richf

Alright so I just recently got the truck running after 3 years (1985 4runner 5spd EFI) and I noticed it had a knock. I didn't notice this 3 years ago but its been 3 years I really don't remember. Anyways I narrowed it down to 4 things: low oil (nope not that I checked the oil and filled to correct level), Valve adjustment (I'm going to do that tonight), bad rod bearing and then I popped the valve cover off this afternoon and found this.

Now this is the end of the valve cover that sits on top of the timing chain and I also thought the slack in the chain on the right side of this picture was not normal. Can anyone conform that slack on the right side is not normal and would to much slack in the chain cause a knock?


Thanks for the help.

xxxtreme22r

looks like to me that valve cover was on way way waaayyy to tight. Absolutely no reason slack or not that the chain and sprocket should rub on the valve cover. I am surprised there is no marks from the rockers coming in contact with it.

Now one other possibility and I can't tell from the bottom of that valve cover only the top, is that that valve cover is for a pre 85 22r or 20 r motor.

BTW, you can't tell much of anything from a photo as far as slack goes.

richf

I just ran and checked the rockers and other areas of the valve cover and no marks so i'm good there. As for the chain let me explain it a little better. The left side in the picture is tight and the right side is loose to the point that you can pick the chain up but not off the gear.

thanks for the help.

xxxtreme22r

perfectly normal the chain tensioner will pull that slack in when the engine is running, unless the tensioner is shot or your not getting oil pressure at all anywhere, I am pretty sure even with that little bit of slack it should still not be close enough to rub on the valve cover. Maybe a combo of the two, a little bit of slack and too tight of a valve cover? but I doubt it. My timing chain was pretty loose too on my 87 and had 172,000 miles on it and I never had that groove in my valve cover. Been on here for over a year and have never seen it anyway. Just the rubbing on the timing cover but not the valve cover.

richf

interesting you brought up oil pressure. I'm about to go pick a new oil pressure sender for my SR5 cluster to get it working again. Did you bring up lack of oil pressure because I mentioned adding oil in my original post?

xxxtreme22r

no. just the tensioner for the chain is operated by oil pressure. there is a spring on it but it's not that strong.

xxxtreme22r

I am curious though if someone with a little more experience with these have seen the chain rub on that valve cover before, so I would wait to see if anyone else seems to chime in on this before taking my word on it.

richf

10-4. thanks

E-ROC

i just changed my timing chain (22re) a couple days ago and it had no marks on the valve cover. it did however eat thru the timing cover to mix the two ingredients that make motor milkshakes. the plastic guide on the right side (looking at motor) broke in pieces that i found and pulled out of the oil pan and rocker galley. that caused some noise that led me to check for problems.

richf

Alright I just did my first valve adjustment. .008 on the intake and .012 or the exhaust. Now it just ticks the knock I heard has gone away. How load are this engines supposed to tick from the valves?

A-ron

I'm sure your timing chain is fine for now anyway, if your TC was that wornout the drivers side guide would be broken to bits, well if its the stock plastic one. Even tho I havent seen a TC hit the top of the cover like that I'm sure it could happen if the cover was on to tight. Make sure you have the right cover gasket and re-assemble and seen if you stil hear any bad noises. BTW you head looks amazing beautifully clean! I'm jealous!

A-ron

22R are the noisest engines i have ever heard im sure its fine if you set the rocker lash

richf

I'm going to post a video in a few minutes. I have to figure out how first.

richf

Here is the video click on the picture.

xxxtreme22r

there is nothing right about that chain hitting the valve cover.

how tight did you tighten those acorn nuts? should not be tight at all almost hand tight. maybe a 1/4 turn past hand tight. that's definitely a 22r valve cover. what year is your engine? Any possibility that that is a different generation valve cover as I mentioned earlier.

xxxtreme22r

BTW, i can hear the valves tick which is fine, but I can also hear at idle either the chain hitting the valve cover sounds real similar to when the valves hit the cover. but it goes away at higher rpm which leads me to believe its the chain hitting. The reason why it goes away is because there is more oil pressure being supplied to that chain tensioner. I'd hate to say it, but it looks as though you might have to do a timing chain jobby and the tensioner is bad because it's not keeping the chain tight at idle. This is assuming your oil pressure at idle is sufficient.

richf

I assume the engine is also a original 85 22re. When I bought the truck 3 years ago that is what came in it. I didn't ask if it had the original engine. I did see on the ecu what I thought said 22r. Would the fuel injection still work if it had the old ecu?

Edit I also bought a new pressure sender gauge that I'll be putting in shortly. For some reason the plug that came off the old one doesn't look like the ones I have seen in pictures on here. I have a SR5 gauge cluster BTW.

toyota4x4907

Its just saying its for a 22r engine. The "ecu" from a carb'd truck would not be able to support an efi engine. 22r is just the general name for these engines, whether 22r, 22re, 22rec or 22rte.

toyota4x4907

It does sound like a pretty normal 22r(e) minus the knocking noise at idle. You can try to tighten the valve lash just a little tighter than spec, maybe .007/.011. People have done that with mixed results. Also, try a heavier or lighter oil. See if either make a difference in sound, oil pressure, etc.

Are you sure you ordered an oil pressure SENDER not an oil pressure SWITCH? is it OEM or after market?

A-ron

If your engine has more than 120K it couldnt hurt to replace the TC now and that would eliminate that, as for the lifters i would leave the lash at stock and leave them be unless you decide to cam it then you could evaluate the lifters and replace if needed and get a new set of adjusters. The timing chain is cheap and fairly easy to replace, just did one last week took me 4 hours.