williemon

Ive got a 94 4x4 truck with 22RE. It has about 115000 miles on it. Ive had a slight rough idle for about 4 months now. Thought it was just time for a tune up. I started with an oil change then a coolant flush and refil and Tstat replacement. Ive noticed now that the oil filler cap gets a slimey white residue on it. engine oil looks clean on the dipstick, but the dipstick got real dirty looking, so I cleaned it and it looks good again. Im loosing coolant though. I check compression on all 4 cylinders, and I get 175, 180, 182, 180
I heard that the timing chain could cause a hole in a water passage, and Im starting to hear some noise on startup that may be the chain but I have not looked at it yet. Any ideas? if a hole gets in the water passage from the chain, would I not see the water in the oil on the dipstick? :cry:

crash

Best advice, pull the valve cover, and look down into the timing chain guide, you will see if the guide is in a zillion pieces and the chain slappin on the cover.. What can happen, ends up with a very small fracture in the cover, than can at times only let a VERY small amout of coolant into the oil.. If thats not it, you got either a head gasket issue or a crack in the head.

CTB

Just out of curiousity...how would coolant get into the oil if the timing chain guide were broken

crash

Well, the timing chain runs in the internal parts of the motor,and when the guide goes ba-bye, the chain runs on the alumimum timing cover. The coolant sys gets pressureized when it gets hot and goes into the internal part of the motor, and then mixes with the oil....

CTB

Thanks crash, it would probably be easier to understand if we were actually looking at an engine!

crash

Very much so, you can only elaberate so much on how something looks without a physical model in front of you.

williemon

I checked out the guide. Pulled the valve cover (easy) and shined a flashlight in. Guide is still there and looks good. There is a lot of slack on that side (drivers) of the chain. Is it supposed to be like that when not running?

So now that I know the guide is good and its not the chain slamming the timing cover, is the only other thing to do is to pull the head?? Should I dump in some stop leak and let it ride? Did I do anything wrong, or not do something I should have when I flushed and refilled the cooling system? Could I still have the compression numbers Im getting with a cracked or warped head or bad gaskit?

Shane

Don't forget to check your heater hoses, and look around the block right below the head/block joint for water stains. Check the interior side of the firewall and under the passenger side carpet for leaks from the heater core.

Robinhood150

When I had my HG replaced for the second time on my V6 I had the same rough idle. My money is on the headgasket.

Steve

growinseed

There are two guides, one on each side. The driver side my be in the oil pan! I have just found this in my '85 22R. The chain sould not be loose. Both OEM and aftermarket guides in the '85 and later engines are plastic with after market having a greater tendancy to shatter. Your timing chain tensioner may also be worn, has become grooved by the sharpened TC from slapping on the TC cover. With the valve cover off you should see the tops of both guide and the should be no slack in the chain. I found some metal backed guilds @ DOA racing. Tim has a good price on the whole kit. IMO its time to pull the head and replace the timing kit. When you have it apart check to make sure you don't have two grooves on the inside of the timing chain cover on the back of the water passage. A pin hole is all it takes. you may be able to fide a machine shop that can repair aluminum or it time to source a new TCC. One bit of advice when pulling the head... Don't forget the small bolt holding the front of the head down. Its under the distributer shaft and is likily covered with oil. It you forget it the chance of cracking the TCC is likely. Also my cylinder head shop told me the ONLY long lasting headgasket for Toyota's is OEM. I visually compared them with others and the design and material are superior. the extra cash is worth it. looks like you have some wrench turning ahead.
Good luck
Nathan