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OK, so my 22re just tossed her timing chain, which of course means that I need to do a top-end rebuild, along with a few other things that happened to cause her to jump timing. She only has 54K miles on her and she's never given me an ounce of trouble until now.

I figure that rebuilding just half the engine is a waste of time, so I'm looking around for either a new powerplant, or someone to rebuild what I have, and maybe modify it for a little more power and torque.

I don't want a racing engine, just one that will help her on the hills a little more than the old one. and I don't want to swap to a Chevy V6 or something like that. The 22re is fine.

Does anyone know of anybody out there that rebuilds motor home specific 22re engines? Or someone that will sell new ones off the shelf. I prefer Toyota-made and not a Chinese knockoff.

I live in Texas, BTW, but I'm sure I can get the powerplant out and crated and sent somewhere if that's what it takes to get it done right.

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What were the other causes for the timing chain to jump? Assume for the low miles the head and cylinder block are in great shape.

Keeping the original engine sounds like the best plan, swapping for another engine would be like rolling the dice at a crap table.

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What were the other causes for the timing chain to jump? Assume for the low miles the head and cylinder block are in great shape.

Keeping the original engine sounds like the best plan, swapping for another engine would be like rolling the dice at a crap table.

Welp, I was driving down the highway at 55 and looked down and saw my temp gauge climbing, so I pulled over to the shoulder. She stalled before I could even get her to a complete stop. I waited for her to cool down, then got some water and filled the radiator. Looked around and noticed a small leak, probably the lower hose, but didn't think it was anything dangerous, and figured I would drive it a mile to the auto parts shop and replace the hose there.

Unfortunately, after I got her hydrated I got in, turned the key, and got the dreaded sewing-machine whirring sound when I tried to start her. I knew the timing chain was either broken or had jumped. Anyway, at that point it was time to call the wrecker. When he got there I asked him to listen to it and he agreed. Same with a friend of mine who knows vehicles better than I do.

What I figure happened is that I had a slow coolant leak for a day or two, never noticed it and then when I went for a fifty mile drive I overheated her to the point where the water pump probably ate itself and since it is on the same shaft, it somehow managed to cause the timing belt to go, but who knows? It could have been that the plastic guides melted and caused the chain to go flying off too. For all I know the leak may have had nothing to do with it. It may have just been the timing chain's time to kick off.

Those are the only things I can think of. I doubt I'll ever know for sure what happened. And in the end it really doesn't matter anyway. The engine now needs a rebuild or replacement because its an interference type engine, which means that when the belt jumped it went out of time and the pistons were slamming up against the valves.

I see no point in doing half the engine and having the lower half fail 100K miles down the road. I'll just do the whole thing now and she should be good for another 150K or so.

I would like to keep the original powerplant too, but as long as I find a new replacement, it will be OK. It has to be Japanese though, not Chinese or some other cheap knock-off. It's not like all the numbers need to match with her anyway. She may be old and really cool, but really she's only worth maybe 5-6K, maybe a little more on the west coast. I just want to fix her and keep her.

I just want the new powerplant to be beefed up a little more than the old one. I'm kinda tired of getting to the top of the hill only doing 50mph.

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That reminds me: I was thinking of putting headers on her, since the exhaust will soon need to be replaced, but I noticed that the air-flow sensor is stuck right in the middle of my stock manifold. If I install headers, would they have a spot to plug in the sensor? I've never seen headers with a fitting like that before.


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Here's a couple of places to call.

http://www.citymotorsupply.com/cms-toyota.php

http://www.precisionengine.com/

First place had the better price. Lots of the places online don't even carry the 22re anymore but these listed are in Texas

Linda S

Very cool, thank you.

Looks like its a toss-up since I live near Corpus Christi and San Antonio is about 180 miles away, and Houston just a bit more. But I am supposed to be working in Houston for three weeks starting in the next week or so, so I can actually walk into this place and see what they're all about. I will definitely call both tomorrow and talk to them.

How come no one carries the 22re anymore? I thought Toyota still uses it as one of their base powerplants?

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22 re motors don,t chew up the top half like other 4 bangers. I,ve broke many 22 re timing chains. the water pump is not connected to the timing chain it runs freely by the belt. . what happens is when the plastic quides wear. the chain starts slapping the timing chain against the timing chain cover sides . witch eats a hole in the side of the timing chain cover. and the water jackets for the engine block is were the chain eats the hole. more than likely that's were the water is coming from. a factory chaining cover is salty around $200 . you can get cheap ones but they are junk probly from china. because timing chain cover is also part of the oil pump get a good one. but if it over heated realy bad head may have warped . Toyota motor can stand a lot of heat . I have motor checked by a trusted mech. and not a Toyota mech the ones I,ve ran across couldn,t even change spark plugs

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what happens is when the plastic quides wear. the chain starts slapping the timing chain against the timing chain cover sides . witch eats a hole in the side of the timing chain cover. and the water jackets for the engine block is were the chain eats the hole.

I would have doubts about that theory for an engine with 54k on it but who knows. Always good to do a valve adjustment on these guys so you can always peek and make sure the plastic guides are in place.

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Yeah, there is a big difference between breaking a timing chain and a loose chain wearing through the cover.

If you broke the timing chain, then valves slammed into pistons, and you're looking at basically a complete rebuild. You'll have to look at the pistons when the head is off to tell.

