Topic: Blown head Gasket on 22r any help would be great..

[cjoens]

Pretty sure my had gasket was blown on my 81 22r. I spent Saturday getting down to the gasket to check things out. This is my first time ever doing anything like this. Here are a few pics of what everything looked like once i got it apart.. Definitely coolant where is should not be. You guys notice anything else looking bad? Im planning on getting a gasket set from Engnbldr and working on purchasing an '83 22r Head with Engnbldr 261 Crawler Cam that was rebuilt in 09 but only used for a few years. Will that work with my 81?  and advice is welcome and appreciated. Got this truck in November and already had have the Carb rebuilt and replace the tranny.. Not fun things for a DD, but learning how to work on it has been great.

[toyodaaddict]

I strongly suggest using nothing other than a factory toyota head gasket. It's well woth the $50 it costs not to be doing another head gasket in 6 months. Also consider oil pump and timing chain while your in there. oh, and new head bolts.

[Snowtoy]

Remember to have either head you go with checked(machined if needed) before you install it.

What was the compression #'s on the other cylinders?

[cjoens [OP]]

replaced the head gasket and managed to get the whole thing together without any missing bolts. It would not fire up however   I think i messed up and did not make sure that the lower crank was at TDC before placing the timing chain back on the camshaft.. How many steps back do i need to go to resolve that issue? Any help is great.. i'm beyond my my skills but i'm hoping i can sort it out and that all hope is not lost.

Thanks dudes!

[Snowtoy]

replaced the head gasket and managed to get the whole thing together without any missing bolts. It would not fire up however   I think i messed up and did not make sure that the lower crank was at TDC before placing the timing chain back on the camshaft.. How many steps back do i need to go to resolve that issue? Any help is great.. i'm beyond my my skills but i'm hoping i can sort it out and that all hope is not lost.
Thanks dudes!

Basically all the way back to step one of the reinstalling of the t-chain, and if if the crank was way off when you bolted the head back on, you may be pulling the head again.  The 22r series is an interference engine, i.e., valves and pistons occupy the same space at different intervals, so if/when the t-chain breaks or the engine isn't assembled correctly, the top of the piston and the valves can/will collide.

Were the timing chain marks aligned with the cam sprocket when you put the chain on?  If so, before you start tearing it apart, pull the spark plugs(only need to pull #1, but w/all pulled it is easier to turn the crank by hand), turn the engine until the timing marks on the crank pulley aligns with "0", and check to see if the #1 cylinder is up/down, if down, turn the engine again until the #1 cylinder is at the top, then check to see if the #1 intake/exhaust valves are lose and 4 are tight, it is the same procedure as for adjusting only verifying the #1 cyl is at tdc.  If everything is correct, then the crank was likely at tdc when you put the t-chain on, which means you likely had the distributor misaligned when you installed it.  To install the distributor, remove it, turn the engine to 5 degree before tdc, align the rotor with the vacuum line ports on the distributor, and install the distributor w/the timing adjustment centered on the distributor bolt hole of the head, this should put you almost at the correct timing, enough so that the engine should fire and run.

However, if you can't get the engine and valves to align correctly, then you will need to repeat the timing chain removal/reinstall procedures, so you can verify the correct alignment of the engine and timing chain.  This wont determine if you did any damage to the valves or the top of the pistons if the crank was way off of tdc when you installed the head and t-chain, you would either have to pull the head and check everything now, or wait and do a compression test after you get it back together.