Well I did the timing chain job this past Saturday...
Only took me 12 hours (but that included two tool
runs, a parts run and a short lunch break).
The only surprise I ran into was that the old timing
cover had three studs with nuts that held the water
pump on and the new cover was all threaded holes for
bolts. Quick run to Lowe's to pick up some metric
bolts took care of that. It took about an hour and a
half to scrape the old gasket material off the motor.
The old timing cover had a set of grooves in it nearly
1/8" deep, the driver side guide was gone and the
passenger side guide was broken too with the loose piece
just hanging out between the chain and the side of the
cover. The tensioner was maxed out and half the wear
surface was used up. All this leads me to believe that
that chain had the full 162k on it <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" /> talk about
lucky! All back together now and purring like new again.
Just goes to show you how reliable Toyotas are even when
they're not looked after properly.
As a side note I also put Redline lubes in the transmission,
transfer, and diffs this weekend. The tranny shifts like
new even first thing in the morning. Great stuff that
Redline oil; well worth the price.
Thanks for all the advice and support from everyone on here.
I've gained a lot of confidence from the experience, and
appreciate having a great group of folks that I can count
on for good advice. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cheers.gif" alt="" />
Regards,
Indy
