Adventure Mechanic

So there I was… in the middle lane of the freeway, surrounded by vehicles, no engine, no lights, in the dark, all while my speed is depleting. I tried to solve the problem there for a second or two but without success. Suddenly, an opening appeared while I glanced over my right shoulder. As the gap approached I carefully watched it and counted down “3… 2… 1… Hang on!” I yanked the steering wheel and we slid across the right lane and onto the shoulder.

I stopped safely without touching any other vehicle. Now the troubleshooting began. I tried starting the engine. Nothing. Not even a sound from the starter. That was odd.

Then it dawned on me. I was sold the 4Runner with the wrong battery. It had the terminals on the wrong side of the battery. So the salesman suggested we put it on it’s side to limp it home. It turns out, that’s a really bad idea because the battery leaked acid everywhere and stopped working.

Thankfully my friend was following me home, so he drove me to the store to buy a new battery with the correct terminals. For the rest of the drive home, I had no problems with the engine shutting. Something was still off. I couldn’t go regular freeway speeds up inclines. I put this in the back of my mind as I drove home.

When I got home I noticed a puddle forming under the 4Runner. After further investigation the water pump was gushing coolant like a water fall. I then began to realize that steam was coming from odd places, like the back of my engine. And the exhaust was sweet to smell. Dispite the replacement battery I had to keep it on a charger at all times.

So I jumped into some tests. These are the major things I found:

-The water pump was leaking

-The cylinder head gasket is blown

-The right side of the engine is out of spec for compression

-There is scoring on the cylinder walls

-All that battery acid did a number on the protective paint and corroded all the stuff under the battery

-The catalytic converter was re-attached so poorly that the welds look like a bunch of grapes

-The exhaust is rusted out

-Then the driver door stopped opening

-There is nothing holding the battery in place

-The battery cables are a mess

-The alternator doesn’t work

-The radiator is a mess

I stopped looking after that, because I need to deal with this list before I can dream of doing anything else. I’ve got my work cut out for me. This thing will be living in my garage for a while.

With that, welcome to my 4Runner project.

There’s a bunch to do and I’ve already started tearing into it.

Thanks for visiting my blog!