BlackCat914
New member
It's more for diesel engines. Well, their EGR systems, not the engines themselves.
Sandy took my 4Runner! HELP needed
- Thread starter Kalva
- Start date
It's more for diesel engines. Well, their EGR systems, not the engines themselves.
the great him
Elite Member
thats one reason why you have high idle switches(some on timers too)... so you can vary the RPMs
RussToy
New member
I have a diesel truck and just wanting to know for my own info...cause my truck idles a lot...how does this help it? Mine does have a high idle, but only works when it's cold. I thought it was there to help it warm up on cold starts?
Drcoffee
Senior Member
Sounds like the head gaskets died and the heads are warped. Sorry to hear that. On another note, you may want to check the differential too if it was submerged. Might be a good time to change the gear oil.
* note to used car buyers, check on where it was last titled before buying. It would suck to buy a flood car.
* note to used car buyers, check on where it was last titled before buying. It would suck to buy a flood car.
the great him
Elite Member
vehicles that sit at idle can build up carbon deposits if its done on a regular basis... this problem can more prone to diesels as they are not as clean burning. the high idle will keep the engine at higher RPMs and more efficiently burning the fuel, as well as providing the positive force to blow it out of the exhaust system. most vehicles have a positive force/flow on the exhaust system at idle but its a very low force -easily blocked off or reduced by placeing your hand over the tail pipe and stopping 90% of the exhaust. this will not always shut down the vehicle but it will build up in the exhaust system and if done long enough back into the heads ect. at say 1100-1500 RPMs there is no way you will cover any exhaust with your hand and be able match the force. also higher idle will bring up other things like oil pressure and oil flow. the reason diesel oil gets durty so fast is the fact that diesel motors burn a lot dirtier than gasoline motors. left at idle for long periods of time that "dirt" or carbon will get into the oil and not be moved out and filtered fast enough, allowing unnecessary wear on parts. the higher oil PSI and flow if the high idle continually keeps cleaner oil in the system and forces the dirty oil to the filters. -ever noticed how oil filters on diesel trucks are 7-8x the size of ours, and they hold about 15-18qts of oil too... on bigger trucks they are even bigger and there is typically at least 2, i have seen as many as 5, and they hold in some gases over 50qts of oil.
if your truck has a high idle switch and you leave it idle for more than say 10-15 min at a time, id advise making use of that high idle swtich. and be careful of using that to warm up the truck. depending on how cold it is that could be a bad thing. id recommend a block heater, as that will keep things warm during the night and you would have no need to use the high idle for "warm up" cold diesels do not like to be revved, thats one way of eating up bearings. -think about it, if that motor is say a 6.6l duramax its oil capacity is 10qts(thats low for a diesel motor its size), thats 2x the amount our 4runners take, in theory it will take twice as long for that motor to warm up and get all the oil circulating ect. but then with the larger volume oil pump, and larger oil galleys ect it wont take too much longer. maybe another min or 2. but still you dont want to jump in it and start revving the motor as the oil is not yet warm and properly lubricating everything. -powerstrokes and cummins motors take even more oil so they will take even longer to warm up and heaven forbid you are working with a large truck with say a detroit, cat, international or larger cummins motor... if so please for the love of your motor let that thing warm up for 10 min at least before you hit that high idle swtich -that will give you time to do your pre trip inspection and drivers checks.
mikebontoft
New member
if you're on a tight budget, why do you insist on OEM parts? I've done plenty of head gasket and timing jobs and will recommend gates timing component kits and water pumps along with a felpro upper engine gasket set. It would probably save you a good deal of money too. check out rockauto.com for your parts and there's a 5% discount available.
Use what many pros have used with no trouble, unless you have money to spare on oem parts...Which I wouldn't trust any more than anything else these days.
Use what many pros have used with no trouble, unless you have money to spare on oem parts...Which I wouldn't trust any more than anything else these days.
mikebontoft
New member
Quoting myself on this...
seriously I just checked rock auto. for the fel pro upper gasket set, the gates timing kit with water pump and a thermostat it is $448 shipped. with the discount I didn't add anything else because of the wide range of tune up options.
not sure if this link will work... RockAuto Parts Catalog
mikebontoft
New member
autozone is cheap...? Oreillys does cost more but I still used rock auto sometimes and I had an employee discount that was usually 40%
if you can get the OEM set cheaper, that's good. that timing kit at $350 is quite expensive. I think the one I picked was $160?
perhaps a combination of both. I usually get my wires from RA but the plugs an fluids locally since there's no difference in cost.
if you can get the OEM set cheaper, that's good. that timing kit at $350 is quite expensive. I think the one I picked was $160?
perhaps a combination of both. I usually get my wires from RA but the plugs an fluids locally since there's no difference in cost.
Kalva
New member
Thanks for the info, I had already ordered the kits, $355.00 timing kit with water pump, thermostat, Hydraulic Tensioner, all belts etc. + 270.00 shipped for the Head / valve grind kit (valve stem seals, fuel injector o-rings etc). Thanks t4r4life
The Fel-pro kits are a good idea and I may have gone that route but since I have the engine apart I might as well replace all that I can. I figure for 200.00 more in a few extra OE parts at least I'll have paece of mind, plus I'm saving a thousand or the very least hundreds of dollars in labor costs.
I hope to find the cause of the gasket issue when I take down the engine.
