scmedic

Hi,

I'm thinking about dropping the pan on my 85 4runner / 22re to check the rod bearings. I'd always thought this was supposed to be straight forward with the solid front axle trucks but the FSM talks about unbolting the engine from the motor mounts and jacking up the engine at the transmission connection. Does anyone know if there is any easier way to get the pan out?

Thanks for any info!
Mark

Yoda

Just did our 85 yesterday. Easy job. If you don't have a front lift (ours is 3") you might need to jack up the front to let the solid axle drop down a little bit.

We had hammered bearings, changed them all in 1 afternoon. All the wear was on the TOP bearings at the front. (alt & steering belt too tight???)

scmedic

Thanks for the info! I will give that a try. Just curious; did you replace all the rod bearings with a standard size set? I have a little bit of a rod knock, so I was planning to go in, and plastigage the bearing clearances, then measure the bearing thicknesses to see if I need any oversize bearings (due to loss of material on the journals or crank).

I haven't done this job before so don't know if that is really necessary. If I'd rather just pull the pan, put in new bearings, and be done with it. Any advice?

Thanks again,
Mark

Yoda

Ours had been rebuilt before (had .25mm os bearings on rods and mains)
The crank looked good, so bought the same size. Plastigage showed just under .002 inch clearance (best is .001, max is .0036)

Son says it shows more oil pressure than ever before.

It is rough getting the top (block side) bearings out. I started by tapping with a screwdriver tip to get them loose, then worked them out. I would loosen all the main caps about 3 full bolt turns, then change them 1 at a time. That would give you a little room to work with those top bearings.
# 3 cap also has the thrust bearings. Good time to change those, too

To do the rods, put 1 & 4 all the way down and change them, then rotate 1/2 turn of crank and do 2 & 3

Watch the little index notches for the bearings. The main caps have a "point" that goes to the front (so they don't get put on backwards), the rod caps did too.

Main caps = 19mm = 76 lbs torq
Rod caps = 14mm = 46 lbs torq

NAPA #s (add the oversize if needed)
Rods = CB1218P (4 sets)
Mains = MS1590P (1 set)
Thrust = TW463S (std size only)

scmedic

David,

Thanks again for all the tips; The extra info should definitely help speed things along once I get under the truck. I'll let you know how it goes!

Mark

scmedic

UPDATE:

I dropped the pan and changed all the bearings (rods, mains, thrust) using Yoda's tips last weekend. The job was pretty straight forward; I jacked up the front of the frame a couple of inches (kept the front tires on the ground) and the pan cleared the front axle, no problem.

The bearing clearances on the crank were all around 0.002" with the new bearings but I still have a bit of a rod knock. I'm thinking it's probably a wrist pin so think I'm going to have to pull the whole 22RE.

I've read all the old threads on pulling the 22R's and think I'm going to try to pull the engine without the tranny (auto). I've done 22RE heads a few times so am familiar with the wiring / vacuum line mess but haven't pulled an engine out of one of these yet. Any tips are appreciated!

vwfastg60

they are cake. I just picked up an 85 runner and in about an hour maybe an hour an a half we had the motor ready to be plucked out. I usually pull the manifold bolts from the bottom, and while im under there the bottom bellhousing bolts. catch the starter on the way up. and if you have a/c pull the compressor off. the only bolts that are a pain are the ones on the top of the motor.they are below the head and almost seem to be under the firewall....those take about as long as pulling everything out lol.

