bigtrucknwheels

I'd like to resurrect my 1989 22RE pickup. This truck has been in storage for basically the last 4 years. the motor ran as of 6 months ago though, when the previous owner started to tear it apart to investigate the timing chain noise. he never finished it, and thats when I bought the truck.

With gas expected to go well into the 4 dollar range for the summer, my oversized tire'd, auto 3.0 is not my commuter vehicle of choice. its too slow in the PA mountains and it drinks fuel a bit. I do love the thing, but I expect to be driving 50-100 miles a day with my new summer job.

I'd like to get the 89 on the road, but I want to do the timing chain and head gasket before I start using it as a daily driver. not because I don't trust it, but because I'm looking to sell it at the end of the summer, and while its apart, now is the time to do it. So my question is this: Just how hard is it to do the head gasket and timing chain on the 22RE?

I ask because while I'm pretty handy, I've never really wrenched on an engine. I know how to work with tools, and quite well, its what I do for a living (I'm an Electrician/HandyMan). I'm good with things like the factory service manual and instruction books, and I do learn rather rapidly.

So, could I do it by myself? I know I need a socket set and a torque wrench, any other tools? concerns? Should I not try it? Opinions would be welcomed, but bear in mind I have very little experience at all with working on cars. I will have, say, a whole weekend to work on it. Is that enough time?

Thanks, as always, Yotatech. "|Y|o|t|a|T|e|c|h|: My anti-drug."

rdlsz24

If you are handy with tools and can follow a FSM then you can do a head gasket. There is nothing all that hard about it; it just takes time and is more of a pain in the ass than hard.

Rob

Kaydon

Oh it can be done in a weekend no problem.

You should have the head resurfaced and checked for any warpage or cracks (not really necessary in your case but it's good insurance)

You'll need an inch pound and foot pound torque wrench. Be careful on the timing cover, those bolts will snap. I trusted the Chilton manual's torque spec and wound up snapping three bolt heads off on the timing cover and water pump. So I tightened them to what I felt was "tight," lol.

Inch pound wrench for the timing cover stuff. Water pump, etc.

It's probably good insurance to replace the oil seal - I'd have someone with some knowledge do that one.. If it goes in crooked, you're screwed. I let my dad put that in when I was doing the HG and timing stuff.

Be sure to get all of the old gaskets off the faces.. Any left over gasket will ruin your clamping force. Same with the headbolts, clean those bolt holes as good as possible.

Egg cartons work wonders for storing nuts and bolts in order of removal.

thook

The hardest part is getting the crankshaft bolt out, but then it's really not that hard. The entire job is just time consuming. As well, you SHOULD take your time.

There's a fellow that did a write-up on the HG and TC replacement on here not long ago. Run a search. 4crawler also has good instructions on his cheaptricks site.

You can do it just fine, but if you need any help there's plenty around here to be had.

You will need....in no particular order:

A complete top end and front end gasket set
RTV sealant
Possibly a new distributor o-ring and cap gasket (be prepared)
A set of metric sockets from 19mm (1/2" drive) and 17mm-10mm (3/8")
A set of metric wrenches
Wire cleaning brushes
Scraper blades
Penetrating fluid (be prepared)
Brake cleaner
Rags
Breaker bar- 1/2" drive
Exentions..... even wobbly

I can't really think of anything else, offhand. I may be leaving something out, but I'm sure someone else will chime in.

javadoody

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

edit: just found the original thread i was looking for: https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f116...nt-pics-88722/

abecedarian

Possibly a valve cover gasket set,
Intake and exhaust manifold gasket sets if you remove them (recommended unless you've got an overhead hoist or 2 good friends)
Torque wrench
.008" & .012" feeler gauges to adjust the valves when yer done
oil & filter (optional but highly recommended)
coolant
18 pack @ 34 degrees F

thook

Geez, Abe.....you want him to get the job done, don't you?!

YotaJunky

I think you may need more than a weekend if you haven't done it before. I anticipate that you may have to make parts runs for small things.

Make sure you take lots of pics and label everything well, especially the bolts that you will be putting into zip lock bags.

Good Luck.

Nughuffer

Zip Lock Bags Fo Sho. Saved Soooo Much Time. Mark those pesky old vacuum hoses and replace old ones that are cracked or break during disassembly.

misterzee

Masking tape and a sharpie for labeling, and the zip lock bags for sure.
If I was doing another IFS timing chain/head gasket job in the truck again, I'd drop the front diff and get it out of there, so you can easily pull the oil pan. The oil pan is the last thing to go back on, and its easier to get a good seal up job.

bigtrucknwheels

well, thanks for the replies guys!

the truck is pretty much disassembled down to the head at this point, everything else was already taken off. I'll be replacing a fair amount of things as I go in order to make it a good engine. I do want to sell it at the end of the summer here, so anything thats fixed looks good.

