95yoda

Hi guys,

finally getting around to doing valve and oil pan gaskets along with front main seal and oil pump seal. That should eliminate any leaks I have. Also doing belts and hoses.

The oil pan was a bear to remove! I feel I could have driven over a mile of speed bumps with not a single bolt in that pan, but onto my findings.

the thin metal piece is obviously metal and is magnetic. It broke in half with just a bit of bending on it. It looks like it tore away from something judging by the little burrs on it.

the little brown pieces are not magnetic but are very hard.

the truck runs fine and I just got done driving it on the freeway with no issues a few days ago.

these pieces were all at the very bottom near drain plug hole.

any help is appreciated.

95yoda

Thank you

old87yota

Have you checked your timing chain guides and tensioner lately?

Those plastic parts looks like they broke off either the timing chain guides or the tensioner. I think that is the only plastic inside of the engine.

The metal piece could be from where the timing chain rubs against the head if the guide breaks. Honestly, it is hard to determine what the metal piece is from without inspecting the entire engine.

These parts could also be left over from a previous timing chain replacement and were never removed at the time of replacement.

95yoda

The metal piece is magnetic though. So it couldn't be from anything aluminum.

I have never checked timing chain or tensioner etc. I do have the valve cover and oil pan dropped though so is there something I can do to check?

doesnt this year 22R have metal guides?

wouldn't I hear some crazy timing chain noise upon start up? I wonder if they could be in there from long ago??

the valve cover I feel was off not a whole long time ago as the half moons and gasket basically fell right out.

the oil pan however was a serious xxxxbeepxxxx to get off and so was the gasket. It took hours to clean off. Could it be original? I think it could. It was cork and you can see in the pic I'm pointing to the back edge it's an odd shape corner my new beck arnley gasket is also cork but doesnt have that big chunky corner piece

95yoda

I just looked very closely and the chain is stamped "JAPAN" so it's either original or aftermarket from Japan. It also appears looking down from the top the guides are black plastic?? Not metal??

old87yota

I missed this.

I have no idea where the metal piece came from.

I think the guides were metal backed, but had plastic surfaces for the timing chain to ride against. The timing chain tensioner also has a plastic face where it contacts the chain.

I hope this debris is from a previous timing chain replacement. Unless you always had your music cranked up, I would think you would hear the timing chain slapping around, but stranger things have happened...

95yoda

close ups. The plastic pieces are brown in color. Like very old plastic. It was a disc of some sort as its rounded and 2mm thick. It has very good crush resistance as I put it in a pliers and squeezed very hard and it didn't break but it snapped in half easily when bent to the side.

the metal piece is rough and dark on one side and smooth and shiny on the other.

95yoda

a view from the top. You probably cant see from the pic but the chain link is stamped Japan

gsp4life

Could have been accidentally dropped in from engine maintenance or a repair long ago. When I rebuilt my engine, I found a black rubber gasket in the oil pan, the exact type and size that seals a kitchen sink aerator. Since none one of those go anywhere in a 22re, my guess was it fell out of a mechanic's chest pocket. Come to think of it, it was more likely from my own shirt pocket during a valve adjustment. I finally solved that mystery!

95yoda

I'm wondering if that is the case too. The brown color is the same as the brown color of all the internals. That brown oil dyed color. The metal piece worries me more. Could it be a bearing? It was flat though not rounded? Unless it flattens out inside?

gsp4life

I just can't see how a bearing would break like that and then somehow flatten out, but I guess it could happen. I'd say it almost has to be a peice of chain guide splintered off, but you said you believe this engine was never opened and I'm pretty sure the 20r was the last engine that got steel-backed guides from the factory.

Anyone else got a better guess?

95yoda

No I thought the 22r had metal backed guides too? I tried putting a flashlight down from the top and it appears to be black plastic up against the chain on both driver and passenger side.

I saw pics of brown up guides in the pan while searching online and they all were very black and tons of pieces l over. All I had was like 5 of those brown plastic pieces mainly very small and that one flat piece of metal about 2" long

and I'm not sure if this engine was opened up. I know I'm the third owner so anything could have happened in the 35 years I didn't own it.

gsp4life

I just found conflicting info online (surprise!) that when Toyota switched to single-row chain in '83, that's possibly when they switched to plastic guides as well. Is your truck's build date pre-'83?

95yoda

Yeah, July of 82. It's an 82.

95yoda

Just used a small telescoping magnet to touch the guides. They are certainly metal. They kind of looked like black plastic but now I see they are gun metal dark grey and magnetic(metal)

old87yota

Hummmmm...

I have no new ideas. The plastic could be from old guides (metal backed, but plastic surface) and / or an old tensioner.

I cannot think of any place on the engine where a magnetic piece of metal like that could come from.

We may never know.

Anyone else have new ideas?

Thanks for playing "stump the chumps"!

95yoda

Thanks guys for trying. Hoping to hear other ideas as to what they are.

akwheeler

If the oil pan has never been off the metal could be from the casting process where they got some extra along a seam in the cast and then milled the oil pan gasket surface (or similar). Then when the pan was tightened down the thin "flashing" broke off and laid in the pan.
I have no idea about the plastic and it is still all guessing anyway.
If you have good oil pressure and no knocks it should be safe to say all is well.

95yoda

yeah judging by the stock oil pressure gauge it has great pressure.

I don't know if it's been off. Maybe it has though because it had a cork gasket unless toyota used cork from the factory?

it was certainly very! Old and very! Stuck on the truck though. The cork was super brittle and snapped off in chunks.

gsp4life

The early 22r's like yours had flat oil pan contact surfaces, where later ones like my '85 had a grooved channel in the oil pan to hold a bead of fipg. I'd bet the original was cork because every universal 22r/re gasket kit I've ever seen includes a cork gasket, never any other material. Weird to think that your engine may have never been opened up till now. How many miles on it? Can't get away with that on a single row timing chain.