Smokey and low power

[crazzmc]

Hey everyone,

Decided to drive the FJ40 yesterday after the winter. Let it fully warm up for 10-15 minutes. Wasn't overheating, oil pressure was normal decided to just take it on the grass at my house and it barely made it back up my very slight hill. It was rough. Kept cutting out, and she's pretty smoky. I decided to do a compression test today here are the results:

Front to Back (1-6) Dry and then Wet

1 - 106/111
2 - 101/109
3 - 107/111
4 - 108/111
5 - 107/111
6 - 101/110

All the spark plugs were pretty sooty/wet/oily; replaced them and gapped at .35. The gaps were awful some were .15 some were .4. I am switching to the sniper EFI kit anyway and its currently got a Weber carb on it right now.

Smoke from the exhaust manifold, definitely a leak there. My headers are also a bit ugly looking. There seems to be a lot of grey sealant/RTV around it. I'll do a combustion leak test tomorrow, exhaust smells like fuel not really 'sweet' like coolant so I don't think its head gasket. I have the tools and kit for a leakdown test but have never done one so I'll learn that and do it sometime this week.

Videos:





Questions:

Best next steps in general for getting her back and running smooth?

Could it be bad fuel? will clean the lines/run new ones when EFI conversion. Should I run 91?

Should I take off exhaust manifold sand it down flat or better to buy new?

How does the compression look, should I take off the valve cover and check the lifters? I hear a bit of clacking but it dies down, I feel like I hear odd ticks here and there towards the end of the video, but that's probably due to exhaust leaks? I realized I should've put a vacuum gauge today on it and taken a clip, I'll do that tomorrow

What oil do you recommend with these results? I live in Connecticut so temperatures vary. Also how much oil does it take?

Also what is this hole, is this for a PCV or a breather cap? It's been open since I bought it:

Not motor related:
Also I can't switch to 4Low feels like I'm going to snap it if I put more pressure, I've tried it while idling, in gear, and slowly creeping. I bought some Penn Grade GL-4 80W-90 after doing some research. Is this more likely a linkage or transfer case issue? I can get into 2H -> 4H and back with ease, whether it really is using all 4 wheels I honestly can't tell.

Thanks in advance!

 

[charliemeyer007]

Water in the gas make them run poorly, so does old gas. Add some gas dryer, even better transfer it out and use for start camp fires. Warm days, cold nights will condense water into you tank - keeping it full helps stop that.

The opening is the crank case vent, on mine it connects to the insulator/riser block under the carb. I think there is a pcv in the flex hose that connects the two.

Your engine is worn, but appears to be worn evenly. Cylinder 5 (2nd from the fire wall) usually take it in the shorts from leaking brake booster.

I made custom step washers for my header and used longer studs. The brass washer is like 1/8" thick on the header side and 3/8" on the intake. I used stainless steel nuts. I also used 2 of the man-a-fre gaskets installed wet. They have been on 2 engines, 3 times total and no leaks. I used a big piece of glass to flat sand both manifolds. I also cut a notch in the air filter bracket so I could get a socket on the bolt that under there. Way back when I posted pic's.

Try rocking back and forth 1-R gently to get the shift lever to go to low range.

 

[charliemeyer007]

I set my valves on the loose side of spec's - better to hear them than burn them.

If your hubs are in and you are in 4H you will feel it when making a full turn up against steering locks vs 2H. Put it in 4H and jack up each front tire one at a time and see if it turns with the tranny in gear. If one of the tire doesn't turn good chance the front axle is working. In 2H both should turn freely.

Water will plug the paper in the fuel filter quickly (you can set them in the sun to dry and reuse them).

Start it up on a dark night and look for lighting coming off the leaking plug wires.

 

[Skreddy]

I would get it sorted and running as well as possible before converting to sniper. If you don’t it will be very difficult to tune or figure out problems. I’d do cap, rotor, plugs, wires, if they aren’t less than a year old and set timing. Get all the old fuel out and put in new with new filter. Adjust valves and find/fix any and all vacuum and exhaust leaks. All this before doing the sniper.
No need to run higher octane if you’re still relatively stock meaning no different cam or higher compression. Just wasting money and may not be getting a complete burn with higher octane.

 

[pb4ugo]

What @Skreddy said. Your compression #'s are low, with no real significant increase on the wet test. Was the engine hot when you did the test? At least they are pretty even. Adjust your valves and get it running as best as you can to get a good baseline. Then do the dry/wet comp test again afterwards.

 

[crazzmc]

What @Skreddy said. Your compression #'s are low, with no real significant increase on the wet test. Was the engine hot when you did the test? At least they are pretty even. Adjust your valves and get it running as best as you can to get a good baseline. Then do the dry/wet comp test again afterwards.

i did it cold. i was more looking for consistency, can do it again when its warmed up. I'm assuming it'll go up.

I set my valves on the loose side of spec's - better to hear them than burn them.

If your hubs are in and you are in 4H you will feel it when making a full turn up against steering locks vs 2H. Put it in 4H and jack up each front tire one at a time and see if it turns with the tranny in gear. If one of the tire doesn't turn good chance the front axle is working. In 2H both should turn freely.

Water will plug the paper in the fuel filter quickly (you can set them in the sun to dry and reuse them).

Start it up on a dark night and look for lighting coming off the leaking plug wires.

thanks will run through your recommendations this week and update the thread

I would get it sorted and running as well as possible before converting to sniper. If you don’t it will be very difficult to tune or figure out problems. I’d do cap, rotor, plugs, wires, if they aren’t less than a year old and set timing. Get all the old fuel out and put in new with new filter. Adjust valves and find/fix any and all vacuum and exhaust leaks. All this before doing the sniper.
No need to run higher octane if you’re still relatively stock meaning no different cam or higher compression. Just wasting money and may not be getting a complete burn with higher octane.

agreed, def don't want to slap on the efi with all these issues. the good thing is it always fires up instantly even if its sitting for a few weeks so I feel like the timing is correct, plug wires look dusty but i can upgrade those. i'll double check everything regardless.