My uncle passed away in August. I got his 1995 Toyota Hilux 4WD. 22RE, short bed, DLX. 100,000 miles almost to the dot. He's always driven Toyota trucks...since day one. He liked this one a bit, I suppose. This was the last of the pre-Tacoma pickups. spartan, yet efficient as hell...etc.

Anyway, since I got it, I've been doing my best to put it into predicaments in which it does not belong. First to go were the stock 7.0x15 wheels. Replaced them with cheap Cragars and Geolandar M/T+ 31x10.5. This made the truck quite capable. Ripped the carpet out of it. Like the hoseable interior. Put an MSD 6-AL in it, and a cheap tach, did the plugs, wires, etc.

Last month i put a new clutch friction disc in. Left the flywheel in place. Reused the original pressure plate. new OEM release bearing. i did not change the pilot bearing. Did that job pretty much by the book. Saw the oil leaking on the bellhousing from the back of the 22RE block, so I replaced the valve cover gasket, and the 4 rubber bushings holding the valve cover on. Because its dark back there, and i am quite moronic, i failed to notice the half-moon rubber plug forming a vital 2 inch part of the valve cover seal. I saw the one in the front, made sure it went back in properly, however the rear one got knocked out and fell onto the transmission. Needless to say when i FINALLY got a chance to start the thing up, much oil was lost in the 30 seconds it ran. Luckily, i found a Toyota dealership open to supply the new ones, replaced them both, cleaned the bellhousing, prayed the oil didnt coat my new friction disc, and re-tested. everything was A-OK at that point. i hit the grease points, filled the driveline with Amsoil GL-4 in the trans, and GL-5 in T case. Shifts were then silky smooth.

I drove about 1000 miles since then, and i managed to do a little wheelin with a friend near Sugarloaf Mtn down here in MD. He got his lifted '86 4runner buried and almost sideways in some freaky mud-ditch. pullin him out from behind wasnt happening, almost lost my recovery strap. Sooo....I decided to get a line around him, through the river, and pull him from the much easier front. tracks went in and out of this river, and ive driven in a bunch of it, but the line i took into the water was a bad one. from the bank, the water dropped away very quickly to about 4 feet. had my friend with his shorts and easily removed shoes walked through it like i had asked him, i coulda seen how deep it was and found another line. Needless to say, I forged ahead...slowly. As i pushed into the river, i had about a 15-20 degree angle to the water, and the drop didnt stop. as soon as i saw the water come over the hood i knew i was screwed. halfway through, she takes a few big gulps of water, and hydro-locks. Now we're deep in it with two stuck trucks and it's getting dark out there, and colder. I end up wet to my waist. waters comin in the truck, a waterline exists almost up to the pedals. we spent $3 hours and $300 having a recovery company extract the 4runner, and then having the 4runner tow my drowned hilux out of the water, then out of the woods to a waiting rollback. vinnys towing and recovery handled this, good guys they are. vinny even let me use his home shop (with lift!) to purge my top end of about 2.4 litres of river.

Now we get to the reallllly stupid part. I pop out the plugs, push out the water by cranking it. (dont stand near the plug holes while doing this. My friend almost got decapitated by a 40 foot jet of water) all the water out, i emptied the intake tubing, sprayed some WD-40 into the plug holes, blow out the plugs with compressed air, pop them back in, and started the truck. IT STARTED! hahaha, i think, i am the victor!

I DIDN'T CHANGE THE OIL. (I checked it, but not a change. excuse? "the oil was at my moms house" do i even deserve this Hilux?)

Driving home a week and 1,000 miles later, on I-70. The truck was haulin 75mph uphill in 4th at about 3500rpm, feeling excellent, getting great MPG, torque, wheelin in the snow, just rock solid. I suddenly hear a noise much like marbles in a blender. I lose power. I lose all my oil. All lights on. Clutch, throwout bearing, gears all feel good. Motor feels like the output shaft is connected to a Calder mobile inside a glass house filled with thumbtacks. I call my man Vinny to come and rescue me.

