1986 4runner 22re that i just redid the top end on. New timing chain set, hg, all new gaskets, wires cap/rotor, filters. Everything is new. I was sure that i didthe chain right, but after looking under the valve cover today, i dont think i did. The distributor is set correctly, but the lobe on the exhauston the #1 cylinder is not fully closed like it should be. Itsjust about to open. I cam almost wiggleit but its juuust starting to open. Am i off a tooth or what? Truck wont start unless the crank is set way past the *5 or *0 mark. Like 24* atdc then it purrslike a kitten, but has no power whatsoever. Valves are adjusted.. any ideas?

 

Either your mechanical timing is off or the distributor is off by a tooth. Verify TDC with a screwdriver and see where the rotor is pointing. Make a mark in the distributor housing where the #1 spark plug wire is on the distributor cap. Set distributor so it is in the middle of its available settings. You may have to take the distributor out and in again several times to get it spot on.

 

Yeah probably a tooth of at the cam. Verify piston at tdc and cam dowel at 12, remember the divit is to the left of center..

 

i was of several teeth... I dont know how i managed to do that. ive been through a few 22res before but for some reason i had it like 6 teeth CW. i readjusted everything so now its mechanically in perfect time. The distributor is also in perfect time. i go to crank the engine and it just cranks and cranks and cranks and cranks. im not 180 out, i triple checked. I have spark and fuel. what gives? it ran before..

 

Spark, fuel and compression.. Double check compression. 6 teeth is something like 20-30° iirc. If you set valve lash that far off on the cam timing I expect its not to spec. Didn't you say you couldn't quite wiggle the rocker arms at "tdc"?

edit: or you forgot to plug somethings back in?

 

OK, so for those of you who find this helpful in the future, i have no freakin' clue how i had the chain so off. i did this project in small doses over months, and i really am baffled as to how this could have happened. its hard to mess this up. the new chain came with 2 dark links and everything, not that that matters. the crankshaft gear and the cam gear must not have been lined up, and in fact the cam was exactly 6 teeth advanced or too far clockwise. i got it to run somehow but with no power, well my friends, dont do what i did, because now i have to take my engine apart again and fix a bunch of bent valves. cylinders arent holding pressure anymore.. Make sure your timing is spot on, and you wont be miserable like me. Its ok though, you live you learn. Everybody bitches about Subaru engines, but i prefer them hands down to these Toyota motors, for any internal work..

 

Before you take anything apart verify that the cam is not holding the valves open. All so check your crank pulley. The metal belt section and the part that bolts to the crank are two separate pieces of metal with a think section of rubber between the two. The rubber will fail with age allowing the outer portion to rotate separate from the inner section. This makes finding tdc with the timing marks impossible. That's why we recommend finding tdc with a dowel and not the timing marks.