I have a 1991 22re pick-up with 290,000 miles on it. Last summer i looked and I had oil in the coolant and coolant in the oil. So i figured it was a blown head gasket or cracked head. I compression tested it today and all 4 cylinders had 170 psi. I thought with a blown head gasket i should have bad compression in atleast one cylinder. Could it be the timing chain cover?? If so do i need to check the bearing in the oil pan and what do i look for when inspecting them??? Also Im debating between buying a crate motor or craigslist motor or rebuilding, and ideas????

 

Could be timing chain cover. But good compression is NOT a reliable indicator of HG problems. A cooling system pressure check WILL tell you if you have a leak from the cooling system, be it via the HG or otherwise...

Remove the spark plugs first~