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Dont worry about all of the plastic pieces in the pan from the chain guides. As far as your head bolts. I too have seen them extremely tight to very loose. In my opinion, I feel that is some of the reasons the head gaskets blow on these. Once you get it back together and running, I would suggest re torque the head bolts. Anytime I have a valve cover off, I set my torque wrench to about 5-10 pounds below the torque spec. It is tight enough to let me know if any of the head bolts have loosened up but not so tight to distort the head gasket.
I had a set of OME springs on my 85 truck and to me they were just to stiff for me. I am a stock guy and prefer a stock set up.
Thanks Terry, I definitely want to pay attention to the headbolts that's a good tip. The last thing I want to do is tear it all down again after all this work. Probably why I've been hemming and hawing so much over what components to use, aisin? Osk? Engnbldr? Are they the same? Is one way better? Haha I'm at this point in my build I guess. I definitely want to use oem headgasket, engnbldr stock head, and steel chain guides. As for the oil and water pump and timing set....no idea. I want the best reliability without having to sell the truck when I'm done to pay for the Toyota dealership parts haha.
I gave the stock rear springs all the chances in the world, bolt on overload and extended shackles but they would eventually start sagging again so I'm giving the ome a chance and hopefully they'll work for me. I'll post the install when I finish up. Thanks again
Thanks Terry, I definitely want to pay attention to the headbolts that's a good tip. The last thing I want to do is tear it all down again after all this work. Probably why I've been hemming and hawing so much over what components to use, aisin? Osk? Engnbldr? Are they the same? Is one way better? Haha I'm at this point in my build I guess. I definitely want to use oem headgasket, engnbldr stock head, and steel chain guides. As for the oil and water pump and timing set....no idea. I want the best reliability without having to sell the truck when I'm done to pay for the Toyota dealership parts haha.
I gave the stock rear springs all the chances in the world, bolt on overload and extended shackles but they would eventually start sagging again so I'm giving the ome a chance and hopefully they'll work for me. I'll post the install when I finish up. Thanks again
If you're going with steel guides, I'd just go with Engnbldr's kit. It's DNJ but with an osk tensioner for reliability. Their water and oil pumps get mostly good reviews, but for my own build I got an aisin oil pump and npw water pump. That's the combo used by 22re performance and no one seem to complain about their engines. Your call, it's probably all good enough stuff.
How about the actual timing cover itself? I thought my original one would be pretty well toast with holes worn thru it but it wasn't bad at all just the faintest marks from the chain on one side, no grooves. I figure nothing is going to be better than the stock cover that came with the engine, but can/should they be re-used? Should I worry about it being warped or worn out in any way since all it really is is a chunk of metal? It was the source of an intermittent coolant leak when it was on the truck but I would imagine that is simply from a bad gasket. Thanks again guys, I can't wait to get my block back and get after this thing!
How about the actual timing cover itself? I thought my original one would be pretty well toast with holes worn thru it but it wasn't bad at all just the faintest marks from the chain on one side, no grooves. I figure nothing is going to be better than the stock cover that came with the engine, but can/should they be re-used? Should I worry about it being warped or worn out in any way since all it really is is a chunk of metal? It was the source of an intermittent coolant leak when it was on the truck but I would imagine that is simply from a bad gasket. Thanks again guys, I can't wait to get my block back and get after this thing!
You're right to suspect the Aisin timing cover being better than anything else. The water pump passages are teflon-lined or something and the casting is very high quality. If the gasket surfaces aren't deeply gouged and the mating surface is flush with the block, keep it. Mine was cracked, so I got one from 22re performance. It works fine, no leaks, kinda ugly. Are you having the block decked? If so, timing cover needs to be on it during that or the head gasket won't seal right.
Thanks GSP, I'm unsure of what exactly needs to be done with the block yet. The shop is going to look at it after they clean it and let me know what they think and quote me a price. Thanks for the heads up with needing the timing cover to have the block decked, if it needs to be. It will be interesting to see if i'm asked about it or if I will have to bring it up. Things are starting to come together with this, Yotatech is awesome, I'd be in the dark with a lot of stuff without it.
