Ok, I'll try adjusting the valves maybe tonight or tomorrow. For now I've still got my car (hopefull not much longer though, I need that money!), so I'm not going to be driving the truck. The hole did have a bolt in it when I took the engine apart, but it was not the stud that originally went there. Hopefully though that means it may not have warped. When I pulled that bolt out, after it wouldn't torque down, the helicoil that was already apparently in there came out. Nice, huh?

I talked to the dealership and the parts guy mentioned either tapping it, or getting the right stud for the hole, putting a bunch of JB Weld on it and getting it in. Then getting the nut to hopefully torque down. I think that's what I'm going to try first.

The valves I tried adjusting were on my '86. This truck had the head rebuilt by the machine shop, so the screws aught to be in good shape. They were another part Ted mentioned getting only from Toyota. I shoudn't have to replace those now, though. Thanks a lot! I'll get to my valves tonight or tomorrow, and get a stud & nut for the exhaust, plus some JB Weld and see if I can't get things better.

 

No go from what I hear on JB Weld. Exhaust is too hot and it'll turn JB to ash. So a co-worker brought me in his tap set. Guess I'll give that a shot tonight.

So, I should see how far the right bolt goes in, tape that spot on the tap, and carefully drill it out? Anything else I need to be careful of? Need to keep it straight, etc...?

BVSV is $80! Little piece of crap. I'm going to have to try to find a used one.

 

No don't try to just run a tap up the bad hole. You won't be able to torque it even if all goes well - which it probably won't. Have you used Heli-Coils before? They are way simple, and way easy. Give them a try. You need to know your diameter and thread pitch for the good new stud. They come with the drill bit too, if you buy the kit.

Just be cautious about drilling out the old hole, depth especially. Easy to do it right. You can even use the exhaust manifold as a guide if the drill diameter clears it. Measure the depth of the existing hole, then put tape on the drill about 4mm shy of that and drill no further than the tape. Check with Ted to be sure about any hazards with the particular hole you are drilling, he will know them well.

Like the place I used to work used to say:
Do it once, do it right, make it last.

Speaking of which, you are assuming the machine shop redid the tappets. They usually do not. Pull one and check.

 

Alright, thanks. I saw the helicoil kits in the store. If I need to go with that I will. I actually had the tapping set ready...figured I'd just run a bolt into the hole & back out to clear out some of the crap in there. Figured I'd try one just slightly longer than what I was trying before....got it torqued to 33ft/lbs...Good? Bad? I agree, do it right. The more I thought about all the "quick" fixes out there...it's not as though I'm just trying to hobble this truck along. I want it right. If I'm ever going to be going back into the exhaust manifold, I don't want to have to deal with this again. Luckily in my slightly more advanced age it's a lot easier to just slow down and do things right, and stop when they aren't going right, rather than just busting through regarldless of what I mess up.

I remember talking with the machine shop about the screws and rocker pads. They did say they'd only replace them if necessary, but I was under the impression that they would check them, so we'll see. I've got no other prior engagements tonight, so I'll definitely be giving the valves a shot.

If my exhaust is good and I can get the valves...I can actually drive the thing! Sell the car, get some money back. I suppose I should plug the vacuum hose which are attached to the broken BVSV? Better than them sucking air? Just as a fix until I find a good used one.

 

You won't know you should have gone with the heli-coil until the bolt pulls out. Obviously I can't feel the threads from here, but based on your description they were stripped? If so, you need the heli-coil.

It's just me, but I am compulsive enough to want to pull at least one tappet and see for myself. And I didn't even grow up in Missouri. But YMMV, and if the valves adjust fine you are fine. But it is soooo easy to pull one to check...

 

Yeah. I believe I'll see if this seals it. If not, or if down the road it pulls out, I'll fix it. So forget what I said about getting it right. Part of the issue is that the stud that should have gone there is, well, gone. The bolt I was trying to thread in had, after closer inspection, a more fine thread than the exhaust studs, and I don't even know that it was as long as it should have been. I did get quite a few good threads there at the end, so I feel like it should be good. I'll let you know later if you can say "I told you so". Hopefully, though, I am doing it right and there were enough good threads in there to hold.

I'll check a tappet. They should be rounded? Not have a flat spot?

