Hey guys!

I picked up this little gem about a month ago after looking equally as long. I was checking, literally, about every couple of hours and the search paid off. Found this one 45 min after it was posted. 1990 4runner, 22RE, 5-speed, 4x4, 243k on the clock. Man, for $1000 I. couldn't. resist. I'm sure most of you know how that goes

Actually, I think it is probably one of the earliest 2nd gens made. It has the doorjamb sticker putting it at 5/89, with the VIN showing it to be the 1291st vehicle off the line (I suppose for the 1990 model year?).





It's got some rust, it has some noises, but its all there and it runs and drives. The frame is in AWESOME shape (thank you Colorado!) and it feels tight when driven.

Interior is in pretty good shape as well:




Smells like smoke and the driver side seat has the common rip on the side. Some mismatched interior parts, but not too shabby! Easy junkyard parts to find. We've got a couple really good places here in the Denver area for yotas.

And here's the engine:



Oh, and did I mention some rust?











It's got some janky repairs and bondo patches near the wheelwell rust. I'm gonna learn how to weld and get things straightened out. Its got some body cancer, but we're gonna deal with it! New front fenders and some donor panels for the rear, then misc patchwork and we'll be in business

I pulled some of the windshield trim and was greeted by some nasty junk-




Hmm...I wonder why it has all that rust? ...



lol...needless to say that dumb trim is coming off and the channel is gonna get derusted and filled in and I'm gonna lose the trim for good.


What can I say? I love this thing. We have a '98 4runner and it has run like a sewing machine with 268k so we're definitely sold on yotas, but this is my first 20+ year old vehicle. Back in the day I used to have a '91 Stanza and something just speaks to me about the older vehicles and how approachable they are. There is a certain allure to the simple, older mechanics of them and so far its proving true - what little wrenching I've done on this one has been a joy compared to what seems like everything else. It is actually relaxing to work on and it a way, therapeutic


But enough of that, I've got my work cut out for me!

Some immediate plans for the vehicle include:

Total detail (interior, exterior, engine bay)
Do a once-over on the engine and get things reliable for the long haul
repair windshield area
fix rust on body, repaint
Install permanent roof rack
fabricate cargo organizer in the back for off road gear


Long term plans include:

Custom bumpers
winch
SAS
rear locker (maybe)


The overarching goal of the build: go from 'rusty' to 'trusty' haha. I want to do a mild mechanical/cosmetic restore and then do a slight build up to make it more capable, but still modest (aka el cheapo) enough to roam around town and still get decent gas mileage. It won't be a full blown rock crawler, but more of a backwoods/hunting/fishing/camping/trailroaming/exploring vehicle. If you enjoy slow, mild builds from someone that really doesn't know anything, stick around! We'll be having all sorts of adventures. It will be great reading for those of you, like me, are brand new to this world, and great laughing for those of you that know just a little more. Let's go!

 

So the very first thing I did was to get rid of those creaky, rust-hiding running boards (shoot, don't have a picture of that yet, it will come)

Also, the day I got it, I stopped off and the wifes' parent's house and when I we were about to leave (she drove the '98) this one had a little bit of a hard time starting and sort of a weird issue with the lights. The wife, only knowing of the rock-solid never-once-failing prowess of our newer 4runner, was a bit alarmed. I now have an uphill battle

The now-primary goal of this build is the 'show the wife this was still a great purchasing decision for the household and our daily driving/recreational needs/wants' thread. Therefore, I'll be enlisting yotatech for the help and (moral) support


So, neverminding the start issue, I was a little more concerned about some excess valvetrain noise on startup that eventually would go away. Hmm. At first I had this inkling...this thought that maybe I should find a Toyota specialist place and they could give it a once over. But then my senses came to me and I thought of the timing chain guides.

D'oh! Pulled the valve cover and the driver's guide was totally shredded. I also had these two cute little skid marks going down side of the timing cover. I honestly can't even believe I didn't think of checking it sooner (remember, this is the 'slow' build) but yep, pretty much dodged a bullet. Parked it in the garage and it is not moving until a new front end kit is on there. Actually my hope is that it will still move once a new front end is on there

So here is a pictorial guide to what I have done thus far, with some added details. I'm slowly working my way through this and yotatech has been a huge help.

Marked some of the lines that were coming off-



Got the intake, radiator, fan and shroud out of the way-



Took some more reference photos-





Made sure we were at top dead center (TDC)-




Front valves were loose - I think we're good!


