Used Tacoma, sludged engine

Typically when I encounter this, I drain the oil, pull the ignition to the spark fuse, fill the crank case with diesel and let it sit overnight.

In the morning crank it some more.

Then repeat the process again.
(Keep the battery on a charger too)

Once the diesel comes out pretty clear, it's time for oil and put the fuse back in.



I've gotten tar out of dozens of vehicles and gotten them back on the road with this procedure.

 

Diesel fuel, right?

I'll definitely add that to my list of options for after I try my first flush.

Fell asleep and lost my whole post

Okay, so I'm back home. Traveled through northern Georgia
Pretty after Atlanta. Small rolling hills, some mountains, and a forest so thick I can't imagine navigating through it by foot.

Tennessee
Getting to see some more hills and lots of rock. Don't know if it's slate, shale, or what have you, but they blew deep ruts into it to make way for the freeway. Pretty cool to see! The forest continues with much of the same stuff. Pines, oaks, and I don't know what all else.

Kentucky
Positively riddled with the most whimsical hills and some wonderfully diverse foliage. More variance than the previous two, much more smooth sumac and there were native cypresses popping up everywhere. Going only by the landscape, this one's my favorite!

and Ohio
Immense city with large steel bridges, followed by infinite corn and soybean fields. Almost completely flat. Me? I'm a hill person. There's still dense forest, it's just largely cleared away from the interstate to facilitate more corn and soybeans

to arrive finally in

Michigan
Detroit was neat - plenty of monstrous industrial buildings spewing giant white clouds. Seemed like the overcast, cloudy weather was made so by smoke stacks, but it didn't seem as smog-ridden as Atlanta. Plenty of relics from past riots, too. Oh, the whole place is a marsh! Reeds, willows, elms, lily pads. And the great lakes? They're so big I could swear I was looking at the ocean.

I've got pictures to upload and some truck stuff to add, but I've got work to do and errands to run. I'll post this one now so I don't lose it.

P.S. Things are going alright and the truck is coming back together well.

 

Yes, diesel fuel.

But don't over fill

And DO NOT run the engine.

Pull the spark plugs fuse.

 

Phew!! I've got a lot to write! I'll make time this afternoon/evening. Big news incoming!

 

Big good news we hope.

 

6000 HP!!!!

 

This thread doesn't pertain to me but I'm following intently and rooting for a positive outcome!
I work in Louisville and live in southern Indiana. I'm a transplant from Iowa/Missouri/Illinois, and in the Fall, this area is beautiful because of the diversity of the trees. Missouri was just brown/red because of all the Oaks. This area is one of the prettiest in my opinion.

 

@winkel I've really got to hand it to that state of yours. Looking out at the landscape I could picture myself on my dirt bike falling down dozens of the hills we saw. If it's anything like the places I've lived (Southern CA, Northern GA) you probably aren't allowed to fall down any given hill you find on a dirt bike. I couldn't help imagining it though.

Although I haven't lived many places, I did drive from the West coast to this one! The saddest place was within Texas. It was, I think, an oil town? There was virtually nothing around. Truly. I felt more isolated there than when I had to take a 20+ mile detour on Camp Pendleton to avoid a bicycle race. Just two or three motels, a few houses, a couple restaurants, and the assumed refinery. I nearly (read definitely) cried thinking of what it would have been like to grow up there.
Funnest looking place was El Paso - also Texas. But Kentucky stole my heart with those hills and trees. I must've had the dumbest grin looking out the window.
You made a good choice, sir.

Now I've been procrastinating long enough!

I got the engine back together.
Here's the youtube video of its first crank
https://youtu.be/0B-VtevWlI0?si=pVfiu0k0o0XiDXxf

I should probably walk you guys through the remaining process, as well as share more road trip stuff, end results (I think it's smoother but I have more troubleshooting to do).

I skipped some picture taking for reinstalling parts for the serpentine system but I'll share what I got!

Crank Pulley reinstalled using my fancy new tool

Torqued it to 156ft.lbs. instead of the 190 I was recommended via the internet. I was worried I'd sheer off the bolts and for no good reason felt that was close enough. Sorry about the finger in there!

Do note the damaged holes from previous attempts! But it's on.

Oh, this is where those pain in the butt bolts are located. Shoulda taken off the intake. But I shoulda done a head gasket too, and lapped the valves (is that still a thing?)


Here's the close-up


Showing off my other new pulley holder installing the fan clutch
Did you notice the problem?...
I forgot to put the pulley on.

Fixed (by the way, I had to buff the mounting surface of the fan clutch and lube it to get it to actually consent)


I'd also installed the fan shroud. But I bolted it too soon. Needed to be able to move it to get the actual fan in!


Something not shown above is my fight refitting the power steering pump. It required a rubber mallet (gently), a long prying flat head, and humility. Those moments can't be photographed.