Ah, now I get it. The "show me state", eh? : )

The vacuum piece that's broken....better plugged until I fix it, right? Rather than the hoses just being open?

 

Well, so far it's holding. We'll see what happens in the long run. I retorqued all the exhaust bolts last night.

I also adjusted the valves and retorqued the head bolts. I'm still hearing a little clicking, but this is just a pretty quiet clicking, not the helicopter noise I was hearing. I maybe just didn't get one of the valves as good or something. I checked a tappet and it looked fine. I can't tell if it was new, but it wasn't worn, so that's good. I should just buy a timing light, but I think I'll let a local shop set the timing, and have them just give things a quick look to see if everything looks ok, then I'm good.

Will things get smoother on their own as the engine settles in, or what? What should I expect over the next couple hundred miles? I'll be driving it as much as I can around town to get to 100 miles, then change the oil & re-do the oil pan. No good having a leak on an engine this new, even a small one.

 

Mine is smoothing out a bit. Running stronger too, as things bed in. I have the typical rough idle/changing idle of old 22REs, and not sure what is up with that. I have mine pretty far advanced though, because of the thin air up here, and the machine shop did not take off as much off the block deck as I had hoped. (Ted tells me they also mill the head for this altitude.... NOW he tells me...LOL ) So the advance makes the idle a bit rough too.

Full throttle is good for seating rings, but sustained high speed running or lugging or hot running is NOT, and neither is dirty/low oil, so keep an eye on it.

 

Good! Yeah, I love finding out about stuff that should have been done just a little too late.

After a shop ajusted my timing...wow what a difference! Aparently it was pretty far advanced, and I had the distributer off one tooth. Now it's quiet and has a LOT of power (for what it is, anyway). The guy set the idle at 900, which I'm not completely sure I like. It's just a little too close to sounding like it's struggling, but whatever. I did my first oil change over the weekend and re-did the oil pan. So far no leaks Also got my SR5 gauge swap done. Everything works now....except the odometer stopped working now...was working before. Unfortunately I care about that stuff, so I'll probably get to that next weekend, since I'm sick of taking that cluster in & out. Anyway, it's nice to have a tach and trip meter. Also swapped a different window regulator in, now my drivers side window rolls all the way up! Just in time for cool weather. Got a good rear window clasp, sun visors and clips and a nicer shifter-handle thingy that actually still has the gear #'s on it and all that installed too. It's just about the truck I want it to be.

Ok. High rpm's good, lugging & sustained high speeds not so much. Probably the same for my transmission, too.

Well, thanks for leading me through this. If it wasn't for the internet and you, I likely would have sold the truck for a big loss pretty shortly after buying it. Now I've got a rebuilt old beater and absolutely no money!

 

High THROTTLE good, not so much high RPMs. Floor it from time to time but don't overrev it.

I hear ya on the no money thing. On the other hand you have a paid off vehicle that runs great and will run that way for a long time!

 

Oh, high throttle. You know, so many people have different ideas on this. My machine shop said "drive it the way you'll drive it" and something about "old wives tales", and just not to redline it. My barber (who used to be a mechanic) mentioned to pretty much drive how I'll drive it, but he heard, and it made sense to him, to not go past half throttle the first 500-1000 miles.

So you're saying that not high rpms, but actually getting the gas pedal depressed down a ways is good for it?
Not that I don't trust you, but you're the only one I've got the time to pry for more info, so what's the reasoning behind it? I guess so long as I know what NOT to do, I'll be ok, whether or not I get straightened out what I SHOULD do..

Yes, exactly, vehicle I don't need to make payments on, plus full coverage insurance, and it's practically new.

 

Your machine shop pretty much has it. Google 'Motoman Breakin'. High combustion pressures help seat the rings per him. Interesting reading.

Oh, make sure the motor is fully warmed up before romping on it. All the parts need to reach operational expansion.

 

I'll check it out. Thanks!

 

Hey, so I was reading back on the valve adjustment stuff you said. Now here's where I get frustrated on this stuff. If my angle with the gauge is just a little off, the valve is grabby and sort of stop & go, but if I get a different angle at it, it's super smooth, sometimes so smooth I think I should tighten it a bit. So....if, but changing my angle a bit, I can get it to slide with practically no resistance, does that means it should be tightened a bit? Because it'll slide without resistance, then suddenly grab, probably because I can't keep my hand perfectly straight.

