OMX

hey, im a fellow toyota owner (91' mr2 turbo) and im looking into purchasing a 92 toyota extended cab pickup wiht the 22re motor. ive been told that these motors are nearly bulletproof if maintained properly.

but i was wondering if there were some people that could give me direct reviews and possible problems they have encountered or come across.

the truck im looking at also has 246k miles, but has had synthetic oil in it for the past 225k miles. also the guy that owns it is an extremely good mechanic/fabricator and i trust him when he says its in good shape and i know he didnt beat on it... he used it to tow his other toyota truck with a 2jzgte motor in it running low 10's. compression is 175 across the board and doesnt leak or burn a drop of oil.

any info and feedback would be awesome, i will be test driving this car on friday morning and at the moment im carless, headgasket in my beater went and mr2 isnt done yet for race season, so if you guys say its a good buy (he is asking 1800obo) and to go for it and i know a decent amount of info on this truck, i will feel to be in good hands and probably pick it up.


thanks for any help guy and i appreciate it.

nate

OMX

oh and the motor has never been apart, as well as has been kept up on all its maitenance.

bike4miles

not much power off the line but torque to make it up the hills

OMX

well im not looking for a off road vehicle or fast truck (at least not yet... i like power though... a lot...mmmm i cant wait till my mr2 is done)

im just looking for a reliable everday driver that isnt going to give me a hassle and i imagine it should let me tow my mr2 around when needed. oh and its rwd as well, not 4wd.

PirateFins

The only thing I could suggest you check out, is the timming chain. The guides are made of plastic and are notorious for eating themselves. This causes the chain to go slack and wear on the cover right at the water pump. Other than that it is a great overall truck. There are a couple of things that can be done to increase performance, but they are like going from a 40W light bulb to a 60W, still a light just a little brighter.
Good luck.

CrazyDiamond

Good call. I bought a 93 last year with only 59k miles - gorgeous condition - (old guy owned it and ran Mobil 1 in it) and the plastic timing chain guides were already broken. I replaced them with the metal-backed version without problem. If you ever need to do this, go ahead and put a new oil pump and water pump on whie you're in there. It's only like < $40 for each part (good quality) and they are so easy to do while you've got the cover off.

I've put 20k on my truck since then, and it runs like new. It still has the original charge of R-12 freon and blows 34 degrees out the vents when it's 95 degrees out. What more could you ask for. The 4x4 in these is alot of fun, too, so don't rule them out!

Just my 2 cents worth :-)

Highland Runner

Don't ever expect the 22re to be even close to fast. And as far as towing with one forget it. I would also worry about being a 2wd and towing. The 4wd's brake's are twice the size of the 2wd's. This is probably more important than pulling power.

The timing chain/guide is the weak link in these engines. If the guy replaced it, thats good. Mine broke at 125,xxx miles bending a valve. Luckily it was on start up and not while going down the road. Still an 8 hr job to fix one bent valve.

DavidA

I have a 91' and the only thing I have to say is that watch for the timing chain guide, but once that is done you are pretty much ok. I had a problem with a bad thermostat, but that was an easy fix.

The 22RE is probably one of the best 4 cylinders ever made. If taken care of it will last a very long time.

Good purchase!

Brendan

for $1800, you're laughin!! pull the trigger!

kyle_22r

have you ever driven a R powered 2wd truck? my bone stock '84 could outrun just about anything in town. 4x4s are a different matter, height, wind resistance and the size of your tires are all big factors in slowing the 22R(E) down.

it didn't exactly tow my boat great, because of the 3.73 gears. would have been a lot better with 4.10s

OMX

what do you guys think is a fair price for this truck here? its completely stock and i knwo its been well maintained. i just want to make sure im not going into this blind here. i really appreciate all the help big time.

bike4miles

Crap! I just replaced my chain but I never herd about the thing with the plstic gudes so the new ones I put in were also plastic. The old ones still looked brand new however and I am not a very agrasive driver but now I am really wishing I put the better guides in. I remember thinking thtat they seemed cheesy when I was puting them in.

Fahrenheit 451

Pretty much like everybody said, timing chain guides are probably the big threat. Otherwise, the only other thing I would point to would be the rear driveline carrier bearing. The rear driveline is a two piece on the extra cabs and all that towing probably put some extra wear and tear on it. You might want to crawl under there and jerk it around some and see what sort of play it has in it.
That horrible sound you'll probably hear the first time you back up and crank the steering wheel is usually nothing to worry about either. The steering stop caps wear out and you get metal to metal contact. Around $3.50ea and only two to replace.
My wife has had her '91 extended cab for 7 or 8 years now and we've had it all over Utah and run around all over with it and the only problem we've ever had was the starter taking a dump; 125,000+ miles and running strong. Unfortunately, it is also on the chopping block with my '85 4Runner. We found our two door trucks lifestyle didn't work out with a baby :pat:
$1800 for a extended cab in decent shape sounds like a sale to me. However, if it blows up a week after you buy it, let me know so I can delete this post and deny I ever said it

foxtrapper

I've owned several 2wd 22RE Toyota trucks. It will tow your MR2 with no problems. Mine pulls my Spitfires and such around, and it's hardly noticable back there.

Wet traction stinks. You can get stuck in the lawn if the grass has dew on it. That, and only that, is what pushed me personally into a 4x4. Otherwise, I'd have stuck with 2wd for the lower bed height, better performance, simplicity, etc.

Timing chain debacle has already been covered. IMO, the issue is actually with the tensioner, and the guides break as a result of tensioner failure.

Head gaskets go at about 200k. It's normally between a cylinder and the cooling jacket.

Clutches a bit before 200k. Radiators tend to need replacing at about this time as well.

The mileage on this one wouldn't scare me, but I'd be prepared for some expenses if the above items haven't been addressed.

OMX

alright so latest update after driving the car, and got him down to 1700 for it...
alt, water pump, timing chian and tensioners, fuel pump, fuel filter, ball joints, U joint?, clutch, radiator, diff fluid, trans fluid, and i think thats about it, all have been replaced at 150k miles.

the car drove very smooth, and i could not feel any problems. took a look over the engine bay and there was no visible problems that i could see.

does this sound decent?

kyle_22r

sounds pretty good if you ask me

DavidA

Yep, I would jump on that.

OMX

yay, you guys are making me feel good about this then. im getting it tomorrow morning. its been hell sitting in my apt for over a week now twiddling my damn thumbs!!
i cant say ill be modifying this like you guys as i already have my mr2 that i drag race with (going to tune it in two weeks and hoping for about 380rwhp on pump gas, not bad for a little old 2.0L inline 4 turbo =) )

anyway thanks for the help guys, really appreciate it. im sure ill be on here asking questions and reading up as i like to work on the cars i own when i can.

tenfourtyeight

There's a Toyota museum somewhere with a 22RE powered truck with over a million miles on it. Never rebuilt, just regular maintenence. At least that's what I've heard. So go for it.