So before I dug in too far, I wanted to make sure I cracked the crankshaft pulley and cam bolts loose. Here is what I used-



That is a pipe, 1/2" breaker wrench, 19mm impact socket

My setup-




Set the runner in 5th, e-brake on, wheels chocked. Actually came off pretty easy! Then again, that is a long bar

Next was the cam bolt-



Removed the dizzy and rotor, making note of this-




Getting cam bolt loose-




I removed the alternator and power steering pump+bracket, then gained access to the water pump and oil pump which I then removed-



The hardest part so far was not the crankshaft bolt, it was that dumb hose that goes from the large port of the timing cover to somewhere in the back, which is hiding under the p/s pump. I think I'm going to get new hoses all around.

I learned after comparing tutorial shots to mine that I don't have an a/c compressor. I guess it is bad, but in this case, its good!




I got to all the bolts/nuts of the oil pan and dropped it (have to fish out the chain guide bits) and here is the 1st peek in-



And look at that - a huge chunk of the lame plastic guide wedged in the front of the engine (nice one, Toyota!)-



Made sure to not forget the 'infamous hidden bolt'-





Here are the guts underneath-



I initially had some problems getting the pan out. I took out all 3 bolts to the front diff, unbolted the front crossmember, unbolted 1 end of the steering stabilizer, but that still didn't leave me enough room. What made the difference was removing the sway bar and letting it drop down.

Detached x-member and steering stabilizer-




Sway bar unbolted-



Diff supported-




And here is my parts/tools table setup-




Overall, it has been extremely greasy, but fun. I'm learning more and more about this engine as I go. It is very easy to work on.

Next - popping off that timing cover and getting to the gears/chain!

 

Great score on the runner. I wish I could find a 2nd gen at that price. The 22 re 2nd gens are so hard to find especially in that good of shape.

I do not think the rust is too bad. Just some minor repair needed to prevent any further decay.

Looking good so far on the timing kit teardown. Are you going to remove the head while you are in there and do the head gasket as well. I typically do that replacement joke I'm that fat into it.

 

Thanks I appreciate it! Regarding the head gasket...oh shoot, not right now. If I do, I gotta work up to it! I'm hoping to avoid that as long as I can. So far so good. I'll see how long it goes. If I need to in the future, then that will just be how it is but for now we'll roll with it. I should have done a compression test before I tore it down, but it ran great - just really noisy from the chain slapping around in there.

My hope for the rust is 2 new panels up front, then get some donor pieces cut for the rear. When I took off the little rear splashguards, they came off pretty easy because the side of the 4runner came off with them haha. So I now have some holes in the wheelwell area on both sides, although the driver's side is worse. I don't really like bondo and I want to get some basic practice with welding (aka frustrating myself to death burning holes in thin vehicle sheetmetal) but I think it should be pretty fun.

 

Looks like a great buy! Like Gizler said, wish I could find a decent 4runner for that price. Good luck with the build! Way to stay organized too, I never have the patience for that, then it tends to bite me in the arse later. Still can't find that 14mm socket....

 

Haha Thanks!

When I saw the deal I had to jump on it, even if it needed work (it did/does) I got the timing cover off yesterday and man did I come close to wearing through! Whew!

I think I am going to put a little tool kit together to keep in this vehicle. So far, I'm definitely going to stock some 10mm, 12mm and 14mm sockets. Do you (or anyone, for that matter) know if these 4runners used any odd sized sockets for anything, like 11mm, 13mm, 16mm, etc? I know 13mm is also a popular size, but I haven't come across one yet I don't think.

 

Tool kit is a good idea. I keep all my tools in portable chests so I have everything, but I think you nailed it on the sizes. I can't recall having used a 13 recently, but I have a pickup. Always worth having anyway.

 

Its a great Idea on a tool kit. Even though I dont really like to keep anything of value in my vehicles, I typically keep a craftsman tool set in there. I believe its a 96 piece and has a screwdriver with interchangeable bits. I like it since both of those tools are in one kit. I also keep a 1/2 drive breaker bar in there also with the 19mm socket to get the wheels off.

But like chukarhunt said, you have the right socket sizes listed.

 

I believe that's the same 96 piece set I have as well. Use it for everything. Fits perfectly anywhere too and has extra storage space in the carry case for miscellaneous stuff.

 

That is a great find. I had one identical to it only it had the 3.0. I miss that runner but rust ate it up. 8,10,12,14,17,19(,23mm, I think) sockets and wrenches, channel locks, screw drivers is about all you really need to work on your runner. Once in a while the are a few 20 somehting sizes you will need but not for motor work.

A Haynes Manual is how I learned on these. A Factory Service Manual is nice to have but not needed. Tons of info on here that will help you out as well. A little time and effort and you will have this truck up in no time. Can be done fairly cheap as well with some shopping around.

