All posts and data I find state the engine is non-interference. If your friend is worried, rotate the cam by hand and see how the valve train responds.

 

4afe = non interference

 

he is talking about the 92 DOHC engine though.. maybe that one is interference? if it's a dohc is it still 4afe? i dont think so

Howdy!

I own several Toyota products and cannot be more pleased with their quality and lack of serious maintenance issues. I own the Service manual for each vehicle and use them for all maintenance activities. I found this site while trying to help a friend with his '92 Corolla. He has the 4AFE engine and has busted his timing belt @ 82K (yea he doesn't drive it much). It was severly dry rotted and just went. His mechanic is telling him this has caused his valves to be bent. I have gone to Gates and Napa site and each seems to indicate this is a non-interference engine. However, a quick call to the local Toyota dealer ship, the parts guy said it was in fact an interference engine. I have searched till I cannot search no more and cannot find a definitive anwer to this question on this site. I am sure there are experienced 4AFE DOHC engine gurus that can provide their view. :whatwhat:

Please help resolve this question.

Thanks,
Paul for Dullas

'00 Lexus ES300 Platinum
'97 Avalon XLE V6
'96 Camry XLE V6

 

DOHC or 4AFE or what it is I guess is some of my frustration. The car is at the mechanic and is on the other side of Dallas from me so I cannot confirm either the engine code or SOHC or DOHC. Just going by what by friend is saying. He did say the parts guy at the Toyota dealer inferred this was not a common engine and he told him he was sorry he had it. Thanks for all of your responses, but without solid evidence what he has I guess I cannot ask for any further help from ya'll.

Thanks and keep motoring,
Paul for Dullas

'00 Lexus ES300 Platinum
'97 Avalon XLE V6
'96 Camry XLE V6

 

he is talking about the 92 DOHC engine though.. maybe that one is interference? if it's a dohc is it still 4afe? i dont think so

what the? 4AFE is DOHC

 

the 4A-FE is non-interference and it's DOHC.

the mechanic is full of crap and just wants to sell him a new engine.

 

check this out

here is a link that shows which engines are interference.
http://autorepair.about.com/cs/doityourself/l/bl_timingbelts6.htm

 

hmm this is something i would like to check into...


BTW...like we all said and im going to say it again its a DOHC motor...reason y there is an F!!!

 

if its a GTS it has a 4A-GE which is DOHC and has 2 valve covers and 2 timing pulleys for the cams and it IS an interference engine...

If its not a GTS it has a 4A-FE which is also DOHC but! it only has 1 larger valve cover and 1 timing pulley for both cams the intake cam is driven via gears under the valve cover from the exhaust cam this is NOT a interference engine..

 

thnx for the info...

 

what the? 4AFE is DOHC

yea..its dual cam but theres only one cam gear..the intake cam is run off a gear from the exhaust cam...heres a pic to show ya...

 

AN old thread, but figured better find out, because I'm pretty sure the 4AGE is a NON-intereference engine.

 

4age 16v isn't, but I think the 20v is
The 4af, 4afe are not and they are all dohc engines. The only 4a motor that was sohc was the 4ac

 

I dont think any toyota engines which have timing belts are interference.

 

I had a 92 Corolla with a dohc 16v. Tbelt broke at 59925, just 75 miles in the warranty. 1k miles later, after replacement, the #4 cylinder slowly lost all compression and ran like crap. My theory is that the exhaust valve got very slightly bent and began to burn and erode with hot gases on the power stroke.

Now that experience tells me that that engine was an interference engine. I called Toyota headquarters and they said it was indeed an interference model. So there you have it. But I don't know the engine model exactly.

 

I had a 92 Corolla with a dohc 16v. Tbelt broke at 59925, just 75 miles in the warranty. 1k miles later, after replacement, the #4 cylinder slowly lost all compression and ran like crap. My theory is that the exhaust valve got very slightly bent and began to burn and erode with hot gases on the power stroke.

Now that experience tells me that that engine was an interference engine. I called Toyota headquarters and they said it was indeed an interference model. So there you have it. But I don't know the engine model exactly.

You are drawing inaccurate conclusions from symptoms instead of causes. The 4AFE is designed to be noninterference. The valves will not hit the piston if out of time, and stock thickness head gaskets are used. If the person at Toyota headquarters really said it is an interference engine, there must have been a problem with the Japanese/English translation, or a non-technical call center person was just giving it a SWAG.

 

I have a related question. Would using the thinner 7A-FE head gasket gasket on a first generation 4A-FE engine make it an interference engine?