Help, rough idle after headgasket job. (1 Viewer)

[89autoworks]

Hello, to begin i am very new to the 80 series platform, but i am a mechanic, i build custom cars and have a very extensive automotive background. This is a 1995 landcruiser, i am finding out that is a Saudi import, that i bought from a buddy with a plethora of issues after he got it from mecum car auctions. Brought it home, blew the HG into cylinder 6 a day later. being the person i am, i was looking to upgrade, or maintain as much as possible while it was apart. The first go at putting it back together yeilded me headbolt threads ejecting from the block, so i ordered the timesert kit and fixed all that where in question. it went back together with ARP headstands, fresh gaskets everywhere, new fuel filters, but the wiring was a damn nightmare, and i spent the better part of a day fixing broken connectors until i can find a new harness. while it was apart, i cleaned and flow tested the injectors to verify no issues, they where not perfect, but very good by NA standards. everything was reassembled to a T with the FSM. When i went to start it, it wouldn't start, after verifying i have fuel pressure to the rail, no i haven't put a gauge on yet, i redid the ignition timing back to CYL 1 TDC, set the distributor, and i could only get it to start when turned all the way to the right while in position. fast forward a couple days of screwing around, testing the coil, power to the coil, cleaning the cap and rotor(ordered new waiting for parts), I'm just absolutely stumped. being a saudi spec land cruiser it has no oxygen sensors, but it did run good for the day i had it before HG failure. one area of concern is the ECU coolant temp sensor, the harness was broke, and i had to hardwire it for the time being, i thought possibly i had the wires reversed ( even though i don't think this should matter), but no change. The plug where brand new and gapped to .8mm, but are super fouled. it seems like i am not getting the ignition that i need for good combustion, and maybe the cap rotor and plug wires will make some magical difference, but i am not very hopeful. Does any one have any input what so ever to guide me in some sort of correct direction??
Also does anyone have a new OEM engine harness? i know its a long shot, but i would be extremely happy to find one. thanks in advance, hoping i can get this sorted out soon, its the only vehicle i currently have with enough room for my family to ride in, and that matters a lot to me.

 

[Fj80oregon]

OBD2?

 

[bkfj40]

Do you have spark?
That harness at the rear part of the engine gets brittle. The bigger question is if a North American spec harness would be the same or not.

 

[89autoworks]

OBD2?

Obd1!

 

[89autoworks]

Do you have spark?
That harness at the rear part of the engine gets brittle. The bigger question is if a North American spec harness would be the same or not.

It does run, it just sounds like it’s running on 3 cylinders. I’ll know more once the new cap rotor and plugs come in. The contacts in the cap looked rough, even after the sandpaper treatment.

 

[Fj80oregon]

Manual transmission? Obd1 harnesses are no longer available. Sounds like you timing is messed up. Did you set the timing dot marks on the cam gears along with TDC? Just because your engine was TDC doesn’t mean you cams where lined up.

 

[Fj80oregon]

timing marks if you zoom in you can see the little dot marks in a horizontal plan across the head.

 

[89autoworks]

timing marks if you zoom in you can see the little dot marks in a horizontal plan across the head.

View attachment 3665438

Yes, it was reassembled to a T with the FSM. Single dots in the middle, double dots on the outside, Crank pulley lined up on 0*. I rolled the engine over at this time by hand to verify it was proper as well. I since have reset the dizzy, but I did not pull the valve cover when I did it, I was more just verifying it was correct. Yes it was on the compression stroke. Yes the rotor pointed directly to #1 post.

 

[Fj80oregon]

Well it takes 17 revolutions for the engine timing to be at tdc so if you pulled dizzy and and messed with it it might not be lined up correctly. Sounds like you’re on the right path.

 

[89autoworks]

Well it takes 17 revolutions for the engine timing to be at tdc so if you pulled dizzy and and messed with it it might not be lined up correctly. Sounds like you’re on the right path.

Wait hold on. If I have cylinder 1 at top dead center compression stroke, all the way the top of the stroke, and set on 0* on the crank pulley, and the rotor is pointed directly to the #1 stud. You’re saying you think I could still have an issue with the cam timing being off? The chain was ziptied to the sprocket at disassembly to ensure I didn’t lose timing as well. All the dots were proper when I installed everything, and I never removed the chain from the engine. I’m fairly confident it’s going to be spark related, which yes I understand that the cam timing directly plays a roll in that, but it cranks over, sounds even on all 6, I had 2 of 4 spark plugs that looked like a perfect burn, and all of them looked better but not perfect after cleaning the cap and rotor contacts. Timing
Mark on the spark plug electrode that where firing looked to be near perfect for a baseline no timing light setup, the others where Blaccccck insinuating some level of combustion is happening but not a complete burn. TIA.