So is that a big part of it? Making sure I'm getting the right angle? If I find an angle where there's no resistance, it means it needs to be tightened a bit?

How's your truck? My idle is much better and smoother, and overall the truck is runny pretty darn good. I got my old um...well mileage from my old instrument cluster into my new cluster. I just took the whole "number roll" or whatever you'd call it, so now my mileage is accurate. I'm really getting sick of smelling gear oil, I'm going to have to do something about that. I have a front differential leak, but I don't think that's what would cause the smell in the cab, but I just don't know. If I go in the garage a bit after I've parked the truck, I can really smell GL-5 and gas. Obviously seperate issues, but any ideas? The truck just kind of overall smells like gear oil.

As far as the gear oil, my tranny and t-case aren't overfilled, and I've got the rubber boots on the bases of the shifters.

Gas smell....who knows?

 

Yep, the angle is critical. If you struggle with your feeler gauges, get some that flex easily so you can draw it out 90* to the tappet. You found the secret.

Gear oil... hmmm, it *does* breathe through your shifter. Is it possible it is overfilled? Could the tranny be losing oil to the transfer case, which then starts to puke it out the shifter?

My truck is running pretty darn good. I have piston slap at 3K until it warms, pretty normal. Once things warm up it's nice and tight. Still have that EFI idle goofiness though.

 

Ok, good, so maybe they're pretty good then. I'm bringing it to my favorite mechanic over in Missoula tomorrow, the first real trip, and why I've been working overtime to get the engine broken in so I feel ok about taking it up over the pass and drive the 2 hours of highway speeds over there. Needs a couple things which would require me to buy more tools and have the truck down for probably a week or more while I ask a bunch of questions here, so I'm just going to have him do it this time. Anyway I wanted to make sure the valves weren't too off if I'm going to drive it that far.

I checked the tranny & t-case levels a week ago and let out any extra out the fill holes, so they shouldn't be overfilled. It seems to me as though the top of the transmission and t-case are dry..would just a very small amount cause a big stink? Why would the tranny be losing oil to the t-case?

 

Anything exciting going on with the truck?

Mine's driving pretty good, although I need to figure out why I'm getting 16mpg highway. Not so good. Maybe a carb rebuild is next! Oh boy. Otherwise, it's really driving pretty nice. Decent power and it's pretty smooth on the highway. The no power steering thing is rough around town, though.

Gear oil smell went away. I changed the oil, put in GL-4 (transmission), took it on a 200 mile round trip and I haven't smelled it since...who knows.

 

do you have a write up or pictures of the cluster you put in? I was wanting to get a tach in mine , only thing that works at the moment is oil and fuel .

 

I don't, but it would be pretty easy to do. Let me know what you need to know and I'll write it up. I guess it would have been a good idea to do a thread and take photos, but I kind of had no clue what I was doing so I wasn't thinking that documenting the job would be a good idea.

I've got the schematic for the swap. If you've got the rectangle-type plug-ins instead of the round kind, then your's should be the same as mine. It's just a matter of pulling individual wires out of the plug-ins and putting them into different spots. It was actually super easy once I had moved a couple around and got the hang of it. Then you've just got to run a new wire for the tach, also very simple. Now having said that I probably took my cluster out 10times over one weekend and was pretty sick of it by Monday, but that's a pretty easy job in our trucks.

So you have the base model cluster? Do you have an SR5 cluster to put in? Are you saying your cluster is messed up and all that works is the oil & fuel gauges? If you have an oil gauge then you've already got the SR5 cluster, right? Anyway, let me know exactly what you want and I'll let you know what I did.

 

its got the oil and temp on the right, speed, and gas, and the big green toyota simble. I dont have a cluster as of yet cause I didnt know what to buy Ive seen a couple im gonna have too look on here to see if anyone has one for sale. just curious how are you gettin a temp reading in your truck ? Do you have a wire going to the thermostat? if so witch one sorry for all the questions no one around here that I know has a first gen or for that matter a 83. thanks for the answers in advance.