Bad Idle After Oil Pump and Front Main Seal Replacement (1 Viewer)

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Joined
Nov 28, 2024
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2
Messages
27
Location
Cali
My 94 FZJ80 idles very low and dies off after warming up. Over the weekend I did the typical replacements oil pump gasket, and FMS, was going to do the dizzy O-ring however after discovering that the oil was coming from the actual inside of the shaft, opted not to. Also replaced all three V Belts as the old ones were old and worn. Everything went back smoothly and she started up just fine however after a couple of minutes being on, the idle started to get very slow and she eventually died. Suspected it to be timing as I might have moved the dizzy somehow, so went on to fix timing with a timing light to just over 3 degrees. Was fine for a few minutes then idle got low again and died. Anyone have any more ideas what it could be?
 
Soooo upon further review today, oil is milky and smells like coolant inside the oil filler cap. Checked spark plugs but they seemed normal, no water, went to start it up after checking n smoke from back, nothing heavy however after a minute or two started smelling the sweet smell went to turn off, let it cool down did oil change and sure enough milky oil light ish brown color.
Pictures please.....
Milky oil
Green puddle
Spark plug ends
 
Pictures please.....
Milky oil
Green puddle
Spark plug ends
Tried my best getting pics of everything forgot pics of spark plugs and no green puddle this time just water

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Do it your self, learn a thing or two and have the confidence it was done right. Owning an old cruiser and paying someone else to work on It don’t go hand in hand. That’s what this forum is for helping each other learn how to keep these old pigs on the road and pay it forward to the next guy.
 
Do it your self, learn a thing or two and have the confidence it was done right. Owning an old cruiser and paying someone else to work on It don’t go hand in hand. That’s what this forum is for helping each other learn how to keep these old pigs on the road and pay it forward to the next guy.
I would be I def don’t wanna be in over my head on something I know very little about haha plus I don’t have a garage or shop to do this type of work ):
 
She’s done blown the head! Time for a head gasket job.
Why do you say that?

I.see nothing in those pics that tell me that.

Disregard the oil cap thing.

I'll bet I can walk out to my truck right now and see that kind of milky stuff under the cap.
 
Why do you say that?

I.see nothing in those pics that tell me that.

Disregard the oil cap thing.

I'll bet I can walk out to my truck right now and see that kind of milky stuff under the cap.
Really what about cloudy coolant, and water out the exhaust? I mean I guess I could do the combustion leak test but what else could it be then??
 
Don't jump to conclusions yet about the head gasket. A little milky oil on your oil cap can be normal. Especially with the cracked seal on your oil cap. You can also get condensation in your exhaust pipes that will drip out for a while after a cold start until it gets hot enough to keep the water as vapor instead of re-condensing. If you are getting that much coolant loss, your overflow tank level should be dropping pretty quickly and you likely would be getting compression gasses into the cooling system. You could do an oil change and see what the oil looks like if you want to, but I would start by keeping an eye on my coolant levels and by doing the following to see if there are exhaust gasses escaping into your cooling system which should be happening if your gasket is blown bad enough to cause coolant to be coming out of your exhaust.

You test this by keeping your engine revs at 2000 or so and engine at operating temp, undo the coolant overflow tank cap and keep the tube below the level of the coolant. Peer into the tank and it should be pouring bubbles out of the overflow tube. If you have lifted the tube out of the coolant in the recent past or opened the radiator cap, there is a chance you have introduced air into the system and may have some bubbles escape until all the air has been re-expelled. The coolant system is meant to be a closed system that allows for the coolant to expand when warm (overflows into the tank - also expels any air that is left in the system when doing coolant flushed/opening the radiator cap etc) and pulls the coolant back into the radiator/engine when it cools down and the coolant volume contracts.

You can also rent a kit from an autoparts store to verify a blown head gasket as suggested earlier as well.
 
Really what about cloudy coolant, and water out the exhaust? I mean I guess I could do the combustion leak test but what elsee could it be then??
Are you losing coolant from the RADIATOR, not the overflow tank?
What does the coolant in the RADIATOR look like?
Again, disregard the oil fill cap.

Show us the dipstick with oil on it.
 
Why do you say that?

I.see nothing in those pics that tell me that.

Disregard the oil cap thing.

I'll bet I can walk out to my truck right now and see that kind of milky stuff under the cap.
I read that fast, I thought he said milky oil like he drained it and it was milky. I posted to fast, if it’s just under the cap he might be just fine. I should read thoroughly before recommending a huge job like a head gasket. Hopefully the OP does a test for gases in the coolant to verify.
 
Have someone pull your engine and put in a new one. Then give me their number so I can buy your engine from them.

Seriously, you can do all the maintenance on this truck on the roadside of a dirt road. Don't let your lack of facilities keep you from learing something about your truck and saving money at the same time. There are plenty of well informed, helpful people here that will get you from where you are to where you want to be, wherever that is.
 
Hey guys quick update I’ve been real busy so haven’t had any time to wrench! But today had a bit of time before work and was able to do a combustion leak test and didn’t get any signs of gas coming through. First image was before starting her up and second was about 5 minutes afterwards.
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Interesting I had always thought that when this happens the engine would get hot since the crank is just spinning without the HB spinning the belts. Where were you able to find a new one?
Sorry, missed this. I think for the most part once the rubber separated, it ran as normal. I think this was our first sign of failure:


It was diagnosed as a bad oil pressure sender which never sat well with me due to the rough idle.

It took several months but this is what I found, the car is low use and had less than 500 miles in the interim period and most of that was one 120 mile round trip.


The harmonic balancer came from the dealer and was not cheap!

Sorry for the delay.

One of he comments was the HB ought to be periodic maintenance, I tend to agree.
 
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