Project NoRunner: 2000 SR5 4x2 Resto
- Thread starter STI_MECE
- Start date
STI_MECE
New member
Yes the fuel smell is def coming from the coolant. I drained the coolant and sure enough it wreaks of fuel.
And the oil smells like fuel as well (which probably isnt that big of deal)
I got a faint haze of white smoke coming from the tail pipe, even after its warmed up. To give you an idea on the amount, its like alittle less than what would come out of a truck on a cold start.
I would not be surprised if the head gasket has already failed and the PO tried to seal it up.
Going to do a leak down test just to confirm. But I am not going to rebuild this engine its just not worth it, I am going to keep an eye out for an engine even though I have been looking for a spare since I got it.
I don't want a JDM engine, id rather just get an engine out of a runner that was well maintained and just involved in a accident.
This truck will live on....If anyone catches wind of a good motor in the Texas area, please give me a shout.
And the oil smells like fuel as well (which probably isnt that big of deal)
I got a faint haze of white smoke coming from the tail pipe, even after its warmed up. To give you an idea on the amount, its like alittle less than what would come out of a truck on a cold start.
I would not be surprised if the head gasket has already failed and the PO tried to seal it up.
Going to do a leak down test just to confirm. But I am not going to rebuild this engine its just not worth it, I am going to keep an eye out for an engine even though I have been looking for a spare since I got it.
I don't want a JDM engine, id rather just get an engine out of a runner that was well maintained and just involved in a accident.
This truck will live on....If anyone catches wind of a good motor in the Texas area, please give me a shout.
phattyduck
Elite Member
Put some distilled water in the engine/radiator and see what happens in a week. It'll probably come out a bit brown (leftover rust), but you will probably be able to tell if something is really leaking into there. I don't really understand how fuel can get into the coolant - there isn't a direct path there.
Was your coolant level dropping?
-Charlie
Was your coolant level dropping?
-Charlie
STI_MECE
New member
[MENTION=139000]phattyduck[/MENTION] you know I never noticed loosing any coolant but i was just below the low mark by maybe a 1/2-3/4inch
I checked it during my oil change 3k ish miles ago and it was dandy.
What I can't remember is if between now and then if the color was different. My gut tells me from memory it was pretty solid green when I first got it because I did check it.
And now it's definitely not that color.
This picture here tells me there is something going on.
I got that sweet exhaust smell and white faint smoke. And that's with it warmed up
Those tiny air bubbles are a good sign of air pumping into a water jacket or air air leaking into the coolant somewhere.
But I do find it funny how this is holding together.....it runs great. But something is up. And it's not pointing to anything good whatsoever ever.
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I checked it during my oil change 3k ish miles ago and it was dandy.
What I can't remember is if between now and then if the color was different. My gut tells me from memory it was pretty solid green when I first got it because I did check it.
And now it's definitely not that color.
This picture here tells me there is something going on.
I got that sweet exhaust smell and white faint smoke. And that's with it warmed up
Those tiny air bubbles are a good sign of air pumping into a water jacket or air air leaking into the coolant somewhere.
But I do find it funny how this is holding together.....it runs great. But something is up. And it's not pointing to anything good whatsoever ever.
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T4R2014
Elite Member
Still not enough to confirm HG for me. Flush that system with dish soap if it's rusty. Works better than that radiator flush sold at the stores(scam IMO). It's getting colder so you are likely to notice steam more. Maybe you have an oxygen sensor going bad and you are noticing that sweet rich smell.
STI_MECE
New member
yeah its definitely cold here for texas standards. 40 degrees.
I mean maybe it was just steam? I was always under the impression after the car is fully warmed up to operating temp with both oil and coolant, the CO2 coming out the pipe would not be visible.
Or are there exceptions?
I have already replaced the O2 sensors. the front one at least with the OEM denso plug
T4R2014
Elite Member
Define operating temp. When the gauge is right in the middle? It can still steam. My 4Runner can spit out steam for a while when it's cold.
