3.0 motor

so this isn’t exactly a tacoma question but no one is responding in the 4runner section lol. i bought a 88 runner 1st gen 3.0 4x4

here’s what’s going on so i bought the thing off a fella who thought the motor had a blown head gasket which honestly didn’t sound unrealistic because it’s a 3.0 lol. i planned on motor swapping it until i got home and it turns out it’s not blown so im trying to fix it up but something is still off

what i’ve done

i adjusted the timing it’s at the 10 notch, replaced the plugs coils distrib cap ,mass air flow sensor ,valve cover gaskets checked all vaccume lines replaced egr valve, fuel pump. and tuned the throttle body to sit at around 750 when warming up and 850-1k when warm

symptoms

here’s what’s going on when warming up the front end has a slight shake to it like it’s running with a very tiny misfire which is somewhat regular, during this warm up phase the mass air flow butterfly clacks around not consistently but it does happen in burst of 3-6 every 45 seconds or so(even after being replaced). other things i’ve noticed that are irregular are that the left side of the motor sounds like a tiny vaccume leak it’s like a suddle tiny hiss like a gasp of air which does happen consistently but i sprayed carb cleaner around and the idle wasn’t affected couldn’t find the source might be the actual plantem itself possibly cracked or a bad gasket not sure haven’t taken it off. the car under load drives okay around 1-1.75k rpms when taken to 2.5-3k rpms it drives again like it has a suddle misfire there is a lack of power and inconsistency in the peddle like it feels unresponsive in a sense at some points around that range. the dash pot on the throttle body doesn’t have a cap on the end of it which is not how it’s supposed to be and the cat sounds like it has a marble rolling around in it. the single most concerning thing i’ve noticed is when i put new plugs in i had to pregap them and i thought i maybe could have messed that up so i bought new regapped plugs to eliminate any chance of user error when i got to cylinder 2s plug it was spotless as if i had just taken it out the box i mean literally not a drop of anything on it. there’s no leaks no irregular smoke.

help
anyone got any ideas i’m more comfortable with the 3.4 than the 3.0 and would appreciate some advice. where should i go from here.

 

In my humble opinion all misfire diagnosis starts with a compression test. If the motor is not mechanically sound everything you do after is a waste of time and money,

 

3slow is known for blown head gasket

If smog isn’t an issue, ls3 swap provides more power and weighs less. There’s a ton of support too.

 

the initial plan was to drop a 3.4 in it and try to make it smog compliant but i do live in ca although that would be badass

 

not a bad place to start