Old Red 94

Hi all,

I'm in need of some advice as to which direction I should take with my 22RE.

Here's some background. 1994 Single Cab pickup All original and approaching 210K. Doesn't burn any oil, never had a problem with it. It's been babied it's whole life by me and the previous owner. I have a rocker arm that is tapping, and I have determined that it is back on cylinder #4 and is most likely the exhaust rocker. I planned on getting a new head from ENGBLDR, as well as new cam, and ordering better oiling shafts from 22re performance and OEM rockers from toyota. Since this was the plan, I thought I would do a compression test to get an idea about the health of the block. For compression I got the following.

Cylinder #1 --> 140
Cylinder #2 --> 150
Cylinder #3 --> 160
Cylinder #4 --> 160

With those numbers, now I am thinking that it might be time to freshen up the old 22re. I know factory compression was around 170, so I think Cyl #3 and 4 are doing okay considering that they have only dropped 10 PSI in 21 years. However, Cyl #2 and #1 concern me, especially #1. I added some oil to cylinders 1 and 2 and got the following numbers.

Cylinder #1 ---> 150
Cylinder #2 ---> 160

what this told me is that the rings are on their way out in 1 and 2, and I'm sure that 3 and 4 can't be far behind. at this point, what would be the best options to pursue. I have looked at a the rebuilt engines, but I know they will never match what came from factory, but that being said, there are some very good rebuilts out there, and if I went in that direction, I would most likely go with 22REperformance. That being said, I would like to save my engine, as it has lasted me this long, and with a little TLC I think it could have a lot of life left. Old Red has served me well, and I see a lot of life left in her.

Would you do a ring and bearing job on the bottom end, and replace the pistons with Toyota OEM? I would assume I don't need any machine work except a hone in the cylinders. ( I know there is no way to no definitively until I start getting into the engine). Follow that with a new head and rocker assembly.

What would you guys do?

P.S. sorry for the essay of a post.

millball

Did you adjust the valves??

If so, did it change your noise any??

Seems to me, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Why not keep driving it as it is??

I've got one with 280,000 on it, and it was run hard.

Still runs strong, but is starting to use some oil.

Yours might well run another 100,000.

Rebuild it when it is finished.

Old Red 94

Thank you for the response! I did adjust the valves a few times, and there was no change. The noise has actually become louder and more evident in the last two months which tells me something is wearing more. Its loud enough that you can hear it in the cab pretty well.

osv

if the valve cover is tightened too much, there will be noise.

do another valve adjustment, and see how much the gap has changed, relative to the other exhaust valve gaps... put on a new valve cover gasket, just tight enough to prevent leaks.

if the gap isn't any different than the other valves, there isn't anything to worry about.

on my old vw pushrod motors, the valve gap would shrink as the valve settled, then be pretty generally stable after that.

on my 22re, the gaps all seem stable, or even slightly looser, which would only make sense if there was cam/rocker arm pad wear.