STI_MECE
New member
Maybe I didnt give the oil enough time to warm up. I let it run with distilled water for about 30 minutes. Yeah i know it was that is a good bit of time but I was waiting for my coolant to heat up along with getting the oil temp to heat up.
I usually say oil takes twice as long to heat up as coolant does. And i let it do that because I smelt the gas in the coolant and wanted to see if just by change i might have caught a bad HG early and was gunna rely on what was coming out the pipe.
But I just realized that logic with oil temp is only really valid when driving. So that tells me my engine was no where near hot enough.
I am gunna rent a compression tester from O rileys today and see what is going on.
The coolant smelling like fuel still baffles me.
I can get a boroscope....would it hurt to take a look inside each cylinder other than checking for wet plugs?
I usually say oil takes twice as long to heat up as coolant does. And i let it do that because I smelt the gas in the coolant and wanted to see if just by change i might have caught a bad HG early and was gunna rely on what was coming out the pipe.
But I just realized that logic with oil temp is only really valid when driving. So that tells me my engine was no where near hot enough.
I am gunna rent a compression tester from O rileys today and see what is going on.
The coolant smelling like fuel still baffles me.
I can get a boroscope....would it hurt to take a look inside each cylinder other than checking for wet plugs?
T4R2014
Elite Member
Sounds more like you need one of those combustion leak testers that goes on the radiator. Compression would likely be good if there's no misfire.
STI_MECE
New member
Nail in the Coffin
I am going to go use my birthday money and go buy my hoist and a engine stand.....
ill break the engine down, I got a straight edge and feeler gauges and I will check the heads for flatness and inspect for cracks.
I will check for visual cracks in the head first, if nothing there, it will be a head gasket failure causing this obviously i will see a blown head gasket first before a crack in the head.
If the heads are flat, and its just a gasket, I will order the gaskets and slap it back together.
If they are not flat and/or cracked ill throw the whole engine out and buy one from a wrecked runner. maybe keep the short block as a hood ornament.
Either way I look at it, the engine is going to get pulled anyways because I never will replace a head gasket with the engine still in the car.
and I need an excuse for a hoist and a stand.
I am going to go use my birthday money and go buy my hoist and a engine stand.....
ill break the engine down, I got a straight edge and feeler gauges and I will check the heads for flatness and inspect for cracks.
I will check for visual cracks in the head first, if nothing there, it will be a head gasket failure causing this obviously i will see a blown head gasket first before a crack in the head.
If the heads are flat, and its just a gasket, I will order the gaskets and slap it back together.
If they are not flat and/or cracked ill throw the whole engine out and buy one from a wrecked runner. maybe keep the short block as a hood ornament.
Either way I look at it, the engine is going to get pulled anyways because I never will replace a head gasket with the engine still in the car.
and I need an excuse for a hoist and a stand.
brillo_76
Elite Member
I pulled heads with the engine in the cars..
I do understand the need for more tools though.
For the transmission, transfer cases, gas tank and differential removal. I use an hydraulic table. Those work great for those applications.
At least you have a plan. :]
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STI_MECE
New member
My weapons for battle have been assembled!
Hopefully will have it pulled by Tuesday. I imagine I will only have enough time today to get everything disconnected from the engine.
Monday I'll have the engine hooked up to the hoist and Tuesday the engine will be pulled
Never pulled an engine before. And I am doing it on my own in an apartment garage lol
I am gunna turn the truck around where the front of the truck goes into the garage first. I'll hoist the engine out and drop it on a stand. I am gunna try and push the truck back into the garage if I have enough room. If not, I'll have to roll the truck out the garage and push it into a parking spot right in front of the garage.
If I have till the truck outside I'm gunna have to stop the engine thing for a bit and make sure I have everything covered that is exposed from the outside element's. I don't want yard guys blowing grass into or water getting into places it shouldn't be.
