New owner, mechanically inclined, looking for some expert advice! Please read!

[James1990]

Hey everyone.
I've got a first gen 4runner, 22R motor and everything. It was my brother's but his time with it came to an end. The reason why I've inherited this truck (even though I didn't need it) is because my brother moved to Utah and he has no reason to fix it. It's going to be a project/work truck! I'm not sure what year it is, I just know its a first gen.

There's a big problem I've got to get past first though, so I joined this forum looking for some opinion, advice, and some guidance through this. When my brother last drove this truck, here is what he said happened..
He was driving down the 101 freeway and all of the sudden the windshield started fogging up, and coolant was leaking on the passenger side inside the truck. He kept driving it (stupidly) and the truck just stopped running. It overheated, and it hasn't been turned on since. I tried to start it and it sounded like SHIT.

I had a 02 honda civic (probably nothing like this) and it broke down awhile ago. I took off the cylinder head, and rebuilt it with the help of my girlfriend's Dad, and I was very successful. But that car had a distributor-less system and was fuel injected. I know nothing about carburetors or distributor systems, only that in a distributor system you have to match the wires correctly. I took off a distributor on a chevy big block engine in auto shop in high school a few years back and it was easy.

I don't even know if it has a distributor, but just preparing myself.
So, my thoughts are since the car overheated, the cylinder head is most likely warped and screwed up everything! So, after I have concluded that is the problem, I'm going to order a rebuilt cylinder head, a new head gasket, new valve cover gasket, and whatever else I may need and do a swap. I am also assuming that the heater core blew up, so I'm going to take the dash out and replace it, probably get some new hoses just in case, and run a flush through the motor and get all of the crap out of the cooling system. I am HOPING, that will do it. About a $500 repair + my labor.

Again I am a n00b to this truck and will probably run into more problems. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Ol'Blue]

Welcome to the family first off....

Next, post this up in the classic section and the guys will lead you in the wright direction I'm sure of it!

It sounds like the heater core is shot and it over headed for sure. The head is most likely needing attention in some way or another. I would hold off before buying a head it still maybe be fine just needing a gasket.

Keep us posted!

Blue

 

[KidVermicious]

Yup, I agree that a heater hose or the heater core went first. So plan on tearing the dash down to repair that.

Then, the motor. You're going to be mad if you just replace the head and find out that the bearings or crank are shot too. I'd grab a junkyard block and build a new motor from scratch. I would not rebuild the 22R, especially since you don't know carbs. I'd convert to a 22RE fuel injected version of the same motor - you'll use the same block, but you'll have a different upper and lower intake plenum, different computer, etc. All those things are available in the junkyards. The distrubutor is nothing to be scared of, they're dead simple systems. Spark comes from the coil to the dist, and there's a spinning rotor inside the distributor that allows current to each spark plug wire at exactly the right time.

Check the stickies in the Classics forum for a link to the Factory Service Manual. You're going to want it.

 

[James1990]

Thanks for replying!!
I've been doing research, and it seems that the 22RE would be a good swap to do. Do you think that something may have happened to the bottom end from overheating? Like the block got warped? I'll upload some pics when I can. The goal right now is to get the dash out and take a look at that heater core.

Sorry for the lack of information about the truck. It's sitting out in our family storage yard, so I have to spend an extra day here and there working on it.

 

[KidVermicious]

It's possible the block is fine. On the other hand, it's possible or even likely that such a drastic overheating did damage to the rods/pistons, crank, or bearings. It probably didn't warp, it's cast iron.

I'm just saying, don't slap a new head on there and call it good. At least pull the pan and gauge the bearings. Better to assume it all sucks and do a complete rebuild though.

 

[James1990]

Looks like I'll be starting a new thread in the classic section when I'm ready. I've found out that it's a 1989, with the 22R. Is there a DIY thread, or a parts list, for a 22RE swap? I know a guy who owns a junkyard in my area and seeing as theres probably thousands of these engines around I may just plan for this. Thanks.

Edit: Sorry my mistake, it is 22RE. I was looking at this link and thought it was a 1989 truck but was info for 1984. Nevermind on the swap.

 

[Altoidfishfins]

Cyl Head

Pull the spark plugs and crank the motor over. If you have anti freeze squirting out of any spark plug hole you have a blown head gasket (or cracked/warped head).

An easier variation is to open the radiator cap and crank the engine. If you have a blown head gasket (or warped/cracked head) you'll have an anti-freeze geyser shooting straight up out of the radiator. It'll be very obvious.

If you don't have anti-freeze squirting out of the spark plug hole, do a compression test. You may have gotten away scot free on that score. If you did, there's no reason to go through all the trouble of pulling the head.

If you have a significant amount of anti-freeze contamination in the oil and it got sucked in by the oil pump, the bearings are most likely toast.

As a previous poster wisely stated, I'd pull the pan and inspect the lower end even if all is hunky-dory up top.

 

[Speedy Gomez]

:welcome: to T4R.ORG!