Hi guys, i just want to say thanks over the years helping me fixing my truck & here my partner & I just drove ourselves all the way to Inuvik in Canada's arctic! We are attempting to get on the ice road to Tuktoyatuk tomorrow, northern most road access in Canada!

Truck is running strong at 384xxxkm, 22re burning a little bit of oil, camper is holding strong too!

Thanks! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cheers.gif" alt="" />

Just one thing, how many mileage are rear wheel bearing supposed to last? I can feel some lateral play by grabbing the rear right wheel off the ground. It doesn't sound too bad though... <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/rolleyes.gif" alt="" />

wow .. watch out for those "ICE road truckers" <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />
post up some pics if ya can .

a Worn bearing will make noise , heat , and cause the seal to leak , so you will see oil on the inside/backside of the tire way before anything else .. is the seal leaking ?


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Keep an eye on it. We have a few Whitehorse sorties out of here that fly up into Unuvik. I think Air North might be coming on line for the season out of Fairbanks.

Holler if you need to.

Thanks a lot for the wheel bearing tips. I already had that grinding noise, bearing explosion, wheel + axle shaft & axle housing separation experience on my left rear 1 week after I bought the truck! Since it's not making any noise, I won't worry about it now.

We just got back in Inuvik from Tuk! It was just amazing driving in the middle of Mackenzie River & along the shoreline of Beauford Sea for ~200km, all this on pure ice at 80-90km/hr on 2wd!!! (seriously, any car w/ good tires can do just fine!)

Is this the truck you did all the rust repairs on? New floor sections and all? -- Matt

Yes, that's the one, in fact my only vehicle!

We just made it all the way back to Smithers after 4 days of driving from Inuvik. We managed to catch the Dawson International film festival, quick visit with a skiing friend in Whitehorse, camping in beautiful Atlin, & checking out Kitangow historial village just north of Kitwanga.

Unfortunately & surprisingly, I suspected we've been driving with a blowing headgasket at cyl #4 since we were on our way back across the Richarson mountains. The exhaust & coolant temp looks normal while driving. Although as soon as I restart engine after turning off engine (ie. gas-up, quick stop), lots of white smoke comes out of the exhaust but it eventually gets burn off w/in 1 min or so.

Coolant Temp looks normal still, but I do hear bubbling from the expansion tube into the expansion tank. It's been drinking coolant too. Oil cap is now suspended with milky shake deposit, & spark plug #4 is in fact...wet!

Now my question is, can I keep driving it another 2 days to Princeton (at normal coolant temp) & hope that the headgasket don't completely give up & let all the coolant rushing into cyl #4.?

If so, should I unplug sparkplug wire #4 to disable cyl #4, or just keep cyl #4 running to burn off the excess coolant?


At the meantime, I am also looking for a "new to me" 22re since my engine has oil & coolant consumption problem. Any suggestion? Junkyard, craigslist, remanufacture, etc?

Boy, sure flying by the seat of your pants Chris. Glad you were able to get back to the 'main' road. Atlin's beautiful. Haven't gone since the US stuffed us with a passport restriction. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

I'd leave that #4 in there and making sure you've got enough fluid on hand; maybe an extra plug too.

Long way back to Princeton; I take it you guys are on the Cassier for the trip home?

For an engine job, see if you have a local machine shop that will do the work for you via overhaul. Sounds like you've got a viable rebuild if we can get you home. I've used Sunwest Automotive out of Spokane WA in the past; had to send him my core. He sells out there on fleabay too. I've never had any trouble with Mike's work. Witchhunter in WA can refurb your injectors for you while messing with it. FedEx is worth it, esp with your mail system! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/shiner.gif" alt="" />

Just don't get with 22R/22RE.biz aka Johns Foreign Engines. He's a <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/ignore.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/angry.gif" alt="" />

Junkyard engine is a crap shoot, given how old these are these days. At least if you're getting your long block rebuilt locally, you know what you're getting back, and you can lean across the counter if something isn't right.

My two bits; be safe in your travels! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cheers.gif" alt="" />

Yah...it's amazing how I drove from the Arctic circle to Smithers w/ a blown headgasket on the dempster & cassiar hwy (which is now completely paved <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" /> ).

Luckily I can borrow my gf's pathfinder for the summer & I can store my truck here at a friend's place in Smithers, during my work down south next 2 months & another work in Yukon until end of October.

So engine repair-wise, my current one also drinks oil (suspecting piston rings as I don't see blue/black smoke at start-up), on top of the new headgasket problem.

I did a compression test about 2 years ago (30000km ago) & got 220, 220, 220, 175. I believe those # are higher than stock b/c previous owner also did a head-replacement job at 244k (about 144000km ago).

Cost & time wise, I'm currently leaning against a rebuild b/c I don't actually have a "indoor" place & time & experience to properly do it (especially when winter comes around in November). If I can find a decent used engine down south (including states) , I am thinking of renting a uhaul trailer & towing the engine up north here to do a relatively straightforward weekend R&R swap.

Car-part.com seems to have a few options to choose from, but
I should give engnbldr a call & see what they have to offer too...

Chris, have a machine shop do the rebuild, if any of them do them. I strip my stuff down to the long block and take it in. The rods get checked, cylinders honed, crankshaft polished, etc. It's about as straightforward as you can get, AND have some kind of warranty.

In the meanwhile, send the injectors off to be cleaned, replace the butt joints for the harness with soldered connections, de-carbon the intake manifold, all that stuff.

This is where the ol' cardboard and sharpies and digi photos for reassembly come into play once the engine is finished and ready for everything else to get slapped back together and dropped in. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

I don't have a warm place to do overhauls either, but that's the route I go. With a junkyard engine, I still take the oil pan off first thing, as that tells you a lot about the condition of that engine in just doing so.

Blue smoke at startup is usually worn valve guides BTW.

Glad you've made it home; yeah, Cassier's been completely paved for awhile now from what I hear. Bums.

if your in prinston .. try stop by my Shop .. in penticton (not that far away) you have been thretening for years



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