Now that I've finally done the 500-mile oil change, I figure it's time to do the write-up on my new baby.

I got a 1995 4Runner Gold Limited Edition off Craigslist for way too much, $3,500. While test-driving it, I knew something was wrong (several things actually.) I could tell that it was not firing on at least one cylinder (come to find out later, two.) It also had an ABS issue and the Common Hi-Beam issue. But, what sold me (even for the high-price) was it was a 5-spd, had 4wd, the interior was in mint condition, and the exterior wasn't too bad either.

Once I paid for the truck, I got it to the shop where I'd be working on it for the next few weekends, and did a full inspection which confirmed my suspicion that Cylinders 3 and 5 had little-no compression, and 1 wasn't much better. After dumping a little oil in the #3 cylinder, still no compression... Valves. So, the whole RH Head was needing to be rebuilt. The problem is, I'm not one to let a job go half done, and this truck came with NO maintenance papers, so after talking it over with my father-in-law (whose shop I was at,) I decided to do a full rebuild, for a few reasons...

• I've never done a full rebuild, and it would be good experience.
• What else can we not see that needs to be done?
• It would be way easier to work on this with the whole motor out...
• and if we're gonna have the whole motor out, might as well send in the block and crank into the machine shop, too.
• I've never had a 0-mile motor before. :-)

Also, during my inspection, I checked the level and condition of the 4 gearboxes, and they ALL looked excellent. So, that was a pleasant surprise. I didn't even change the oil in them because they looked so good.


Here's the rundown:
Truck: $3,500
Machine shop: $1,600 (not including parts)
Parts: $1,600
Total: $6,700 (Not including labor.... Man, I'm sore, but enjoying the fruits of my labor. :-)

Breakdown:
Machine Shop:

• Planed both heads
• Installed new exhaust valves, and original intake valves, and all new valve seals
• Adjusted valves (worth the money right here.)
• Decked and honed the block (honed the bores to +0.5mm)
• Machined and balanced the Crankshaft and Flywheel
• ...and whatever else a machine shop does for a full rebuild. :-)

Parts:

• 1 Head (RH)
• 2 Cams
• Full Engine Gasket Set
• 6 Exhaust Valves
• 6 Pisons
• Water Pump
• Timing Belt
• T-Belt Tensioner and Idler
• All new heater hoses (like 15... MAN!)
• Radiator Hoses
• Coolant Temp Sender (cause I broke the original one. :-(
• 6 Plugs and Wires
• Rotor and Cap
• PCV Valve, and Grommet
• Injector O-rings (some didn't come in gasket set)
• Fuel Rail Banjo Washers (Not in Gasket Set)
• Some random O-Rings which I thought should have been in gasket set, but weren't
• 2 Front Brake Calipers, Rotors, and Pads
• I'm sure there was some other stuff, but I need to look at the invoice again... I'll edit it later and add what I missed.

Anyway, on to the good stuff.. The PICTURES!

Dang all the vacuum lines!




This is where the two Power Steering vacuum lines connect. Doesn't matter which goer where:


And... She's OUT!


Strangely, the RH head takes the longer bolts for the back-plate of the t-belt cover... Handy info. :-)


Looking down on her with no intake manifold, or valve covers:


Can't really take off the RH Exhaust manifold without taking off the EGR pipe... and the Gasket set did NOT come with the EGR pipe casket. :-(


RH Head


RH Rear cam bearing cap... The Long bolts to the rear. :-)

Also, on a side-not, see all that orange gasket maker on those bolts... After we got this cam off, we found that crap all INSIDE the cam oil ports!! And, also found that the RH head had been planed past the maximum amount... So, basically, a REALLY CRAPPY job had been done on this head once before, and clearly didn't last long.


Long cam cap bolt to the RH side:


See anything wrong with this picture? What ever loser shop did the head gasket on this truck (only this one side, by the way, the LH side was untouched) apparently bought the wrong HG and decided to use it anyway... See the "TOP" label on the bottom?


Just for reference (Oil Pressure Sensor, Coolant block outlet for Oil Cooler, and Oil Cooler):


She's topless. :-)


The one thing I wish I had done but didn't :-/ The Knock-Sensor... If you're gonna rebuild, replace this sucker... It just makes sense... Also, try to get the wiring harness too...Mine was pretty frayed, but I was just a little lazy when putting it back together, and didn't want to wait another day for the parts to arrive.