If the timing chain wore a hole through the timing cover, then coolant dumped into your oil. Did you check your oil? It'll be obvious. It'll be way overfilled, and be the color of a chocolate milkshake (this can also be the case if your head gasket blew). If you haven't drained the oil, the coolant that has been sitting in there is eating away at the bearings in the lower end of your engine. Drain it immediately. If you overheated badly enough, you may have warped the head. Toyota's, like Subarus, don't respond well to overheating. The engine block is cast iron, the head is aluminum. Since they are two different materials they don't expand and contract at the same rate. If you overheat, the aluminum head warps, causing the head gasket to fail.

But until you know what happened, it's hard to make a plan. There are plenty of 22R/E rebuilders out there. Some cheap, some really expensive. And you don't always get what you pay for...so ask around.

Like jdfrost said, the water pump isn't connected to the timing chain. It's belt driven (the actual belt, not chain, on the outside of your engine).

All sorts of things could have caused you to overheat. It might be the head gasket went, and coolant and oil mixed. You didn't mention how low the radiator was, either. I'd say first thing to do is look at the oil dipstick. If you have coolant in your oil, and you don't get it out very very soon, you'll definitely need a full rebuild, if you don't already.

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I,v tore down ALOT of 22re engines that wasn,t a theory .I've owned a enough of them. it's hard to kill Toyota engines not being rude .about the theory thing. these motors were built to be in a light weight truck .not a 2 ton motorhome. as soon as you start rolling a mini home you are putting twice if not more stress on a engine that is made for a little truck. that 54k miles in a mini home is probly like 108 in the truck the engine was built for. Toyota was just in a hurry and didn,t do there research enough to sell there trucks to be built into mini homes look at the problems with there rear ends. that's the main reason they stopped selling trucks for motorhome.as for me I will only buy Toyotas

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Welp, I was driving down the highway at 55 and looked down and saw my temp gauge climbing, so I pulled over to the shoulder. She stalled before I could even get her to a complete stop. I waited for her to cool down, then got some water and filled the radiator. Looked around and noticed a small leak, probably the lower hose, but didn't think it was anything dangerous, and figured I would drive it a mile to the auto parts shop and replace the hose there.

Unfortunately, after I got her hydrated I got in, turned the key, and got the dreaded sewing-machine whirring sound when I tried to start her. I knew the timing chain was either broken or had jumped. Anyway, at that point it was time to call the wrecker. When he got there I asked him to listen to it and he agreed. Same with a friend of mine who knows vehicles better than I do.

What I figure happened is that I had a slow coolant leak for a day or two, never noticed it and then when I went for a fifty mile drive I overheated her to the point where the water pump probably ate itself and since it is on the same shaft, it somehow managed to cause the timing belt to go, but who knows? It could have been that the plastic guides melted and caused the chain to go flying off too. For all I know the leak may have had nothing to do with it. It may have just been the timing chain's time to kick off.

Those are the only things I can think of. I doubt I'll ever know for sure what happened. And in the end it really doesn't matter anyway. The engine now needs a rebuild or replacement because its an interference type engine, which means that when the belt jumped it went out of time and the pistons were slamming up against the valves.

I see no point in doing half the engine and having the lower half fail 100K miles down the road. I'll just do the whole thing now and she should be good for another 150K or so.

I would like to keep the original powerplant too, but as long as I find a new replacement, it will be OK. It has to be Japanese though, not Chinese or some other cheap knock-off. It's not like all the numbers need to match with her anyway. She may be old and really cool, but really she's only worth maybe 5-6K, maybe a little more on the west coast. I just want to fix her and keep her.

I just want the new powerplant to be beefed up a little more than the old one. I'm kinda tired of getting to the top of the hill only doing 50mph.

The chain will beat the timing case to death and dump all the coolant in the sump before it will break and usually after about 150,000 miles doesn't seem to make much difference what the engine is in. Second trip around on the speedo? If the sump is full of water you'll know what happened. In the fact the engine turns over I doubt the chain is broken. With out a doubt at least a head gasket and a resurface on the head if you got it good and hot but it would be a real good ideal to inspect it before going with another engine unless you are going to trade it in.

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I,v tore down ALOT of 22re engines that wasn,t a theory .I've owned a enough of them. it's hard to kill Toyota engines not being rude .about the theory thing. these motors were built to be in a light weight truck .not a 2 ton motorhome. as soon as you start rolling a mini home you are putting twice if not more stress on a engine that is made for a little truck. that 54k miles in a mini home is probly like 108 in the truck the engine was built for. Toyota was just in a hurry and didn,t do there research enough to sell there trucks to be built into mini homes look at the problems with there rear ends. that's the main reason they stopped selling trucks for motorhome.as for me I will only buy Toyotas

Toyota sold trucks it was the camper people that thought it was a good ideal to put a house on it's back not Toyota. Check the ID plate from Toyota here is no mention of hauling 6,000#. Toyota replaced the rears for the same reason Toyota replaced rusted frames it was good customer relations they did not like it much and told DOT so. Also it is not unusual for a Toy home to have well over 100 K on a 22RE with no problems they are tough engines the old 22R double roller chains would out last the engines and then often the MH.

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Other than the required timing belt replacement every 60,000 miles the Nissan VG30 v6 engine is pretty much indestructible. No valve adjustments. Known to go over 300,000 miles pretty easy. Mine had been abandoned in a field for 2 years and not taken care of ever. I still drove it from New York to California with no problems. Found out when I got here and did the timing belt, it had never been done before, 120,000 miles and didn't break. Better mileage than the Toyota v6 too. I get 15 mpg at 70. Oh and the RV's with this nice engine have a 21 gallon gas tank.

Linda S

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have to say Nissan are made well never understood the six spark plugs in a 4 cyl burns fuel better I guess . I just wouldn't own one for the reason I always owned Toyotas. there trucks just don't look very good to me. don't realy see that many here in Michigan. most trucks here are toyotas

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