Adventures in 4Runner'ing

[DaveInDenver]

Haha good point! Always travel with someone who has more gear than you do.

In this club that will be most people, it's about the most prepared 4WD group out there. My approach is to add or change stuff whenever it becomes obvious that a change is needed. That's why I run IFS but have a fridge, just more times over the years I've ended up with tepid beer than finding trails I couldn't do. And warm beer doesn't make David happy.

 

[DouglasVB]

In this club that will be most people, it's about the most prepared 4WD group out there. My approach is to add or change stuff whenever it becomes obvious that a change is needed. That's why I run IFS but have a fridge, just more times over the years I've ended up with tepid beer than finding trails I couldn't do. And warm beer doesn't make David happy.

Your priorities are straight. I better add a fridge to my list.

 

[DouglasVB]

I went out to get parts on a quick break from work. I have the valve cover gasket and two half moon rubber disks plus two out of the four rubber/metal grommet washer things. The other two will come in tomorrow. The backup light switch for the transmission is on order as well and should be in around Wednesday or Thursday. I also picked up a compression test kit. After work, assuming no big thunderstorms, I'll put the 4runner in the garage and get to work.

 

[ToyodaTocco]

When you put the valve cover back on, do not tighten down the valve cover too much. Its only 4 nuts and if you tighten it down too much the rocker arms will contact the top of the valve cover. I go hand tight with them and then a quarter turn or so. And put some rtv on the half moons, they love to leak especially the one in the back of the head.

 

[AxleIke]

9000 is fine, but probably overkill. I run an 8000 lb on mine. Basic warn M8000. It has been more than enough for my 3rd gen. Up to the individual.

 

[DouglasVB]

9000 is fine, but probably overkill. I run an 8000 lb on mine. Basic warn M8000. It has been more than enough for my 3rd gen. Up to the individual.

That's a downright affordable winch! I'll have to look more closely at what I really need for winching power... Thanks for the info.

 

[DouglasVB]

I finished the valve adjustment. The valves were a little looser than the spec dictates. I tightened everything up. I looked at the timing chain guides. They're beautiful and look brand new (and are made out of plastic). No sign of breakage of the guides.

I didn't even need to replace any of the valve gasket seals or half moon rubber disks. They all look practically brand new and have plenty of life left. Now I am the proud owner of a spare set of gaskets. Oh well

I am currently waiting to see what my leakdown is on Cylinder 4 (rear-most cylinder). The initial pressure is 120psi according to my new gauge. I'll post the results of all four cylinders in a while.

 

[DouglasVB]

Okay here are the results... I cranked the engine over about eight times for each cylinder, took a reading right away, waited 10 minutes, and took another reading.

Cylinder 4: 120PSI initial, 118PSI final
Cylinder 3: 145PSI initial, 142PSI final
Cylinder 2: 145PSI initial, 140PSI final
Cylinder 1: 130PSI initial, 128PSI final

Then I realized that I didn't have the throttle wide open so I retested everything because obviously I'm an idiot.

Cylinder 4: 120 PSI
Cylinder 3: 142 PSI
Cylinder 2: 152 PSI
Cylinder 1: 150 PSI

So it looks like cylinder 4 (rear-most cylinder) is pretty low but the others are decent. Thoughts?

Edit: I am putting everything back together for the night so that I can get the truck out of the garage. I'll have time tomorrow evening for more work.

 

[DaveInDenver]

Is this after you did the valve lash? Your #4 is lower than I'd expect, but more it's the large difference between high and low that is the concern.

If it was me I'd run another valve lash being careful to be right on TDC (it's easy to get parallax and it only takes being a little off to roll off the cam lobe). That #3 is second lowest is also a concern, it's usually the sliver of head gasket between #3 and #4 that fails. I suspect it's got something to do with the heat distribution in the engine, maybe due to the EGR being at the rear. Hard to say for sure, but other than the 120 psi on #4 the rest don't look bad.

A leak down would be useful to know if it's rings or valves that are causing the low reading.

 

[DouglasVB]

Is this after you did the valve lash? Your #4 is lower than I'd expect, but more it's the large difference between high and low that is the concern.

