andykrow

So,

I have a 88 22re 5spd with some noises. When I got it the PO said he had recently done the timing chain. This truck has always been noisier at idle than other 22re's I've had and I was never really able to figure out the tick. (I've adjusted the valves multiple times and it changes absolutely nothing about the idle tick)

This noise seems to coming from the front of the engine, but I could never really tell if it might be an exhaust leak since I have manifold stud busted off up there too.

Other weird things: the oil pressure light seems to take just a second too long to go off, like the engine doesn't build pressure as quickly as I want it to.

Now: the truck has recently added a noise to it's arsenal - a sort of "plastic" clicking noise that is intermittently present a idle and then returns between 1700-2000 rpm. This tick is completely unaffected by load on the engine, decelerating or accelerating. It always sounds the same no matter what the conditions of driving are, and this leads me to think its not a exhaust sound since those usually change with load.

So I called up the PO who informed me that he hadn't cleaned out the guide pieces from the tank when he did the chain. My thoughts are that this is causing low oil pressure at idle, which is causing my noise, which has allowed the timing chain to mess with the guide, which is now in the process of breaking and causing the new, weird tick. (just a theory at this point...)

Recently I had the valve cover off to look at the driver side guide. It's still there, but it was surprisingly flexible and seemed almost feeble. I'm not sure if the guide should be like this or not...

So, obviously my first plan of attack is to drop the pan and get the pieces out of there. (Is it possible to drop it enough to just reach in and get the pieces out without removing it from the truck? I have a body lift and can jack the engine up quite a bit.) I will also deal with the manifold stud issue to be sure it's not a leak sound.

Am I missing anything here? Does it sound like I need a new timing set?

andykrow

Bump! Anyone?

to recap - wondering if I can get crap out of the oil pan without getting it totally free of the truck, and wondering if anyone has experience with timing guides that haven't completely failed but are on there way out.

THANKS!!

swampfox

You will need to drop the pan. The oil pick up tube gets in the way. You can drop the front diff down on a 4x4 or remove the center piece on the 2wd front end.

andykrow

Well I've been reading that you can just jack up the engine at the bellhousing instead of dropping the diff. Since I have a body lift this shouldn't be a problem. I'm hoping though if I can just drop the pan 3-4 inches I can reach my hand in there and not have to mess with the pickup tube.

andykrow

Also, I've read a lot about how the busted guides "could" cause low oil pressure but I haven't found anyone who actually experienced this. I guess I'm the guinea pig... Anyone see this first hand??

swampfox

The oil pickup screen gets plugged up with the broken guide parts ,which restricts the oil flow . You can jack the motor up to remove the pan ,eather way works. Someone may have cleaned the pan without removing it ,but I was unable to when I tried.
And I have seen broken bits of guide in the wire mesh on the pickup screen.