merace19

I too just pulled and replaced 2 engines one on a 84 and one on a 83. THIS trick will help. Go to walmart and go to the toyo section and get a set of those really cheap painting sets. The ones that are all together in row and you have like 8 different colors. I painted each electrical connection male and female part. and vaccum hoses(theres like a million of them). the same color. I had 2 sets and could change up the colors to help. Made a difference on returning it to stock. I even did it on the water pump and oil pump bolts to make damn sure they went back in the same hole they came out of. But i steam cleaned my motor prior to pulling before painting. So if your engine is oily or real dirty it may not stick.. I did not care if water got into it cause i was tearing it down any how. But over all the engine is real easy to pull. Just undo the 18mm nut(1each side) on top of the motor mounts and the bolts that go into the transmission. Undo the A/C compressor and lay it to the side and tie up. Take the hoses off the power steering pump and stick them into each other and tie up high to prevent draining. You do not want to try and take the power streering pump off. Its a real pain in A$$. Remove the radiator and hoses. and strap a lift to the engine on the 2 lift points. front and rear. Lift it about 2 inches. Just enough to get the bolts out of the motor mounts. Then slide a pieice of wood 4x4 from spring to spring under your transmission so it does not fall when the motor comes out. Now wiggle it and lift a few more inches. Push the truck back or pull back on the lift and then stick a pry bar in between the trans and engine and pry apart. Mine both poped casue they never apart before. There is 2 dowels that align the trans and engine together they are short about 1/2 inch. After that the engine should come forward a few more inches to clear the clutch. If you have a auto then you need to remove the trans cover on the bottom and the 5 bolts that hold the converter to the engine. I normally take the converter out with the engien and dont remove the bolts. But it is up to you as you can damage the converer if not careful.

merace19

Putting back in is the oposite of removing except you take the motor mount off the passenger side frame. This way you can wiggle the engine into place over the drivers side bolt. Then just install the mount on passenger side once the engine is in place. The 2 bolts at the top of the transmission is the hardest part of the deal. But a 17 mm and a real long extention with a wobble and its out of there.

merace19

thanks?/ no thanks? any thing?

phorunninduke

he didn't ask anything about removing the engine.

merace19

Yes he did.
I've read all the old threads on pulling the 22R's and think I'm going to try to pull the engine without the tranny (auto). I've done 22RE heads a few times so am familiar with the wiring / vacuum line mess but haven't pulled an engine out of one of these yet. Any tips are appreciated!

phorunninduke

ah, didnt see it.

toyaholic

something that i figured out after pulling and reinstalling my 22re was that those pesky top bellhousing bolts do not have to be that difficult. they are plain as day accessible from the wheel wells with the vehicle jacked up and the tires removed for even more room. a simple wrench in hand and maybe a cheater bar if needed. next time you have your truck jacked up, take a good look and see if you can find them.
i got to mine, or a friend should i say, got them from the top standing over the engine bay with the head still attached when we originally pulled the motor. don't know how exactly except for a lot of cussin' and frustration.

scmedic

Sorry for the delay in getting back up, and thanks for all the advice!

I took a look at the bolts on the top of the bell housing and it looks like it might be possible to get at them with an end wrench?

I'm going to try to get started soon since the rain and cold weather is right around the corner and I don't have a garage right now. Will let you know how it goes...

I'm hoping pulling this motor will be the last major task in getting this 85 back together. I picked it up in the spring of '06 but haven't had a lot of time to work on it, so getting it a point where I'm happy driving it has been slow going. I'll try to post some pictures of it once everything is done.

scmedic

Update in case anyone is following this thread:

I finally got some time to pull the engine and was able to do everything in about 5 hours (unplug and unbolt everything, pull the motor, mount it on a stand). I got all the rebuild supplies from engnbldr.com and am planning to start the rebuild tonight.

Pulling the engine went pretty smoothly; Since I'm rebuilding the motor I decided to pull off the throttle body and wiring harness before lifting out the engine. Other than that, I left as many components connected to the engine as I could.

I was able to get the infamous two top bellhousing bolts out using a 12 point / 17mm box wrench and a breaker bar, and coming in from the side. Once I made a couple of turns with the wrench, I was able to just turn each bolt by hand to get it the rest of the way out. I did the top bolts first, not sure if that made a difference.

Will try to get some pics of the motor rebuild up here soon.

toyaholic

sweet, rock on.