GreenLeafYota

Howdy,

Pulling out the engine and takin it to get the bottom and top redone;

Very low compression on 3 of 4 cylinders, started to to timing chain and couldn't get enough backpressure to loosen main fan pulley, so we went searching for solution; intake manifold is loaded with carbon, but oil and coolant didn't seem to be mixed; put very LOW power on the truck.

so it could be HG, Head, Valves, and or piston rings

Techie friend is leaning towards full head replacement with LC engineered and frankly I dont want to spend the extra 700 on a daily driver if the head is not cracked, a rebuilt seems to be 300 or so. He is trying to convince me of this for a couple of reasons;
a) the 22re head is problematic ( will probably crack sooner or later if I get it machined) I searched the forums and could not find many cracked head references (his was machined and cracked so I see his bias) any truth to this?
b) the toyota 22re head is very innefficient and the LC will provide better thoughput, so little more power and a little more gas mileage.

Im sure a few of you have gone through this and will be able to help with this decision;

Also does anyone know of a reputable machine shop that works on Toyotas in the Kitchener-Waterloo area of Ontario?

What should I be expexcting to pay to have the pistions honed, new seals, and a valve job? The motor will be delivered, I have new TC, Cam, new Waterpump, and gaskets to hand the machinist.

Thanks in advance for your help.

kyle_22r

i wouldn't go running to LC unless you want to spend a lot of money on a race head. for a good factory replacement, get ahold of engnbldr. he sells NEW(not rebuilt) heads, i think you can get one loaded with brand new valves and hardware for under $400, less the cam.

i have heard of some reports of the later model 22R heads cracking between the valve seats but i think it's fairly uncommon.

for the rebuild, are you planning on new pistons? i'd have the bore checked to make sure it can be honed and the pistons reused if you don't want to spend the extra money. i think i paid about $60 for a .040 overbore and hone job on my block. anywhere between $70 and $150 is pretty common for a valve job on one of these. the real killer would be assembly, i'd think. the bottom ends on these engines are super easy to put together though.