95 4x4 sat for ~6months, no start, shop says " need new engine"

I have a 1995 Tacoma, which I unfortunately let sit for approximately 6 months without starting or driving it. I tried to start it, and the engine turned over, but wasn't idling, and stalled, unless you gave it more gas.

Triple A took a look at the spark plugs, but couldn't get it to start either so we took it a local shop.

After a day the guy poking around with, ran a compression test, and says one of the cylinders has no compression, and I need a new engine.


not being particularly savvy with engines, how likely is this? It ran completely fine before the perioid of non-usage. Oh yeah, it is 1995, but has only 120k.

 

Unlikely

Tow to another shop

 

Regardless of how well it ran when parked, 0 compression is 0 Compression... Have your mechanic show you on the gauge.

 

Bullshit....probably bad gas

 

If the rings rusted to the cylinder bores and was just cranked it could have jacked them all up and scored the bores
Also could just have stuck valves. bore scope is your best friend right now
Look in there and see what's going on
And yes take it somewhere else to get a second opinion as well

 

Thing would still run on 5 cylinders.

 

Check fuel filter and throttle body

 

That's what I'm not understanding, why they'd want to say "you need a new engine, hit the road" instead of trying to fix it. That's why I'm wondering if I'm missing something here.

 

Agreed it would still run albeit like junk with 0 in one cylinder.

 

Could be a stuck valve on that cylinder

 

I second the stuck valve ~ the 4 valve heads have soft tension valve springs. Stale gas (usually 3 years old for me) is known to stick them. They are very difficult (but not impossible) to unstick. Many shops dealers will just pull the heads and send them to the machine shop. For fouled fuel / stuck valve repair with out internal engine work ~ It may be best to find someone who works with junk / parts cars / salvage yard ect. They face this problem on a daily basis.


If this is your problem ~ Once you determine what is the cause of low compression, you can then make a plan and proceed. I've had the best results unsticking valves with heat. Frequently this works best for me by getting it running and letting the engline come up to temp naturally.

The last 4 cylinder / fouled fuel / stuck valves I did ~ It started up / ran / idled on 2 cylinders. With in (3) min I was able to get the 3rd cylinder unstuck and running. The 4th cylinder too a few more hours. I then added marvel mystery oil to fuel and oil and let the truck run at idle for 3 days.

**** Once up to temp varying the idle, thus varying the vacuum load can help assist in unsticking the rings.

 

Because techs can often smell a job that is not going to pay (customer declines the work) or one that they feel is not worth their time ~ (Maybe not suited to their skill set or not something they can make easy money on). While he (the tech) is tied up on diagnosing a no start / abandoned vehicle with unknown history (everything is unknown if the shop has no previous repair records) his buddy ~ guy working next bay over is raking in the gravy jobs that come in ~ standard easy parts replacement job that pays double because he can do it in 1/2 of book time. The sooner he can make this truck go away, the sooner he can get back to making $$$. Fixing everything that comes in the door broken is an awesome skill to have but will keep a tech in the poor house if he is working on flat rate.

Thus = you need a new engine, hit the road" instead of trying to fix it.

 

Rust in the cylinder is rare and would generally be found along with a failed head gasket / parked with coolant in the cylinder (That spark plug would generally present sparkling clean looking compared to the other 4 or 5). Bore scopes are awesome but out of the reach of many here ~

I'd aim for a compression leak down test. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WgrfT0LFMhc
Autozone should do a FREE Loan-A-Tool on a compression leak down tester. Get the cylinder on top dead center, remove the spark plug on the questionable cylinder and blow air into that spark plug hole to build pressure. Listen to the intake at the air filter, The exhaust at the tail pipe, the crank case at the oil fill. Depending on which one you hear the air leak coming from will help you narrow down the system failure (intake valve failure = air at air filter / exhaust valve failure = air at tail pipe, / piston, head, gasket , other = air at oil fill).


You can also search youtube for other compression leak down test.

**** I generally use 20 - 30 psi on a simple air hose into the cylinder (No a store bought leak down tester) ~ lower pressure helps to keep me from spinning the engine off of top dead center with the compressed air. A standard transmission 4wd in gear with park brake on will usually hold the engine from spinning ~ Automatic transmissions can present a technical challenge to hold them on top dead center at air pressure above 30 psi.