I am thinking of investing in an air compressor before I tackle this job haha.

Thanks! and more opinions are welcome!


Clint

abecedarian

Since you got it torn down that far, maybe a mild cam, gasket match the intake to the head, extrude-hone the head. Also, if the oil pan is off, why not pop the pistons out the top and hone the cylinders and replace the rings? Plastigauge the rod bearings and replace if necessary. Would seem prudent, well at least to check the cylinders and rings, in my opinion.

You do realize that a head gasket job on a 22RE is about 30% of the way towards an inframe rebuild? Well, short of pulling the block and reboring the cylinders (no need to do that though if the cylinders aren't tapered too much or scored) and regrinding the crankshaft main journals and installing new bearings there.

You've got it torn down far enough that it's only 8 more fasteners to take the pistons out... hmm...

But then you won't sell it, would you?

Luvmeye22re

That is what I went off to do my tchain and it worked wonderfully. I used the automotive grey glue instead of the gaskets on mine which I wouldn't fully reccomend. I also didn't use a torque wrench and did them by feel with a 1/4 drive ratchet and socket. It leaked oil after a while where I should have used a gasket instead of glue but I did fine. Label/bag all the the bolts/parts you take off as you go as it will help a lot when you put it together. I have never done much engine work on my vehicles and it took me the better part of a day and a half of my weekend just to do the tchain from scratch, but that included a lot of trips to the computer to check myself and a good number of beers taking about 5 hours of actual work the first day and maybe 3 the next day. As far as the HG, I didn't do mine but the vehicle is still running great at this point 9 months later under another owners posession.

Red_Chili

Interesting you should point that out.
My DD needed a rear main seal (I H8oilleaks) so we pulled the motor to do the timing chain. Glad I did.
The PO let the chain go long enough that parts of the timing cover were broken off, and some pretty good grooves were cut into it. Since we were pulling the pan anyway, and I had concerns about where those aluminum fragments went, my son (a Toy tech) suggested we pop a main to look at it.

Scored. Badly. The aluminum got sucked into the oil pickup, and the oil pump was also scored and needed replacement. Fortunately, the crank was untouched.

Popped a big end, same deal. So now I was looking at a crank polish and new bearings.

Since I was going that far, a light re-hone and new rings simply made sense (the cylinders are good - why not?). I took advantage of the opportunity to get an Engnbldr head with bigger valves and hotter cam, an already planned mod. And since the block was going to be torn down, it also made sense to lightly deck the block, creating a new surface to match the new head, bumping the compression (barely), and working with the stock pistons.

What started out as a timing chain replacement ended up being a virtual rebuild, but it wasn't much more work, just more money for parts and machine work. Frankly I am glad we were thorough.

Think about that the next time someone tells you that you don't need to follow the FSM method and replace the HG, and just pull the pan and clean it out, and replace the timing cover if it's grooved/broken and fuggedaboudit.

Mine would have run, and run well... and either the HG would have failed early, or I'd have thrown a rod sooner or later or at least developed a rod knock and developed an ugly crank. The oil pump would have gotten weak too. As it is, I can expect another 200K before going back in (except, changing the timing chain in another 80-100K or so) and I can take it to redline fearlessly.

YMMV.

Red_Chili

Heard back from Gunn Automotive Machine Shop just now. The cylinders are not in terrible shape, just a bit worn, .001 at the bottom (which is unusual, and the piston skirts show scuffing but are OK). The cylinders show slight ridging, but #3 cylinder is pretty badly ridged, .010. At 139K miles, this puppy was rode hard and put up wet. Oil changes every 8K miles, anyone? Yech.

Their per part cost versus an engine kit means the incremental difference between a hone and a bore .020 over is $40. That is $40 COMPLETE cost. So I will have a new motor.

I would have discovered none of this if I did not pull the head, pan, and bearing caps, and asked the question, "where did all the aluminum shavings and bits GO actually?"

bigtrucknwheels

Less the performance upgrades, what did you have in it, money wise?

Red_Chili

$438.61
Plus the cost of Ted's timing kit ($54), a timing cover ($48), and oil pump ($53), and a Toyota head gasket. Misc. gaskets. Front main and rear main seals. Screw adjusters from Toyota, cheap and a good idea.

Approx. $650.

I worked out resurfacing the rockers with Ted, rather than new Toyota (ouch), but that falls under performance upgrade really.
I am throwing in ARP head studs but that is entirely optional.
A new clutch of course, and not sure we can salvage the flywheel, it is checked weird. Like I said, this truck was rode hard and put up wet. That is a reference to horses, folks, keep your mind out of the gutter!