After theorizing that my newly purchased ’85 pickup needed a timing chain job, I began the teardown today. When I dropped the oil pan I found huge chucks of guide material. Their presence must have interfered with oil pickup…but since the truck only has an idiot light for oil pressure, I can only speculate how much. I pulled off the timing cover. The guides appeared to be intact, but the drivers side was loose (not tightened down?), and a bit grooved. However, the chain tensioner was almost fully extended, appeared jammed, and the chain was very loose.

I disassembled the tensioner, and found it filled with black, gritty paste. Probably this was it’s own wear debris, since most of the pad was gone.

My lesson? Sure it’s a dirty, filthy, nasty part of the chain job but…always clean that pan! Don’t take shortcuts.
I think the last person to change the timing chain, did not clean the pan. This led to a drop in oil pressure, and premature failure of the chain tensioner, which led to premature failure of the chain and/or gears.

Gods only know what my rod/main bearings look like.

 

I'm about to change my timing chain also. Any recomendations or advice on pain in the ass things?

 

if you do it with the head on be very careful not to pinch the part of the head gasket that extends out between the timing cover and head.

also it is easier to get the chain on the cam gear with the timing cover off than it is with it on because you can push the tensioner with your hand instead of trying to get something down the hole to push it in or fight with the chain and sprocket to get it on the cam.

oh and dont't forget about the bolt right under the distributor drive gear that sits in an oil puddle.

 

I went with the full kit from engine builder that I think you recomended.

 

metal guide?

 

i think so. I just was reading mixed reviews on metal vs. plastic

 

This is only my second 22r/rec chain job (I did my ’87 Runner IFS also) so I’m certainly no expert…that's why I joined this board, because I found inteleega...intalen...smart people here I can learn from. But here’s my list of Do/Don’t/and Oh –my-God-my-hair’s-on-fire! Look out fors that I go by.

HAIR ON FIRE!
A. Make notes of where the bolts/nuts on the timing cover go. I used the cardboard diagram-stick-bolts-in-the-hole type. Get the wrong bolt in the wrong hole here and it’s coolant in the oil time, and a new timing cover at least.
B. Drop the axle (on IFS) and then drop and clean oil pan on this job.
C. DON’T MOVE THE CRANK WHEN THE CHAIN IS OFF AND HEAD IS ON. BENT VALVES!
D. Don’t over tighten the oil pan! I did on my ’87, and I got a big fat oily ball of sh-t instead of a pan now. Leaks baby, leaks!
E. Don’t neglect the vibration damper seal surface. It gets a grove in it that, if you don’t put one of those sleeve things over, will leak oil like a MF.
F. Unless it’s like 12hrs since you put a new one on, replace the water pump. They’re cheap, it’s off anyways, and I didn’t on my ’87 and the old one failed 3 months after the chain job and the loose impeller goadged out my timing gear cover…result, my truck kept over heating because the coolant was flowing the wrong way.
Do:
Get all tools together, and cleaned. (Nothing like forgetting to tighten a Jesus nut because I was looking for my lost Metric adjustable wrench)
Get a comfortable work area. (Nothing makes for shortcuts than an uncomfortable work environment)
Get all reference sources (shop manuals, internet pages, knowledgeable friends, psychic hot-line phone numbers) together before starting.
Get as many of the parts needed to do the job ahead of time.
Degrease, degrease, degrease. I’m less likely to take shortcuts if I’m not chopping away at 25 years of accumulated engine oil just to find the valve cover.
When possible, get a spare source of transportation arranged…even if I think the job will be done in time to leave for work…it never is.
Make lots of drawings, notes, diagrams, and digital photos of stuff I’m working on. I don’t have enough RAM under my hat to remember where everything was.
Get lots of rags

Don’t
A. Judge the success or failure of a project before it’s completed.
B. Pay any attention to the hype manufacturers use to sell their products.
C. Get pissed and throw you breaker bar into a cow pasture like I’ve done. Just walk away for a few minutes. When I run into a problem I can’t fig’r out, I walk away for a time…. Usually, an answer comes to me when I do that.

 

what if you put a big magnet on the bottom of your oil pan? after you clean of course, just so that if there is any metal debris it sticks to the bottom of the pan instead of clogging the oil pickup and possibly thrashing your engine

 

The po of my truck, payed a shop $1700 to replace the timing cover and guides after they wore through. Then the po put 30k miles on the truck in one year, it got a rod knock and then he sold it to me for $1600 .

I pulled the pan, found a crap load of plastic in the bottom, and replaced the rod bearings and 8k miles later I still have good oil pressure. *knock on wood*.

I don't get how someone could pay $1700 to fix the timing chain and they don't even pull the pan. I have the receipts, I can buy a rebuilt motor for $600.

 

Well, I think I figured out why my tensioner jammed. As I stated above (Hair on fire)…it’s imperative to put the right bolts, in the right holes, on the timing cover. The maniac who last worked on this engine didn’t. Probably drank his bong water one too many times. The result was a jammed chain tensioner, because the bolt used was too long, and punched a hole clean through the cover, right into said device. That’s why I’m wrench’n on this truck. When you do yours, look at the inside of your case to make sure you don’t have any spare holes like I have.