punks_is_4x4

I'm starting a thread to document everything I am going to need and a complete guide on swapping a head.
I currently have 2 burnt exhaust valves on my head the block is bored 0.030 over and has 1mm over valves stock cam with a lce adjustable cam gear. My engine on this rebuild has a little over 80k. I started having a sort of rough idle and it started smoking in the morning. I got really confused because my engine has always ran extremely smooth for a 22re I mean first crank start no valve chatter. Ran like a new truck. Well I spent the winter wheeling in deep snow and reving thine engine at a max of 4K rpm ( just what I wouldn't go past not the max). I have checked all electrical components checked for spark, ran injector cleaner and seafoamed the whole truck. Checked my valve lash and everything has been totally fine. I did a compression test had 70psi in cylinder number 2 and number 4. I then ran a make shift leak down test. ( I didn't have the actual tool I just hooked up a air line at 40 psi into each of those cylinders at tdc of compression stroke). I could feel air coming out the exhaust pipe. Which I discovered a crack in the muffler at that time as well. So now what do I do? Well my options are pull the head go get it rebuilt and just spend the money on the little things and try and save some money. Or spend more money and have more reliability and less work down the road. That being said I haven't bought the head yet and I am still driving my truck. So I believe I am going to go with a pro casting and oversized valves again and a crawler cam from ENGNBLDR here in Portland. Mainly because I've only heard good stuff and he's local.
So this will be my first time pulling a head on any vehicle. My engine already has steel timing chain the oil pump and water pump have been replaced.
So far I only know that I need a gasket set and a new head. Anything else I should get before attempting this heart surgery. I have faith I can do this I have done a lot of other mechanical tasks and work in a diesel shop right now.
I plan to take a lot of pictures and videos. Along with label most of the vacuum lines
Should I replace the injectors or just have them cleaned and rebuilt.
Also anything I mean anything parts wise I will need while I'm in there I just want to get everything and then do this in a 2 day process
Please post.
Tools that aren't obvious
Links to other swaps
Special hardware I should replace and get from toyota
And really any tips y'all have
If you feel like helping and live in the Portland Oregon area let me know

punks_is_4x4

alright so I have taken all of the exhaust and intake manifold and all hoses and have the head off but now before I put the new head on here's my issues. The valve and cylinders that had low compression seem definitely carboned up and are dirty but no visable cracks. Also I can't check piston number 2 but piston 4 has play in it. Should any of the pistons have any play in them at all ? I forgot to do the wet compression test I went right from low compression to leak down and felt air through the exhaust. So here I am with a brand new street rv head and new crawler cam ready to go but I don't wana throw it back on to deal with another miss fire issue and crappy idle.

things I have already checked
spark on all plugs.
New plugs with correct gap
checked all the injectors
i have no cel on
checked timing

so what I need is to know if there's any play allowed in the piston. Not up and down but side to side. Piston 1 has much less play then piston 4
i will take the head into a shop and have it looked it looked over

punks_is_4x4

Where to now. I've got the head pulled pistons have play in them. I have a brand new head and new cam sitting on my bench at home. Do I just pull the oil pan get new pistons and rings and slap them in there?

millball

Except in the tightest newly rebuilt engines, there's gonna be some noticeable side to side movement in the pistons. You could determine how loose they are with feeler gauges.

Sometimes there's enough carbon on a piston to make any clearance hard to see.

If your engine had no untoward noises, and its oil consumption was moderate. You should be able to install the new head and run it for quite some time.

There's a little more involved than just the installation of new pistons and rings. (cylinder honing is a biggie) The work needed is best done with the engine removed from the truck, and the crankshaft out, but indeed it can be done in frame. Rod and main bearing shells should be replaced at the same time.

Good luck, whatever you decide.

punks_is_4x4

Thank you so much for the reply. I think this evening I will check the movement and if it's not a huge space I will go ahead and just put the new head on

punks_is_4x4

Millbill are u saying that there shouldn't be any play except
in the newest rebuilt engines? The engine has 80k on all the engine parts

millball

Only the tightest new engine should NOT have play. An engine with many miles WILL often show some piston side to side play.

As I said before. How well your engine ran before should be your guide as to what to do.

If it ran well with no noises and moderate oil consumption. Put that head on and go.

scope103

I'm not sure what millball is describing. Brand new pistons have some clearance, which clearance is filled by the rings. The rings don't bottom out in their grooves, so yeah, there has to be some side-side movement even on a brand new engine.

But were talking 0.001s of an inch, and I really doubt you could put your hand on the top of a piston and feel it (though I think millball disagrees). The rings don't just grind away making an "older" engine have wobbly pistons. If you feel that the piston has "play" in it, that sounds way too loose to me.

You say you can't check piston No. 2; why? I would crank each piston to the top and "feel" it. If they all feel the same, you might just have a more sensitive hand than mine. But if one feels noticeably loose, you might have broken a ring. And you'll get no compression on that cylinder.

punks_is_4x4

Alright thanks for the clarification I will get out there and check shortly I have the cam gear tied to the hood with the chain on it so I can keep tension on it. Where would I put the feeler gauge to check this just on the side wall?

Co_94_PU

iTrader: (-1)

Cylinders get checked with a bore gauge, think there is a picture in the manual, they are not cheap.

​​​​you should not have any notable fore aft movement that indicates bad wrist pins or piston.
​​​​​​and very little side to side, indicates bad rings.

