Just curious how many of you backyard mechanics like myself have done a timing chain on a 22r/re in your driveway. When I did the job on my dd I had the oppertunity to do it in auto shop with a lift and lots of tools. But now the runner needs to be done, and I am limited to my driveway.

I have a craftsman 4 drawer set of tools which should get me through pretty well, but I don't have any specialty tools. I can't remember what all I used for the job at school, but the main things I know I had was a small torque wrench and an impact gun to zip the cam gear off.

So, how many of you have done it in your driveway? About how long did it take you? (I think I can knock it out in a weekend) What other problems did you run into? I'm pretty confident I can do this, I just need that extra "heck yea you can do it!" you know what I mean? Thanks guys, Sean

 

heck yea you can do it!

 

Thanks, that makes all the difference.....

 

No problem.

 

i just got done doing a double row conversion on my 1984 with metal backed guides from doa. it took me about a day to take it apart and put it back together. it is pretty easy all you need is a long breaker bar and a basic set of metric sockets you can do it no problem

 

its not bad at all just got done w mine (22r though) just put the breaker bar under the pass. side frame rail and a 19mm socket on the crank and bump the engine a few times should break loose super e-z. DISSCONNECT YOUR COIL THOUGH!!!!!!. should be esier if youve already done it once b4. took me 6 hours or so.

O wait. keep track of where ALL the bolts on the t.c. came from on a peice of cardboard . every bolt is different so this is important.

YOU CAN DO IT

 

Cool. I got that stuff. So getting the cam gear/timing gear off was no problem?

 

Yeah I have a pretty good memory of where the bolts go. Some A-hole in auto shop knocked all my bolts out of place so I got to pick and choose where they went, but I know I got all of them in the right place. I'm going with engnbldr's kit again.

 

watch where u get the gasket i got a cheap autozone gasket and mixed water in with 4.5 qts of mobile one i was ticked went got a toyota gasket percet seal (81 22r)

 

Bump the engine as in turn the key?

 

yep thats what i did on mine to its uses the torque of the starter to break the crank pulley bolt loose (note-dont hold the key just bump it)

 

I guess I could do that, I'll just have to make sure I put it back together in time. (time meaning the engine....and time as in clock also )

 

Hi,
I replaced mine on a 22RE over the weekend and I'm not a mechanic (Haynes helped). Bought a cheap torque wrench, replaced necessary gaskets, set timing. Runs great, but expected a bit more get-up.

 

Cool. That's pretty much the only "specialty" tool I have is a big torque wrench. No reason that you should have more "get up" by just replacing the timing chain. For that you would have to play around with cams and gearing in your differentials. But since the 22r's don't have replacable cam journals you would have to take the head to a machine shop for them to be polished.

There are a good bit of heads that come in right after we finish them, because of the people putting them back together out of time. Nothing but bent valves is usually the case. Anyway, now I'm just rambling.

 

Did it in the rain on our driveway with with no specialty tools. Took me two weeks, but I had a car accident part way through (hit by a dumptruck on the highway) and had resulting nerve damage. Did ahve the help of a mechanically inclined neighbour.

 

for what it is worth replace the oil pan gasket with some new Black or Grey high temp oil resistant RTV sealant after you have replaced the chain and have put the timing cover back on.

all you need to do the job is a breaker bar a 150lb torque wrench I made a tool for torquing the crank bolt back on out of some scrap metal and two blots to hold the pulley in place when torquing the bolt down.

 

I found an electric impact wrench on craigslist that I'm going to get (hopefully) this weekend. I'm not worried about anything but getting the bolt out of the crank and cam to get the gears off. Everything else should be fine. Whenever it gets a little warmer and less wet outside I will start. I'm not as die-hard to get the job done when I have another vehicle I can drive. I like to be as comfortable as possible when working on the truck to make it as painless as possible. If the runner were my dd that would be a different story though. I have a friend that gave me some replacement guides, (things are practically brand new, no wear marks at all on the guides), a tensioner, crank gear and chain, so all I have to do is get some gaskets. My boss offered to weld up my timing cover for me so I don't have to get a new one. I wrecked my dd (thank god it's still driveable) so I don't have the money to get a brand new kit, but I need to be able to drive the 4runner while the dd is in the body shop. So

 

Well I started today, it was nice outside. The perfect temp for this kind of job. Hopefully tomorrow will be the same. Hey Cymon, you mind taking a pic of that tool you made? I don't have a welder, and the closest friend I have that can weld is an hour away, so hopefully I can find something around here or at the parts store that can be used for the same kind of thing.

 

when I get home later tonight I will snap a pic and try to get it up up tomorrow.

 

you can just make it out of wood and some old bolts. that's what i did when i replaced the timing belt on the runner. be warned- a 2x4 broke, and a 1x2 piece of OAK held no problem. here's a shot of the oak SST crank pulley holder.


drill 2 holes for bolts and hole saw another for socket on crank bolt. cut the piece of wood just long enough to hit the frame rail.