'85 4Runner

[weejub]

I know a lot of folks have already headed out or are on the way, but had a question in case anyone was checking on here.

Well I have the '85 cleaned up, mostly loaded and ready to go, except . . .

I adjusted the valves a few days ago. At first it ran great - hardly any chatter on the valves, etc.

Then today it really had a lot of chatter and I noticed that I was stuck on 1200 RPMs at idle even after warm.

I'm going to pull the valve cover off and recheck the valves with a warm engine tomorrow. I may also try replacing some vacuum tubes if I find any questionable ones.

I'm reading a lot of stuff online about a couple additional possibilities:

Auxillary air valve stuck open.
My coolant level is low (I am lacking coolant in the resevoir, will check in the AM once cool.)

 

[weejub]

I had an alignment done, as well, today, and the guy at the shop said he saw coolant coming out of the water pump weep hole. I need to find where that is still.

If I find low coolant levels, I can probably assume it is causing AAV issues and I have a bad water pump?

 

[weejub]

Just checked under the truck - coolant everywhere. Engine is cold, resevoir is empty. coolant coming from water pump area it appears.

 

[weejub]

 

[weejub]

Going to swap out the water pump and see what that gets me as a next step.

 

[CrowleyFJ40]

If it's leaking from wp, that should cure your water leak. Air intake is partially controlled by coolant so lack thereof can cause problems. I think you're on right track.

 

[weejub]

Thanks! I am going with low-cost stuff just due to timing and lack of stock of OEM. $19.99 for water pump and $5.99 for thermostat - - gotta love the 22re!

 

[weejub]

Well got 'er done, but still a lot of chatter. Going to open up the valve cover again the AM and do a warm adjustment vs the cold one I did last time.

Replaced the water pump, thermostat, both belts. Had to pull the radiator because I think I have an aftermarket radiator that leans very close to the fan or I am just not used to tight spaces . . .

Took me all day with conference calls for work, etc

You may see me tomorrow in the 2004 4runner if I don't get this noise figured out.

Anyhoo, see you tomorrow!

 

[weejub]

Despite not getting the '85 to SMORR, I am looking forward to working on my to-do list:

New vacuum hoses
New PCV hose and vent hose, AAV hoses, etc
Flush radiator (go back with Toyota red??)
Alternator pully bolt is stripped - either need to take it off and tap it or try a larger bolt or just buy a new one . . - have heard the supra alternator is a good upgrade . . (feedback welcome on how to fix)
New dipstick - current one is just sitting in there flopping around
Try a warm/hot valve check vs the previous cold

Hopefully all of that gets her running good.

 

[riverrat]

check your timing chain guide on drivers side when u have valve cover off. oem's are plastic and prone to break. just saying!

 

[weejub]

check your timing chain guide on drivers side when u have valve cover off. oem's are plastic and prone to break. just saying!

Yea, when I did the valves I did

and it looked good, but it sound like it is broken now - no more valve noise and a new noise from the front of the timing area. Maybe it was broke down below. When I get it back open I will check it again. Here is a pic of it before.

 

[riverrat]

I had a customer whos broke, piece went down caused chain to jump and bent all the valves and landed back on top dead. No Start and no compression but back in time! had never seen that happen before.

 

[Chef]

Make sure you're not overtightening the valve cover nuts. They don't take much, and if you do, stuff can tap on the underside of the valvecover and make a lot of noise.

 

[weejub]

Make sure you're not overtightening the valve cover nuts. They don't take much, and if you do, stuff can tap on the underside of the valvecover and make a lot of noise.

Oh wow - - never thought of that. I did them by hand and watched the rubber expand to where it looked like it perfectly rounded out the metal on the top and bottom - - - given I just did it, I could always loosen things up and see. Thanks, Chef.


A few other things going on: I bought a few things from http://22reperformance.com (alternator bolt, pcv hose, etc) and was talking to the owner about valve adjustments. He said that for all the 22re's he does, he follows the following process on the valves:

• Cold check
• .006 intake; .008 or .009 on exhaust
• He doesn't do exact TDC - he moves the crank bolt such that the measure is when the cam lobe is at its peak or the top of the cam "egg" is pointing in parallel with the rod/rocker and thus the space is maxx'd out

Thought that was interesting Probably too complex for me.

I plan putting on the new hoses, overhauling the power steering, putting on a new alternator if needed - - get it all right and then see how she runs and then go back into the valves if I have to

 

[CrowleyFJ40]

I always just follow FSM valve adjustment. You're not going to tweak a whole lot out of these engines without a lot of money and stock works fine. There is always some valve noise, but if it's loud enough that it's really bothering you driving down the road, it's probably the chain guide broken, the valves are really out of adjustment, or something else is wrong (like badly worn cam, not likely).

 

[weejub]

I am facing a possible move to the Raleigh NC area It would be safest, professionally, to take a spin at corporate for a while if I want to make a career with my current company, but it leaves me feeling a little tired after just moving last summer.

I will keep everyone posted, but needless to say, if things work out for the move, I would REALLY have to get rid of this truck or the 2004 -who knows.

 

[2fpower]

Heck no!! if you move, you have to get a house big enough for us to visit and crash. Some GREAT wheeling out that way. Don't sell.

 

[tornadoalleycruiser]

Didnt u just move to land with a shop?

 

[weejub]

Erik - No shop yet - that is/was the goal here. Shop is outside on the gravel! Yea we just moved, that is the worst part.