If it was me I'd run another valve lash being careful to be right on TDC (it's easy to get parallax and it only takes being a little off to roll off the cam lobe). That #3 is second lowest is also a concern, it's usually the sliver of head gasket between #3 and #4 that fails. I suspect it's got something to do with the heat distribution in the engine, maybe due to the EGR being at the rear. Hard to say for sure, but other than the 120 psi on #4 the rest don't look bad.

A leak down would be useful to know if it's rings or valves that are causing the low reading.

This is post-valve-lash-adjustment. The clatter from the engine reduced GREATLY after doing the valve lash adjustment although I still have one tick. Maybe one of the valves on the 4th cylinder isn't quite adjusted right. I'll take the valve cover off again tonight, make doubly sure that the TDC is set correctly, and give adjusting the 4th cylinder another shot.

Is it better to be a little tight or a little loose on the valve adjustments? I adjusted everything to where I can still move the feeler gauge but it's definitely dragging between the two pieces of metal.

 

[ToyodaTocco]

This is post-valve-lash-adjustment. The clatter from the engine reduced GREATLY after doing the valve lash adjustment although I still have one tick. Maybe one of the valves on the 4th cylinder isn't quite adjusted right. I'll take the valve cover off again tonight, make doubly sure that the TDC is set correctly, and give adjusting the 4th cylinder another shot.

Is it better to be a little tight or a little loose on the valve adjustments? I adjusted everything to where I can still move the feeler gauge but it's definitely dragging between the two pieces of metal.

I always err on too loose. The faces of the rockers arms that ride on the cam are hardened. If it's too tight the pad of the rocker arm will chew into the cam over time.

 

[DaveInDenver]

A little loose is better than too snug. Beyond the damage that Bill mentions if the lash is too small the valves will float at high RPM and you don't get complete combustion. The valve rattle is annoying more than damage. What I find is key is that all the valve lash settings are the same, the truck starts, idles and runs better when everything is close in adjustment.

 

[DouglasVB]

Okay I have the valve cover off again and just checked everything again. Here are three videos of me doing stuff to the valves. Only one intake and one exhaust felt too tight but my feeler fingers might not be well-calibrated.

Video 1: http://youtu.be/Vv9pmvJWsAM
Video 2: https://youtu.be/R-vrHSnXHL0
Video 3: https://youtu.be/V3i1NVIMW8k

While I was waiting for these videos to upload, I went ahead and replaced the spark plug wires, cap, and rotor (or whatever the real names are). I had a set of brand new parts included from the previous owner. I put in new spark plugs last night. The old plugs are far enough along in their lifecycle that I figured I might as well.

If my videos look reasonable, I will put the valve cover back on and run the compression tests again. Did I adjust the valves correctly?

 

[DouglasVB]

Also I forgot to mention, my skid plate was missing the two rear bolts when I took it off yesterday to get at the crank shaft bolt to turn over the engine by hand for TDC alignment. Also one of the two front bolts is, I kid you not, some allthread jammed and twisted around with an SAE nut attached. I recall there being more bolts on the bottom the last time I was under the car a few weeks ago. Maybe a few of those big hits I took on Saturday loosened them up and let them fall out. Now to find the appropriately sized bolts...

 

[ToyodaTocco]

looks good to me.

 

[DouglasVB]

looks good to me.

Cool. I'll throw the valve cover back on, reconnect all the hoses and stuff, and run the compression test again. Numbers shortly...

 

[DouglasVB]

Okay... Eight cranks gives me 135PSI on 4th cylinder. Ten cranks gets me to 142PSI. Twelve cranks is 142PSI still.

Moving on to the 3rd cylinder... Twelve cranks gives me 143PSI.

2nd cylinder... Twelve cranks gives me 148PSI.

1st cylinder... 152PSI.

This is with a cold engine.

 

[DouglasVB]

My Toyota factory service manual says the lower limit is 142PSI and the between cylinder max limit is 14PSI. It looks like my engine squeaks by.

 

[ToyodaTocco]

My Toyota factory service manual says the lower limit is 142PSI and the between cylinder max limit is 14PSI. It looks like my engine squeaks by.

It's passes, and lives to wheel another day!

 

[DouglasVB]

It's passes, and lives to wheel another day!

WOHOO! Next up... change diff fluid and find some bolts of the right size for the skid plate.

How far in the future do you think I have until I'll be due for an engine rebuild?