thanks guys.

the engine only has 30-40k on a rebuild, so i doubt the timing chain will need replaced. though i will inspect it to know for sure.

now i need to find a local shop that can fix that #3 spark plug hole if a tap doesn't straighten it out. i don't have high hopes.... its cross threaded really bad, even has a little blow-by.

if i'm in there, would it make sense to do any other work to the engine? such as a camshaft? a little extra torque wouldn't hurt any.

also, the engine rebuild kits i see on ebay are all listed for 85 and up. is there any difference in timing covers and other parts?

Al

 

Just remember the cheaper you go, the worse the quality is.

I wouldn't touch that cheapo ebay crap if it was free. Same goes for that cheapo timing cover replacement stuff. Find an Aisin replacement cover, not a china replacement.

 

rebuilt 30,000 miles ago??? wow - looks like they skimped on a lot of parts

Cougar makes a good point - you get what you pay for. I've had my timing cover adventure with the FEK from ENGBLDR, but I decided to pay that amount. Who knows if my stripping the threads was due to my negligence or quality?....

Depends what you want to do with the truck, how long you want to keep it, how mechanically inclined you are.

Hell, you can get a long block for less than $2,000 shipped from many places, if you want to replace everything. I'd clean up, start with the water pump and oil pump, since you're that deep into it already and it looks terrible. Check out the timing cover for grooves where the timing chain "slapped" against it for years and see if it's eating away (if it eats too far, the walls between oil and coolant will be breached and that's BAD. You'll need to remove the valve cover to look down the timing cover and see this.

If you do the cover, there are some great DIYs out there:http://www.4crawler.com/4x4/CheapTri...ingChain.shtml

 

good point on the ebay stuff. the engnbldr guy is local to me, so i'll shoot him an email and see what they have, and maybe they can do the head stuff too, or at least send me in the right direction.

Al

 

Everything that I've ever gotten from Ted at ENGNBLDR has been very high quality...meeting and sometimes exceeding OEM. Not everything "non Aisin" is crap.

 

Nope, just 99.9% of it.

Gaskets that don't *quite* fit right, tensioners made of a softer material, chains that are a few MM longer.

Its ok though, cause its "cheaper"

 

engnbldr wants 88 for the timing cover... but i found a local YT'r that has a nice used cover and oil pan for less! figured i'd swap oil pans now, the original has a huge notch taken out of the threads and i'm tired of the drips.

hopefully pick it up tomorrow....

Al

 

If you do the oiil pan use "FIPG" gasket maker from the Toyota dealer - trust me. I used RTV and never got the right seal. FIPG is much better. It's not cheap, but worth it. make sure they give you the "roller tool" so you can cleanly roll the tube as you go and get every bit out smoothly.

Check your oil pickup tube for clogs too when you do this - that can starve your engine of oil.

 

it begins.....




not sure if i can salvage the head just yet... if it needs the spark plug hole drilled and sleeved (heli-coil?) i might just get a new head from engnbldr. i'm looking at their street/rv head with crawler cam for some extra torque, though they don't advertise how much it actually gets. $536 ready to bolt on sounds like a great deal to me.... though i feel bad junking a freshly rebuilt head.... but then i'm thinking i'll need a header to get the maximum power out of the performance head. but i must stay emissions legal, so i'm still looking around there.... look at this can of worms!

picked up a used oil pan and timing cover in decent shape off another yotatech member. thanks dave!


Al

 

It could be "freshly rebuilt" but it could be done wrong, so I'd say just get a new head/cam and do it right.

keep us posted!

 

that's exactly what i've been thinking. i'd hate to put it together only to have something else go bad in the head 10k down the road.

it would be easier to drop some coin if i didn't have to stock up on some hay this month for the horse.

Al

 

Hay at least you can hook up the horse to move the truck...lame I know.

that Head sounds kind of tempting, but spendy...i wonder how much it really helps.

I wish we didn't have to worry about Emissions around PDX...makes me tempted to register the truck at my inlaws in Vernonia...but with my luck.

 

the teardown!

timing cover pulled (it wasn't broken after all):




intake and exhaust manifolds detached:




head bolts and rocker assembly removed:




head removed, the block:




i would hazard a guess that the block was never touched on the rebuild. the head gasket was completely messed up. i can't get the picture to upload for some reason, but the front of the gasket was completely smashed behind the timing cover, and that's why the "mechanic" gooped the snot out of the timing cover to hide his mistake.

the coolant passages look ok, but they were almost closed up on the headgasket itself. i'm not that surprised, given the cooling issues i once had from the truck sitting so long.


i'm heading to the parts house to pick up all the gasket sets, as well as some new heater hoses and the coolant bypass hose. the bypass hose was so soft i almost put my finger through it!

one odd thing i noticed.... all the head bolts came out covered in oil, except for two. the pair second to the firewall side were just covered in dry oily gunk.


Al

 

wow seems like this "rebuild" you spealk of was a rush job, good thing your doin it the right way and good luck!

 

the last picture finally decided to upload....

if you look closely (sorry crappy phone pic) you can see how bad the head gasket was hanging INSIDE the timing cover.



Al

 

There-in lies the problem with not pulling the head when installing a timing set.

Most people aren't careful enough and don't check when reinstalling the timing cover. I have had it happen both ways, where the head gasket has stayed in place, and where it has folded in. Obviously the PO knew he folded it in, then just gooped the hell out of it.

Thankfully you are doing it right Al!

 

wow Al: good thing you are getting it done right this time around. Did you do a compression check before you tore it down? Just curious.

Is the Heep getting jeolous

Good practice for helping me do mine this winter

 

hey robb, no i didn't do a compression check, but the motor runs with pretty good pep otherwise.

the jeep is a little lonely, i kicked it out of the shop and stashed out at my in-laws for the time being. hope to have it at my buddies shop in the next few weeks to finish up the electrical on it.

if i don't screw this one up, i'll be glad to help with yours.

Al

 

I like where this is going Al!

92Toy has a really good write up on this job with tons of photos - highly recommend you look at it if you haven't already

 

thanks, do you have a link to the writeup? i can't get the search to work for me, like usual.

Al