After only 20,000 miles on a new (locally rebuilt) 22R in my 1985 pickup, the timing chain is starting to slap and I am quite peeved! The trouble is, the guides are still completely intact. The chain noise happens only at a specific time, when the engine is revved and held around 2200RPM. It does not make the noise at idle or higher than 2200RPM, and does not do it if I blip the throttle (like would if the guides were wasted). I noticed the noise today while cruising for a short stretch at 30mph in 3rd gear today in city roads. (otherwise, I am mainly on the freeway and not cruising at that speed or RPM).
I'm not sure what went wrong at this point, other than I'll likely have to tear the whole thing apart again....
About 4 years ago I pulled the 22R motor in my '85 pickup and had a local shop do a basic rebuild. It was burning oil, and the OEM plastic chain guides were starting to break (133,000 miles, of which were 40,000 miles riding on 33's with 4.10 gears). The timing chain never hit the timing cover. I should have known this was destined for doom from the start, as they gave me the engine back for me to install and it wasn't until I was bolting up the exhaust manifold (the very last step for me!) that they put the wrong cylinder head back on! They gave me a pre-1985 head, and mine takes the newer style head, so the exhaust ports were different and the bolt locations also different. I removed the wrong head, got a new one with new gasket sets, and put the correct head back on....
This just started recently, if not today. And like I said, the truck has 20,000 miles on this new engine, and the guides are 100% intact. I'm not sure what on earth it could be hitting, but I am sure it is timing chain slap. Any guidance would be much appreciated. I drove the truck home and put insurance back on my '90 4Runner and the '85 pickup will be parked for the summer.... I drive the pickup in the winter and the 4runner in the summer and it's close enough to summer. I have no intention of breaking a chain and causing more damage. If I pull this thing apart I will end up pulling the head, pan, and everything off again anyway becuase just about every gasket is leaking too, thanks to the rebuild shop (note to self, do not go back there).