 

[BILT4ME]

Well it takes 17 revolutions for the engine timing to be at tdc so if you pulled dizzy and and messed with it it might not be lined up correctly. Sounds like you’re on the right path.

17 revolutions? Please explain.

Last I checked it was a four stroke inline 6.

 

[Fj80oregon]

Wait hold on. If I have cylinder 1 at top dead center compression stroke, all the way the top of the stroke, and set on 0* on the crank pulley, and the rotor is pointed directly to the #1 stud. You’re saying you think I could still have an issue with the cam timing being off? The chain was ziptied to the sprocket at disassembly to ensure I didn’t lose timing as well. All the dots were proper when I installed everything, and I never removed the chain from the engine. I’m fairly confident it’s going to be spark related, which yes I understand that the cam timing directly plays a roll in that, but it cranks over, sounds even on all 6, I had 2 of 4 spark plugs that looked like a perfect burn, and all of them looked better but not perfect after cleaning the cap and rotor contacts. Timing
Mark on the spark plug electrode that where firing looked to be near perfect for a baseline no timing light setup, the others where Blaccccck insinuating some level of combustion is happening but not a complete burn. TIA.

No, what I’m saying is the timing marks on the chain take 17 revolutions to line back up with the sprocket timing mark. If you had the dots on the cams lined up and timing dot on the chain sprocket and harmonic balancer all lined up at 0 then you should be good there.

 

[89autoworks]

No, what I’m saying is the timing marks on the chain take 17 revolutions to line back up with the sprocket timing mark. If you had the dots on the cams lined up and timing dot on the chain sprocket and harmonic balancer all lined up at 0 then you should be good there.

i sure did, ill have the new cap, rotor, and plug wires tomorrow. hopefully that will perform some sort of miracle. I'm also starting to wonder about the coolant temperature sensor for the ecu, maybe that would be playing a roll In in running super rich, but i have no CEL so its very hard to diagnose these things with the little information i have in front of me. starting to think about what it would take to go aftermarket standalone ECU, make this thing actually dependable and diagnosable.

 

[Fj80oregon]

i sure did, ill have the new cap, rotor, and plug wires tomorrow. hopefully that will perform some sort of miracle. I'm also starting to wonder about the coolant temperature sensor for the ecu, maybe that would be playing a roll In in running super rich, but i have no CEL so its very hard to diagnose these things with the little information i have in front of me. starting to think about what it would take to go aftermarket standalone ECU, make this thing actually dependable and diagnosable.

Temp sensor is pretty cheep to replace. I’m not a fan at throwing parts at something but in this situation I would.

 

[89autoworks]

Temp sensor is pretty cheep to replace. I’m not a fan at throwing parts at something but in this situation I would.

deal. ordered.

 

[89autoworks]

Temp sensor is pretty cheep to replace. I’m not a fan at throwing parts at something but in this situation I would.

what's our thoughts on parts store sensor for this? I'm seeing OEM going for around 100$ an i can get it from auto zone for around 15 through my account with lifetime warranty.

 

[89autoworks]

i sure did, ill have the new cap, rotor, and plug wires tomorrow. hopefully that will perform some sort of miracle. I'm also starting to wonder about the coolant temperature sensor for the ecu, maybe that would be playing a roll In in running super rich, but i have no CEL so its very hard to diagnose these things with the little information i have in front of me. starting to think about what it would take to go aftermarket standalone ECU, make this thing actually dependable and diagnosable.

cap, rotor, plug wires no change.

 

[Fj80oregon]

Amazon.com

 

[Fj80oregon]

Have you listened to all your injectors to see if they are working? They make a pretty good clicking sound when pulsing I use a mechanics stethoscope but any long piece of metal works.

 

[89autoworks]

Have you listened to all your injectors to see if they are working? They make a pretty good clicking sound when pulsing I use a mechanics stethoscope but any long piece of metal works.

No I haven’t physically done it on the vehicle, but all plugs show combustion, and I cleaned and flow tested them on my injector machine while they where out of the vehicle.