Another casualty - lost bolt for assumed alternator grounding wire replaced.(recovered later from the concrete mixing pan I just used as an oil catch pan - available at home depot, highly recommend)


Time consuming custom replacement for a PCV hose I later found behind the drivers headlight. Required two sizes of fuel hose (approx 5/8 & 3/4, can actually measure if requested) a 3/4 elbow from the plumbing repair section, a heat gun and some vaseline. I'm actually kinda proud.


All back together!


Oh I forgot to mention the valve cover. Its gasket, at least around the spark plug tubes, was thrashed. It also appeared to leak onto the exhaust on the passenger side by the firewall.




I also added silicone AGAIN (not shown) to the gasket surface that would meet the cylinder head. I've read these are prone to leaks, so this one might actually be deserving of it in addition to sealing the timing cover to cylinder head seams


Coolant! Walmart said they had the cheap red Supertech brand. They didn't.


Oil (extra 1/2qt not shown) and flush (the flush was supposed to be added AFTER operating temp was reached. Botched that)


Results AND a word of warning about magnetic drain plugs: They will stick to the pan and splash oil everywhere. I got lucky this time.


Effin metal shavings! Not sure if it was the flush or time spent sitting dry. Never seen these before from this engine. Last seen in a Honda Del Sol (really fun little car), assumed rod bearings.


Pretty sure I'm still leaking oil from God knows where. Not the valve cover! - I cleaned the engine bay tonight and will hopefully find out tomorrow.




I would have loved to take you guys on the first ride, but the first ride was with my mother to pick up a free deep freezer from an hour away. I assumed, perhaps wrongly, that you wouldn't want to come along for that 2 hour voyage.

The truck has cleaned up some noise-wise, and I no longer have to worry about the chains. Throttle response to the pedal has also improved to the point of mirroring. I'll now worry about the occasional stumbling, continued vibration at low rpms (~600), damage I may have just caused during my flush, suspected exhaust and oil leaks.

That all sounds bittersweet, but it's back up and running with several things freshly services and I am truly, truly grateful for everyone's ongoing support and interest. Writing and photographing everything for you guys helped me remember where I was and motivated me to do the best that my abilities and intellect would allow.

I don't know whether I could have done it without you (eventually, right?), but hell, I wouldn't have enjoyed it 1/10th as much.

I'll respond to anything you guys have for me, and I'll keep posting up as I try to figure out what else could be misbehaving.

So then. Here's some road trip pictures. Hopefully I don't get in trouble for sharing these.

One of the guys wanted out on the freeway. We thought it was a bathroom emergency, and he just laid down in the grass to protest the whole trip.


Motel in KY


Bridge into Ohio


A park in Ohio where you can look for fossils

 

A really fancy looking church with a giant Jesus statue somewhere between OH and MI


One church on the way had a graffiti style Jesus on the side of a building facing the freeway. It was positively terrifying. I'm not sure if that was intended, bet there's a story there, but either way I was too startled to get a picture. Hopefully I don't offend anyone with that mention, it was just memorable.

Bridge to MI








It's really hard to express the size of the Ford facilities. It's uh... sprawling? I dont know, picture a hundred walmarts in a row. Manufacturing, testing track, corporate. It's big.

Honorable mention: We also saw the Mahle gasket ect. factory in TN, but couldnt get a picture. Same goes for Henry Ford's Detroit home. They were doing landscaping with an excessive number of landscapers.

MI really is a marsh.


And I'm told these are marsh rats?


They also have squirrels (in addition to the gray ones) that are nearly black


One of the great lakes!




It really does look like the ocean, and I'm told this one isn't the biggest.


That about wraps it up. I was going to add the only picture of myself, making a stupid face while walking through a parking lot, but upon reinspection I realized I was standing in front of a handicapped parking sign, perfectly centered over my head. Nevermind the giant lake behind that. Just seems like it'd be in poor taste.

 

There you go. Fixed. seems only fair since I showed her in the other pictures.

 

Well done!

 

Great job! Enjoyed the journey. Oh....to be young again

 

Great job & write up, you have a entertaining style of writing.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LrL6k5_Qa2E

 

One thing I do have to tell you though, all those leaves on your truck are wreaking havoc on my OCD.

 

You nearly ended me with this one! We were both positively floored learning such a song existed.

@SWPA Tacoma I've got an updated picture for yuh!
All I did was a 1/3 ratio of simple green pro XD in a spray bottle that showed ratios. Quite the forearm workout, but after about 1.5 bottles I just hosed it off and it's near fully degreased.


It's supposed to be safe, too.

No progress yet with my continued troubleshooting I'm pretty disappointed with how it runs! Any unlikely ideas on what to try? Cuz I'm mulling over how I could tackle the cylinder head been 10 years since I did one of those.

EDIT: I'll make a video of it on a drive. It never occurred to me to ask someone to hold the phone for such a video. Never. Until now.

 

Agree, that one is a pretty incredible song.