Gonna go buy a cheap plastic table to lay important parts down. And snag some old shoe boxes to mark bolts
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Hopefully will have it pulled by Tuesday. I imagine I will only have enough time today to get everything disconnected from the engine.
Monday I'll have the engine hooked up to the hoist and Tuesday the engine will be pulled
Never pulled an engine before. And I am doing it on my own in an apartment garage lol
I am gunna turn the truck around where the front of the truck goes into the garage first. I'll hoist the engine out and drop it on a stand. I am gunna try and push the truck back into the garage if I have enough room. If not, I'll have to roll the truck out the garage and push it into a parking spot right in front of the garage.
If I have till the truck outside I'm gunna have to stop the engine thing for a bit and make sure I have everything covered that is exposed from the outside element's. I don't want yard guys blowing grass into or water getting into places it shouldn't be.
Gonna go buy a cheap plastic table to lay important parts down. And snag some old shoe boxes to mark bolts
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sleepydad
Senior Member
I go grab a box of gallon and sandwich sized zip loc's. use a sharpie to label the bags and put the nuts bolts/parts that fit into those bags. then you can just toss them into a big box/bin or something. works well with limited space.
I also have a clip board and make notes on parts to order and replace.
I have pulled 5x of these engines in the last 2 years
STI_MECE
New member
[MENTION=168172]sleepydad[/MENTION], yes that is the plan! I had to do the same thing when I was doing a head gasket job on my father-in-laws Ford 302. There are more ho(s)e's in that engine bay than a run-down titty bar.
I got my pricing together for the gaskets and bolts. The Toyota overhaul gasket is 372, and the head bolts are 100 from dealership.
I am also going to consider repairing that cylinder 1 which has been tapped out already by someone. The timesert kit for it is like 300 bucks :barf: Or maybe I just leave it alone....it bugs me i have to thread the insert onto the spark plug....a timesert stays in the head and doesn't come out.
When I factor all that stuff in together, it gets dangerously close to where it makes more sense to just search for a good donor engine (which i found) and dropping that in instead.
But that overhaul kit includes everything from exhaust manifold gaskets, up to the throttle body gasket. I just did the valve covers, and im gunna reuse all that stuff, but ill replace all the gaskets again, from the valve covers up.
Gunna have to look at the cost of piecing it all together.
I got my pricing together for the gaskets and bolts. The Toyota overhaul gasket is 372, and the head bolts are 100 from dealership.
I am also going to consider repairing that cylinder 1 which has been tapped out already by someone. The timesert kit for it is like 300 bucks :barf: Or maybe I just leave it alone....it bugs me i have to thread the insert onto the spark plug....a timesert stays in the head and doesn't come out.
When I factor all that stuff in together, it gets dangerously close to where it makes more sense to just search for a good donor engine (which i found) and dropping that in instead.
But that overhaul kit includes everything from exhaust manifold gaskets, up to the throttle body gasket. I just did the valve covers, and im gunna reuse all that stuff, but ill replace all the gaskets again, from the valve covers up.
Gunna have to look at the cost of piecing it all together.
STI_MECE
New member
Well I decided to get a donor engine. Came out of a 1999 SR5. The seller wrecked it, had 144k miles on it and he gave me the service records for it too.
Prepping the new engine now. I have to swap power steering, and alternator brackets.
The alternator took a good hit. One of the bolts holding the alternator bracket to the engine sheared off in the head. It broke clean with the boss. So I'm gunna have to dive into my bag of tricks to get it out.
I start working 13 hour shifts tomorrow for the next 3 months 7 days a week and work during holidays too. So my time is up I'll make slow progress here and there for awhile.
Im looking to the day I can get this puppy up and running again I'm gunna do everything I can to the engine while it's out.
I want to thank everyone for the help and advice in the threads I've been blowing up recently. Now I got my donor engine. My life is content lol
Stay tuned folks more to come. The 4runner will live on!
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Prepping the new engine now. I have to swap power steering, and alternator brackets.
