im new to this forum but ive been hands deep in toyotas since august and have researched since then about everything toyota. i am currently having issues with my 22r bottom end. i am building it myself but i have had the crank measured at a shop and they said it was standard. anyways when i put the crank in position and tighten all of the bolts down then i cant spin the crank....... im thinking this has to be a bearing issue. after build it should manually spin with a simple turn of the wrench on the harmonic balancer bolt rite? pics but the dont justify the issue





also any help on anything would be great. i put it together 3x now and im getting pretty frustrated.

 

only thing i can think of is take ur crank and ur bearings to make sure their the same size, or have them bore it to ur bearings...also are you talking about the connecting rod bearings? or the main bearings? might help out, maybe some 1 els will chime in, plenty of people have rebuilt their own motors here

 

You should be able to spin that by hand. What I usually do is spin it over after each part I torque on. ex. tighten the main caps and spin. tighten one rod and spin. etc... That way you know where the problem is. I'd start by double checking the torque on everything. Probably just a rod that's not torqued evenly.

 

the main bearings are my main concern. i did go thru the second time and try to spin everything after i torqued it down thats when i found the crank to be the issue. right now i have the motor torn all the way apart and just the crank is installed and it wont spin. so it has to be the problem right. all 10 bolts are torqued to spec... so i guess i need to measure it myself. if i was to get it bored what would that do... take off the crank or off the block and bearing caps???

 

Do the bearings need oil in them to spin by hand...?

 

You posted the title as a 21R, then posted 22R in your thread. Are you mixing 21R (1.9L) and 22R (2.4L) parts?

 

You could plastigage the main bearings to get a better idea of what's going on.

Are your main caps on in the correct locations (1 at the front to 5 in the back) and direction (arrows pointing toward the front)? Probably, but thought I'd ask anyway.

Did the shop also check your block?

Yes. Don't turn a crank on dry bearings. Use assembly lube or at least motor oil.

 

no not mixing that. 22r bottom end and 20r top end. or 20/22r hybrid. they had this setup in japan for a couple of years and called it a 21r.. atleast thats what i read.

i used oil between them and still nothing. i just thats what im going to have to do. its clearly stamped standard on the bearings.

 

No. the 21R was an engine they used in japan..
never made it to the states i don't think.
the 20r/22r hybrid isnt the same thing

 

I read somewhere not to oil/grease behind the bearings only the front as this will throw off bearing clearances/measurements, also I heard that too much moly lube will make an engine hard to turn but I believe is more for v8's and such.

 

the shop didnt check the block. it was a running engine when pulled and its the same crank that was in it. yep i used oil and yea they are in the correct direction.. well i got to go to work

 

thanks for clarifying... i think there was a 21r state side but it wasnt the same. 2.0 i think. thanks

 

One thing I was concerned about when doing mine is Toyota used different size "standard" bearings. 1,2,3 and 4 or something like that. I don't know how much they vary in size. I thought my crank might need to be turned .010" just to make all the journals the same size, but that wasn't necessary. For what it's worth, all my original main bearings were stamped "4" on the back side.

I've read of others encountering problems using a new standard set of bearings without doing anything to the crank. I'm not sure, but I suspect the factory practice of using different "standard" sizes is at least partly responsible.

 

Will it spin with the caps not torqued down? You need to plasti-gage this....

 

yea i have read were it is stamped and i even called toyota and he sais if i gave him the number on the block he would send me the main bearing kit for like 40 bucks a bearing. so i was just going to look for other options before doing that.

and yes when i loosen up the main bearing caps after they have been torqued down i can barely spin the motor over.. when i get off work im going to go home and check the thrush washers and see if they are getting in the way. i read were some ones had fallen off track when he put the crank in and the motor was tight to turn.. i guess its worth a look see

 

$40 a bearing? Your telling me they want $200 for a set main bearings?

 

It's interesting they can tell from the block number which bearings you need. Maybe you can get them to tell you what goes where, then buy them somewhere else.

Suggested retail for each bearing is $23.53. They are $16.97 at 1sttoyotaparts, so about $95 for 5 including shipping. The part numbers seem to be (double check before ordering):

11701-35030-03 (mark "3")
11701-35030-04 (mark "4")
11701-35030-05 (mark "5")

It may be cheaper to have the crank turned .010" and use reasonably priced bearings. A set of King main bearings is $25 at partsdinosaur. Engnbldr is probably in the same ballpark.

Get a package of green plastigage. Most parts stores should have it. A couple bucks and a little time will show which bearings are out of whack.

 

I am going to assume this block is an 81-84? ENGNBLDR's full bearing set, (mains, rods, thrusts) Are $60 plus maybe less than $10 in shipping. $54 for full set for 85-95. They use King Bearings I believe.

TOYOTAPERFORMANCE.COM main bearing set is $60, $25 thrusts, $30 rods. $115 full set of Clevite 77's. Which I doubt OEM bearings are better than them.


I think a going rate for a crank turn would be around $100-$150. At least around here.

 

You need to plastiguage.

Assembly lube is a must too.