Hey everybody. This is L33T35T (jason's) girlfriend. We took my truck to a stealership because Mechanic #1 said it needed a valve adjustment hot and cold and mechanic #2 said it was a shim adjustment so he couldnt do it and only the dealer could do it properly. so the dealership got a hold of it and found all these problems. the timing chain guide is no longer in existance and the chain has stretched out and has been slapping against the timing chain walls. now the walls are badly scored.

The dealer wanted 600 dollars for different parts (chain, guard, seals, timing chain cover) and the labor was 11 units at $85/hour. total was coming out to $1600. we said no way and had it towed out of there for just the price of tear down (154).

took it back to mechanic #2 and he is now saying it would be more cost effective to replace the engine. both jason and I are unsure of which we should do and are coming here for advice. we havent been given a price for a new engine installed yet. the mechanic says he can get an engine from japan (same 22re) with only 30,000 miles on it. something about they cant drive their engines over 30,000 miles over there, i dont know. thanks for the advice

Trisha and Jason

1990 4runner 4x4 22re 5 speed. 205k miles on engine. engine has always been maintained religiously, no major problems ever, original owner.

 

hey everybody could you help her out? thanks, she needs to get back on the road soon

oh ya, congrats on your first post sweetie, even thoguh i typed it. ya, get out of my head, again, quit saying stuff while im typing it.

 

Welcome!!! I'd go to engnbldr and order a 22re timing belt water pump etc kit then adjust the valves yourself by following the FSM...I've seen a couple of people do it and it doesn't seem that tough, alot easier then the 3.0. Doing the work yourself will give you alot of knowledge about your motor too.

 

AHHHH, how sweet! :cry:

 

The valve adjustment is a piece of cake, as is the timing chain repair. First things first, you need to take a good look at the timing cover and check the areas its scored. Check to make sure that it hasn't scored it so bad that coolant leaks out near the water pump area and related passages. If the scoring isn't that bad (feel free to post some pics), I would reuse it. As far as the timing chain goes, piece of cake to change, I can email you some info and guide you through the process, only basic hand tools are needed. Same goes for the valve adjustment... I have yet to see shims needed, so I don't know what they were talking about there... feel free to pm me, and don't fret, this is an easy fix.... I wouldn't even think of replacing the whole engine....

 

hey cory, even though it has 205k miles on it, you wouldnt consider replacing it? it might just be the start of things to come..

 

Timing chain kit is not very expensive. Probally looking at less than 200 in parts. Valves don't require shims to adjust. Simply a 12mm wrench, a flat head screwdriver, and a set of feeler guages.


I say pull the valve cover and look down at the timing chain, it might be ok. Cause if #2 told you that you need shims to adjust the valves, hes smoking crack.

 

you beat me to it.....

 

did ANY of the 22REs use shims to adjust?

 

Not that I'm aware of, I could be wrong but I though the 3.0 was Shims?

 

nope. no 22RE ever used shims for the valve adjustment. don't ever let the guy who told you that work on the engine.

as mentioned above, both the valve adjustment and the t-chain are pretty easy jobs. together they will cost you about $60 in parts (plus another $50 or so if you need a new t-chain cover). get the kit with the steel backed driver's side guide from www.engnbldr.com. you may also need to buy a some tools (like feeler gauges for the valves) if you don't have them.

the valves will prolly take an hour or so if it is your first time. the t-chain will prolly take 10 hours or so (it's not that difficult, just time consuming because you have to remove a the power steering pump, alternator, etc.).

here is a link to a write-up on adjusting the valves.

http://www.off-road.com/toyota/tech/22rvalves/

here are two links to write-ups on replacing the t-chain:

http://www.4crawler.com/4x4/CheapTri...ingChain.shtml
http://www.4x4wire.com/toyota/maintenance/timingchain/

 

Ditto to LittleRedToyota's advice and references on doing it yourself.

The timing chain is a common, everyday type of thing for engines with your kind of mileage, just standard maintenance really so jump in there and have fun.

Oh yeah, and let the GF go cuss out those damn robber wrenches for trying to get over on you two.

 

Dont know if it was said above

3.0 uses shims to maintain valve lash. 20r, 22r, and 22re all use the older method.

I agree, dont let that guy touch your car.

 

Ditto again on the DIY. Seeing as the valve adjustment is done with the motor warm, you should take care of the t-chain first. At 205k miles, that motor is just getting broken in! Look for threads on here, and elsewhere, how many miles these motors can go with regular maintenance.

 

I did the shim adjustment on my 3vze v6. PITA to do but worth it - I only WISH my valves were as easy to adjust as yours!!! Timing chain, guides, waterpump should be easy as well. 100% DIY.

There are quite a few Factory Service Repair Manuals (FSRM) bouncing around out there on the net. Get yourself one!

Good luck and props on the first post - looks like a nice 2nd gen ya got there.

 

Thank you guys sooo much!! I just decided that I'm going to dive in there and do it myself. Expect a lot more posts from me asking questions on how to do it and all that good stuff. Thank you again!

 

Same thing happened to me recently, but my engine only had about 50k on it since the rebuild (lousy jerkwad who rebuilt it went out of business - I wonder why?) I had bought a dual row timing chaing kit from LC Engineering and the labor was over 600 bucks, but I also had a few other things done.


205k miles isn't really extreme mileage with the R series motors, but it's something to think about because it's getting to the point where you will need other things soon, so it's not really a bad idea...something to think about.


I'd stay very far away from Japan motors. For starters, think about this: A friend of mine who has been with Toyota parts & service for a couple decades said that a lot of times they change the filter but not the oil, because they know that they have to get a new engine at 30k, which is nothing on these engines. Many times they just don't bother to keep up on the maintenance because they know the engine will last that long. Besides....you already have a used engine, why buy another used engine?

...and that's my two "sense"....

 

So far, I can't add much to what these guys are saying.

If you are looking at having to buy tools to do this, BUY good stuff. Go to Sears and drop the cash on a decent starter set.

This set here is about all you really need. I would recommend adding also 17 and 19 mm as well as the 15/16 and 1 inch wrenches and sockets to go with it. The 19 MM is the same as a 3/4" wrench, so it wouldn't be as critical as the 17mm. The 17mm is a must have though.

Along with a decent set of ballpeen hammers, screwdrivers and a decent set of pliers, you will be set to tackle this job easily.

Most of the bigger sets don't include screw drivers, hammers or pliers and are either metric or SAE, but not both.

It's about $250 for all of it, but you will have to tools to just aobut do anything you will be able to get comfortable with on your truck.

 

yeah, investing in a good set of tools will pay for itself over and over again...

that's cool that you are going to do the job yourself...we'll be here to answer questions if you have any.

the t-chain job is actually a lot of fun...it's pretty neat to tear that far into your engine. it's also pretty neat when you are done and think to yourself "hehe...i just saved a whole bunch of money."

one tip...as you take stuff off, put the bolts back in the brackets/holes if you can, that way you will know what bolts go where when you put it back together. another neat trick if you think you might forget how something goes back together is to put tape on each piece where they meet and write the same number or letter on the two pieces of tape.

if you take your time taking everything apart, putting it back together is a snap.

 

Thanks for the tips!