You need to check top, bottom and mid stroke, normally

punks_is_4x4

Would said movement cause a misfire ? Compression getting passed the rings? When I did the leak down test I felt air coming from the exhaust pipe

scope103

Depends on what you think of as "cheap." https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1-Se...810630108.html I can't buy a tank of gas for $42. (well, I live in California, where our gasoline is "better" than yours ...)

Welcome to the global economy.

The MAXIMUM allowable difference between the size of the piston and the size of the bore is 0.17mm (0.0067in) http://web.archive.org/web/201003261...ne/69cylin.pdf (a piece of paper is about 0.004", so this isn't much of a gap.) That gap is filled by the rings, and at rest the rings are LARGER than the bore (they're compressed to get the piston into the bore). So the rings are pushing out on the cylinder walls. This all means that there is about 0.005-0.006" of "play," which is probably not enough to feel, AND that gap is filled up with a springy ring.

You could have a really, really worn cylinder, but I would look for a broken ring. That guess doesn't really matter; if you can feel a piston wobbling, you pretty much have to pull it out and measure everything as called for in the manual.

And yes; if you have a "loose" piston it won't develop compression, which will lead to misfire. BUT -- the "appropriate" symptom on a leak-down test is air at the dipstick. Air in the exhaust means (usually) a leaky (or stuck-open) exhaust valve. (Of course, if you really have a leaky piston, who knows what other damage it would end up causing.)

punks_is_4x4

Alright I borrowed a friends bore dial. Cylinders and pistons are in speck and fine. I'm just paranoid. The cylinder walls all look great and have a cross hatching no gouges or vertical scrapes. So let's say the heads fine when I get it back from the shop. What else could cause low compression could it be that the injector o rings suck? I have new toyota ones would that cause that big of a low compression issue.
Like an idiot I didn't do the wet test when I did the compression test but here's my numbers

cyl #1- 150
cyl #2 - 70
cyl #3 - 125
cyl #4 - 70


now there was no coolant missing and oil consumption didn't really seem abnormal but hard to tell also
it would start a little rough and then gave it a few seconds idle came up to about 1000 but still rough and had a very obvious miss at the tail pipe and engine had a shake to it. The shake was still there slightly when I reved the engine and held it at 3k Rpms. After about a minute it would start to smoke. Now it also didn't smoke before the shake and bad idle. Even in 20 degree weather it didn't smoke like that. Any ways.

So when I first noticed the misfire I proceeded to change the spark plugs. I noticed cyl 2 was really hard to get out to a point I got worried. I pulled it out and realized it was stripped. Couldn't get the plug back in all the way. I got that cyl to tdc and chased the threat little by little and covered the tap with grease to grab any little bit of shavings then when I was done used a vacuum to get anything else out of there.
Idle and every continued. I checked the timing was at 6 degrees and 0 degrees with the diagnostic port jumped. I replaced wires and rotor and caps well changed the oil checked all my vacuum lines he led that there was spark on all plugs. Ran some sea foam to clean everything then I was stumped. I did the compression test and really started to get frustrated because I was sure it was a exhaust valve leaking and I couldn't find anything on the valves when I pulled the head all the valves looked fine here's all the valves

millball

You can't tell much by looking at the valve faces like that.

Pour a little kerosene or solvent in each intake and exhaust port and see if the valves will hold the liquid. There should be no seepage.

punks_is_4x4

All of the exhaust valves were not holding seal or pressure so it was the head after all and now I'm going to put the new head on now onto cleaning that damn thing

punks_is_4x4

What do ya think should I clean it more I've gone over it with scotch bright and carb cleaner and scraped it down to smooth with a razor. What gaskets need sealant. I know the head gasket doesn't. What about intake and exhaust. Also what about the plate on the back of the head. Any sealant there and the plug plate for the mechanical fuel pump on the 22r

punks_is_4x4

So I didn't use any sealant except for the bottom bolt
on the egr that bolts to the intake. The fsm suggested it on a couple of threads. I used it on the half circles on head. Last night I cranked it over for the first time. At first I guess the fuel rail wasn't tightened all the way on the back side of the rail and I had a fire that was so scary
tightened that up got the fuel cap tightened and all the sensors and vacuum hoses hooked up where they belong. Timing was super advanced at first so I adjusted that down to 6 degrees runs so smooth now.
i used Lucan oil conditioner and regular 10w40 conventional oil adjusted the valves before I started it and let it get up to temp.
Concerns and issues.
Obviously it needs a valve adjustment.
Changing oil in 500 miles.
Seems to be running hotter and doesn't really have a cold high rpm start.
Possibly cold start injector , thermostat, coldstart timing switch.

Exhaust leak gotta get this fixed asap

punks_is_4x4

Found another exhaust leak that I believe is new which I believe is from a stripped exhaust stud on the manifold where it meets the down pipe. The inner stud closest to the block I believe is stripped I can feel the air push out on that side and the nut is tightened as far as it'll go. I have the fresh donuts in there as well.
What are my options. Try and get that stud out of there. Find another exhaust manifold. Buy a header.
Anything else cheaper is better at this point but also the best option for lasting

punks_is_4x4

Just a little motivation

punks_is_4x4

Ok well new issue. I replaced the manifold with a Dorman Chinese replica exhaust manifold
now I'm having an over heating issue. All vacuums lines are right I have flow through the rad
belts are tight
fan clutch seems to be working. The fan shroud is on all hoses are tight no leaks. Air flow is good. Where am I messing up. I go tso hot that I replaced the rad cap I pulled the thermostat adjust all the rad hoses what else could be causing this. It's usually when I am crushing the highway at around 50 mph trying around 2500 to 3k Rpms