fixed my timing chain!
 

surgery was successful! got the timing chain changed. took a few days to do. now it runs better than before! the stupid plastic chain guide was completely gone. i probably shoulda looked around and tried to find a steel one, but oh well. it's done now. the chain wore a groove down the side of the timing chain cover about an 1/8" thick. sorry my digital camera sucks so the picture is blurry, but you can still see what it did.

also, what would you guys recommend me setting my timing at to a combo of maximum performance/fuel efficiency on a 22re? i haven't set the timing yet. just got it running "decent".

Sweet. The same thing happened to mine. Cut into the cover and shattered the plastic. Did you drop the oil pan and get all of the plastic chunks? They can get sucked up to the screen and starve the engine for oil.

I paid $600 total to have mine done, with a steel guide, so you have my respect. I couldn't do it. Yet.

nah, the guide wasn't actually completely gone, it just broke the top chunk off and dropped down to where it wasn't doing any good. but i'd say about 90% of it came out in one piece. i asked my buddy (who does TONS of work on toyota engines as well as other engines) if i should worry about a small chunk like that and he said no. he also said it was a major pain in teh butt to do and that he wouldn't do it if it were him.

Yea, it's definitely a pain in the ass. They had to drop the diff down, then the oil pan, and getting the oil pan back on was a pain.

The whole guide was shattered into peices maybe 3x3 cm. Fun stuff.

It'll be great driving it once your done. It will be so much smoother.

im ordering the factory service manual in a few days and once i get it i will be looking into doing my own chain to save the 600$ labor also.... i was wondering if u could give me any helpful hints? was it easy or hard? if ive only done things like pulleys, exhaust, oil changes, plugs/wires do u think i could tackle this? any info would be alot of help im kinda scared but i wanna learn... thanks - steve

Is the chick in your avatar holding what I think she's holding? :spank:

tenfourtyeight, it's already a LOT smoother. can't wait to get it timed just right.

grafix, i strictly followed this link and it got me through it. just be SURE to mark every bolt you pull out. i think i had like 3 or 4 bolt diagrams that i drew on paper cuz they use a lot of different sized bolts. i also enlisted the help of one of my buddies who is better at this kind of thing than i am. and the 2 of us did it together, i learned a CRAPLOAD. here's the link. good luck!

http://www.4x4wire.com/toyota/maintenance/timingchain/

damn based on that link that looks like a ton of crap to do... it kinda scares me in a way but id much rather pay 100$ for the manual and try to diy instead of paying 600$ labor, im kinda stuck now on what i should do i dont wanna mess anything up. - steve

to be honest with you, i'm quite a novice with engine work myself and i found a LOT in that writeup to be WAY to simplified for me. (they explain a breaker bar in EXTREME detail, for example, when all they had to say was "if you can't get a bolt undone, put a piece of pipe over the wrench for more torque"). seriously, find someone who has done some engine work and is willing to work for food, and i think you'll be fine.

I am doing my chain this weekend so I don't have any first-hand experience yet, but there seems to be some pretty detailed instructions here: http://www.4crawler.com/4x4/CheapTri...ingChain.shtml

The timing should be on the tune-up sticker on the hood. I think its 8 btdc, but I think some folks run12 btdc. mines carbed. so its 0 degrees w/vac to advance disconnected

grafix43: For the timing chain cover bolts draw a picture on cardboard and put holes threw it where the bolts go. As you pull them off put them in the correct spot on the cardboard timing cover. The exploded views in the FSM are very specific for internal parts. Take good pictures of vacuum routing and label both end of any vac line disconnected. Masking tape and a pack of colored 'sharpies' works great. I used the same color for each system and a number of dots to mark each line within that system. If your pulling the head to do the job spend the money on new OEM head bolts. Breaking on off on reassembly sucks.
The 22r timing change was my first 'major' engine work a few years back
Good luck and happy wrenching
Cheers
Nathan

i don't see why anyone would have to remove the head to do this job. i can understand the oil pan, to get the chunks out and whatnot, but not the head. not at all.