Lasiurus

Hi,

Errr... sorry, meant to post this to the 86-95 forum. Maybe a Mod can move it...?

Had my 1990 4Runner (22re, 203,000 mi) to the dealership for the steering rod relay replace. Previous mechanic said he couldn't get the timing in correctly, so I asked them to look at that. They said they couldn't get it in either because the timing chain guides were broken, and proceeded to explain all the dangers of not replacing the guides.

Now, it seems like I'd be able to hear the chain slapping on the cover if the guides were broken. I've had it for about a year (not sure if the PO ever replaced the chain), and I've never heard anything that would make me worry. I have since stuck my head under the hood while it's running, and again, no noise.

So, should I be able to hear it? Assuming it just happened, how long until I can hear it, and how long can I drive it before I grind through the chain cover? I'm not sure I'm ready to put that kind of $$ into it.

Thanks!

desertcox05

yes you need to replace it asap. no you possibly won't hear it if the guides are only partially broken, as the tensioner is still keeping tension on the chain. this info is for the 22re, idk about the v6. i had the new chain kit and water pump in the truck on friday on my way to work, well i never made it. had to get towed home. found the broken guides, tensioner, tensioner spring, and a bunch on chain rollers in the pan. no damage to the motor, head or chain cover. got lucky

jms3251

ive got a 93 pickup with a 22re, it had 213,000 miles when we checked ours out and the guides were broken then but it ran another 20 thousand miles before we ever heard anything, my best advice would be to go ahead and change them

91Toyota

Change them. You would be ignorant not to.

Lasiurus

Thanks for the advice. I never bothered to ask the dealership for a quote on this because I knew it wouldn't be cheap, but how much should I expect to pay?

jms3251

well we did it ourselves and its not thay hard and the chain itself with all gaskets and sprockets and tensioner is maybe 80 bucks tops but i would not have any clue about how much it would be at a dealer

83

Not positive but if you do it at the dealership I'd expect around $1000. About $300 in parts, the rest is paying someone (hopefully competent, which unfortunetaly is not a given even at the dealership) for their time.

If you replace the chain please don't go with an $80 pos (no offense). The timing set from engnbldr.com is somewhere around the $200 mark I think, maybe a bit more. There is a big difference in chains and if you spend $100 less but do all the work or pay a whole bunch more than that for labor and it stretches or breaks in 10,000 miles...was it worth it? There is a way to tell a better quality chain from a cheap one. I can try to explain but ted at engnbldr can explain better, he helped me identify if the chain that came with the rebuild kit my machine shop ordered for me was a good one or not. It's all in how the links attach to each other. If it's a hollow pin, it's crap. If it's solid with little 45 degree slants on either side, it's a better one. Plus you'd want to get the metal backed guides.

abecedarian

http://engnbldr.com/toyota_ala_carte.htm
timing set is 88 with either a new timing cover or new oil pump.

83

Well shizzle I was way off, nevermind. Maybe I was thinking of what I got quoted with oil and water pump...can't remember.

Lasiurus

OK, so parts are cheap, labor is expensive. Trouble is, I'm not sure I'm going to have this rig much longer, and I doubt I'll get the cost of the repair back out of it.

What do you guys think? Would you pay for a truck more knowing the work had been done?

pcmentor

On my 85 22re. I wouldn't touch it if it's not making noise. All mechanics can be wrong once in a while. The timing is different thing than the timing chain. I had a bad TPS Throttle position swith and replace it with a good used one and then I could set the ignition timing which is what you need. With the bad TPS the timing showed to be like 40 BTDC. You can run some ohm/volt tests on your TPS, from the Factory manual, you can find a free copy floating around the net. I think the worst that can happen to a TPS is finding dead spots as you turn it slowly with an analog meter.

ozziesironmanoffroad

pull the valve cover and see if theres any slack. other than that, then yes replace them.

thewjsand

Try around $700 for parts at the dealer and close to 1500 in labor.

Get an engnbder kit you can get everything for less than $200.

Search on this site there is some good tips and threads on doing it your self.

83

You will not recoup your costs if you repair it then sell it, unless you do the work yourself.
Yes I would pay more for a truck knowing that some work had been done, but just to throw fake numbers out there say a 90 four runner goes for $3000. If you put up to $2000 into it by getting the timing done at the dealership, think it's now worth $5000? No way. It's worth $3000. However with the timing guides gone but no hitting of the timing cover...the right person may still pay $2500 or so...

pcmentor

Hey if you're planning to resell it and there's no chain noise don't mention it.Caveat Emptor (sp)

Lasiurus

Good point.

Oh yeah, I remember coming across this when the first mechanic couldn't get the timing in, but forgot about it. For the cost of the TPS, it may be worth trying first.

pcmentor

I think the tps's are under $50 used. I had one be bad also.