This happened last night, and since then I've been afraid to go look...though my preliminary look with the tow truck light just showed oil everywhere. i think i heard a small piece detach and hit the road when the "marbles" sound first happened, it was extremely sudden and i knew it was likely the end of my 22RE. i ruined a perfectly sound 22RE in under 14,000 miles of ownership

MY THEORY: water in the oil, main bearings, rear seal, and pilot bearing disintegrated. could this be the case? the sudden and catastrophic loss of oil from the back of the motor leads me to believe i threw a rod or lost a bearing and seal. this motor was tight, besides leaking past the rings i cant see how much would have gotten in, or am i being retarded here? truck sat for about 2 hours in the river, didnt get the cylinders emptied for 3 hours.

I will not part with this truck. This was and is my uncle Johnny's truck, and I'm keeping it until I die. I didnt notice much or any obvious damage superficially under the hood or under the very oily undercarriage. The drivelines and u joints are intact, transmission bellhousing is still bolted on straight. perhaps the starter motor is what detached and hit the ground? if it came loose, could it have skewed and hit the flywheel teeth and shattered it? where is all this oil coming from?

Most of these questions i will likely answer myself when build the courage to go look at what my stupidity hath wrought on my 22RE and driveline.

Let me have it, people...don't hold back. I am incompetent. I can swap a clutch, but pass on the oil change when she drowns. Argh.

That dosen't change the fact that I love my hilux, and your hilux, and any Toyota equipped with a transfer case, and some that aren't. So I (we) are gonna rebuild it! i mean it has 114,499 on it right now, and incredible sentiment associated with it.

So let's begin.

mea culpa...mea maxima culpa

 

Have you considered writing for a career?

 

sure have. i'm not trying to come off as pretentious though, i just like to provide an accurate description of the event without too much circumlocution. i will pepper my text with my anecdotal and humorous opinions...but just to try to keep people from crying as they read about another newbie pouring river water into a virgin 22RE and asking why "blackened bearings with oily salsa a la ryan" isn't a pleasant dish to eat.

my sister makes badass silkscreened tshirts from home with this humongous press/vacuum device. we're beginning the "save the truck" tshirt campaign, for, while i am verbose, i am not wealthy.

i have a baby girl on the way, here in 3 months. I'd hate to put this on the back burner, but i have to. lost my job back in december and been looking since.

saw the "speedline group" offering "like new and warrantied" 22R for $895. Any feedback on them?

cheers all.

 

im on my way to go pick up my civic from "where its at"

ha.

i have to drive a tiny lil civic.

 

That was pretty stupid of you. You get your uncles pride and joy and you destroy it. Nicely done, i bet he would be proud of you.

 

Well written, even if you DID abuse your Yota. *golf clap*

 

nice weather is around the corner, maybe a rake and mower will get you started in the job market. a little sweat to go with the tears, the blood will come when you tear out the motor.

would it be safe to say, the word 'skimp' is no longer part of your vocabulary?

good luck.

lee

 

Ready the post, looks like Fusters son grew up quickly, lol.

 

I'm impressed that that engine survived 1k miles after being filled with water. Yes, it was stupid not to change the oil, but luckily 22re's are fairly cheap. Personally i'd start tearing it apart until you figure out what broke. Might be rebuildable, or it might be cheaper to just get a remaned one.

I think having to drive a civic around for a while will teach you a good lesson lol

edit: I'm wondering how you liked the msd? From what ive read on here and other sites people dont seem to think that they do much on a 22re.

 

the plan is on. i have pictures and i'll be home in a few...pictures

 

When he's the only one that's capable of making "stupid" mistakes that cost lots of money, let me know. I'm sure I won't be on the planet at that time. The posts where someone does something dumb that costs someone else (like the parents) lots of money that I shake my head at... The rest of us have to go through the learning process.

Wheeling through deep water isn't smart. I remember my days of doing things like that. Now I just do dumb things like forget to get gaskets on right the first time... I avoid the water. Oh yea, it's illegal in TX to drive your vehicle through a waterway, so that helps to limit the stupidity.

Water tends to settle in the bottom of the pan, as you probably know, so it doesn't show on a dipstick. I hate to see those posts that start like "I'm losing water, but I don't know where it's going" - usually because that water is sitting in the bottom of the pan, just waiting to get tall enough to get sucked into the motor and circulated and that's when the real expensive fun begins.

You can do the clutch, you can rebuild a 22RE. If you're going to be a fanatic like your uncle, a good teardown and rebuild is a major milestone in toyota ownership... Keep after it... Change the diff fluid and check the bearings while you're at it.