Oil pan off... This thing has a windage tray... Interesting... I guess it's so as not to rob any more HP. :-)


Crankshaft out:



Main bearings and Throwout bearings:


Pistons Removed:



Parts ready for Machine Shop:


Parts in the back of my 4Runner awaiting re-assembly:


So, that's the disassembly. I didn't take nearly as many pictures of the assembly because I was so excited to get it back together. :-) So, here are the re-assembly pictures:

Fresh Engine Block:


Decked head surfaces:


Clean Block. :-)


I got a little artsy with my pictures:


Block with Pistons, Crank, and Oil Pump:


And now, with water pump:


Top with Pistons:


Sadly those are all the pictures of the assembly. But I do have a much better knowledge now. :-)

After it was all put back together, and the first time we cranked it over, the timing was off, by a tooth (from the cam.) So, just make sure that is lined up right... other than that, she fired right up!

I hope this was, or will be useful to somebody out there who may undertake this adventure!

 

Thanks for sharing. Just FYI, your total price of $6700 is definitely worth the money IMO. You have what looks to be a MINT 4Runner with a rebuilt engine, done the proper way. The 4Runner is an excellent vehicle, especially when taken care of. Up here in the salty roads of northern Ontario, the rust consumes EVERY vehicle at some point. I've got about $5500 into my '92 Runner and its 100% stock, the rust that is has makes it feel like your working on a car thats 50 years old. So good investment I think.

 

In my own opinion you spent way too much money for this rebuild. Even after all that has been done, your still stuck with a under powered, gas sucking 3.0. For the money you spent, you could have had a 3.4 swap and have money left over. But good job on the rebuild. Looks like you took your time and did it right.

James

 

Thanks for the reassurance. I'm just gonna keep telling myself that $6,700 for a nice truck with a brand new motor with all the options I wanted was worth it. :-/

I agree. I didn't do the research on my options before I undertook the adventure, sadly. And I didn't even find this forum before I began (otherwise, I would have asked for suggestions first. :-) Either way, I still have a truck that will last for a very long time, and I know exactly in what condition it's in, and that is still worth something. :-)

 

You also could have spent that money on Powerball tickets and have certainly won $265 Million last week.

Nice job. Made it almost look easy. Since you have the 3.0 figured out you should find some other 3.0s to get paid to work on. Seems like a lot of guys on here have mixed results when they go through their rebuilds, whether or not they do it themselves or take it to a shop.

 

Thanks! It wasn't necessarily easy, but it wasn't as bad as I had imagined it to be. It took one whole day(8 hours) for me to get the motor out and on the stand, and another whole day to disassemble it. I think that having it out was a huge bonus, so doing just the heads in-frame would NOT have been fun at all! Pulling the Exhaust manifolds off in fram would have been a pain with that crossover pipe... ick! So, I'd probably say that if you have the room and the time, you'd probably save yourself a lot of agony but spend more time by pulling the whole motor out, even for a Head Gasket job... I don't know... just my two cents.

 

very nicely done, this I will have to do the same for a family of mine. How hard was it to take out the motor from your car? I have done motor swaps but never from a 4x4 or truck like vehicle. Thanks.

 

Hey danskelly, so this is how you know about getting the engine and transmission to mate!

Congrats on the Limited. I've had the same idea while doing mine: go through as much as possible to freshen everything up and get it into a state where I know what's been done. I was trying to do it cheaper, so I checked the heads myself. Everything looked good, just replaced one valve and lapped them all. How many miles on your truck? Wish I'd just have taken the engine out to do all that work. My back is killing me.

Your long cam cap bolt could've been related to a problem I had. That end cap has a locating ring pin, but Toyota used the same length bolts as the rest of the caps. That gives those bolts only about 4 threads screwed in, compared to the rest of the bolts which get about twice that. When I torqued down one of those bolts, it just stripped the threads. I fixed it by buying one of the longer cap bolts and cut about 1/2" off. That got the bolt about 7-8 fresh threads, fixed the problem perfectly.

Why is the RH HG wrong? That is the top of the gasket, isn't it?

I'm getting a used knock sensor to replace my broken one. At $140 for a new one, it's worth the risk to me.

Looks like a nice job! Have fun driving, and thanks for the help on my posts.

 

I got it with 196,500 miles (give or take) It not has about 630 miles more than that on the new motor. :-D


Yeah... that's the way it looked when I first took OFF the head. Some lose put the wrong head gasket on. BOO!


Yeah, that's the one thing I wish I had thought about and had done... You should get the little wiring harness for it too. Mine got pretty frayed, but it seems to still be working.

No problem. I hope I was able to be helpful.