confused samurai

jhardy · Feb 7, 2016

Hey guys. so i have a basic understanding of how an engine runs. im not the smartest guy ever lol but i can typically figure things out. here is my question/situation.

thinking about doing some trading. in the trade i will be receiving a samurai that is not currently running. the current owner tells me that it is back-firing thru the carb. and he says it needs to be put into timing. i asked why it was out of timing and he says he had a broke rocker arm so he replaced the head with a new gasket. Ive done some research on how to set the timing on the samurai and it seems pretty straight forward even though i have never set the timing on something. but i also read that the valves could be to tight and thats why it is not starting and it is back firing thru the carb.

so my question is
1 is this a job that a guy thats never done this before can handle?/ and what if it is not the timing or valves being to tight

i believe if i were to sell it without fixing it i could make a few buck off of it. so im not to worried about not being able to fix it but the samurai is in place of cash to add to the trade and i thought well it would be fun to have another samurai and was kinda like a bonus. trading my 4runner for a bass tracker boat and the samurai.

might seem like an easy fix to some but i dont know much about engine performance or how to diagnose and correct problems. thanks

onepieceatatime · Feb 7, 2016

Re:

I've never messed with a Samurai but timing is easy to do usually. Would be a good thing to learn.

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jhardy · Feb 7, 2016

Thats kinda what i figure. a good learning experience and cant cost too much right. no more then a new tool. and seems like a fair trade a 91 bass tracker thats in great shape and a samurai on 31s with 4.88 gears

Bebop · Feb 7, 2016

It's quite easy :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17sfS1Cz3gQ

IDK how to embed

clemsonjeep · Feb 7, 2016

Yep they're simple as long as the timing belt has been installed correctly...or hasn't jumped a tooth. The 1.3 and 1.6 are timed off of #4 too...that screwed with my head for the longest time.

joho75287 · Feb 8, 2016

DO IT!!!
I was kinda in the same place about 2 years ago. Could muddle through simple stuff, but never really got into the guts of things.
Had a 5.7 TBI motor take a dump on me, bought a junker take out to replace it with (big mistake there) then had that one go kaput, pretty much out of the gate (literally the first ride). Then I bought a remanned motor with some upgrades...and a warranty. All good, right?? Nope. One of the heads on the brand new reman was toast, again first ride out (pulled 5...yes 5 rocker studs on one head!!). Luckily the company replaced the head and all necessary parts without hassle, but I had to do the head swap myself...Something else new to learn!!

Long and short - I went from oil changes/plugs and filters to motor swaps and head replacements in about a 4 month period. Had to time each motor and get them working correctly. Was, at times, frustrating but I have gained some GREAT knowledge and I wouldn't trade that knowledge for anything now. Since its not your DD, dive off in it and learn some new stuff! Take it from me, you will be glad you did!!

jhardy · Feb 13, 2016

Thanks for the input guys. turns out the guy i was dealing with is a idiot. tells me all this stuff then says the dreaded words in a craigs list deal you can ever imagine. "Let me talk to my wife" turns out his wife wont let him do any type of trading. so who knows. little appointed i was hoping for a new project and a learning experience

gottagofast · Feb 13, 2016

FYI... NEVER take the word of someone who has failed to fix something and says "all it needs......"

If they were qualified to say that then 9 times out of 10 they would have already fixed it.

Backfiring through carb could be a dozen things from crossed spark plug wires to a blown head gasket to bent valves and it could have other issues once that was fixed.

I realize this one is no longer an option but when swapping buying I'd have valued this sammi as needing an engine and if it turned out to be repairable that'd just be a bonus.

Of course you'd been pretty pissed if you got the engine running right just to figure out the trans and t-case were junk.

You just may have dodged a bullet.