I have read thru alot of posts, but still couldn't find an answer for my problem. I have a 1991 Yota with the 3vze. Yesterday morning, I fired it up and it ran really rough at idle and pinged terrible under load. Suspected a timing issue. With the motor warmed up and idling and with TE1 and E1 jumped, the timing was over 20 degrees btdc. The notch on the crank pully was over 1 1/2" away from the 10 degree btdc mark on the plastic cover. I adjusted the distributor as far as it can go, and now it's at 15 degrees btdc. I put a new timing belt and new idlers on 6 months ago. IF the belt slipped even one tooth, wouldn't the timing be off even more? I didn't even think the truck would start if it was a tooth or more off. Anything that could have went wrong with the distributor itself? Any ideas or suggestions would be gladly appreciated. Thanks.

 

Hmmm, it worked fine for 6 months and now this?

The ignition timing was checked and set correctly when the new timing belt and idlers were installed I'm going to assume.

So what are the possible causes?

1. Has the timing belt skipped a tooth or more? Maybe, I guess. Which type of tensioner does it have. If it's the hydraulic type, then forget about it, there's no way that's happened. If it's the spring-driven type, I suppose it's possible, if the bolt holding it came loose and allowed it to slip out of position. But, I still have a problem with that hypothesis. If it's indeed so, since it's not very likely to reposition itself correctly, then it's still not likely to be applying the correct amount of tension to the belt. And would, in all likleyhood, still be getting looser and looser, and not any tighter, the more the engine is run. So what would be keeping the belt from skipping more than one tooth, or two teeth, or ten teeth?

2. The distributor having something wrong/malfunctioning suddenly? I can't imagine how/why/what. It is extremely odd that it appears to be a tooth off on it's setting. Which could be because the timing belt is off by a tooth or more too. But regardless as to why, that's going to need addressed to be able to set the initial/base ignition timing to factory specs. And seeing's how it would be impossible for the distributor to skip a tooth once installed, I don't think there's really any options as to what's caused it to be that way.

The timing belt must have skipped a tooth or more, somehow.

 

For reference, I've spoken to a factory certified tech that has worked on several engines that the Tbelts were off by as many as 3 teeth, and they still drove into the shop. Mine was off by at least 2 after I had a supposedly reliable mechanic do belt job 6 months ago... That jack wagon.

 

Interesting. I appreciate all the info guys. Mudhippy= Yes, I checked the timing after installing the belt and yes, it does have the spring tensioner. The spring was new as were both idlers. I have never seen a motor jump time that far all at once unless the belt was broke. Before I tear the front end apart again, I am going to yank the distributor and make sure there is nothing wrong it. Maybe the drive gear came loose from the shaft? I doubt it, since it would probably continue to get worse. Before I tear the motor apart, I might drill 2 small holes in the top of the timing cover so I can see the marks without having to tear the front end apart. I will keep you posted as to what I find. I can't do this until Friday though. Thanks again guys for the advice.

 

I am kinda having the same issue....... except on a 22RE, I just did the timing chain, sprockets, guides, and tensioner, cuz the chain was loose, broke a guide, and was starting to rub on the engine, so I changed all that, threw the thing back together, got the timing where it needs to be, it starts great! for about 2 secounds, and then bogs down to a stall within another 2 seconds, I clocked the timing from 5-12 BTDC, and me and all my buddies are stumped....... please any ideas what could be wrong?

 

I'm no expert on the 22RE. But there are those here that are.

So my advice is this. First, try searching through previous existing threads on 22RE ignition timing. Then if you can't seem to find the info you're after, start a new thread in the 86-95 Trucks & 4Runners forum and wait patiently untill someone replies to it.

This thread is all but over with at this point anyways, and to switch up/stray away from the thread topic in any thread just isn't good thread/forum etiquette. This was meant to be a thread about a strange ignition timing issue on a 3VZ-E. Though it's got a rather ambiguous title, and isn't necessarily posted in the correct forum either.

Just trust me. Do as I recommend, and you'll get plenty of ideas on what could be causing the issue you're experiencing.

 

I realize this thread is pretty much over, but I finally got a chance to tear the motor apart last Friday and decided I would post my findings. After getting it apart, I discovered the timing belt did indeed slip by 3 teeth. After tearing apart further, I discovered why. I found a dead chipmunk wrapped around one of the timing pulleys. His body made the belt jump. I now know why I found 2 ziplock bags full of acorns in my air cleaner assembly. Truck is back together and running perfect. Thanks to all that helped.

 

Pics of said chipmunk nest? Trying to figure out how a rodents slipped in there.

 

how in the??? The oil pan/timing/valve cover side of the engine is sealed. I can see the little guy kinda working himself past the throttle body (however unlikely, he would have to push kinda hard) and then into the cyl's. But not into the oil pan/timing/valve cover area. Unless the oil cap was left off, but then the engine would run weird.

 

There was no nest. Just a dead chipmunk. I did not take any pics of him. Sorry. There are 11 bolts that hold the upper timing belt cover on and it is really drawn up tight to the motor. It's hard to believe he could squeeze in there. I can see maybe a mouse, but this guy was pretty big. Again, I did pull 2 ziplocks of acorns from the air filter area. Looking back, I will never take something like that for granted again. Side note: As I was tearing the cover off, my big fat cat, jumped up into the engine compartment and was sticking his head down inside of the cover. He must have smelled him and knew he the chipmunk was there before I found it. Maybe I should just give him the wrenches next time lol.

 

Sorry but I don't buy it. Unless he chewed through the cover it ain't happening. Glad to hear you fixed it as I would have suggested pulling off covers and verify timing