I'm still working on my 1985 Pickup with the 22r, and I recently pulled the valve cover to replace the gasket. While it's off, I decided to take a look at the timing chain and it seems like it has started to wear through the driver's side guide. Does this mean that I will need to replace both the chain and the guides, or is there something else that could be wrong? The PO said that he had replaced the timing chain with one he had laying around, so maybe that is my issue, but the truck probably only has about 40,000 miles since he got it in about 1996. Any help would be appreciated, Thanks!

https://www.flickr.com/photos/109250...3/11296921413/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/109250...n/photostream/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/109250...n/photostream/

 

That doesnt look too horrible. If youre going to do anything you might as well change it all, timing chain, guides, tensioner, oil pump, water pump, and timing cover. engnbldr has a kit for like 160 and you get all of that. Like i said before though that wear doesnt look horrible. they can go for quite a long time after the top of that guide breaks off. Youll know when that happens because youll hear the chain slapping the cover when you start it up.

 

Okay, thanks. What would be the reason for changing the timing cover? Is it just like a preventative maintenance thing? Otherwise that doesn't sound too bad. I was thinking of doing the water pump anyways, so I might as well tear into it. And with the chain slapping the cover, that would be a sound that you would be like, oh the chain is slapping the cover, right?

 

The only real reason for needing to change the timing cover is if your chain starts slapping it because it can wear a hole into a coolant passage and coolant mixed with oil is a no no. The sound the chain makes is really similar to a rod knocking but its only for the first few seconds on startup. Youll hear the slap a few times then everything smoothes out. Its pretty noticeable. Find a thread about doing the timing set if youve never done one on a 22r before. its good to get the little tips and tricks beforehand.

 

Yeah, I remember reading about the coolant issue. I sure hope I can get some good use out of this engine cause the problems keep adding up. Thanks for your help!

Oh, and another thing, is it worth it to do the head gasket while I have the whole front end off?

 

Well like i said from what i saw in those pictures you dont have a problem yet. It depends on how many miles there are on the truck. If i was doing it i would pull the head and have it inspected at a machine shop, do the timing kit, water pump, oil pump, new headgasket obviously since the head was pulled, new head bolts (not supposed to reuse them), and then top it off with new spark plugs wires and distributor cap and rotor. obviously that starts to get expensive so naturally it comes down to how much you would like to spend. If your truck has never overheated you probably dont need to have the head checked. if its low mileage you might not even need to pull the head. a word of caution though, there is a chance of damaging the front of the headgasket if you dont replace it when you do the timing kit.

 

Yeah I see how the cost would start to add up. It only has 148,000 miles, and I'm not sure if it has ever been over-heated or not. Since you said it's not too bad, I think I'll just go ahead and replace the valve cover gasket and get the motor running good (I have a few things to take care of: Alternator, carburetor, radiator, exhaust, I'm working on this stuff in another thread https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f115...96/index2.html) and then keep reading up on how to do the timing chain and guides to tackle a little bit later. Thanks a lot!

 

So I was researching which timing chain kit is best, and after looking at engnbldr and 22re.com, I'm kind of looking at getting just the timing chain kit and water pump from 22re.com. What do you guys think?

 

that chain set has alot of life in it before itll need replacing. id leave it alone for now unless your just dead set on wanting a new one. its more important to look at the wear on the tensioner than on the guides. at every chain replacement you should remove the oil pan and clean the oil pick up screen and wash out the pan. guess where all those little shavings that wore off the guides are. they can clog the screen and reduce oil flow. youll see what i mean. just a few things to consider.

 

Okay, well I also emailed Ted at engnbldr, and he said it's just kind of risking it since if it does break, then it will cause a lot of damage. I probably should have mentioned this earlier, but I do need to replace the radiator, and there seems to be some coolant pooling on top of the water pump, so if I'm already tearing into it that far, I thought I may as well just get in there and do the timing chain. I don't know yet, though, as I'm going to get the carb rebuilt soon so that I can at least get it running again. Oh, and thanks for the oil pan tip, I read about that and it's a really good point.