I have re-used many Timing Covers where the chain put some tracks in the Timing Chain Cover. Just so long as it does not puncture the water port or is very deep, you will be ok to re-use the cover.
Finally, I've wanted new springs for this truck since I bought it 18 years ago. I added bolt on overload springs and extended shackles but they were just bandaids to worn out springs and the ride was always poor and barely level with the front. So, since I'm rebuilding the engine and have everything torn apart I decided to go for it. I went with ome cs009r springs, Procomp u-bolts, and prothane bushings. Everything went pretty smoothly other than the bushings. They were close, but every single one had to be pressure fitted in with either a bench vise or a huge c clamp after they were sanded down and well greased. I rounded the head of the bolt with a grinder so hopefully it won't contact the gas tank since I don't have a welder to put a pin in there. I think I got 3-4" of lift but I expect it to settle.
Rounded bolt off with grinder Procomp ubolts tightend completely down Crumby pic but the lift is apparent compared to the old saggy butt
While I was basking in the glow of new springs on my "lifted" truck I decided to revisit the scary intake system and replace the fuel filter. I couldn't imagine trying to do this with it still on the vehicle, for the life of me I can't break the bolts loose that hold the fuel lines on the filter. I've soaked them in PB and tried every tool I have that can grab hold of it and yarded on it with most of my measly might. Are these reverse thread or somehow still pressurized or something? Everything appears straight forward when I look at the new filter, but I'm pretty sure this is the original filter and it, like most things on this truck, aren't interested in being removed. The evil cheater bar has been staring at me from the corner of the garage... Last thing I want to do is start damaging specialized bolts, I've only bent one bolt so far on this entire teardown. Thanks!
Here's what you do: Loosen front passenger wheel lugnuts. Jack up front axle and place stands on both sides of axle. Remove wheel. There's an access panel in the fender well held on with 4 screws, find and remove. Now you have good access to the filter. Use a 17mm flare nut wrench so you don't round off the banjo bolt. Use new copper washers. Don't over tighten the new filter. Done!
Right on, thanks again. I finally got them loose after good old PB blaster did its work. It still took an incredible amount of force to break it loose but it came out. I used that access panel to get the starter out when I was pulling the engine. Hopefully those bolts with be easier when I change the filter in the future, would have been an incredible PITA if the engine was still in the truck. Fortunately the old cheater bar can remain sulking in the corner with his friends like vise grip and sledge hammer haha.
I said I was going for everything stock but I got tired of looking at all these pretty engines on here so I decided I could at least dress up the valve cover a little. Plus it won't matter when oil inevitably gets all over it if it's already black!
Sorry it's sideways, can't figure out how to rotate it. But a 40mm ammo can fits perfectly and replaces the broken up old console nicely and adds a bunch of secure space.
Nothing too much to report. No word from the machine shop, too many highschooler's blown out cummins in front of my little block. It was pretty comical when they set the little 2.4 block next to all the 5.9s and 7.3s. So I've just been cleaning various parts and doing as much research as I can between kids and work. I think I've got my shopping list worked out as far as engine components but the last question mark that still lingers is a gasket set. I'm trying to go for reliability over performance because lets face it, it's a 4 cylinder. Is there an "ultimate gasket kit" out there? I was just going to go with Engnbldr's which I'm sure is a good one, but is there a better one? I've seen LC engineerings expensive kit, is that the "ultimate"? This should be my last parts question, but I think it's an important one since I'm not too interested in tearing the whole thing apart again simply because I used a crappy gasket somewhere. thanks
The ultimate gasket kit is from Toyota. I used a mix of gaskets from Engnbldr, local dealership, and 22reperformance. I kept 2nd guessing the longevity of Engnbldr's. Like you said, I'm sure they're decent gaskets, and if I was building a budget off-road truck I'd use em. I have a stock 4runner with a stock 22re I rebuilt myself with good parts, why cheap out on what holds everything together? If I was to do it over, I'd spend the few extra bucks for the full gasket set from 22reperformance. OEM Toyota and not cheap, but I don't think you'd find anyone that'll say something else is more reliable than that.
