'94 toyota pickup with the 22RE engine that has 150K on it. Bought it at 100K and has been pinging ever since I got it. There are a couple posts on this issue but I haven't came across a resolution. Some say low octane fuel or an overheating engine could be the culprit. Any thoughts or comments?

 

could also be a lot of carbon buildup which would effectively raise your compression.

 

You could have a vacuum leak and that is causing it to run lean, and slightly run hot, causing a ping. When do you hear the ping? How is your truck idling?

 

The idle is smooth. The truck pings from the minute you fire it up until you shut it off. Sometimes the pinging is more noticeable than other times. I can't find any link as to when the pinging is more noticeable, such as towing or climbing hills. I actually read something regarding carbon build up causing pinging. I'm going to try some of that SeaFoam this weekend. Dump a bottle in the plenum and a bottle in the fuel tank. As far as vacum leaks go, I'm not sure how to tackle that. I suppose I could replace all vacum hoses, shouldn't be too costly. Any suggestions on finding vacum leaks?

 

you sure its pinging. pinging happends when under a load

 

Maybe I'm not describing the sound right. Ticking could also be used to descibe it. It's constant and in rhythm with the RPM's. It's loud enough to where it is slightly louder than the sound of my engine. I thought about a faulty knock sensor. I've read about so many 22RE's having this issue though, I wouldn't think it would be that obvious. I'm guessing that it's something going bad over time or something getting gummed up over time. I'll be interested to see what the SeaFoam does to the carbon build up and in turn does to the ticking or pinging.

 

sounds like the timming chain or the followers have you ever adjusted the valves

 

Sounds like you might have yourself a rod knock. Is it rythmatic or does it seem to happen in a random set of beats? If you can make it ping by just reving the engine while sitting still then it is most likely a rod knock, or you have your timing advance a ton.

 

The ticking is definately rhythmic. I had the timing chain and guides replaced about 20K miles ago. That was one thing I was wanting to do was to re-adjust the valves. About 2 weeks ago I was going to tackle this except I was unable to get the valve cover off. Is there a trick to this. I didn't want to stick a flat head screwdriver inbetween the head and cover and pry it off. I was twisting and pulling on it in every which direction and couldn't get it off. These are all good ideas. I need to check my valves, any pointers on getting the valve cover off?

 

I remember somebody saying something awhile back about the wire going from the knock sensor to the ECU. They were saying something about it was grounding out on the engine itself and therefore wasn't sending an accurate signal to the ECU. Has anybody heard anything else about this? I'm not sure what the fix would be, a new knock sensor, wire, ECU or all three?

 

Anybody have any pointers on removing the valve cover so I can check the valve clearance?

 

Pull off all the vacuum lines and mark where they go. Get a 12mm wrench and take the 4 nuts off the top. Pretty simple.

 

sounds liek the valves, the 22r and re engines seem to be noisier in general than most engines from what i have heard... i readjsuted my valves and they got louder, so i attribute that to me not knowing what im doing..... but i know its the valaves....

 

As for the valve cover, you may just need to unscrew the rubber grommets that are under the 12mm nuts you most likely removed. New grommets slide on, but old ones that have been tightened down real good almost have the threads in them. Just take the nuts off after marking the vacuum lines and use a pair of pliers to unscrew the grommets. You'll still have the "wiggle" it out fom under the heater hoses by the fire wall.

I hope this helps.....also could the ticking sound be your injectors. All of the 22re's i've heard are quite loud.

Good luck,

Steve

 

My '94 22re (117,000) did same with anything less than 92 octane ($2.29). I lowered t stat to 180 Toyota P/N: 90916-03083, used decarbonizing chemicals, and adjusted valves. Each step reduced the ping a notch and am now running mid grade Amoco with no ping. Summer in South will be real test. Did same to my (2) '88 22re's (225,000) with same results. After you remove acorn nuts and washers from valve cover give it a few good shots with a rubber mallet to loosen up. Got to be careful with the screw driver approach not to gouge.

 

I'll try to unscrew those grommets, that's a good idea. I may not have time to do that until the weekend though. What's the consensus? Should I only use Genuine Toyota parts for the valve cover gasket and grommets? I'll try a new T-Stat also since they're like $10. I pured some SeaFoam into the Intake Plenum a couple days ago. Didn't have an effect on the pinging. I only used 1/3 of a bottle though, I might try a full bottle here shortly. All good ideas........thanks!

 

My seafoam experience. Basically there are two vacum hoses coming fromthe intake plenum to the Valve cover. One goes to the PCV valve and the other just to a hole in the valve cover. I've cut and clamped both of these vacum hoses and have breather filters hooked up to the valve cover. Anyways, when I unclamp the vacum hose that would be going to the PCV valve, the engine sputters out and dies (oxygen overload I assume). So what I'm doing is dipping the PCV hose into the bottle, starting up the engine, and then it sucked about 1/3 of the bottle before the engine died. Is this right or wrong? Is there a better way to do this?

 

I used the charcoal cannister Purge line for pulling in the SeaFoam on my 22RE. It is the small hose that comes off the "P" port on the throttle body (P=Purge) and it worked well. Just dipped it in and out of the bottle, keeping the engine just barely running.

As far as finding/fixing vacuum leaks, I found it far easier to just pop for a new hose kit, I used a silicone kit from RS Akimoto and just replaced every hose. In the process I found a few leaks and probably fixed several more.