The alternator took a good hit. One of the bolts holding the alternator bracket to the engine sheared off in the head. It broke clean with the boss. So I'm gunna have to dive into my bag of tricks to get it out.
I start working 13 hour shifts tomorrow for the next 3 months 7 days a week and work during holidays too. So my time is up I'll make slow progress here and there for awhile.
Im looking to the day I can get this puppy up and running again I'm gunna do everything I can to the engine while it's out.
I want to thank everyone for the help and advice in the threads I've been blowing up recently. Now I got my donor engine. My life is content lol
Stay tuned folks more to come. The 4runner will live on!
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STI_MECE
New member
Almost there!
Running back to harbor freight to get a 2 ton hoist and a corded impact gun. I cant break the crank bolt lose, Im picking the engine up with my breaker bar lol
Friday I am getting about 800 dollars worth of parts from dealership. new master cylinder, new engine, and transmission mount, rear main seal, going to do the timing belt as well, re doing the valve covers, going to reseal my oil pan., oil cooler o-rings and gaskets.
Full steam ahead. :uzi::uzi:
I am going to hop into the engine bay today and do some house keeping. I reckon in about 2 weeks it will all be done.
Running back to harbor freight to get a 2 ton hoist and a corded impact gun. I cant break the crank bolt lose, Im picking the engine up with my breaker bar lol
Friday I am getting about 800 dollars worth of parts from dealership. new master cylinder, new engine, and transmission mount, rear main seal, going to do the timing belt as well, re doing the valve covers, going to reseal my oil pan., oil cooler o-rings and gaskets.
Full steam ahead. :uzi::uzi:
I am going to hop into the engine bay today and do some house keeping. I reckon in about 2 weeks it will all be done.
STI_MECE
New member
Engine Swap Update #2: Valve coverz 4 dayz, and timing woes
Did my valve covers, swapped everything over the only thing I reused was the rubber gasket and the half moons, I opted for new grommets.
This was the second time I did this in a month other than cleaning the half moons the second part was torquing the sixteen bolts on the valve covers lol steeping them up in torque sequence from 45-50-55. It takes time.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
First time doing a timing belt job on this Engine and I'm glad it was done outside the Engine bay.
I'm not sure how anyone can follow it per the manual because it just didn't work for me. I lined the cams up with their marks and crankshaft was set on Cylinder 1 TDC.
Everytime I would try and get the belt on there enough tension to turn both cams. And then I had to reset. Eventually I got it and there was slack between the water pump and the crankshaft gear.
So I would put the tensioner in and sure as shit the tensioner would then take the slack out of the belt and spin the cam gears but the crankshaft stayed put.
And after all that crap I still went ahead and tried to see where my timing was and every time it would end up being 1 mark behind where it should be.
I legit did the same process about ten times thinking I was crazy. There was no way I could change the outcome of this if I do the same thing over and over again.I eventually I said screw this crap I advanced the timing on the cam gears by the amount it was retarding it self.
it kept on retarding itself by 1 tooth on each cam.
So I advanced the timing by 1 tooth before I sent the tension on the belt and sure as shit it worked like a champ.
And I will say when ever I advanced it 1 tooth before putting in the hydraulic tensioner, the belt was sllack between the crankshaft gear and the passenger cam gear
Whenever I was doing it per the FSM it was the opposite way around, the belt was slack between the driver side cam and the crankshaft gear. And that crank shaft dot was one tooth BEHIND where it was marked on the COG
So because I advanced the timing by 1 tooth on each gear i was able to get the belt to slip over on the dot of the crankshaft gear, and the slack was taken up by the tensioner properly, but it did still turn the cams by 1 one tooth! But that's exactly what I wanted.
So by the time the tensioner was torqued ( I still haven't pulled the pin at this point) the cams retarded themselves by 1 tooth and after that my timing was dead set on.
I turned the crank 6 times for a total of 3 cam revolutions, and my timing was dead nutz. Pulled the pin and that is all she wrote.
