Hello all,

I am Phil in Seaside, CA.

I just picked up a 1987 truck. As base a model as base can get. Standard cab, 4 spd., 22R, carbed. The truck has 205K on the clock.

I spent the morning today at the PickNPull getting a few things I need. I will talk about a few things I saw there that may/may not interest forum members at the end of my post.

The rest of the day was spent cleaning the engine, removing the cowl to clean out years of leaf build up, washing and installing some of the parts I picked up.

Tomorrow will be polishing/waxing, removing the bench seat, cleaning it and cleaning several years of dog hair and grime out of the inside of the cab as well as washing all of the dash, door panels, etc.

The body on the truck is straight with only a few places with surface rust. There is one area on the upper driver's side a-pillar that looks like it could grow to be a problem and needs repair. The under carriage is nice as well. It does need some of the weather stripping for the windows on both passenger and driver side. If anyone knows where to get the stuff, let me know.

All in all the truck runs decent. It accelerates well and I have had the trucl up to 80mph and it felt like it had more to give. But last night and tonight it dieseled a little when I shut it down. Let me back up...yesterday I drove the truck and it ran well. Then I let the truck sit idling for an hour, shut it down and it dieseled. Started it up, shut it down immediately and it dieseled. I did that about 5 more times before I called it quits for the night.

Now today...I drove the truck to the salvage yard. It drove great. I drove the truck home...it drove great. I went to the parts store, came back and it drove great. I wanted to get the truck to repeat the dieseling. So I shut it down and started it back up. It was idling quite high. I dont have a tach but I would guess 2-2.5k rpm. I gave it some gas, tried putting it in gear...but it would not come down to a normal idle. I shut the truck down and it dieseled. I started it back up and shut it down a couple of more times and it still dieseled.

What I dont get is why the problem is hit or miss and not predictable. Some background info...

The PO said the truck has a new water pump, valve cover gasket and distributor. I dont have a timing light so I havent checked the timing.

I am going to pull the plugs and check the gap tomorrow. I put new plug wires on tonight. The air filter is clean. I bought a can of starting fluid to check for vacuum leaks. I also bought some new vacuum line and t-connectors, etc. and I want to start replacing all the old, brittle stuff.

And if it helps, the thing smogged rediculously clean just this past week.

I will continue to dig through the old posts. I think I am through about 40+ pages so far and I think that leaves about 90 more. I tried searching but havent found exactly what I am looking for.

I am hoping someone just might happen to have the answer...fingers are crossed.

Back to the PickNPull...there is a 85 SR5 there. The dash with tach is there, the bucket seats are there (fair-good condition) and the full center consol is there. Plus they are giving 1/3 off through the 15th. Let me know if anyone is interested. I can always go down there and pull parts if you need me to get them for you. I dont really feel like shipping but I could grab it and hold it for local pickup if anyone lives in CA.

Also, I took the clock out of the SR5 truck...it doesnt appear that the base model truck I have has a connecter off the wiring harness for the clock. Or I overlooked it. Does anyone know if all trucks are prewired for the clock?

My left blinker is intermittent at best. If I fully engage the left blinker, I have to lift it back slightly to get the signal to come on. Sometimes I will get the short out buzz as well. Anyone have suggestions on that one?

My instrument cluster was only partially lit tonight...the gas guage was dark. I turned the car back on later and all the panel was lit up...

The PO also put in a stereo. Now the horn doesnt work...I hope to solve that problem by working backwards.

I am sure I forgot some things.....

It would be cool if there are some forum members close by. I can pay in beer for technical expertise. My place or yours...it doesnt matter.

Thanks in advance...I am nodding off and cant think straight at the moment.

Phil in Seaside.

 

Welcome to TM! I'm sure there is a member somewhat close to you.

 

wow that's an awesome first post! welcome to the forum!

 

welcome to the site. be sure to place your questions in the appropriate sections of the forums to advertise your question a bit better to the other members of the site.

from what you explain there to me it would sound like a few areas of concern would be either a lean fuel issue, possibly an air/vaccume leak or timing is off...... just MO.

 

awesome your fixing one up! welcome!!

never met a yota without the clock wire... unless it got cut out for its power feed? even my bare bones 93 with no stereo no cig lighter not even the wire in the harness for the tach! it had the clock wiring 8)

Mine had similar sounding electrical issues that cleared up when I ripped out the mess of a stereo install the PO did, if you look on the internet you can get a new stock style wiring plug, they sell them so you can install a toyota stereo in another car, I used it to replace my missing plug that was cut by the PO when the stereo was installed. Minimally I would start by removing anything not original in the wiring...

 

replacing all those vaccum lines will probably help things a bit. i bet atleast 1 or 2 of the ends are old and dont seal well anymore. as for the interior lights, i would check connections and grounds. could possibly be in the switch not giving full voltage to the bulbs from the dimmer portion. the blinkers have a relay, which could be faulty or corroded. but it could also be corrosion inside the switch at the top of the column. pop the wheel off, and its usually a few screws to remove that whole high/low/blinker switch assembly. use small sandpaper to clean anything you can. i had to go through all of this with my 78 when i first got it.

and a note on the cluster, if you also grab the oil sending unit (its on the passenger side of the block by the starter) you can install it. as long as both trucks are 4 cyl versions. then you gain an oil pressure gauge where you have a warning light. as well as a tach since you mentioned not having one, i assume youd like it being there to help tune and diagnose it. it also adds a voltage gauge if im not mistaken. other things inside of there should swap over like door panels, those seats and console, trim, the steering wheel if you prefer its design/condition, ect ect. 4runners of the same style share the same parts attachment/interchangability for the doors forward.

 

Dieseling....

This could be caused by your "idle fuel cut solenoid" going bad.

On the passenger's side of the carb, there should be 2 items with wiring. One with a single wire (choke), and one with 2 wires (idle fuel cut solenoid). It's job is to close the idle jet when you shut the key off, thus preventing the dieseling you speak of. To test it, apply ground to the black wire, and voltage to the white/black stripe wire.....you should hear a very faint *click*. If it sticks open, you'll get dieseling. If it sticks closed, your truck simply will NOT idle.



BTW welcome! Glad to see another carb'd 87 on here!

 

Thanks for the advice. I think I will go get the cluster today. I am still on the fence as far as the bucket seats and console are concerned.

 

Thanks! I am going to see if I can find a spare at the PickNPull as well. Is it normal for the idle fuel cut solenoid to go bad over time?

 

I found a new climate control face place and when I took the old one off to install the new one and the clock, I looked back inside the dash as best I could and couldnt see a plug...but it could very well be stuffed back in there somewhere. I also noticed eletrical tape for the stereo install...I get to redo some work apparently!

 

Thanks. I will repost in the 84-88 section and see what I get. It appears I have a few leads to track down from this post alone!

 

I would like to thank everyone who jumped right in on this thread and welcomed me and provided advice. I will post up as I figure out what is going on and get things resolved.

I am also going to repost in the discussion forum for other people to chime in/provide ideas.

Again, thanks!!!

 

welcome!

 

Thanks. I am still trying to get my idle issue sorted. It appears to be the same thing that ChowderBoy02 was experiencing. His post was from April of last year. Not much to go on other than check the electrical connections...