I have a 1984 pickup 22r. Been a project for a while now. So today I was bored so I figured I'd put the new valve cover gasket on that id had forever. Opened up it up and set the new, but before I closed it up I saw a little piece of sludge sitting loosely beside a valve. So I grabbbed it and tossed t out. (It felt like a little nugget). Tightened everything back up tans cranked it up. No oil pressure surge /oil light came on then a knock before I turned it off immediately. DID I KNOCK SOME SLUDGE LOOSE? What should I do??

 

Dislodging the nugget of sludge probably didn't hurt anything. Was the nugget hard like a rock? What I'd worry about is that a passage was blocked. The oil light usually indicates really low oil, passage between the oil pump and oil sensor is blocked or oil pump failure.

I'm no pro, but this is what I'd do if it were my truck. Check the oil level first to see if there's any oil on the dipstick. If no, fill it up and try starting it again if you feel real lucky. If there was some oil, drain and strain it to see if you can find other signs of foreign matter. Then remove the filter and cut it open to see if it was blocked and being bypassed. If you see anything out of the ordinary you need to pull the oil pan and check the bearings.

 

So if something broke loose under the valve cover...where would it go from there? Would it go back to the oil pan? Next thing I'm going to do is drop the pan and check the pickup screen.

 

There was more sludge under there but I didn't want it dislodge anything to avoid what has happened. (My luck). Is there any recommendations to clean the oil passages if they are clogged?

 

And yes it was hard like a rock. Was also a lot more of the hard sludge in there.

 

My 84 has been a bit of a project too. Has yours been sitting for a long time? and What kind of oil have you been using?

 

Hmm, that's not great news. Sounds like at some point the OCI's were way too long. You can try flushing the engine with a commercial product, but there's a serious risk of blocking it up worse doing that.

As far as I know, the only guaranteed way to free a blocked passage is to strip the block down (remove oil galley plugs and freeze plugs too) and get it hot tanked. You can buy a set of engine brushes from harbor freight, but again that could just push the blockage in more.

You could be looking at a full teardown and rebuild...

Hopefully someone with more direct experience will chime in and point you in the best direction to avoid unnecessary work.

 

Thanks for all the responses. I just got in from pulling the oil pan to check the pickup. Pickup was fine. I did find some chain tensioners and some silicone gasket in their along with a spring. I expected to find some tensioners in there. Truck sat for a long time after my grand father passed. The guy that had it last must have never changed the oil. It's a shame the truck only has 115k on it. Not sure what to do next. Since I need a chain and tensioners maybe I need to find someone to rebuild it for me. Terrible timing, building a house and having a baby. Not to mention I just regearded it and added a locker.

 

Chain tensioners and springs? As in "The chain tensioner"? If it isn't on there you probably bent some valves.

 

Yes the plastic timing chain tensioner that breaks around 100k miles. Wasn't sure about the spring though, not sure where that came from.

 

If your fairly mechanical it isn't hard to rebuild that motor. The bottom end is the easy part. Probably about 1/2 of us just buy a new fully built head and bolt it all together. Read about it and watch a few you tube videos. Getting you block stripped and hot tanked will probably take as much time as doing the bottom end. If the crank isn't scored or gouged then you can probably just buy new bearings. For it.

 

those are timeing chain guides, vertical pieces to either side on the face of the block.

The tensioner and it's spring, are located on the face of the block also. They look like. A door latch sort of, a mounting flange piston spring and triangle bit... Let me try and find a photo and not loose my post

 

I think you mean guide, not tensioner, but I'm not sure!

Timing chain job is not that bad. Get a dual row setup from LCE. great thing about the 22R from 1984 and older is that the timing cover and valve cover you have work with a dual row setup. I did my oil pump and water pump while I was there, everything ended up being less than $500. Maybe $400 I think. Yes you should check your rings bearing caps etc but if it's just the timing, you can do it in a few days.

I used this: http://www.4crawler.com/4x4/CheapTricks/EngineMods/TimingChain.shtml

 

Pictured below is the tensioner, and a source Link, it's a timing chain repair thread..



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describe or photo the spring, and someone might be able to ID it

 

Thanks a lot guys. And yes I did mean the guides not tensioner lol, it's been a stressful day. I definitely think I could rebuild it with the help of videos and you guys, just Tough without the space to do it.

 

Lol bro I had to do mine in my front yard with my tools and parts in the cab.. it sucked!!!! A lot!!! Hahaha just BAG AND TAG BABY.... Only way to do it.

 

Something does'nt look right in that image.

Looks like the chain is on the wrong side of the guide, or is it just becaust the guide is all broken up??


Edit: I guess I see it better now, That chain is really stretched!!

 

That's like worst case stuff there for sure. Looks like it snapped the guide the guide rotated some reason and wedges the chain against the timing cover. Must sound horrible.

 

Did you have a shake test on the crank and rods bearings while you are under there. If you haven't resealed it that's the next step. Find where that noise is coming from, pop the valve cover and oil pan inspect for more debris and no bearing play. Then inspect the chain tensioner is contacting the chain and there isn't any excess slack on that passenger side of the chain.

lets assume the pebble of gunk the engine noise and your recent gasket, are all coincidental with the noise..

You started it up it made noise and the light came on so you shut down..

The oil pressure switch is located directly after the pump, so if it has oil in the pan and the pick up tube is reasonably clear the next check should be the pump.