Was driving 89 Toyota truck with 22re engine and suddenly a loud squeeling sound happened and we pulled over. It was still able to start but the squeeling noise continued seemingly coming from the belt. I am wondering of course if it's a blown head gasket. I looked and saw that the coolant was very low but unfortunately my gauge apparently wasn't working so it didn't alert me. I have attached some pictures and hoping someone maybe knows something. This truck has been good to me and I'm very bummed out.

 

Having experience such symptoms on both my 87's, I would say oil pump, and/or harmonic balancer. If it's still in time, I'd put my money on the oil pump. Either it froze, or one of it's two gaskets failed.
Surprizingly easy to remove the oil pump and change both it's gaskets. Hard part is getting the bolt holding the harmonic balance broken loose. There are special tools recommended, me, I use the heavy breaker bar, an impact socket (19mm, IIRC), and the starter to break the bolt loose. I pull the coil wire, make certain the truck's wheels are chocked, and only the trust with my life, my lovely wife, in the driver's seat with the key.
I hold the breaker bar tightly against the passenger's side frame rail, yes, I lay under the truck length wise, and have her tap the key. TAP the key. Twice, if necessary, but just a quick tap on the key to make the starter engage and turn a little.Breaks the bolt loose for a treat. Many people say this method is way too dangerous, but it's worked for me for 30 years plus.
DON'T LOOSE THE KEY HOLDING THE BALANCE TO THE SHAFT!!! I do every time, and have to spend an hour with a magnet searching for it.

The front crankshaft oil seal can be tapped out using a socket that JUST fits the oil pump opening. Tapped back in with the new one as well, you just need to flip over the pump from removal position. The small, oil pump seal is a PITA to keep in place during installation. I like to put a dab of a thick, heavy, grease around the channel it sits in. It holds the seal in place without changing the dimensions of the channel at all.

If the pump's actually frozen, you'll obviously need to replace it, as well as the two gaskets. They're readily available, and not very expensive. Make sure to use all new OEM parts! No after market stuff.

If that aint it, I apologize for wasting your time. May well be the head gasket, but check the oil pump seal, and the front crankshaft seal, and so forth, first.

Good luck!
Pat☺

 

Thank you for such a thoughtful response. Will def try that! Really crossing my fingers it isn'itthe head gasket

 

I don't think we really have enough information to know what is going on.

I am doubtful of the oil pump failing. The oil pumps in these trucks is very simple and robust, and is the first thing to be lubricated by oil. Usually the rest of the engine will fail before the oil pump will.

Is the coolant in your radiator also low, or just the overflow tank?

Do you know for sure if the overflow tank and radiator were full before this happened?

The first picture looks like oil residue coming from the PCV valve / hose area. That could be caused by several things like a plugged PCV valve, a old and hard PCV valve grommet, and/or excessive blow-by from the crankcase.

The squealing belt may be caused by something on one of the belts paths that may be seizing up.

Its dinner time, so this response is all I have for now.

 

You're absolutely, 100% right. Both my 87's still have their factory original oil pumps.
HOWEVER, the pickup is on it's 4th set of oil pump gaskets (ie:3 new sets) at 372,000 miles, all catastrophic failures, and the 4Runner on it's 3rd set, at 173,000 mi. Almost always the oil pump's outer gasket failed, dumping the engine's oil out right on the spot, covering the engine as the oil slings up all over from the spinning crankshaft. Every time, it looked a lot like what the pictures showed.
Having said all that, this was in Yuma, Az, a miserable, hottern' heck, dusty as all getout, place to be. Seriously, it got DOWN to 100° F it's a cool evening. You could go swimming in the Colorado river, if you can find a deep enough place. A lot of it is knee deep or below. It's totally gone long before it gets to the Gulf of California.
It's pretty hard on engines most especially rubber, like gaskets etc. It may be a unique problem to there, and if you live in a milder climate, it'll be easier on that stuff.

There are indeed several other possible causes, no question. Like the PCV grommet. They get stiff, and start to leak pretty quickly. I replace mine every other year, once I saw how long it doesn't take them to harden up. I do it when I have the valve cover off to reset the valve lash, so that when it disintegrates it doesn't fall down in where it's not welcome

It could also easily be the valve cover gasket or it's grommets. Again, they get replaced every two years as a preventative measure in my trucks, regardless of mileage.

So there's a number of possibilities to verify before going after the head gasket. Just stuff that's a lot easier to verify than a head gasket! I replaced that in my 4Runner, too, BTW, after a "friend" threw the water pump's belt. He didn't want to get out to replace it with the spare belt all all the tools you might need in the back. He just drove it till it over heated, stopped to let it cool down, and kept that pattern till he got it back to me. Some friend, huh? Cracked the head.

Anyway, take care, all! Whatever's the trouble, I wish you the best.
Pat☺

 

Oil pump O-ring and crank seal is one of the most common repairs done on the 22R#. So four times over 372,000 miles is pretty textbook.
The staining on the valve cover is nothing. Maybe grommets getting old, but no cause of odd sounds or external dripping.
Need to do more investigating, but by your description I might look at the waterpump first and make sure its ok.

 

Thank you for the response. I'm always appreciating hearing about the things to check out before going straight to blown head gasket

 

Yes, water pump. Had one go on my '89 22RE. It made a hell of a screeching noise.

 

I've had a few water pump failures, but mine were always water gushing out of the drain hole. I can certainly see how it could screech like a banshee, though.

Good luck, and keep us up to date on what you might find. Enquiring minds want to know
Pat☺