Need Help 22re Not Running Right At All! Options

[whitebullet3]

I recently bought a 91 Toyota pickup 2x4 22re 5 speed. Fresh rebuilt engine. I drove it for id say 3-4 days and it ran perfect, had a little valve noise at higher rpm and going to change gears but thats it. It sat for a day and I got in it to go to start it and it wouldnt start. It turned over good but didnt start, finally got it to start and it was running really rough and idling high with alot of valve noise. So i took the valve cover off and valves were out of adjustment pretty bad. Got them adjusted and it cranks up easily now but still doesnt run right at all and runs rough and the engine shakes bad. cylinder 1 spark plug has spark but when you take the plug wire off it makes no difference in idle, but the rest of them do. Injectors are all popping off but something is not right with cylinder one. Any suggestions ? I really need to get this thing fixed. thanks in advance -josh

[Bakemono]

It sounds like an ignition issue. Id suggest trying a new sparkplug in cylinder #1 and you might want to try getting new sparkplug wires, as well as a new distributor cap and rotor.
Its possible that with the valves being out of adjustment that the spark plug in cylinder #1 is wet-fouled.

[whitebullet3]

It had new wires, new plugs, new dist cap, rotor, everything on this truck was replaced. And I swapped plugs from cylinder 3 to cylinder one and its getting fire also but when you pull the plug wire off its the same thing no change in idle. Also went to mess with it today got in it and it won't start now? I was having starter trouble anyway b/c it was a junk starter it had been taken apart alot due to all the marks on the side that indicated rebuilds, but it turns over fine just different than normal it kind of pulses like turns then dont turn really fast though like the starter gear is engaging and disengaging. ?

[Rob Mercure]

Since a just rebuilt engine had all the valves loosen up quickly - which would likely be due to the adjustment nuts not being fastened down - I'd wonder about other mechanic lapses and check the overall valve timing. These engines are forgiving but if one thing was overlooked in reassembly then many others might also have been.

It's easy to determine if there is a spark to the #1 cylinder but since 22R/E ignition modules are less than robust (don't ask my how I know) I'd buy one of those little devices with the clear plastic cylinder that let you observe spark rather than use the old mechanic's screwdriver trick to protect the ignition module. You can pick up one of these spark detectors at Harbor Freight for a few dollars - can't remember what they called it (didn't buy one as I'm experienced in this area) but I did note that they had them. Since you're probably not going to be using it a HF unit is good enough. Or, a mecanic could tell you for little money if you can catch them outside the minimum shop charges.

Rob