Attention 4cyl timing chain owners
 

Alright I just sucessfully (as far as i know) have changed the timing chain on my toyota pickup with my dad. We started on it sunday at about 8:30am worked till 9pm. Then got frustrated started on it again at about noon this morning and finished about 4pm. Anyone who has a 22r or 22re engine I would recommend doing this if your over 100,000 miles. Mine looked like this when i pulled it out:
http://pics.montypics.com/Krash/2002...chainguide.jpg

Doing this with these instructions and buying a new water pump and oil pump probably saved me about 600$. IMO this is somthing that everyone with a 22r or 22re engine should look at doing whether paying the stealer or not just by the look of the chain guide.

Also I am offically boycotting pep boys. The people working at their service counters are idiots (or at least the ones I talked to). After returning the first timing chain and guides they gave me which didn't fit. I went to get a timing light, they didn't have any in the isle so I asked the guy at the counter. He said he didn' t know what one was and couldn't find it in the computer.... I didn't even try to find the radiator cap that I needed. Anyone know where to buy one or a trd one?

You got me worried now. Ive just started to get some rattly noises up front on my trucks 22RE this past month. Yesterday I fired it up and it sounded just like a diesl engine. I shut it off and opened the hood, checked the oil, it was rather dark. I did not expect the oil to be this dark yet, but it was not past the full mark. I checked the oil fill cap and it had a little white slimey residue in it. I checked the radiator and it was down about 1/8 to 1/4 gallon. Then I fired it up again and it seemed quiet then. I went home yesterday and checked compression, all was good, topped off the radiator and cleaned the oil fill cap. Most of this month I have heard a tap tapping once the engine was warmed up. Thought it was valve tap. Now Im not so sure. I had just flushed and refilled the cooling system and installed a new thermostat about 2 weeks ago. Thought all was good, but now I think I need to look and see if that chain guide has went south for the winter.

Yeah I would seriously think about checking it. When we pulled the valvecover off we couldn't even see the timing chain guides. Mine was sounding like a diesel engine when it was cold and then I could hear a tapping when it was under a load. I don't know if thats what is happeneing in your case but thats what proned me to start looking around and then after a week of research on the internet I figured thats what was wrong.

Hey willie, losing coolant and white slimey gunk on your oil cap? Sounds like coolant (water) is getting in your oil. :eek: Water in the oil looks like chocolate milkshake (well, uglier). Better check it out.
Hey Krash, so, is the noise all gone and motor running good? Sears should have timing lights (I guess you just timed it by ear) and any Toy dealer should have stock or TRD caps. Would have been a good time to do a cam swap while you were in there...:devil:
:nerd: butnut

Yeah I went and bought a timing light from autozone on the way back to the shop from pepboys. I woulda done a cam swap but my goal was just to get it fixed. It runs good no noise runs real good. Now I get to start fixin it up and adding stuff to it as I get the money. The only thing I need to do is fix the 15" long crack in the windshield.

I waited too long for my 22-RE. At around 182K, my timing chain broke....into three pieces. Luckily no valve damage. I tore the engine down completely, had a valve job done. The cylinders showed little if any wear, they were within original specs so I just did the block cleaning. The engine is pretty much back together, waiting to be installed maybe this weekend.
Short story is, don't wait!:bang:

i bought my '83 from a guy, and it barely ran, lots of water in oil, etc.. it had 220k miles on it, but i got a gggrrreeaatt deal on it. i figured the head was blown or something.. but it turns out the tuming chain guides broke off a long time ago, and the timing chain had worn a groove into the side of the timing chain cover.. it wore so much of a groove into it, that it created a hole in the side of the timing chain cover

well, whats on the other side?? the water pump!!!

so, lots of water was being pumped into the block. so, we tossed the engine and put in a 'new' rebuilt one.

watch those plastic guides!!!