 

hmm...maybe you should submit a story to top gear. i think they need a 'how to destroy a hilux' episode...

 

Your telling me Vinny owns a shop and he didnt have any oil? Lets say he didn't, you get it back to your house, why didn't you park it and change the oil? You drove it another 1,000 miles and then it blows. To me it sounds like you are cheap!

James

 

poor 22RE

Rob

 

 

Well at least you still got the truck itself...

Replace the engine or rebuild it totally..

 

EWWW WEEEEEEEE, I can't comment on this without being a a$$hole , so this is my only responce

 

The Speedline Group is very proud to bring you
Toyota 22R/22RE Engine

This engine will fit all vehicles equiped with either the 22R or 22RE engines both trucks and cars. This engine is a Premium rebuilt engine with zero miles!! All tolerances and specifications have been brought to those recommended by Toyota.
We start with a brand new head not a rebuilt head, a brand new head, to include
- New head casting
- New exhaust valves
- New intake valves
- New Valve seals
- New cam
- New valve guides
- New valve seats
- New valve springs
Again this is brand new head, never before installed.

List of new master rebuild kit parts installed and machining completed
- New pistons
- New piston rings
- New rod bearings
- New main bearings
- New wrist pin bushings
- New thrust bearings
- New rear main seal
- New valve guides
- New valve seals
- New frost plugs

Machining processes performed.
- Engine cleaned
- Surfaces renewed by milling
- Block bored
- Block honed for piston fitment
- Connecting Rods reconditioned
- New pin bushings installed
- Crank shaft ground and polished
- All bolt holes chased with taps.

In addition all engines also come with a full gasket set (includes all gaskets needed to perform the installation) a $260 value. Other items not included but you may want to consider;
1) New oil pump $45
2) new timing set $50
3) New front timing cover $35
This engine comes with a written full one year unlimited mileage warranty.

info@speedlinegroup.com

Financing Available
650 776 1019
We offer free towing with installation in San Diego, Greater LA and San Francisco Bay areas.

This engine is sold on a exchange basis (we require you old engine) there is a security deposit of $295 that is totally refundable with the return of a rebuildable core.

 

has anyone heard of / dealt with / bought from these guys? i saw their ad on craigslist, and hell...i paid almost $800 for the tires and wheels on this truck. $895 for a fully reconditioned block, new innards and a brand new head? unheard of!

like most new-folk, i wanted a badass 22RE from LC Engineering, but $3,000 - $5,000 is a bit pricey. Oh who am I kidding...$5,000 is out of the galaxy i currently live in.

I'd love to rebuild this motor, but i have nowhere to bench it once its out. i did the transmission in my mom's garage which is miniscule, and i live in an apartment with bogus clauses in the lease prohibiting me from opening my hood within sight of the leasing agent. boo-hiss.

vinny doesn't have a shop per se... its a shop, don't get me wrong, but attached to his home. its huge, must be 30 feet wide, and tall, and has a lift, monster compressors, ample bench space, etc...but its not stocked with oil and such. sure, he likely had some, but i was cold and numb, blah blah blah.

i expected and actually asked for some flaming on this eff-up. it is my onus to repair now, and this makes me strangely [I]happy[I], as when i work with my hands, my mind can stop bothering me. for instance...if i was at home putting a new motor in the hilux, i wouldn't have been out in the woods with my toyota with my pesky brain telling me to caulk the bottom of the bed and float on down the river.

it may have cost me an engine, alas some of my knuckle blood remains on the truck from the transmission job...perhaps the bond between, uh, truck and i will become more intense as i sweat and bleed removing its shattered engine.

i joined yotatech so you all could give me pointers on this job ahead. also because i am crazy and need other crazies to talk with. stop being all elite and flabbergasted that somebody fried a 22RE. yes, its a sin, but i acknowledged it, said my hail marys. i consider my atonement complete, as it applies to my relations with you helpful yota folk.

now....how about the speedline motor? i want oneeeeeeeeeeee.

 

by the by...

i just recalled that the very first thing my uncle john did to this truck back in 1995 when it was new was to drown it in much deeper water down in the outer banks of NC. i'm sure he changed the lube....but uh...it wasn't exactly babied. it's a toyota for pete's sake...its meant to be driven!

much love