honestly man, pull the motor and put it on a stand...its a project so you dont need it for work or anything...while its out you can inspect it better, clean it, clean the bay, etc. you dont have a lift so working under it will be a pain
86 4runner w/ 22re, need to get it running right
I bought another project truck! I am going to try & keep this one. It is an 86 4runner 4x4 with 22re & automatic. The story from the previous owner is that he bought it not running with a rusted out gas tank & bad fuel pump. The truck spent the last 6+ years on a deer lease. He replaced the tank & pump but didn't bother with the float for the fuel gauge.:shrug: He got it running (poorly) but the fuel injectors where all leaking & then he threw in the towel. It sat for another year then I bought it for next to nothing & brought it home.
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I pulled the upper intake & the injectors, cleaned them in the ultra sonic machine that we have at work, replaced all of the o-rings & bushings & put it all back together. In the proccess I replaced just about every vacuum line.
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I drained the tank & put some fresh gas in & it started right up. Really ran like crap for the first 30 sec, then smoothed out some & ran OK at best. I let it run for about 20 minutes, revved it several times & noticed a bunch of other problems, but no fuel leaks. It has a pretty bad oil leak on the front crank seal & possibly the rear also, a terrible exhaust leak coming from the bottom of the exhaust manifold & leaky valve cover gasket. I decided to go ahead & replace the timing chain since I know these engines have issues with them. Ordered a timing chain set, exhaust manifold & valve cover gasket set all from LC Engineering. I still want to do a compression test before I start taking it apart so that if I need pull he head I can do it all at the same time.
I have a few questions before I start & prob. several more as I go. The porous of this thread is to keep track of my progress & ask questions as I go.
1st question - I have read that it is recommended that you pull the head when changing the timing chain, I have read several write ups & some people do, others don't. Why?
2nd - If the timing chain guides are broken, then I understand that I need to remove the oil pan & clean out the debris. Should I remove the front diff to get it out, or just pull the whole motor & do all of my work on an engine stand?
Any help, incite or thoughts are welcome & appreciated. I will post pics as I go.
And BTW, the date on my camera is wrong, lol
I pulled the upper intake & the injectors, cleaned them in the ultra sonic machine that we have at work, replaced all of the o-rings & bushings & put it all back together. In the proccess I replaced just about every vacuum line.
I drained the tank & put some fresh gas in & it started right up. Really ran like crap for the first 30 sec, then smoothed out some & ran OK at best. I let it run for about 20 minutes, revved it several times & noticed a bunch of other problems, but no fuel leaks. It has a pretty bad oil leak on the front crank seal & possibly the rear also, a terrible exhaust leak coming from the bottom of the exhaust manifold & leaky valve cover gasket. I decided to go ahead & replace the timing chain since I know these engines have issues with them. Ordered a timing chain set, exhaust manifold & valve cover gasket set all from LC Engineering. I still want to do a compression test before I start taking it apart so that if I need pull he head I can do it all at the same time.
I have a few questions before I start & prob. several more as I go. The porous of this thread is to keep track of my progress & ask questions as I go.
1st question - I have read that it is recommended that you pull the head when changing the timing chain, I have read several write ups & some people do, others don't. Why?
2nd - If the timing chain guides are broken, then I understand that I need to remove the oil pan & clean out the debris. Should I remove the front diff to get it out, or just pull the whole motor & do all of my work on an engine stand?
Any help, incite or thoughts are welcome & appreciated. I will post pics as I go.
And BTW, the date on my camera is wrong, lol
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A little bit of bad news. I did a compression test last night & the results where not good. The number are suprisinglly even just low across the board. I have 100 psi in all 4 cylinders 
. I am going to and adjust the valves & try again. Also I think I am a bumb a$$ for not warming the engine up first, it was 35 deg. last night when I did the test. How important do you think it is to warm the engine first? I am also going to try & put a little oil in the cylinder & see if the number goes up. How much oil should I add? Once I get another compression test done I am going to try & rent a leak down tester to find out if it is the valves or rings. I sure hope it is the not the rings. I could prob. swing a new head but rebuilding the short block is not in my budget right now.
. I am going to and adjust the valves & try again. Also I think I am a bumb a$$ for not warming the engine up first, it was 35 deg. last night when I did the test. How important do you think it is to warm the engine first? I am also going to try & put a little oil in the cylinder & see if the number goes up. How much oil should I add? Once I get another compression test done I am going to try & rent a leak down tester to find out if it is the valves or rings. I sure hope it is the not the rings. I could prob. swing a new head but rebuilding the short block is not in my budget right now.
Saturday was a big day for the 4runner, with the help of a couple local college kids from Tacoma World, we got the engine out. I decided to go ahead & pull it for three reasons. 1st is because I know I need to remove the oil pan & clean it out to be sure the oil pump pick-up is clear, the only 2 ways to get the oil pan off is to drop the front diff or pull the engine. 2nd, since I had it running pretty good it was obvious that the rear main seal was leaking & I would have to either pull the trans or the engine to replace that. 3rd I intend to replace the head gasket & timing chain & thought it would be nice to do all of the work on an engine stand rather than leaning over the truck. As an added bonus by having it out, it gives me the opportunity to replace the front pump seal on the trans & clean up all of the mess from the many oil leaks. It was in all honesty a bigger job than I expected it to be. There are a couple of bell housing bolts that where very difficult to get to. I have pulled several engines in my day & expected this one to be easier than it was. It took us almost 8 hours to get it out but we took our time & labeled everything, drank a few beers, grilled some dinner & had a good time doing it. Here are a couple pics.
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I have a lot of clean up work to do. This engine is seriously greasy. I guess it has been leaking oil for quite some time. I am really looking forward to getting the head off of the block. Since I know the compression is low, I want to see how the cylinder walls look & just how sloppy the pistons are. I do not intend on rebuilding the short block or the head, just clean them up & replace the gaskets. As I have said before, I know this engine CAN run good as is, I am just trying to get the most out of it that I can without spending a ton of money. I will be looking for another 22re to rebuild the right way once I have the cream puff ready for the trails.
I have a lot of clean up work to do. This engine is seriously greasy. I guess it has been leaking oil for quite some time. I am really looking forward to getting the head off of the block. Since I know the compression is low, I want to see how the cylinder walls look & just how sloppy the pistons are. I do not intend on rebuilding the short block or the head, just clean them up & replace the gaskets. As I have said before, I know this engine CAN run good as is, I am just trying to get the most out of it that I can without spending a ton of money. I will be looking for another 22re to rebuild the right way once I have the cream puff ready for the trails.
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