Thanks for the info Krash. I called Toyota of Louisville to schedule a time to have mine changed and the guy told me that I didn't need to worry about it. He told me that he owned a 92 and it still had the original chain and still ran good.

Yeah it may have the original chain and may still run good but if it is over 100,000 miles its probably a good idea to go ahead and change the guides. This is a common problem that occurs with the 22re engines. Do a search on it around the web. Don't get me wrong if the engine isn't making a sound then you are probably ok. I just did it on a hunch that the sound it was making was the guides being broken. My uncle had the same truck as me and had to do the same thing. I just wanted to better off safe than sorry.

Also you can do the change yourself if your somewhat mechanically inclined and have a couple days to work on it. It doesn't take much and would be alot cheaper to do yourself.

I'm kinda curious to call toyota here in louisville and see if they would tell me the same thing.

BTW, how many miles does your truck have on it?

My truck has 127,000 miles on it. Maybe I need to look into replacing the timing chain.

well its recommended to change it because after time the chain will stretch somewhat. But that is about the time that the guides are known to go bad and if your driving past 130,000 your probably driving on borrowed time sort to speak. If you hear some clattering when the truck is under a load or just pushing the engine pretty hard you can probably hear it or when its cold in the morning and just start the engine the timing chain guides will rattle pretty bad. IMO I would at least have the guides checked from what I remember I think all you have to do is pull the valve cover off and shine a flashlight in there. If I have time tomorrow I'll take a pic of what the timing chain guides look like cause I still have an extra set.

Thanks for the info.

Glad to help. If you check them or change them let us know how it goes.

Lol figured I would bump this to show what happened to my timing chain guide pic on montypics lmao...

Cold Start rattle
 

I think my timing chain might be loose. Whenever I start the engine there is a period of a minute or two where you can hear the a rattling sound in the engine if you rev the engine above idle speed (loud around 1500-2000 rpm). I've been told that this usually happens when the chain tensioner is worn (uses oil pressure to tension the chain?) It's a 1992 Toyota pickup 4x4 with only about 105k miles on the 22RE.

Probably a good idea to check the condition of the timing chain cover huh? The chain might be wearing through the cover during the rattle time while the tensioner is adjusting.


Why Toyota abandoned the dual row chain they used in their older engines is beyond me. Those chains never needed to be replaced for the lifetime of the engine.

First post here.
I have a 94' with a 22re 4cyl. It has 148,000 miles on the stock timing chain. I know its timing chain is on borrowed time but I was wondering if you guys knew about metal backed guides

http://www.doaracingengines.com/chainguides.html

http://www.lcengineering.com/EngineAccs.html

What do you think?

If you can get them I would. I'm about to pull a 22re out of a 2wd truck I got yesterday. When I rebuild the engine to go in my truck I'm going to put the metal backed guides so that I don't have to worry about them breaking. I'll either do that or put the double row timing chain kit from lc engineering.

I just had mine done a couple of months ago. I bought all the stuff; chain w/metal guides, water pump, oil pump, and new front cover from here. www.engnbldr.com Good prices, quick service, lifetime warranty. What more can you ask for?
HTH

I've heard good things about him and his son. I would like to get one of his cams.

Krash,

Funny timing (no pun intended) on your post. I'm here in Louisville, as well, and am doing just about the same stuff to my '89. Check out my post, here: https://www.yotatech.com/forums/show...threadid=13561

Did you put the metal-backed guides in yours? I got a set of the DOA racing ones. You guys mentioned engnbldr.com... I've got one of his 'Street RV' heads and cams sitting here ready to be installed. I hope they are good stuff! :)

I've got about 12 hours in my swap out so far... I'm fairly slow and methodical about my wrenching, but it's going ok so far, I think.

My motor blew it's head gasket, and I was getting oil in the coolant... had to take the radiator up to Roppels to get it power flushed after it gunked up w/ oil. ;)

good luck w/ the new motor. What kinda mods/parts you gonna put in it?

- Whitney