flyingbrass

I filled up the tank today. 16.3 MPG. Ouch. I'll buy a carb rebuild kit this week. How much hassle is involved converting to a manual choke?

MortonPhotographic

Using the FSM diagram for bolt storage--genious. I taped mine to the timing chain cover box and cut an "x" over every bolt. This was a great way to hold them in order. It's hot here in AZ, so I had to work fast to get eveything in place before the RTV dried up! Pic below...

You mentioned sleeving the harmonic balancer. I went with it, and sealed it in place with the Ultra Grey. I hope it doesn't turn out to be a mistake as one poster mentioned issues. Pic below shows the sleeve before I "pursuaded" it into place with the RTV. It did not go all the way to the "shoulder" (where the machined part ends) of the harmonic balancer shaft. Hopefully it will work.

flyingbrass

I'm glad the pic helped. IMO, printing out the drawing is a lot easier than trying to scribble everything yourself on cardboard.

Your sleeve doesn't look to be on far enough to do any good. Since your pulley has two grooves, I'm guessing someone already did the thinner seal trick. You could probably do it again if you position the seal lip between the existing grooves. Maybe you got lucky with your new seal and landed far enough away from an existing groove.

I still haven't done anything with my carb or exhaust. However, I found a local carb rebuilder (mrcarb.com) who seems to really know his stuff. He has been in business for 30 years. He fixed issues a friend had with a Motorcraft 2100 recently put on a CJ. He knew what jetting it needed, how to recurve the distributor, etc. From talking to him, he seems to have experience with Toyota carbs. He wants $180 to rebuild mine if I bring in the carb. If I take him my truck, he'll rebuild it and adjust it using his sniffer setup for somewhere around $270 total, IIRC.

Hmm. $50+ rebuild kit from Napa, plus some carb cleaner. And probably a big headache/ordeal. Or $180 to have it done by someone who actually knows what he is doing? If I wasn't so broke, it'd be a no-brainer.

I'm kicking myself for not using another OEM Toyota rear seal after I ruined the first one. Engine oil is weeping from the bottom of the bellhousing. Not enough yet to drip on the ground, but enough to wipe off with a finger. $%#^! I plan to just keep an eye on things for the time being. I'll deal with the seal when I eventually pull the tranny for replacement or rebuilding, though it won't be fun at all as tight as the seal is in the housing and how tight the housing is in the block. I was *really* hoping to get this seal right the first time because it's such a PITA to deal with later.

yotafreakshow

any updates on mpg, power, etc after break in? digging into my 87 4runner efi as we speak. awesome write up by the way!

86 TOY

Would love to hear how this one is running too...

pruney81

me too....

1990yota-pickup

i hope you packed your seal with some grease around the spring.. it will keep that spring from shooting off into your oil pump... and it will prevent the seal from leaking

yotafreakshow

Bueller??

flyingbrass

The engine only has about 700 miles so far. It's burning more oil than it should. It doesn't have enough miles yet to quantify oil usage. I'll keep track how much I add from the last oil change because I got that filled to exactly the full line. Well, as exact as I could.

The new dipstick from Toyota was so shiny I couldn't see where the oil level was. Not in angles of shade, sun, pictures... just glary, glossy shininess. Useless. I had a friend sandblast the tip, which helped.

I haven't done anything yet with the cat or carb.

I suspect the cylinders weren't honed properly for moly rings, which seems to be a common, yet underreported, issue. I wish I had known there were so many problems with this before. See: https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f116...ealing-215113/

Mileage is practically the same as before the rebuild. 16 or so. Ugh. When everything is right it should be doing 21ish same as years ago. It's stock, with the same size tires, gearing, etc.

Apart from that, I've had a mild noise up front I haven't pinned down. I half wonder if it's the passenger side timing guide flopping around. I don't have enough experience with this stuff to know what I'm hearing.

I bought a mechanic's stethoscope some time ago for a couple bucks at HF. When I get the time and focus, I'll poke around. Also, I'll hook up a vacuum gauge. Seems that vacuum response while manipulating the throttle can help diagnose problems in carbureted engines. Google vaccum gauge diagnose, read a few of the results, and you'll know as much or more than I do about that.

If anyone has a gutted factory cat for sale for cheap, let me know. I'd like to temporarily bypass my original cat without destroying its recycle value or paying $ for a "test pipe." I can't afford new exhaust.

xxxtreme22r

hey this might sound crazy, but it works and will not harm anything, if you have a hard time reading the dipstick try dipping it into the windshield washer container do not shake it or wipe it off, then stick it back in the engine then pull it out as usual. Works like a charm.

old school quick lube trick.

yotafreakshow

thanks for the update, good luck with the break in. as for the cat bypass, I once took a piece of exhaust tubing (same diameter as stock) cut it to the length of the cat, used a crescent wrench to clamp on the last 1/4 inch or so and work your way around the circumference to slightly "roll" the ends in so they'd seal/butt into the flanges, and used lengths of allthread through the flanges with double nuts to pull it tight, no leaks for a while, good test. i will likely do that to mine, as one possible diagnosis for my cracked head was exhaust heat build up due to a clogged cat...mine looks factory...23 years old.

1990yota-pickup

mine is looking pretty stock too..

BigSwole

motor still burning any oil?

AKYota92

So I noticed that everyone pretty much buys a new head...I lent my buddy my 86 4wd and he didnt take care of it and didn't put oil in it and continued to drive it. Now I already tore the engine apart enough to find out the bearings were screwed. Now the one question I have is the cam didn't have bearings....the head was machined and the top caps as well but no sleeves or bearings. I don't wanna buy a new head but I was wondering if all I have to is buy bearings and would they fit right in or would I have to take the head and caps to a shop and get them machined? Cause I rebuilt the engine in my 87 camaro and it's nothing like the 4banger in the yota so I'm new to that style haha. Any input would be appreciated

xxxtreme22r

there is no bearings for the cam, the cam sits right into the head journals. Do not machine those caps or cut them down as I don't believe anyone makes sleeves for those journals. Not sure on the caps themselves if you can get them separate from the head.

AKYota92

So basically I'll have to get a new head? Wish I could cuss on the forums...it seems to suit the situation ha.

xxxtreme22r

who ever did the machine work and touched those caps needs to be shot or do their research as they had no business touching that head without knowing they did not have bearings etc etc for that cam. All they needed to do was check for roundness, and straightness and make sure they all line up. Similar to what they do for engine blocks to make sure the block is straight. There is a term but I can't think of it right now. I think it's called Line Boring or something like that.

What I would do, is put your cam into the journals and plastigauge the clearance for the cam.

xxxtreme22r

come to think of it, if they treated those cam journal caps similar to the way they cut down rods, then you might be ok. As long as they opened up the journal on the cap to OEM specs.

AKYota92

No one has machined anything, my buddy ran it dry of oil so it had no lubrication, I was just wondering if I could get them machined so I wouldn't have to buy a new head. I'll look at the cam and bearings(v8 talk but u know what I mean) tonight to see how screwed they really are. If at all. All I know is that my rod and crank bearings were shot.

AKYota92

So it's all good, my cam and bearings are fine, so crisis averted. Thanks for the input guys.