Thanks again GSP, if you lived closer I'd be bribing you with homebrew to come over and see what you think, thanks for your help with this. I glossed over 22r performance in the past and saw their beautiful engines and price tags and moved on thinking why couldn't I try and build that? Their gasket kit, albeit very spendy, looks like just what I need. Tons of good info on their site too. Cheers!
The ultimate Toyota gasket kit comes in a tube! They will happily sell you gaskets they don't use, oil pan cork for example. The big exception is the head. I don't know if these are "new old stock" or outside manufacturing (OE) or coming from the same place as the after markets.
OEM gaskets as a general rule will have more active material, so more graphite silicone and what not, than inert (paper pulp, ect). This makes them less likely to tear while handled and takes some of the prep work away, but a well prepared gasket in a non structural place will work just fine no matter what it's made of. Plenty of classic hot rods running with gaskets cut out of beer cartons and other random weirdness.
Essentialy everything you need to pry or break suction to get off was put on with fipg.
Thanks again GSP, if you lived closer I'd be bribing you with homebrew to come over and see what you think, thanks for your help with this. I glossed over 22r performance in the past and saw their beautiful engines and price tags and moved on thinking why couldn't I try and build that? Their gasket kit, albeit very spendy, looks like just what I need. Tons of good info on their site too. Cheers!
It's true that any gasket will do the job, if prepped right (I've used cheap paper gaskets, rtv, cardboard, sheets of rubber meant for plumbing...) but in my limited opinion I think the Toyota gaskets will last longer without failing. Held next to cheap aftermarket ones, they are visibly better made and/or thicker gaskets.
Glad to help Wyofunrunner, I'm still new at this myself but it was also my goal to build a bulletproof, stock 22re. Finished it over the summer and with 2k miles in, it's a way better engine than what I had. Not fully broke in yet so time will tell but it pulls strong, idles smooth and got 26mpg on a flat highway trip.
Thanks guys, I was wondering the same thing myself with some of the kits being a little excessive especially since the things like an oil pan gasket didn't even exist when I tore down my bone stock engine. I'm starting to think I may do better by going GSP's route and just picking and choosing between different sources of quality gaskets, and using a good amount of FIPG, $240 is pretty steep for the full kit. That being said I would like a complete kit so there's no chance I forget a gasket somewhere.
Does anyone have a good source for OEM toyota parts outside of the stealership? Finally, are the aluminum valve cover half-moons superior to the rubber ones? I'm pretty sure those were the cause of oil being barfed all over my engine originally.
toyotapartsdeal.com and toyotaonlineparts.com were a couple I used among others. I wanted some Toyota gaskets even though Engnbldr's looked not bad all around. If your looking to save some cash, I'd get Engnbldr's set and then supplement a few Toyota gaskets where you feel the quality could be better.
Where I went wrong cost-wise was going overboard with add ons. Got Toyota gaskets for the head, exhaust, tb (had a spare in glove box), cold start inj, egr cooler plate, water pump, rear & front mains, rear main cover and copper o-rings on fuel rail along with a tube of fipg for oil pan (that's the only place it was on factory engines aside from 2 dots where the timing cover meets block and head). It would have been about the same price for me to get the full set from 22reperformance plus I'd have those cool alloy moons. So, don't do what I did!
The alloy half moons look good and should last forever, but I think new rubber ones are fine just fipg them all the way around and you'll be ok.
Cool, I'll probably just go that route, I'm also realizing gaskets come with a lot of the Aisin components I'm going to order.
What did you do with your injectors? I read that a lot of people take them out and send them off to be cleaned. How necessary is this since the truck seemed to run pretty good prior to teardown? I'll at least replace the O rings even tho they didn't leak and I cleaned the gunk off them with throttle body cleaner when I was cleaning up the intake. Do you have a thread on here about your build? I like the fact that your truck is still running good instead of a lot of builds on here talking about having to pull the engine again or selling it right away.
11-20-2016, 12:01 AM
thanks