It was pain in the ass to get that point. A couple of hours at least but i know 110% my timing is dead on.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________
I'm still waiting on 1 engine mount to come in. Tomorrow I will do my oil cooler fittings, gunna go to hardware store today and buy some 1/2" NPT to barb adapters (hopefully that is right size) to bench bleed new master cylinder
I am reconsidering whether or not if I should do my oil pan and rear main seal. I got the parts for everything. But there are two things holding me back which are apart of me being lazy and because there is no real disadvantage of me doing these repairs when the engine is in the truck.
I have a 4x2. And I wouldn't changing the rear main out whenever the time comes because it will give me an excuse to buy a nice transmission jack which i will need for other projects unrelated to the 4runner. And the oil pan on the truck is no rear hassle for me.
The only way I could consider doing the oil pan now is if I had the muscle to turn this engine over smoothly but I know that's not possible this ***** will turn over fast and abruptly lol I guess i would leave it the way it is and still install it
Oh and another thing, for installing the crankshaft front seal, if you have the rear axle bearing puller tool this little piece works as a great deal driver with a nice lip to tap in.
Also notice the new crank bolt has some thread locker on it maybe? Interesting to say the least
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Did my valve covers, swapped everything over the only thing I reused was the rubber gasket and the half moons, I opted for new grommets.
This was the second time I did this in a month other than cleaning the half moons the second part was torquing the sixteen bolts on the valve covers lol steeping them up in torque sequence from 45-50-55. It takes time.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
First time doing a timing belt job on this Engine and I'm glad it was done outside the Engine bay.
I'm not sure how anyone can follow it per the manual because it just didn't work for me. I lined the cams up with their marks and crankshaft was set on Cylinder 1 TDC.
Everytime I would try and get the belt on there enough tension to turn both cams. And then I had to reset. Eventually I got it and there was slack between the water pump and the crankshaft gear.
So I would put the tensioner in and sure as shit the tensioner would then take the slack out of the belt and spin the cam gears but the crankshaft stayed put.
And after all that crap I still went ahead and tried to see where my timing was and every time it would end up being 1 mark behind where it should be.
I legit did the same process about ten times thinking I was crazy. There was no way I could change the outcome of this if I do the same thing over and over again.I eventually I said screw this crap I advanced the timing on the cam gears by the amount it was retarding it self.
it kept on retarding itself by 1 tooth on each cam.
So I advanced the timing by 1 tooth before I sent the tension on the belt and sure as shit it worked like a champ.
And I will say when ever I advanced it 1 tooth before putting in the hydraulic tensioner, the belt was sllack between the crankshaft gear and the passenger cam gear
Whenever I was doing it per the FSM it was the opposite way around, the belt was slack between the driver side cam and the crankshaft gear. And that crank shaft dot was one tooth BEHIND where it was marked on the COG
So because I advanced the timing by 1 tooth on each gear i was able to get the belt to slip over on the dot of the crankshaft gear, and the slack was taken up by the tensioner properly, but it did still turn the cams by 1 one tooth! But that's exactly what I wanted.
So by the time the tensioner was torqued ( I still haven't pulled the pin at this point) the cams retarded themselves by 1 tooth and after that my timing was dead set on.
I turned the crank 6 times for a total of 3 cam revolutions, and my timing was dead nutz. Pulled the pin and that is all she wrote.
It was pain in the ass to get that point. A couple of hours at least but i know 110% my timing is dead on.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________
I'm still waiting on 1 engine mount to come in. Tomorrow I will do my oil cooler fittings, gunna go to hardware store today and buy some 1/2" NPT to barb adapters (hopefully that is right size) to bench bleed new master cylinder
I am reconsidering whether or not if I should do my oil pan and rear main seal. I got the parts for everything. But there are two things holding me back which are apart of me being lazy and because there is no real disadvantage of me doing these repairs when the engine is in the truck.
