Engine knocking after overheat (1 Viewer)

[Pin_Head]

That looks like carbon from the spark plug threads. Keep looking.

 

[K Dub]

OK, I need to post up what else I found a couple days ago otherwise I'll forget the order of things.

I pulled the plugs, they looked to be a few years old to my eye but not ancient. Dirty, but not horrible. I've got a rich smelling exhaust, but I thought we all did. They're not going back in, but obviously they aren't causing problems.

No.1 (front of engine, closest to radiator) was unique with a blackened diode and less carbon buildup than the others.

No. 6 (closest to firewall) was very oily on top from the valve cover gasket leaking back there, visible on the video. But the diode only had buildup on one side, while the other seemed cleaner. The other 4 plugs have roughly the same amount of buildup as the dirty side.

Inside, cylinder 1 has what looks like a little divot or impacted spot but what do I know. Could just be flakes like in 4.

Otherwise they all looked similar to me. I don't think this camera is going to let me see the cylinder walls. I didn't have a wrench on the crank pulley yet when I took these, so I couldn't move the pistons around yet. No. 3 gave me a good detail shot of the piston surface, which looked pretty similar in all cylinders.

I'm thinking of looking closer at No.1 by placing it a bottom of stroke, then running a string attached to the camera down there so I could maybe pull the lens up a bit and see the bore. The camera stuff is fun, but I'm not feeling like I can see the source of my problems this way. It's a good tool to have around the house though, I'm sure it will see a lot of use.

So after all that, my head gasket is still questionable. I wonder if No. 1 has bad rings, which could go with the bearings, but that plug could also be from a bad injector or leaky valve too. Nothing jumped out to me and said "Here's your knock problem."

I got better organized and set up a little labeling workstation. I've got high hopes for reassembly.

I tore down the passenger side of the engine just to make room to sit. It's much easier to work now. I wish I was making room for a turbo though. I'd love to never put the PAIR back on. If I did that, then I'd delete the EGR too and just make my car "special" come emissions time. Even in CA, plenty of people have non-compliant vehicles. It just costs a bit extra.

Today the coolant is getting drained, it's only 6 months old. I took a sample and it looks and smells brand new.

I know I should be looking at the bottom end instead of the top but I'm still intimidated by what's above those pans. Here's a big dumb n00b question: say I manage to get both pans off without removing the engine. Now I'm theoretically looking up at my crank and rods. Do I just unbolt the connecting rods to inspect the bearings? Once unbolted do the bearings fall out and hit my face? Will a piston fall down and hit my face?

 

[SmokingRocks]

those plugs' electrodes look way worn out and the gap looks big too. Not atypical if they have lots of mile on them, but they certainly are done.

 

[SmokingRocks]

Th engine needs to be lifted off the mounts by about 2" to get the upper pan off. Some on here have cut the crossbar and custom fabed some flange ends on it so they can unbolt it in and drop the upper pan more easily in the future. The bearings should not just fall out onto your face.

Personally, I would pull the whole engine and trans, its much easier to work on this on a stand. Secondly, you can really get a good look at everything.

 

[Chrisbee93]

Thread title says it all, but here are the details re-posted from a clubhouse thread. The incident happened on a long, steep incline on I-5 north of Los Angeles called "The Grapevine". It's a notorious car killer. The A/C was off and it was 65-70F outside. I was driving around 55-65 mph in 3rd with O/D off, so 3-3.5K rpm or so for a prolonged time under load.



The truck will be fixed. I just haven't figured out what all it needs and how I'm going to fix it. I've got to diagnose the overheating first. I know the bottom end will need work, and of course a head gasket, but I wouldn't do that without figuring out what caused the temp to spike first so it won't happen again. I'm a 1-2 banana mechanic at best; mostly fluid changes and brakes. I've done a few alternators, a power steering pump and some suspension work in the past but nothing on the 80.

The truck came with a plastic radiator installed when I got it last August. PO said he'd done the thermostat and radiator as PM a year ago along with dizzy o-ring, plugs and wires and intake hose. Seemed like normal '80 stuff to me so it didn't set off any alarms at the time of purchase. The truck has been driven much harder, in hotter temps, in the past without any temp variation on the factory gauge. (I know the factory gauge wasn't telling me much, point being I had no prior indications of a problem).

First thing on my to do list, after clearing out some space in the garage, is to drain the fluids pull the plugs and look around. Should I bother with Blackstone labs knowing that my engine needs work? I'd like to do a leakdown test on it, should I do that before I drain the fluids? Is that a tool I can rent?

I'm thinking of trying to remove and re-install the engine myself. This is far beyond the scope of my abilities, but there's only one way to learn and I have the best resources in the world on this forum. Could I deliver a complete long block to a machine shop and receive back the same, or do I need to disassemble/reassemble?

Should I cut my losses and go lease a Prius? Naaaaaaaaah. But I'm gonna need a lot of help.

so these engines are only good if the previous owner changes the oil and bot just tops them off. also depending on if you gollow other maintenance. ive got an engine for sale right now it has 217k on it and were the original owners, my dad bought it new and drove it to seattle and back from Yacoma every day for 10 years. come up and get it and the engine trans and transfer casr is 2,000. im putting a v8 in...

fzj80 engine trans transfer & harness

Ive got a complete engine harness with gauges every single computer, engine management, abs computer, fuses, airbag sensor. fan control, im even including an rs3000 system with two remotes. $1650 for

seattle.craigslist.org

 

[SmokingRocks]

These engines are way more robust that whatever v8 you will replace it with. V8’s are cool and powerful and all but none will be built like a Toyota straight 6.

The 1fz even has an extremely oversized oil sump to allow the engine to run safely at steep angles, which also gives it better cooling and the ability to put up with neglect better than other engines.

