This woebegone 4runner followed me home

Not even mine. My son bought a '91 4x4 with a supposed leaky transmission. Got there and found it was a leaky engine. Our thought... the head gasket.

Also major starting troubles that go beyond the bad gasket... Dizzy perchance? Nearly ruined battery didn't help.

No belt for PS pump... LOTS of oil and gunk at steering box, I suspect leaky seals were more 4easily "fixed" by cutting belt than replacing box.

Pinhole leaks on TOP of radiator... weird. Also broken braze on one of the mounting ears. Looks like a new rad in store, too.

Opinion on ebay $150 header kits? Seems like a relatively simple job with the heads removed.

Any other major issues to look for? It CLEARLY needs every single hose replaced.

Supposedly new sparkers, rotor, cap and wires. Cap and wires look new, so, maybe true.

$600 is worth the effort. I am an accomplished shade-tree mechanic, #1 son has has a series of 4runners (and repaired major systems on all to flip them) and #2 son has a WRX he wrenches on, occasionally. The 4runner is #2 son's.

 

Sounds like you're an Asian detective! Or am I dating myself?

Sounds like a good deal to me. Yes, new hoses, including PS hoses. Bear in mind, there's a number of cooling system hoses under the throttle body. If the other cooling system hoses are bad, I don't even want to think what those are like.

Leaky engine: Could be something as simple as the valve cover gasket, or the front seal of the crankshaft, which is in the oil pump. Heck, could be the seal on the oil pump. There's a lot of gaskets that can cause oil to get everywhere, especially when driving and blowing air all through the engine compartment.

Keep us up to date on how things go for you! Feel free to ask any questions you might have.
Pat☺

 

Yeah, Charlie was a heck of a guy... but VERY not PC. LOL

So far finding fel-Pro gaskets BUT there is goober schmuckum in the #1 mating joint for the head gasket; The knock sensor pigtail is glued on to the sensor with RTV; and one of the injectors appears to be from a different car as it is green instead of tan like the others - AND - that intake runner on the head is CLEAN, wheras the other five are only clean where the injector actually hits the wall in that "bulge."

 

Gaaaaaah!

Derned #1 cylinder done broke a rod! Opened it up to find the piston at top of cylinder and a couple "witness marks" from the valves on it. Turn over engine and "no movee."

 

Well, that's not good. What's the next move. Part it out or rebuild?

 

Son's car, er, truck... he decides. I say get a reman 3.0 but his big brother is pushing hard for a 3.4 swap.

 

Economics of the swap (and my advice against it?) seem to be propelling the young man down the replace with 3.0 path. He's selling his WRX to raise cash. To me that is bass-askwards, but again, it ain't mine.