues) etc. I took the truck for a test-drive and walked away with a 5,400 dollar purchase... but... the 4runner was hiding some secrets.
Fast forward- I went on to drive the 4runner for another 7k-ish miles before I started having issues. Spring 2012 I was sitting in a parking, idling, with the AC on when the truck started to get hot, as soon as I turned the AC off the truck returned back to normal (I never really figured out why this was happening. About a week later I was out in the Altadena, CA area doing some minor 4 wheeling when I started having issues again, truck started overheating again, this time with the AC off. I ended up taking the truck to mechanic "friend" where he informed me that I was having head gasket issues. I had another vehicle and a street bike to ride so I decided to let him perform the work on it, I figured "better now than later". Upon disassembly of the heads the mechanic informed me that "the heads were warped" and "the heads are different". I have some knowledge, a little, of cars and know that warped heads can occur during periods of engine overheating. he picked up two heads, had them machined, and reassembled the truck. $3,700ish dollars later I was back on the road.
August 2013 rolls around... I'm in the 4runner headed up the hill (North 15 Freeway, top of the hill past the 138, for those of you familiar with So Cal). Anyway I hear a sound, sounded like a small bomb detonated in my engine... next thing you know I have smoke THICK SMOKE coming out of the exhaust. I stop the truck, eventually get it towed back out to LA with the help of a friend. Mechanic pulls the engine apart and said that a piece of the sparkplug broke off into the cylinder, which ended up destroying the head of the pistol for that cylinder. So another $600 dollars and 4 weeks later I was back on the road.
Now it's 2018... 30k-ish miles on the rebuilt engine. I was driving from So Cal to the Central coast of California when I started noticing, while at a stop-light, that my temperature was increasing while stopped and would go back to normal while driving. I read that this could have been due to the fan clutch or the thermostat... So I replaced both and completely flushed the cooling system. I thought all was good to go... but... things were not. A few days after doing the flush I noticed extra condensation coming out the exhaust, I thought nothing of it due to it being a common thing here in the central coast. The next day I was on my way home from a weekend trip about 70 miles out when I started experiencing heavy white smoke coming out of the exhaust. I had to get the truck home, I did the only thing I could do at the time and added some K-seal to the radiator which stopped the smoking so I could get the 4runner home.
4runner is now back to the house with a check engine light (knock sensor) and the previously stated issues. I have since done some research in an attempt to find a solution. I thought possibly that there may be other issues contributing to why there would be radiator fluid entering the a cylinder other than the head gasket being bad. Since I had to remove the manifold anyway to get to the knock sensors I figured I'd use it as an opportunity to investigate...
This is were I am:
Passenger side of engine is to the left
Close-up picture of Passenger side of the engine. What would make this cylinder look like this? and could it be a contributing factor to why there is moisture/oil in the top portion in every other valve passage.
Manifold
Bottom portion of intake plenum
Is the right portion of this picture not connected to the cooling system as a cooling passage?
Intake has buildup that looks like a mixture of water and oil?
To be continued with my dilemma...
Last edited:
... that definitely sucks but nice to see the progress you're making.
