Central Texas turnkey engine replacement?

[BILT4ME]

Spark plugs in more detail. Sadly out of order at this point so no way to match plugs to cylinders.

All six of those plugs look good. Light tan, maybe running SLIGHTLY lean. Do you have any exhaust leaks?

What year since it's not in your sig line.....?

Also, I would seriously look at the valve cover gasket, spark plug tube seals, PCV grommet and valve, and distributor O-Ring. Also get a new oil fill cap.

All of these items contribute to drawing in unmetered air into the engine, which picks up oil on the way in, and burns it as well as causes it to run bad. The computer will adjust to compensate to an extent.

So, spark plug tube seals will leak air, pick up oil, and then the engine sucks that air through the PCV into the throttle body, thus burning a lot of oil.

If you unscrew your oil fill cap while idling, the engine SHOULD almost fall on it's face and run very rough. If it doesn't then the computer is already adjusting for massive vacuum leaks.

Now for the possible bad news:
Watch the compression on #5 and 6. Those are the known areas for the HG to blow and it will frequently take out #5 and 6 at the same time because it will blow between them.

Get a Blackstone oil analysis to determine what's happening and if there is any coolant making it to the oil or other contaminants in your oil.

 

[TexasDoug]

Thanks BILT,

• 1997. I think i have an exhaust leak. I just replaced my cats 2 weeks ago and now my exhaust is a lot louder, but the whole thing from header to muffler was original so the cats were totally failed and clogged up. Definitely sounds leaky. I figure I'll replace the rest from cats back soon too.
• The entire distributor assembly was replaced a couple thousand miles back including o-ring due to a bad leak
• PCV grommet and valve situation unknown - I have OEM replacments in the mail arriving soon.
• My compression on #5 and #6 are both around 180, whereas the other 4 cylinders are 190. That's technically within spec but it's still curiously lower and consistent between the two.
• I'll get the blackstone analysis. I juuuussst changed the oil. Should I put a few hundred miles on first to get the most out of the test? 1000+?

 

[tacocat]

Is this correct, you've logged 3K miles in 1.5 years? That's a nothingburger in regards to mileage. They don't seem to run well if they aren't driven with some regularity, especially if the battery is allowed to drain frequently or removed. I bet you're leaking oil somewhere.

 

[elhombre]

The fact that your cats "failed and clogged up" is a BIG problem. This is an idication of something going very wrong up stream. They obviously should have not done this. Did they melt down due to a stuck/leaking injector? I would spend some serious thought and time into what has caused this. Maybe the main problem you are having with no power. If not fixed, you may end up melting your new cats. The obstruction from a clogged cat will make the truck run like poop too.

The spark plugs don't look at all what I would expect to see if the thing is burning a bunch of oil. I wouldn't sweat the compression test numbers being different. If one was 120, then that is a problem. As you stated, the truck has a bunch of mileage on it, and a little difference should be expected

Gotta have miles on the oil for them to tell you much (unless the engine is obviously grenading). They always want to know the oil mileage with the sample so as to know what should be "normal" wear numbers found in the sample.

 

[TexasDoug]

The old cats, as best as I can tell, were original (328K miles). I mean I know these are magical Toyotas, but that seems like a pretty epic service life for a catalytic converter. Since replacement the truck is running pretty smoothly. Power is subjective I suppose - my brother in law's 80 with half the miles feels a little more peppy. Mine feels "tired", but not "sick". Clearly these are precise technical terms

I plan on running the s*** out of my truck for the next few weeks to rack up miles both to get another few chances to measure oil consumption, and give Blackstone something to look at. My takeaway from this thread so far is that I need to do a little more digging to get a better picture of what's happening with my engine before taking any drastic measures, and I appreciate all the wisdom that's been shared on a tired old topic like this from other Mudders.

 

[TexasDoug]

Is this correct, you've logged 3K miles in 1.5 years? That's a nothingburger in regards to mileage. They don't seem to run well if they aren't driven with some regularity, especially if the battery is allowed to drain frequently or removed. I bet you're leaking oil somewhere.

yeah I’m leaking like from a lot of places . I’ve addressed a few leaks and have a few more yet to do. Oil pan gasket(s) are also issues. It isn’t leaking much in my driveway but I suspect I’m losing some when it’s under power on the road. But hard to imagine 1qt per 500 miles though. Some of it’s getting burned for sure.

