fissure333

clean and dry is the only way to do it. if your block is decked and the head is surfaced you shouldn't have an issue. let me guess, between 3&4 right?. torque sequence is absolutely critical. i've done a few of these engines myself and torque them down to 63# with a HG from toyota. all other HG's are inferior IMHO. If the dowel hole is enlarged then you are screwed. ya it sounds like a good idea, but it's tight for a reason. the head and block have different expansion rates.
my other thought is the timing chain cover. did you install the head first and then put the cover on? if you didn't have the cover bolted on when the block was decked then chances are that it's sitting above the deck and there's no way you are going to get a seal. if that's the case then you are blowing the HG crush rings up front.

xxxtreme22r

20K+ on my engnbldr (Rock headgasket) that everyone has problems with. And I beat the snot outta this little motor along with hills upon hills. Block was decked and bored and I bought a new head from them.

Torqued head bolts to 65# and then went in at 500 miles and torqued them again.

x2 on the timing cover, don't tighten that thing down fully before toqueing the head down.

kanyonkritter

cant tell where its blowing there were no obvious signs...timing cover was installed before the head. Its either in front or in back though because its not realeasing combustion into the water jackets it mixing water and oil.

fissure333

guessing this is a new cover. chances are good that it's sitting just above the deck. i hate to be the one to say it, but you'll need to start over. ALWAYS torque the head down before putting the TC cover on. something i learned long ago. i've tried all sorts of HG's and found that the factory HG from Toyota works best. I've placed several of them on the workbench side by side to evaluate the differences, and they are not all the same. The rock HG "looks" like the factory one, but there are subtle differences that denote quality and application. I've tried the nippon reinz, felpro, rock, ect and to this day i'll never use anything but factory.
make sure you have the bolt holes in the block absolutely clean. you should be able to fully thread them in by hand with ease. check this before setting the head on. i put a little oil on the head bolt thread for installation and torque it all down. hope that helps some.

xxxtreme22r

Wait, did you say you shaved the block down? Did you have the timing cover attached to the block when it was machined? You should have.

fissure333

x2 and always

snobdds

Your giving contradictory information here.

On a 22re, it's pretty common knowledge to put the timing cover on BEFORE your put the head on. There is no way to get a proper seal on the timing cover by wedging the timing cover on after the head is on. Most of the time the head gasket gets crimped where the head meets the timing cover. Even with the oil pan off, getting all the timing stuff correct trying to go at it an angle is a pain.

The correct way is timing cover, Head, and then the oil pan.

xxxtreme22r

Don't torque down the timing cover prior to torquing down the head. Place cover on, loosely bolt it on and wait till you have the head on and then tighetnen up the hidden bolt to draw the cover towards the headgasket and then tighten the rest of it's bolts. Otherwise you can have a decent "gap" in the front part of the head that can have the potential to not seat the head correctly. and ti won't sit flat.

But.... bolt the timing cover down and have it milled with the block when you shave the block down, otherwise it will be off as much as what you shaved it down. Head isn't on there when you mill a block down.

This is not contradictory if you understand what I am saying.

fissure333

never had an issue with it.

snobdds

Ignorance is bliss...

xxxtreme22r

20,000 miles on my ENGNBLDR head gasket and I did it this way and have had no issues unlike many others on here. You can't trust your figures to tell you that that surface is flat enough to have the head sit straight. This is why you leave the timing cover somewhat loose enough to move around before you torque the head down.

snobdds

It's not you giving the contradictory information. Fissure say always put the head on first...then 2 post down he backs you up by "Always" put the timing cover to have it milled. Now obviously you can’t have the head on first then have the timing cover milled to fit correctly...

xxxtreme22r

Ok, that makes more sense, thought it was directed at me. Anyway, I've done it both ways. First time I did the timing chain I did it with the head in place. I pinched the headgasket because I was attempting to do it at night and lost track of where that little piece was. It leaked oil like no tomorrow. And whatever I did, didn't stop it.

But I've seen people torque that timing cover down before putting the head on. Which IMO (And I think the FSM actually has you bolt it down) is not a very good thing to do.

I've also seen people mill the block and not the timing cover forgetting the fact that the timing cover is a part of the block's surface for the head.

fissure333

i always install the cover after since i'm taking my time torquing down the head. by the time i'm done with that, and a beer or two later, the ultra grey would have set up and i'm hosed. everybody does have their own way of doing things. we are all trying to accomplish the same thing though ... i love my truck and hated to ever see it down.

snobdds

I understand where your coming from. However, there is a correct way of doing things and putting the timing cover on, headgasket, head, and the the oil pan is the correct way of doing it. Someone with no knowledge might follow "your" way of doing it and end up with leaks all over the place. Then there back here trying to figure out what they did only to realize the went off of someone's opnion.

The FSM will back the method I reccommend and is the correct way...

fissure333

i go head-cover-pan, but do it how ever you want. i've got my method and it's never failed me or any of the others i've done the same way. good luck out there.

Bob_T

I'm trying to think if there's another place in the motor where oil and water could be mixing? Just seems really bizarre that two head gaskets blew within a few minutes and it's "possible" the leak is somewhere else.

xxxtreme22r

A bad timing cover gasket could mix water into oil. As well as a hole in the timing cover where the drivers side guide rail likes to break and rub the timing chain on the cover.

kanyonkritter

Its why the block when back to the shop...to be magnafluxed. Its possible, very possible the block had a catastrophic failure whenI broke the piston. 1/4 of the skirt broke off and ended up in the pan, it broke all the way to the bottom ring land. I had the block throughly inspected and its possible the crack was missed on the first go round. Aside from that I went over the timing cover with a jewlers loop (x45) and saw no defects in the cover itself. It is being checked out at the shop as well.
There are oil passages at the front and rear of the block where oil could be entering into the water passages either at the headgasket level or in the block itself. Im just trying to cover all of the possiblities....btw anyone have a clean block for sale just in case? I'm in so. cal and actually have a transfercase i have been wanting to get rid of but anyhoodily I think I just broke some sort of rule...........When the piston broke I imediately knew what happened but I had no choice but to motor on. It still ran relatively well and then in a flash I was well into the red. got her cooled down added the coolant and then finished my drive home at which I began the tear down process. Its anyones guess what is wrong...I am crossing my fingers that the head bolts, now 25 somethin years old and have seen several rebuilds have finally given up the ghost. Time will tell I guess, I'll keep ya'll posted when I get results from the machinist.

kanyonkritter

Microscopic fracture in the #2 cylinder wall as a result of the broken piston which then caused my overheat issue, I knew better but was hoping for the best.....looking for a block :-( this is my daily driver