 

Thanks guys for the support. I'm basically brand new to this. We've had our '98 for about 4 years and it has given us a taste as to how great these vehicles can be. One thing that really sells me on them is the support network like this place.

I'm looking forward to getting this one up and running. I'll see if it still has the hard start issue once it's back together. There are a lot of other little things I want to do - spark plugs, wires, dizzy cap and rotor, battery ground-to-body cable, clean the intake, TPS, IAC valve, bypassing that weird start relay fault, new PCV, new hoses and belts, thermostat, valve adjustment, fuel filter, new starter contacts...basically get it up to snuff.

If you guys have any other idea of things to clean/check/replace, I'm all ears. I'm almost near worthless around electrical, but I have a multimeter and can make some jumper cables.

 

More progress! I got the cover off the other night.

Starting to come loose-




I tapped on the large inlet tube on the side of the cover. To equally work both sides, I reattached the nut to one of the water pump studs, then grabbed the channel locks and tapped on those-





Making its way off...



Cover off!



Check out those grooves!




With cover off-



Organizing-




POS driver's side guide-



Can't believe after all the years of these junky things wrecking motors Toyota still hasn't changed the original faulty design (recently checked at a dealer - they are still just plastic)

Timing set off-



Chain actually wore grooves into the head!



A look down-



Crankshaft position-



Coolant - guys, any thoughts on universal vs Toyota red?




I've never seen an image of the underside, showing the head gasket from underneath, so here is a shot of that.

Dirty-



And clean-



Getting the front all cleaned up-




This engine is a little...dirty-



Welp, that's it for now. Gonna pick up some acetone and clean things up. Might also have to get one of those suction ball things and suck out some of the coolant so it doesn't want to leak after I'm done wiping things down.

 

As far as coolant, right now I am using universal without any problems, but I was warned that it can cause the steel freeze plugs to rust pretty bad, or the block... something of that nature. I don't see any problems yet, but I will most likely go back to Toyota Red since everyone raves about it. I just hate having three different types of coolant stored in the garage.

Keep up the good work!

 

Nice work with the pictures! And for $1000 it looks like its in great shape!

 

Thanks man! I'm pretty excited about it and am learning a lot.

Gonna pick up some acetone in a bit and clean up the front end real good, then the build up begins!

 

My future brother-in-law and fellow off-roading enthusiast came over today and we went out to the garage and worked a bit on it (Thanks Phil!). I feel we made some great progress, but while cleaning the block I bumped the headgasket and it now sits about an 1/8" away from the head bent down slightly - shoot! I'm hoping I didn't totally jack it up. I mean, you can take your finger and just push it up against the underneath of the block, but man headgaskets scare me lol.

The issue in question:



D'oh!!

I'm just hoping I didn't put a kink in it or something stupid. I guess we'll see when it is all together and has oil in it! Still...

But apart from that, everything went great! Here is the progress -










Test fitting gaskets (thanks FGZ) -



Test fitting cover -



So I decided to use a little blue thread locker on the guides just for extra insurance. I don't think anything is coming off, but I have a little peace of mind about it.

I'm hoping to soon have the gaskets on and then the cover.

I tested my pulley wear spot (where it rides on the front main seal) and I think I'm fine.

 

Great progress on the timing kit. I agree in the plastic guides. I still use them in my engines but I always check them when I do periodic valve adjustments.

Head gaskets concern me also. Which is why I usually just replace them while in there. I think that you should be ok with that gasket. Just make sure you have rtv in the corners of where the timing cover meet the head and the block. Typically when you have the head off, you bead it up right there to ensure that it does not leak.

 

Thanks Gizler.

I need to clean up that area a lot more. I was actually surprised at how dirty it was under the headgasket where it mounts to the head. I think I'm going to get some spray permatex to just create a good seal where it separated a bit and go from there. That will be after it is well cleaned with acetone.

Hopefully I'll get some time to work on it soon! Of course, more pictures will come.

 

You did not hurt the head gasket any by bumping it, just make sure you don't kink it when you put the timing cover back on and you will be ok. I have done that before myself. I just put a little sealant in between it and the head to help hold it up and out of the way.

 

Terrys87,

Sure you appreciate you chiming in. Thanks for putting my mind at ease. I saw another post on another forum about a guy who said he's done over 100 of these as a master tech, and he will actually peel the gasket down a little, intentionally, and use a spray gasket material to re-seal with the top of the head. I think I'm going to go for some of that Permatex copper spray seal up there.

Again, thank you for your mechanical advice