Need help/advice - 1990 4Runner

[Freshly Minted Georgian!]

Bought an older Gen2 4Runner here off ODT a while back. It was running but barely, severe top end engine noise when running and since I wanted to turn it into a daily driver I ordered a crate engine for it. Mechanic it was towed to in Athens came highly recommended by Carroll's Engine Rebuilders here in town. The mechanic is obviously in over his head though. The engine is in but misfiring at idle and i've been reluctant to take possession of the vehicle from him while it is in less than proper running trim. At this point though I need to get that truck out of there and into the hands of someone that knows their way around 1990ish Toyota trucks. 3.0L 3VZE engine in it. I figured either this guy got the timing a notch or two off, or hasn't properly connected the vacuum lines but MANY parts were replaced.

Advice appreciated. Truck is currently over near J&J at the shop.

 

[roundhouse]

Have the guy Do a compression test
Make sure all the cylinder have good compression

Then have them check the ignition
And injectors

I wouldn’t pay for it and take the vehicle because once they get the money they will never fix it unless they are willing to accept a significant less amount so you can pay someone who knows what they are doing to finish it .

 

[Freshly Minted Georgian!]

Compression is good, new engine which was compression tested at the rebuild shop. Injectors, possible, but it seems to misfire at idle but not under load.

 

[roundhouse]

Compression is good, new engine which was compression tested at the rebuild shop. Injectors, possible, but it seems to misfire at idle but not under load.

That seems like a ignition problem
They need to check the distributor and wires and plugs etc

Were the injectors replaced with new ones ?

If it’s a steady misfire you can sometimes use a laser thermometer on the exhaust manifold to figure out which cylinder is missing .

 

[41mag]

An idle misfire may very well be a vacuum leak. Most of the time ignition misfires show up under a load.
BUT - I have worked on cars long enough to know just about anything is possible ! Lol.
I would check both ignition and vacuum to see if misfire can be easily eliminated.

The bad thing about 4 runners was they were full of vacuum lines that were easily “leakable” (if that is such a word, lol) . Seriously though there should be a vacuum diagram on the hood somewhere if you are lucky.

 

[Freshly Minted Georgian!]

Injectors were not replaced or rebuilt. I'm personally suspecting vacuum as some of the lines were missing when it was towed in and others were in bad shape so I told him to replace them all. Who knows if he did so correctly though. Distributor was not replaced, wires and plugs were though. Distributor cap was also replaced.