so confused

[RpzInc]

"Project Head Gasket"

I bought a 94 v6 runner with 215k for a grand last week. It had a miss fire. so I started with plugh, then wires, then dist cap and rotor,made sure it sat a 10btdc. It was still running like crap so i started pulling off one plug wire at a time to see what cylinder was missing. lo and behold #6 and #3 where not firing. so i pulled the plugs and ran the motor with the two plugs out and couldnt see or small any gas. so i replaced the fuel injectors and all of the seals. And what do you know it still ran like crap. After a few hours of research i find that #6 cylinders head gasket is a known problem and 3-4 is problematic as well. so i Bought an eristic complete top end gasket kit and pulled the motor apart to find .050 new pistons, fresh cams, new head gaskets, and no visible signes of wear. no carbon build up,and nothing visibly broken. Im still going to bring the heads to the local shop to have a once over. with all that said i need some help, my dad seems to think its something electrical, and now after regreatfully pulling the motor apart Im starting to feel the same. any advice would be helpfull bear in mind that it runs almost the same with the old and new wires, plugs, cap,and rotor. the two new injectors helped a little bit but not much. One last thing has anyone here used eristic gaskets? if so where they any good. the head gasket that was on the truck seemed to be made from a stronger material. basically what im asking is what brand head gasket should i go with?

 

[RpzInc]

Well i have the heads at the local shop and the guy there is going to completly rebuild them for 200 bucks. he gave me a nice discount because my girlfriend and his wife are good friends. he told me to trace the injectors wires all the way to the computer and make sure there are no visible damages to them. On top of that im going to clean the upper and lower intake manifold, put on a new fuel filter, pressure test my exhaust, last but not least replace all of the hoses under the hood. I have some pics up as the progress goes on.

 

[turboSR5]

Hopefully that will straighten you out. I don't know much about the 3.0 so I tend to keep my mouth shut on that topic. The only thing I can add is it would be in your best interest to get OEM or better head gaskets and head bolts (do not re-use v6 head bolts!).

 

[Mellow77]

I don't have any insight to help you out but I'm certainly interested in what you find out.

 

[RpzInc]

I did buy my head bolts from napa and i have always had good luck there. i think they are felpro, ill have to dig the box out from under car parts later and check. the machine shop said they will take a look at the head gaskets and give me there views.

This is the engine bay as of right now

some parts im cleaning

The hard to see progress......lol the lower intake was to caked so the local shops going to hot tank it.

I will dig into the wiring harness tomorrow and post update pics.

 

[Trevloc]

i am like a deer in headlights when it comes to that type of knowledge. glad your posting it incase someone like me needs it.

:bigok:

 

[RpzInc]

Todays update! I pulled the harness out of the truck, it was much easier than i expected! once i got it out i stripped all the tape and heat shield starting at the injectors to the computer. i found the injector wires where cracked and missing insulation so i replaced them to the factory wire split. What I found out is by design all 6 injectors spray fuel at the same exact time. At first i thought someone might of rigged it by connecting the two wires but when i took the screws off of the top of the ecu i noticed that both pins are linked by the circuit board. i drew a cheesy little diagram. my question to the timing on the injectors is would it be possible to make them fire when the intake valve begins to open vr all of them firing at the same time. and if so would this increase horse power? any who i have the harness back in the truck and im just waiting on the shop to finish so i can finish her up. oh i also found myexhaust leak. a gasket was not installed on the passenger side, where the header meets the back pipe.

Cheesy wiring picture, i drew the head lights so you get the idea of front and back

A mistery unit, if you know feel free to speek up

the fun begins

I have no idea why i put blue tape on the injector wires.

the wires with the black tape go to the injectors ones for the laft bank and ones for the right bank but they are linked about 4 inches in the harness and inside the ecu

 

[RpzInc]

Today i dropped off my lower intake so it can go through the hot tank. I also brought the eristic gasket set with me and the owner of the shop said the gaskets look better then felpro and he would not hesitate to use them. tomorrow everything should be ready for picup.

here are some pics of the gaskets just for something new to look at.
Ill post pics of the heads and intake once i get them back

 

[Ricky B]

Trust me on this one, and check your coil........

 

[RpzInc]

Ill check it but i dont see how it could be the problem seeing how 4 cylinders where firing just fine. the coil just feeds the distributer.if it was the coil wouldnt i see a problem in all 6? Im also going to replace the maf, the one i have has been opend up and i dont like that...If you have any suggestions for anything else i should check/replace while im doing this semi overhal feel free to suggest. im on a 900 dollar budget and i have only spent 270ish.

 

[the_dingman]

What is that mystery board hooked up to?

As for messing with the injector timing, I wouldn't mess with it. They are all supposed to spray at the same time.

 

[Ricky B]

Ill check it but i dont see how it could be the problem seeing how 4 cylinders where firing just fine. the coil just feeds the distributer.if it was the coil wouldnt i see a problem in all 6? Im also going to replace the maf, the one i have has been opend up and i dont like that...If you have any suggestions for anything else i should check/replace while im doing this semi overhal feel free to suggest. im on a 900 dollar budget and i have only spent 270ish.

A weak or dying coil will drive you up the fricken wall, as it doesn't follow any certified play book when it decides to act possessed. I've had it happen on 4 or 5 different cars in the last 30+ years.......

 

[RpzInc]

ill replace the coil. i just wanted your viewon how it could be the problem. the mistery unit plugs in to the clip next to it in the pic. its part of the hvac harness.

 

[turboSR5]

The only way I could imagine you could modify your injector timing is through a stand alone fuel management system like Megasquirt or other system. Not sure if it would be worth the effort, but you would have much more control in regards to tuning it for air/fuel/timing.

The gaskets do look good, I was a little worried about that but they seem to be of decent quality.

 

[RpzInc]

Well i didnt pick up the heads or intake yesterday, i went quad riding with my family instead:bluejump:. now i will have to wait until monday to get my parts:crybaby:. Ill post updates soon!

 

[RpzInc]

Great I have the heads and lower intake, except now it looks like rain out today. Hopefully ican get the heads and valve covers on befor the clouds open up. here is a pic off all the stuff i have for it as of now, I have to make one more autozone trip to get the belt componet set and new fan, alt, ps, ac belts.

heads

all the goods

Now i just have to get my ass in gear

 

[turboSR5]

$$$$$

 

[RpzInc]

It hasnt cost me a lot for everything, im under 500 right now!

So after *****ing about the weather i decided to do some work. I have the heads on, exhaust on, and valve covers on. everything has high impace grease on the moving parts so it has lube until the oil pressure builds.
I dont have the timing done yet, i still have to fix a bolt and a stud and get the knock sensor wire clip out of my girls truck. hopefully i can do more tomorrow.

1st head

both on

starting to look good

more updates soon!

 

[RpzInc]

Well today i was hoping to finish up the runner, but i left my fuel injector seals in my girls truck. at least now the motor is timed and all ihave to do is finish mounting the alt, ps, replace the belts put in the injectors,install the intake, and tie up all the little odds and ends. hopefully i will have spare time in the next few days.

notice my collection of parts at the bottom.....lol

 

[RpzInc]

well it runs, it has an exhaust and i need to pull the distributor and move it back a tooth. I should be done tomorrow.