I have a 4x2. And I wouldn't changing the rear main out whenever the time comes because it will give me an excuse to buy a nice transmission jack which i will need for other projects unrelated to the 4runner. And the oil pan on the truck is no rear hassle for me.
The only way I could consider doing the oil pan now is if I had the muscle to turn this engine over smoothly but I know that's not possible this ***** will turn over fast and abruptly lol I guess i would leave it the way it is and still install it
Oh and another thing, for installing the crankshaft front seal, if you have the rear axle bearing puller tool this little piece works as a great deal driver with a nice lip to tap in.
Also notice the new crank bolt has some thread locker on it maybe? Interesting to say the least
Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk
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4Reak Show
New member
Too late now, but I'll give some timing belt pointers for anyone who finds themselves struggling as well:
1) Leave idler pulley bolt a little loose. A LITTLE loose. It allows for a tiny amount of slop between the cams and every millimeter helps sometimes. (Giggity)
2) fully install tensioner PIVOT (Allen) bolt. But do not fully install tensioner PISTON. Leave those 2 vertical 12mm headed bolts a few threads loose so the tensioner pulley can rest all the way down onto the oil pump body. If you fully install the piston, it prohibits maximum articulation.
3) new belt should have marks, if not, Mark old belt before removal. Then, install on crank sprocket, and wedge something to hold bottom of belt on sprocket. Work your way around counter clockwise, aligning all the marks on the belt to the locations on the remaining sprockets.
4) with all marks of belt aligned, tighten idler pulley from step 1, tensioner bolts from step 2. with crank bolt installed, barely rotate crank like 2 degrees clockwise, just enough to remove all slack. Then pull the pin and rotate engine twice to confirm.
Also, never expect belt marks to line back it. They won't. Sprocket marks, yes. Belt marks, no.
Good job figuring it out. Wise move doing it outside of the vehicle. Done a bunch inside trucks. Worst ones are the transverse (sideways) engines in vans/cars. 3.3's have a super crazy procedure including reverse rotating engine to not contact valves. It gets nuts real fast.
1) Leave idler pulley bolt a little loose. A LITTLE loose. It allows for a tiny amount of slop between the cams and every millimeter helps sometimes. (Giggity)
2) fully install tensioner PIVOT (Allen) bolt. But do not fully install tensioner PISTON. Leave those 2 vertical 12mm headed bolts a few threads loose so the tensioner pulley can rest all the way down onto the oil pump body. If you fully install the piston, it prohibits maximum articulation.
3) new belt should have marks, if not, Mark old belt before removal. Then, install on crank sprocket, and wedge something to hold bottom of belt on sprocket. Work your way around counter clockwise, aligning all the marks on the belt to the locations on the remaining sprockets.
4) with all marks of belt aligned, tighten idler pulley from step 1, tensioner bolts from step 2. with crank bolt installed, barely rotate crank like 2 degrees clockwise, just enough to remove all slack. Then pull the pin and rotate engine twice to confirm.
Also, never expect belt marks to line back it. They won't. Sprocket marks, yes. Belt marks, no.
Good job figuring it out. Wise move doing it outside of the vehicle. Done a bunch inside trucks. Worst ones are the transverse (sideways) engines in vans/cars. 3.3's have a super crazy procedure including reverse rotating engine to not contact valves. It gets nuts real fast.
STI_MECE
New member
I'd be tempted to say you might as well back hydrualic tensioner all the off until it is not pressing against No. 1 pulley at all
I tell you what if I did this in the engine I would remove the AC compressor and bungie cord it and then remove the compressor bracket to get full view of that tensioner.
I think making sure the tensioner is all the way out is 100% needed. You might be able finagle it on but yeah I had mine off completely. Put the belt on, then tightened the bolts snug not to spec made sure the cams were in the right spot,
Then I torqued it spec and that's when it walked back right to where the timing marks were.
Thanks for taking on to my comments though! Here's to helping the lost soul that stumbled on this thread for timing belt stuff after they rifled through everything else! Lol
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