Also, I'm plainning to write up a "How to" install head gasket / timming belt thread with tons of photos when I'm done.
Thanks for the Help T4R.ORG:thumb3:
Last edited:
mikebontoft
New member
what extras did you get? I thought the upper engine gasket kit came with all the gaskets needed. I see you did get the tensioner though. best of luck getting it fixed!
hey don't get me wrong on this either, but I've never had trouble with aftermarket parts for Toyotas... so I find the "use only OEM parts" thing a bit unnecessary.
hey don't get me wrong on this either, but I've never had trouble with aftermarket parts for Toyotas... so I find the "use only OEM parts" thing a bit unnecessary.
t4r4life
Elite Member
its not that aftermarket items are bad. it's just that aftermarket item that are not made in US or Japan are bad
Kalva
New member
To me, on a stock engine I like OEM head & intake gaskets most everything eles is up to the lowest bidder. Yet in this case I chose OEM for ease of ordering and not wanting to do it over again if I can avoid it as the 4runner is my Daily Driver. Also, with my luck lately I'd get a bad batch of aftermarket gaskets.
I've rebuilt a Mr2 Spyder engine that I supercharged with a 50.00 engine gasket kit (But I did use an OEM Head gasket) with no issues. I just don't have experance with the 3.4L, so in this case OEM is better for me. Durring the write up I'll list everything that was replaced.
To me the glass is half full. I picked up the 4runner in July and haven't done a thing as maintance other than brakes. The timming belt, plugs, hoses, wires, fluids, and injector o-rings were going to be changed anyway. Now I can add head gasket & valve seals so I'll really know what I have and hopfully the 4runner will last a long long time or another 100,000 miles.
mikebontoft
New member
You know I hate to say it, but over the past few months now (as a professional installer) it does not matter who you get the part from or where it came from, after market or OEM, the overall quality has dropped alarmingly low.
A bad cylinder head.... two bad head gasket sets, an OEM throttle actuator from Honda, a new AC compressor seized out of the box. numerous bad parts. in fact the stress from this actually contributed to a heart attack my boss had a few weeks ago. he's 43.
I guess that contributes to my opinion on this matter... :/
A bad cylinder head.... two bad head gasket sets, an OEM throttle actuator from Honda, a new AC compressor seized out of the box. numerous bad parts. in fact the stress from this actually contributed to a heart attack my boss had a few weeks ago. he's 43.
I guess that contributes to my opinion on this matter... :/
Kalva
New member
:vader: It's been a long time, was busy rebuilding the ground floor to my place after Superstorm Sandy took it and my garage / tools with her. So in the mean time I've been ordering the parts (HG set, water pump, timing belt etc.)collected what I need to get my 4runner up and running again...
Weather has warmed enough that I've been tackling the engine break down over the last few weeks.
Only real issue removing the heads was the driver side exhaust bolt striped causing a lost day of wrenching.
Number 1 cylinder looked to leak out anti-freeze but could have been fluid still in the head passages after drainage. Of all the piston tops the #1 and #3 cylinders was much softer and scratch able then the other pistons with baked on carbon deposits.
Passenger side bank
The gaskets are metal type and I didn't see any brakes like in cork / composite type HG sets.:ybrick:
I'm thinking warped head and fluid getting under the gasket. I found antifreeze in the oil and oil in the antifreeze, before taking apart the heads. So something is wrong.
Nothing conclusive so before I send the heads off to get cleaned up and resurfaced I started looking for more issues on line. Cracked heads kept coming up.
Now for the fun, upon inspecting the heads I did not see any clear cracks in the combustion area. When looking down the intake & exhaust runners nothing really but casting marks then I remove some intake valves I'm seeing what looks like a hair line crack in the #1 & 3 cylinder, could this be the cause? not much but how would oil get into the antifreeze on a intake runner?
Passenger side head
Driver side head
Looks like a hairline crack, #1 cylinder, interesting part is both hairline cracks are where the casting marks are in the other intake passages but they clearly have some material / founding marks.
#3 intake valves
Any ideas, should I take it to get dye tested?
Weather has warmed enough that I've been tackling the engine break down over the last few weeks.
Only real issue removing the heads was the driver side exhaust bolt striped causing a lost day of wrenching.
Number 1 cylinder looked to leak out anti-freeze but could have been fluid still in the head passages after drainage. Of all the piston tops the #1 and #3 cylinders was much softer and scratch able then the other pistons with baked on carbon deposits.
Passenger side bank
The gaskets are metal type and I didn't see any brakes like in cork / composite type HG sets.:ybrick:
I'm thinking warped head and fluid getting under the gasket. I found antifreeze in the oil and oil in the antifreeze, before taking apart the heads. So something is wrong.
Nothing conclusive so before I send the heads off to get cleaned up and resurfaced I started looking for more issues on line. Cracked heads kept coming up.
Now for the fun, upon inspecting the heads I did not see any clear cracks in the combustion area. When looking down the intake & exhaust runners nothing really but casting marks then I remove some intake valves I'm seeing what looks like a hair line crack in the #1 & 3 cylinder, could this be the cause? not much but how would oil get into the antifreeze on a intake runner?
Passenger side head
Driver side head
Looks like a hairline crack, #1 cylinder, interesting part is both hairline cracks are where the casting marks are in the other intake passages but they clearly have some material / founding marks.
#3 intake valves
Any ideas, should I take it to get dye tested?
