Sustainable auto repair?

Having caught up on summer construction projects, we decided to try and repair the engine on our Toyota moving truck.  Sustainable living to us involves meeting as much of our needs as we can through our own efforts, and as cheaply as possible.  Buying, and then repairing, this truck, was done with that in mind. We bought the truck from UHaul in Boston in the spring of 2008, to use to move ourselves and Linc's mother out west, and to use as a lockable, moveable storage unit here in Colorado.

Uhaul probably never sells one of their trucks unless it's about to expire, but it ran OK during our test drive, and other than a rough idle, it seemed to be good to go, so we bought it for a little over $2000.  The UHaul maintenance records on the truck were extensive, and even claimed that both the engine and the transmission had been replaced in the last 15,000 miles.  The plan worked in that it got us out here for less than the cost of renting a truck, and then has served as a storage unit on our land since then.  But, the rough running continued, the truck began to leak a lot of oil, and the truck seemed to have very little power.

Linc took it apart, replaced some leaky gaskets, replaced a fuel injector on one cylinder that seemed to not be firing, and put it back together.  No oil leaks, but otherwise the same.  A compression check indicated that one of five cylinders was low on compression, and that the problem was in the right cylinder head.  We took it back apart, and quickly got over our heads.  Dawn, our Apache heritage neighbor, and a great auto mechanic, offered encouragement, advice and specialized tools (like an engine hoist if needed).  In exchange, we spent a few afternoons helping Dawn pull a good engine and transmission out of a wrecked Toyota 4Runner and install them in place of the bad engine in transmission in another 4Runner.  We enjoyed working with Dawn, and through workshare-bartering, we all gained a lot, including new friendships.  Fortified by Dawn's energy and reassurance, we continued tearing the motor apart on our own truck, until we were down to the engine block.

We discovered that whoever had rebuilt the engine had neglected to adjust the valves.  As a result, most of the valves were two tight, and three of the intakes weren't even able to completely close, resulting in the loss of compression, rough running, and poor power we'd experienced.  With Dawn's digital micrometer, we were able to determine the correct shim sizes needed and order them.  Meanwhile, Linc pulled out all of the valves, cleaned them up, measured tolerances and checked heads for flatness, and hand-lapped all of the valve seats.

When the shims came in, we put it back together.  Reassembly took most of two days as we were working outside and had to wait each day until it was warm enough to be able to work on cold metal.

With a snowstorm coming the next day, signaling the last of weather warm enough to do auto repair for awhile, we got the engine together and turned the key.  To Linc's amazement, it started and ran smoothly for the first time since we'd bought the truck.  Yay!  But, then he noticed a huge puddle of oil forming underneath, leaking from around the timing belt cover.  Too dark to do any more, we called it quits for the day.  Linc figured it was a camshaft seal that he might have not gotten seated well enough, and figured two full days of work to pull it apart, fix the seal, and reassemble the truck.

In the morning, the clouds had the icy gray of an approaching storm, and we both felt determined to see what we could get done.  Jeanne thought we could get it all done in a day, but I (Linc) thought it impossible.  It's amazing what is possible when you have energy, determination, and this time, the knowledge from experience to know exactly what to do and how to do it.  In three hours, the coolant was drained, radiator, power steering pump, battery, air intake components, timing belt covers, fan bracket, timing belt tensioner, timing belt, and camshaft pulleys off, loose seal found, pushed back in with sealant, everything reinstalled, and refilled with coolant.  Haven't been that good at auto mechanics since 1995 when we removed an engine in a VW Camper in a rainy campground in Whitehorse, Yukon territory, stripped off all the components, installed them on a spare longblock, and reinstalled the motor, in about six hours.  A few minutes after we finished, it started snowing.  We left it to sit overnight so that the sealant could dry.

The next morning, Linc walked out through the snow, turned the key, and it started it up.  No leaks.