To start this off, my 24v 1987 HJ61 has 550,000 km's on her. About 6 months ago, due to a lack of power and stalling out of the motor, I dropped the fuel tank to find the fuel filter completely gummed over. I cleaned the tank, installed new OEM filter & housing, and blew out the sending/return fuel lines. Ran like a champ until this week.
Day before yesterday, after driving around town for an hour or so I noticed that the idle rpm would noticeably fluctuate +/- 100 rpm (within a second or two) and I had white smoke from the exhaust pipe. This was unusual as it normally would smoke for a few minutes after driving then the smoke would become unnoticeable. After getting home and letting it sit for a day, I fired her up. Unfortunately I was greeted with the idle at 600+/50 on the rpm and a very rough idle with noticeably more smoke from the exhaust. This is interesting because when cold the engine would smoothly but immediately idle above 1k on the RPM, and then after warmup settle around 750 RPM after a few minutes. Now when I start her, the idle is low (650 RPM when I tried again this morning) and the rpms slowlyyyyyy increase never getting above 900 RPM and is sounding very very rough. So rough I don't want to leave it running for too long because of the shaking.
Items of note:
- We had a cold snap for the last 5 days ago had us in the 18-30 degree F range but engine started & ran great
- Batteries would need a jump every morning in the cold but after running her for a bit would start again fine though after a crank or two (if it doesn't start) they need to be jumped again
- I replaced the fuel filter and still have rough idle (little speckles of debris in filter but nothing major)
- Coolant in my reservoir looks good, don't see any leaks on engine or on ground
- Oil looks clean, no blowby from cap and nothing around dipstick... just changed my oil less thank 1k miles ago
- Still seems to run rougher than normal at higher RPMS when I give her the mustard (the manual transmission shifter is moving a lot more at idle)
- I dont hear any pinging sounds (I think) over the clatter of the engine
I think its odd I do not have the idle up anymore when its cold, and the very large amount of smoke is alarming. I would say its white in color and smells very much like unburnt diesel. Not sure where to begin looking. Thoughts that come to mind are IP timing, vacuum issues, or bad injector but nothing has really changed... Still has the Toyota wire from the factory on the IP. I am at a loss of where to start really... FSM says to check valve clearances and and compression for rough idle. Unfortunately the compression tool, sst 09992-00023, is NLA it seems. I can check the valve clearances but not sure that will get me anywhere. I will try and record a video of a cold start tonight and update. I am working from my garage and have minimal tools. Thoughts anyone?
Edited for cold start :
Day before yesterday, after driving around town for an hour or so I noticed that the idle rpm would noticeably fluctuate +/- 100 rpm (within a second or two) and I had white smoke from the exhaust pipe. This was unusual as it normally would smoke for a few minutes after driving then the smoke would become unnoticeable. After getting home and letting it sit for a day, I fired her up. Unfortunately I was greeted with the idle at 600+/50 on the rpm and a very rough idle with noticeably more smoke from the exhaust. This is interesting because when cold the engine would smoothly but immediately idle above 1k on the RPM, and then after warmup settle around 750 RPM after a few minutes. Now when I start her, the idle is low (650 RPM when I tried again this morning) and the rpms slowlyyyyyy increase never getting above 900 RPM and is sounding very very rough. So rough I don't want to leave it running for too long because of the shaking.
Items of note:
- We had a cold snap for the last 5 days ago had us in the 18-30 degree F range but engine started & ran great
- Batteries would need a jump every morning in the cold but after running her for a bit would start again fine though after a crank or two (if it doesn't start) they need to be jumped again
- I replaced the fuel filter and still have rough idle (little speckles of debris in filter but nothing major)
- Coolant in my reservoir looks good, don't see any leaks on engine or on ground
- Oil looks clean, no blowby from cap and nothing around dipstick... just changed my oil less thank 1k miles ago
- Still seems to run rougher than normal at higher RPMS when I give her the mustard (the manual transmission shifter is moving a lot more at idle)
- I dont hear any pinging sounds (I think) over the clatter of the engine
I think its odd I do not have the idle up anymore when its cold, and the very large amount of smoke is alarming. I would say its white in color and smells very much like unburnt diesel. Not sure where to begin looking. Thoughts that come to mind are IP timing, vacuum issues, or bad injector but nothing has really changed... Still has the Toyota wire from the factory on the IP. I am at a loss of where to start really... FSM says to check valve clearances and and compression for rough idle. Unfortunately the compression tool, sst 09992-00023, is NLA it seems. I can check the valve clearances but not sure that will get me anywhere. I will try and record a video of a cold start tonight and update. I am working from my garage and have minimal tools. Thoughts anyone?
Edited for cold start :
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