Newbie from AZ

Hello everyone! About a week ago I had no idea that I would be joining the 4runner forum... Last Sunday I woke up grabbed my coffee sat at my computer and browsed a few forums I am on. On Tacomaworld I stumbled upon a post in AZ classified thread where someone was re-posting a listing for a friend on Facebook marketplace. I clicked on the post and saw a decent looking truck for $500. I had to take a few more sips of my coffee to wake up and realize that the price is real for 1994 4Runner SR5 V6 4x4 Auto with 185k miles. Only catch that it was not-running and had salvaged title. Well, I did some quick research about it and figured that worst comes to worst I would need to swap a motor so it's still a decent deal at $500. I messaged the seller within an hour of the posting, set up a time for that evening to go look at it. Inspected the truck, saw no rust on the frame, body straight and interior in decent shape, so I pulled the trigger on it.

Got her home and the next day took a closer look. Unknown maintenance records and the oil change sticker from Walmart showed 176k miles (truck has 186K now). No oil showing on dipstick and radiator empty. The battery also really dead...lol The previous owner really didn't have much clue about cars...

Went to Walmart and grabbed the cheapest oil and the cheapest filter (not sure what's wrong so don't want to put good stuff in yet). Drained the oil... About 2 quarts of incredibly black oil came out. That's good news...lol At least milkshake didn't come out, I was happy about that. Put in the fresh filter, fresh oil, and distilled water in the radiator. I turned the motor with a wrench and it felt like there is some resistance which points to the fact the motor has compression so that is a good sign as well... I cranked it a few times but it didn't fire, don't think the battery had enough charge. If it doesn't fire with a charged battery I will check for spark and compression...

The battery has been on a trickle charger for the last few days. The previous owner said that the truck overheated. I saw a trail of rusty water on the front of the 3vze coming from what looks like thermostat housing. I think its actually further up and possibly coming from the water pump or one of the idler pulley. Timing belt cover will be coming off to inspect whats going on there...

Gotta fire it first, once it runs, most likely the first step is going to be water pump and timing belt job...

So excited to get this truck back on the road!

 

Good find, welcome to the forum.

 

Welcome neighbor. Good score.

 

welcome

 

Welcome from FL.

 

Found the problem. Water shooting out of the spark plug hole when you crank the engine can only mean one thing... lol

I’ll be looking for set of heads or complete 3vze...

Heads
Head bolts
Head gaskets - whats a good brand? Stick with OEM? MLS head gaskets?
Timing belt
Water pump kit
Exhaust cross pipe wrapped in header wrap

she’ll run like new in no time!

 

Nice truck but why did you choose the orange can of death? At least buy an STP or a K&W. Otherwise congrats and welcome!