And yes I don’t drive this thing enough. I feel like I’ve been chasing down one thing or another since I bought it 4 ago and as soon as I start to trust it enough to put real miles on it something new fails and I end up using a different car for the trip

Its all been minor stuff and the truck is REALLY nice considering it’s age and mileage. I’ve just been slower than most to tackle issues and put miles on it.

 

[BILT4ME]

Thanks BILT,

• 1997. I think i have an exhaust leak. I just replaced my cats 2 weeks ago and now my exhaust is a lot louder, but the whole thing from header to muffler was original so the cats were totally failed and clogged up. Definitely sounds leaky. I figure I'll replace the rest from cats back soon too.
• The entire distributor assembly was replaced a couple thousand miles back including o-ring due to a bad leak
• PCV grommet and valve situation unknown - I have OEM replacments in the mail arriving soon.
• My compression on #5 and #6 are both around 180, whereas the other 4 cylinders are 190. That's technically within spec but it's still curiously lower and consistent between the two.
• I'll get the blackstone analysis. I juuuussst changed the oil. Should I put a few hundred miles on first to get the most out of the test? 1000+?

Exhaust leak could be affecting some of the look on the plugs, but not bad.
Double check your timing since the distributor was pulled and possibly moved. I know I did mine and did not make a bit of change, but that's because I did it and I know what I'm doing. Not that you don't, it's just a possibility.
Just work on reducing vacuum leaks. The grommets and seals can play a large role in that.
Just be aware of the compression issue. The 10 PSI is within spec, but it could indicate an early condition, or it could be that the rings on those two cylinders are a little more worn due to the heat from the EGR.
Wait until your next scheduled oil change on the Blackstone. 3000 miles-ish?

I run a Blackstone analysis on my truck every other oil change. They have made recommendations for me about extended use (7000 miles) of the oil and I have recently had a bad sample, so I will make a short change (3000 miles) this next time and run another analysis to see if it was a fluke.

 

[BILT4ME]

I didn't ask before, but if most of your 3000 miles a year have been short trip mileage, then that's in open loop and dumps fuel in it and the cats don't get heated up enough to truly purge themselves.

Again, dis-use is harder than mis-use.

Every place oil is getting out is allowing air to get in.

Oh....and unhook for battery for 10-20 minutes to allow it to clear all your settings so it "starts over" on its settings and will set parameters after you've made improvements. I frequently unhook my battery to clear my settings as a DD before I go on a trip or else I get s***ty mileage for the entire trip. I will get 2 MPG better clearing the settings before the trip VS not clearing them. (12-14)

 

[TexasDoug]

Thanks - good stuff to consider. I definitely only used it for short runs because it was so flakey for a while there which I now realize was related to a failing exhaust system.

I think the truck will get driven more now that the cats are replaced. I was chasing down a lean code forever (a fuel pump replacement finally fixed that) and then the cats finally degraded enough to throw a code and the truck would not start reliably when hot. That led me to ignore it for a bit.

Since installing the Magnaflow cats, it’s been holding up fine being driven around in the hot Texas heat this September so I’m finally getting to spend some real quality time with it and put miles on it.

I’ll report back on the thread for posterity after ’ve run it a full oil service interval and sent the oil off the Blackstone.

 

[TexasDoug]

Because I’m now paranoid (and also colorblind), here’s what I’m seeing out of my exhaust at idle:



Doesnt look blue to me. Would that qualify as "white"? Or is this just normal and I need to relax? I'm not really sure what I'm looking for here. It was about 65F outside and the car was warm from driving it earlier in the morning, but only running for about 2 minutes when I shot this.

 

[flintknapper]

Normal, especially for the temperature.

There is always a certain amount of moisture associated with the intake and burning of a fuel/air mixture.

Once the engine and CATS warm up...it would decrease dramatically or quit altogether.

 

[TexasDoug]

Thanks dude. It's warmer outside now and not happening. I'll take a chill pill and report back in 3000 miles.

 

[whaler]

You list this on craigslist austin? Any nibbles yet?

 

[TexasDoug]

Yeah to get a feel for my options - seems like your pick of low mileage used engines is exponentially better on a platform that uses the 2UZ engine given how much they were used across Toyota's lineup. It's slim pickings these days for 1FZ engines.

As for nibbles: two very interested parties, and a ton of spam.