Travis34

Hey everyone, new to the forums and hopefully have a rig by the end of the weekend. I've been searching for a 22re 4x4 for about 6 months and finally found one I want.

Theres on thing hanging me up from buying it, the current owner bought it from a previous owner who kept blowing headgaskets. This new owner owns a toyota truck business (reconditions), and determined the cylinder head was bad so he replaced it, along with all gaskets and a new timing chain w/ steel guides. He will warranty the entire truck (engine/tranny/clutch etc.) for one year. He has receipts for all parts replaced.

Are there any particular things I should ask him if he replaced while he was down in there? Also, will more than one blown headgasket on an engine compromise the lifespan of other components of the engine. Basically will I have other problems down the road to worry about? Truck has 180k miles.

I'm gonna go look at it this afternoon, any input appreciated. Thanks

Travis

Ezrider_92356

i would say get an 1 year unlimited millage warranty in writing drive the .... out of it for an year and if it does not blow by then it probably wont.

Travis34

Hah thats the plan...

The engine makes a rattling sound, he says he kept the valve shims loose, and that it allows for better sealing this way. He said I could bring it back in a couple thousand miles and he'll tighten them up. Is this normal?
He also replaced the head bolts with an alternative, I don't remember what he used. Is this common/advised?

One of the reasons for getting this truck is to be able to tow in the future. This thing was a dog, but he had the timing at 3 degrees for smog. If I bump it back to say 8 degrees and put a couple bolt-ons(header/exhaust) will I be able to realistically tow stuff uphill?

KVRunner

Depends on what you are wanting to tow. The 22re is a good engine but it isnt the best choice for towing duties.

Travis34

atleast a boat or car on trailer. But It'd be nice to know I could tow someones truck in emergencies. Unrealistic goals?

Travis34

ok so definitely not recommended to tow that stuff, even with some mods.

Any comment on the valve shim and head bolt alternative?

abecedarian

It's a relatively low powered engine, so can't tow much. You're not going to win any speed contests. The important thing is having a proper frame mounted tow hitch and keeping the tongue weight as low as possible- no more than about 300#. Exceeding that would require a weight distributing hitch. Towing a car on a dolly would be fine as would a small pop-up camper/trailer or a boat, but try to keep the trailer weight below 3000#, and over 1000# should have brakes.

As for the head bolts, the likely thing done was changing to studs instead of bolts which is generally a better setup.

And the valves, some people will run the valves loose. Overall though that reduces power since the valves aren't opening when they should and aren't staying open as long as they should. That by itself could cause difficulty passing emissions tests.

Overall, if you get the 1 year guarantee in writing, I'd suggest you go for it.

Travis34

Hey thanks for the input,

I'm not to worried about speed, I just wanted to know that should a situation present itself I could dolly someones vehicle or pull a boat, nothing major or on a regular basis or super fast.

He told me he normally keeps the valves loose while the gasket seeds. After several thousand he tightens them up to spec. He just smogged the car so no worries

Country Hank

First, I towed a 21' I/O boat, loaded with gear to Florida and Back to Indiana when I lived there for 5 years or more and my 86 and 91 22re's did just fine.

Second, My son's 4runner blew a head gasket and the resulting saga continued for months with finally replacing the head twice and ultimately installing a reman engine. Apparently the block had warped after repeated over-heatings. Also I found that the head bolts while not officially "stretch" bolts, did come loose after a few thousand miles. I soon learned to replace them with the head.