AEROSUB Posted July 5, 2009 Share Posted July 5, 2009 Hey all, I am a newbie to the subie and have spent most of my time working on my toyta 4runner. Now i have a new project and would like your input and recommendations... for a grand total of $200 I purchased a 1991 legacy sport turbo with "overheating and head gasket problems" so here I go... The story on the car is that it started to over heat oten, and the guy drove it and kept putting in more coolant until one day, "it got really bad and the mechanic told me it needed a head gaket". since then it has been sitting in the garage for about 2 years. I picked it up and was able to start it with a jump and drive it onto the trailer, i could smell the sweet, sweet smell of coolant in the exhaust, and also noticed a loud and obvious tapping sound. Best case scenario... overheated, blew a head gasket and maybe tweaked a valve causing the tapping. Worst case scenario... overheated alot, blew head gasket, maybe short block needs to be rebuilt as well, tapping could be from piston damage and heads might be cracked! Below are some pics of my teardown so far, Enjoy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralDisorder Posted July 5, 2009 Share Posted July 5, 2009 (edited) This belongs in the new generation forum - just so you know. Mine was in similar shape - bought with a "head gasket blown". Unfortunately that was the least of it's problems by a long way. The engine had become so hot that it melted part of the cylinder liner for the #2 cylinder and absolutely destroyed the bottom end. The whole short block was toast - not even rebuildable - timing belt covers and knock sensor had melted into puddles on the block. Another engine was sourced along with a turbo, radiator, and associated components. After installation I found that the thing had over-pressurized the cooling system so much it blew the tank off the tubes in the heater core so out came the dash..... It's a daily now, but if it weren't for the fact that I got it in a trade after a friend had already dumped about $3k into it and couldn't make it run it wouldn't have been worth it. Cared for properly, these engines are actually very reliable. The car's weak point is the transmission - much over 200 HP and they tend to eat 2nd gear. The syncro's are pretty poor as well. Mine has 165k on the tranny and it grinds into 2nd if I really try to shift it fast. I'm careful with it for now and eventually I plan to replace it with 6 speed or rebuild it with a heavier gearset. I love the car though - mine is pearl white and in decent shape. I've got a TD05-16G and a Forester XT intercooler sitting here for it as well but I'm going to pull the engine back out for a reseal - it's a 110k long-block from a wrecked 94 turbo touring wagon and I notice it uses about half a quart of coolant over an oil change interval. You'll want to check out www.legacycentral.org - That's where the action is for these cars. GD Edited July 5, 2009 by GeneralDisorder Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AEROSUB Posted July 5, 2009 Author Share Posted July 5, 2009 Thanks for letting me know about the forum, I just figured since the car was 18 years old it would be considered "older gen" plus I always tend to listen to the guys with the older cares cuz you all seem to have more real mechanical knowledge instead of advice on which chip tuner to buy and what shade of turqouise to paint my brake calipers Anyway, I have yet to spot a crack anywhere in the block or heads and the timing covers are most definately not in puddles (omg your story is nuts) so i am crossing my fingers that the short block is still allright. Its kinda the same deal like you said about the past owner putting a lot into it... the car has brand new tires and teh tranny (auto) was rebuilt less than 20k mi ago. the things i am begnning to notice :mad:that are worriesome is that pretty much every single coolant hose had some sort of crack or leak so it had no chance of ever running without overheating. I really need to find a source for some of the plastic intake elbows and ranom plastic tube vacuum lines as well as the coolant botle that is mounted on the intake manifold, it cracked out about 2 of the hose barbs... any sources let me know, or else its junkyard time. If a moderator would spot this maybe they can jump it over to the new gen forum, thnx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralDisorder Posted July 5, 2009 Share Posted July 5, 2009 The best source for all that stuff is the dealer. The water tank nipples breaking off is extremely common. Unfortunately the water tank's are expensive and retro-fitting the newer turbo tank's is problematic as they are different sizes and shapes. My solution was to cut the barbs off flush, tap them with a 1/4" NPT tap and install 1/2"x1/4" NPT hose barbs. I used true-seals and Loctite hydraulic sealant on the threads and trimmed the barbs back to about 3/4". Been great for over a year now. I don't see it ever failing again with my modifications. The coolant lines and plastic nipples are best purchased from the dealer - don't cheap out on this stuff. I replaced every single coolant line in mine and the cost was around $175 for all of them. These aren't cheap engines to maintain after they have been neglected for so many years. Unfortunately they are also very rare and as such you simply won't find any parts in the junk yards. I have seen a grand total of 2 1st generation legacy turbo's in the junk yards in the last 10 years. GD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bheinen74 Posted July 5, 2009 Share Posted July 5, 2009 nice score. I like the 91's. I just pulled a ej22t from a pick n pull 92 car showing 85,300 on the odo. it was an automatic car, think the tranny gave out on it. these are super rare indeed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AEROSUB Posted July 6, 2009 Author Share Posted July 6, 2009 wow, nice solution General D. that is ust my style, are those some npt nuts that are flush against the tank wall? or did you tap those from a different type nut? I will try and get factory coolant hoses, $175 for the whole kit sounds fairly reasonable granted its almost what i paid for the whole car:grin: I have a feeling I will be jimy rigging several little items along the way with this rebuild. I might have the heads off tomorrow with any luck! thanks for the tips so far! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jerry DeMoss Posted July 6, 2009 Share Posted July 6, 2009 Tlegs are fun I have a '92. They are great to go canyon carving in and just play around in. Have fun with yours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralDisorder Posted July 6, 2009 Share Posted July 6, 2009 (edited) wow, nice solution General D. that is ust my style, are those some npt nuts that are flush against the tank wall? or did you tap those from a different type nut? They are Parker (Fluid Power) Tru-Seal's - they have a Teflon ring inside the ID of the nut. They are used to seal problematic NPT threads. http://www.parker.com/literature/Miller%20Fluidpower/miller/cat/TruSeal_02.pdf I also used Loctite 545 hydraulic sealant on the threads. Probably a bit of overkill, but being NPT threads and the tank being plastic I didn't want to crank the barbs in too tight and crack the tank. I seriously doubt I will ever have a leak. (I do industrial machinery for a living, so I'm pretty confident in my thread sealing ability ) GD Edited July 6, 2009 by GeneralDisorder Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AEROSUB Posted July 6, 2009 Author Share Posted July 6, 2009 AAAHHHH! those are some pretty snazzy fittings. I can already think of at least a dozen times that those would have been very useful. I will most definately be doing that very same thing when it comes time to put the motor back together. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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