Unfortunately you can’t undo serious damage done by running any engine dry. V8’s included

 

[K Dub]

A V8 sounds pretty nice right now but I do love a Toyota straight six, I bought my wife an IS300 almost a decade ago and it keeps right on ticking. I don't know what happened here yet, but it wasn't for a lack of attention on my part. The sample kit from Blackstone showed up today, so I looked through my notes for oil info. My last change was 3,400 mi ago, since which I've added another 2 quarts of Mobil1 10w40 High Mileage at a rate of .5qt/2-3weeks and I drained at least 6.5 quarts from it. She drinks a lot of oil, but I keep her hydrated. We'll see what the test comes back with, for curiosity if nothing else.

Getting that radiator out was fun.

It's a Denso 2121-3128. Previous owner said it was only a year old as of last Aug. and the hardware felt recently installed. The upper mount nuts (by the headlights) were 1/2" and the bolts a half a mile too long. OEM parts have a certain grace to them, I can tell when aftermarket stuff was used and I don't like it. The lower bolts (on the L bracket) were normal 12mm stuff.

Does the upper mounting hardware come with an OEM radiator? I've started my parts list.

Coolant looks yellow in the light, but green in my garage if that makes sense. When I got the oil pump seal replaced in Sept it got all new coolant (I'm guessing), and I haven't had to top it off. The overflow was still within range, even after overheating. I don' know how much coolant was in the system, because if there's a way to drain it without taking a bath I haven't found it yet. It looks green in the reservoir and the radiator, but when I hold it up to the light it looks yellowish.

I feel like I'm making progress finally. There's room around the engine now. I'll finish clearing out the front end tomorrow, then check out the thermostat. Maybe do the hot water test? That's getting replaced regardless.

 

[SmokingRocks]

I’d just keep trucking bud, You’ve got to get to the bottom end either way.

I suspect the PO may have ran it low on oil at some point which probably lit the fuse. Then the overheat event brought it to the surface

 

[elhombre]

As previously suggested, cut the oil filter open. The plugs look good to me too. I'm thinking it is in the lower end somewhere with that sparkly debris you found earlier. Did I miss it, or did you do the "pull one plug wire off at a time" test to see if the knock went away at idle?

 

[K Dub]

As previously suggested, cut the oil filter open. The plugs look good to me too. I'm thinking it is in the lower end somewhere with that sparkly debris you found earlier. Did I miss it, or did you do the "pull one plug wire off at a time" test to see if the knock went away at idle?

I'd already drained my oil by the time the spark plug test was recommended. I've even done that on another car previously, so I should have thought of that myself. I haven't cut open the filter yet either. My grinder took a dump last summer and I don't really want to do it with a Drimmel. I'll get to that eventually, but my Blackstone kit arrived yesterday so I'll do both. I've pretty much stripped the passenger side and front of the engine clean. I haven't tackled the driver side yet, saving that fun for last.

What's the consensus on pulling the whole drivetrain vs just the engine? I don't have any leaks from the bell housing back and I'd love to keep it that way.

 

[SmokingRocks]

I pulled just my engine and left the trans in.... take my word for it you want to pull both together. It’s much easier, would’ve save me many **** fits as I tried to get the top bolts in the bellhousing on.

Also Lowe’s was doing a wicked sale on craftsman grinders, I think there were like 30 bucks

 

[maxamillion2345]

I’d just pull engine personally but I have a really long 1/2 extension with a 3/8 drive end and then put 3/8 wobbly socket on the end. May need multiple extensions with wobbly in the middle. Anyway, me mysef would separate engine/trans.

 

[SmokingRocks]

Search on here, you will find that it’s much easier and faster to pull both together. Please don’t make the same mistake I did.

You can not. CAN NOT get a wobbly up to the top back bolts on the bellhousing

 

[rc51kid]

Has any one sujested that he could have blown his HG when it was over heated.Leaking oil or coolant in to once cylinder could couse it to knock or rattle due to the high compression?

 

[Technician1985]

Search on here, you will find that it’s much easier and faster to pull both together. Please don’t make the same mistake I did.

You can not. CAN NOT get a wobbly up to the top back bolts on the bellhousing

Can you reach them from inside the car by taking the console / shifter assembly out? I had to do that to take out my 3F-E but I don't know if that trick works on the 1Z. At any rate I had to use all kinds of extensions and wobble extensions along with a swivel socket to remove the engine.

 

[Pin_Head]

The trick to getting the top bellhousing bolts is to peel back the carpet and drill 1/4 inch holes in the firewall until the light from a flashlight shines on the bolt head. Then drill a 1.5 inch hole with a hole saw drill and you can put a socket on it.

Once you have it back in, put a 1.5 inch Dorman plug over the hole and plug any left over 1/4 inch holes with silicone caulk.

 

[SmokingRocks]

^ yea, so it's much easier to take the several bolts out of the cross member and various other connections then lift it all out together.

 

[Pin_Head]

I would pull the whole enchilada too, but if you want to separate the tranny, where there is a will there is a way.

 

[K Dub]

I've made some good progress this past week. I'm stymied by the power steering pump at the moment (it needs a rebuild, and I need a 17mm flare wrench), but otherwise I've almost air-gapped the engine from it's surroundings.

Found something fun last night while removing the starter: The transmission harness was full of water! I was under the car pushing the looms out of the way and a good amount of muddy water poured out onto my face. My truck hadn't gotten wet in quite a while, so that had been sitting in there. Just another thing to consider for those of us with super-functional and awesome snorkels for crossing huge rivers and small oceans. It's not just breathers...

 

[K Dub]

This site is just a life saver. There's nothing I've done yet that wasn't covered, in detail, by someone here. Every time I get stuck, I search and find a solution. Thanks to everyone who contributes their knowledge and expertise to this site.