Wow someone from louisville, awesome we ought to meet up sometime and give each other a hand working on something. Since I just got the 2wd truck saturday and me and my buddy are in the process of working on the paint and body on my 4wd, it will be a little bit before I work on the engine.

As for the timing chain, I didn't have time to get the metal guides when I pulled it apart to fix it. My dad and I worked on it and since he is always out of town I only had a days notice that we were going to fix it.

As for the new motor I know I'm going to get a cam probably engnbldr. I got a buddy that is insane with head work so I'm going to go to him and have it ported and polished. There is this machine shop out near national turnpike that my buddy with his monster of a truck takes his stuff to so I might go talk to him about boring it. Thats just an idea I haven't really researched too much yet I just remember seeing something about it on a website somewhere maybe it was roger browns site.

 

Don't bother with the kit, just get the metal guides and call it good. Besides being way overpriced, you end up with a mix of parts from different years. The single row chain is plenty strong as long as the guides are in place. You still need to replace the chain periodically no matter what guides you run.

 

Yeah man, that sounds like a plan! I'll shoot you a private e-mail and we'll hook up sometime. I should have my truck finished this next weekend if all goes well, so we'll hook up and I'll ride out and let you see the heads, etc. and see how you think it runs.

Just for reference, the metal-backed guides from DOA (you get both guides, btw.... some of the kits on e-bay only have the driver's side guide in metal-backing, so watch out for that) came in about 2 days, as DOA is in NC, I believe. Regardless, for under 100 bucks, you get peace of mind. It's amazing how flimsy the plastic guides are when you compare them to the metal-backed guides.

Well, I've got his Street RV head (probably equivalent to a 'Stage I' port job, etc.) and his Street RV cam (single-pattern, 270* duration, .430" lift), so I'll be sure to let you know what I think of it. From his feedback on e-bay and other things I've heard about him, the products are first rate. He responds to e-mail very quickly and ships very promptly and is very fair on the pricing for the quality of the parts.

Wow, I'd love to take my old head there and see if he can do any work to it, weld it, etc.

I'd love to talk to you about this when we hook up. I'll keep this in mind.

I'm new here to the board, so excuse me if this is an often-repeated question, but who is Roger Brown?

Talk to you soon, man... hopefully we can hook up and talk mods!

 

This guy.

 

My tacoma is a 2001 and i've had it about 3 months. Several people have told me that i have a timeing chain and not a belt. How can i be sure? Mike

 

probably you best bet would be to look either in the owners manuals or goto a local autoparts store either ask them at the counter or goto buy a cheap haynes book, you get what you pay for though.

 

Not sure about the motor in the 2001's... if it's a V6, and not an overhead cam, then you'll have to look at a service manual, but chances are, it's a chain. I'm not sure I know of a motor (but I'm sure there probably is one) that uses a belt in a V configuration.

If it's a 4cyl, then most, if not all, of them are overhead cam, so simply pop off the valve cover and look at what drives the cam gear. You'll be able to tell easily enough.

 

Gotcha! Thanks man!

 

Just found out that the 2001 Tacoma 2.7L has a chain and not a belt. Glad of that! Thanks for the replys folks, Mike

 

The 3VZE is belt driven, I'm not sure about the newer V6s Toyota is using.

 

Wow! Thanks Shane, I had no idea.... I only know (a little) about the 22RE

That's one wild looking belt arrangement, I'll say that!

 

That's a pretty typical arrangement, but it makes replacing the water pump a PITA as you can see. You'd be surprised, there's lots of other V6 and bigger engines that use belt as well, not just Toyota. Of course I can't name any off the top of my head right now but I know they exist.

 

Dude, could you please post the instructions on the timing chain replacement you did. Did you remove the head and/or oil pan to accomplish the task? If so, is it really necessary?
Thanks AJ

 

No and no answers your questions. You do not need to remove the head or oil pan. There are 2 bolts in the bottom of the chain cover that are removed from under the front of oil pan, and one under the distributer gear, hidden in an oil valley.

here is a link to a FSM to use as a guide. http://personal.utulsa.edu/~nathan-b.../8timingch.pdf

 

Thanks for replying to this for me. I came back from the dead if only for a day.

Sorry bout the link but this post is about 3 years old. Apologies for bringing it back from the dead but just an explaination for the dead link.