yota_mkii

SO after having the rig go dead en route (84 22r dolphin camper), and determining that there was no spark, I spent the next month and way too much cash trying fix the HV system... finally I realized that the distributor rotor is NOT ROTATING! From what i've read, this likely means that the timing chain has gone? first, is there any other likely reason for the rotor to stop rotating, and second, am i going to be way over my head changing the timing chain? I had 4 years of auto shop in school, but that was a long time ago. so, ...

1. any other reasons, besides a broken timing chain, that the rotor would stop rotating (and suggested fixes , and...

2. what are the main issues going to be if i do have to replace the timing chain


thanks!
relief at having locating the problem, tempered with fear at having located the problem

myyota

The best place to start is to pull the valve cover and look at the timing chain and guides, also look at the gear on the end of the distributor. Let us know what you find.

slacker

iTrader: (1)

there is a roll pin in the dist gear .. i have seen this fail


.

krkx93

its something to do with the timing chain before, either a broken gear or snapped chain or your guides and tensioner have failed, quickest way to find out pop that valve cover off right quick timing chain kits are pretty cheap and pretty simple to change on the 22r series motors

krkx93

http://www.4crawler.com/4x4/CheapTri...ingChain.shtml

^ should be everything you need to know, and just another tip, go ahead and drop the whole oil pan and not just the front to bolts, you may be able to save that front part of the headgasket and also the timing chain cover will cooporate better for removal and reinstalation

yota_mkii

awesome, thanks you guys... i finally have a whole week uninterrupted to work on this thing, so i'm getting to it. I'll get the valve cover off this aft and have a look.

re: the roll pin in the distributor gear... thanks slacker, i hope its this simple? from what i understand, if the chain still has tension on it then this could be the case. anyway, the mystery will soon be solved... will update

yota_mkii

okay, the chain is busted. my 70yr old dad (who was a great mechanic in the day) shook it and lost a link somewhere down the engine. great. anyway, i've got the rad and fan cover out finally. valve cover is off. next the fan and the alternator and AC compressor. this is not a small job!

is it worth it to get the whole timing chain kit, with the tensioner, sprockets gasket etc? the top sprocket seems fine anyway. any reason to replace the tensioner if it seems fine... not that i've seen it yet ; ). any input is great! thanks,

rokblok

iTrader: (1)

Replace everything that comes in the kit. Sprockets, chain, gaskets, etc... Sprockets wear with the chain and create their own individual wear pattern. Mixing and matching doesn't always have good results... But it's your call.

Good luck, it's fun stuff to do T-chain replace!

yota_mkii

so i'm getting set to remove the distributor... crank shaft is at 0 TDC ... i want to set the cam shaft, but it doesn't turn easily... am i supposed to turn this with a wrench, or am i missing something here. don't want to damage the valves

79Toyoda

I would be worried about bent valves... if the cam doesn't stay in time with the crank, I'd automaticly expect to pull the head and see whats going on in there.

yota_mkii

so the timing chain was totally broken... the crank shaft rotates freely and i have it at TDC... but there is resistance when i try to rotate the cam... i really! don't want to have to remove the head... is there usually some way of rotating the cam (i imagine there must be?) to set the gear mark where it needs to go? what is the standard procedure here?

Philbert

iTrader: (2)

Yikes, this sounds prety bad - what were the circumstances before - did the engine run when the chain broke? This could have really done bad stuff to your valves since it's an interference engine.

I have done the timing chain job recently, but don't remember there being a lot of play in the camshaft when I had the chain off - I just kept it where it was supposed to be at TDC (my old chain didn't break so I could rorate both to TDC).

Not too much help I know, but will be following this and chime in where i can.

I agree that taking the head off is probably best....

yota_mkii

well it didn't 'run' exactly. :/ but it took us a while to figure out it was the timing chain, (i turned it over plenty of times with the starter) and so, the crank shaft had plenty of time to move around with the cam totally disconnected. i didn't hear any really bad sounds, for what it counts. my fingers are crossed that there are no bent valves, but i'm beginning to wonder.

79Toyoda

Also whatever you decide to do, pull the head or not, buy Toyota t-chain parts. at least the tensioner. I'm battling a junk after-market tensioner at the moment.. you don't want to do this twice. (like me)

yota_mkii

well the kit came in today, and i think its aftermarket. ok, i'm not going to pull the head unless someone convinces me too... the lack of bad sounds makes me think that when the chain broke during powered flight, the valves were in a safe-ish position. in anycase, i just want to get the chain back on and try it out, i think. this thread has gone pretty far from the original question (distrib not rotating) so i think i'll post the specific question.... how to rotate a cam shaft thats been disconnected...

79Toyoda

I'd use a breaker bar and a 19mm socket (I think thats the size) as the cam will not want to stay at TDC #1. It will try to roll forward or back from the valve spring pressure.

Philbert

iTrader: (2)

Well, a couple things:

1) If the engine was moving (Crank and pistons) and the chain broke, and the cam stopped moving, chances are your pistons hit some valves. The 22RE is an "interference" engine, which means the valves, when a cylinder is at its lowest point, poke into the chamber, and when that cylinder comes to its highest point, the valves pull back up, out of the way. If the cam is not aligned (through the chain) properly, the cylinders will likely bang into the valves when they are poking into the chamber -make sense?

2) Get an ENGBLDR kit on Ebay, or from ENGNBLDR.com. Go to Ebay.com and search "ENGNBLDR FEK" -FEK: "Front End Kit" - this is like $150 and has everything you need for a timing chain replacement - everything. Can't beat the price, and the quality is something anyone here will vouch for - just search Yotatech for feedack on ENGNBLDR.

If it were me, I'd pull the head and check the valves. If you don't want to, use the breaker bar and rotate the cam, and then do a pressure test in each cylinder - if the valves are OK, you should pass....if not, you'll fail

Good luck!