1985 SR5 22RE Pickup

Hi;

I just passed California's "Test Only" Smog test with lots of margin.

The following week I broke a valve spring. Three years ago I had a short
block done, nothing to the valves as far as I know. The engine has been
running really well, sounds and feels new, no oil usage.

My question is, given the history, is it "safe" to replace the bad spring
only? What is the right thing to have done and still minimize the repair
cost. All I was willing to do was pull the valve cover off to verify I
the problem.

Thanks,
Richard

Sure, just replace the spring.

Q

rdhrdh wrote:[color=blue]
> Hi;
>
> I just passed California's "Test Only" Smog test with lots of margin.
>
> The following week I broke a valve spring. Three years ago I had a short
> block done, nothing to the valves as far as I know. The engine has been
> running really well, sounds and feels new, no oil usage.
>
> My question is, given the history, is it "safe" to replace the bad spring
> only? What is the right thing to have done and still minimize the repair
> cost. All I was willing to do was pull the valve cover off to verify I
> the problem.
>
> Thanks,
> Richard
>[/color]

You can replace the valve spring with out removing the cylinder head --- so
just replace the valve spring and have the valves all adjusted. If another
one is way out of adjustment you might want the examine it more closely.

"rdhrdh" <rdharper@starband.net> wrote in message
news:55a5c19405988f18cf3fb82b8f2830c2@localhost.talkaboutautos.com...[color=blue]
> Hi;
>
> I just passed California's "Test Only" Smog test with lots of margin.
>
> The following week I broke a valve spring. Three years ago I had a short
> block done, nothing to the valves as far as I know. The engine has been
> running really well, sounds and feels new, no oil usage.
>
> My question is, given the history, is it "safe" to replace the bad spring
> only? What is the right thing to have done and still minimize the repair
> cost. All I was willing to do was pull the valve cover off to verify I
> the problem.
>
> Thanks,
> Richard
>[/color]

Wolfgang;
[color=blue]
>"so just replace the valve spring and have the valves all adjusted."[/color]

Thanks for the tip Wolfgang. I didn't see how to replace a spring with
pulling the head. I have the factory manual, and, as I said, I pulled the
valve cover to check. I suppose you must mean to loosen the head bolts
which also clamp the rocker arm assembly to the top of the head. Then I'd
probably need a clamp to compress the new spring. I may not be the right
guy to do this, despite it probably being a simple job to a good
mechanic.

If I take it to a Toyota dealer, they'd do a good job, but find some
reason to raise the cost to $1k. If I locate a likely AAA rated mechanic,
if you are right, and the mechanic is honest, it might be the safest/lead
expensive way to do it, right?

Thanks,
Richard

I've seen it done two ways - One is compressed air thru the spark plug to
hold the valves shut -- the other it to cram rope thru the sparkplug and
bring the piston up to force the rope against the valves holding then shut.
A local machine shop might give you names of good local mechanics who could
do the job.

"rdhrdh" <rdharper@starband.net> wrote in message
news:6331711a4372ace092cbd7bb186cd5a5@localhost.talkaboutautos.com...[color=blue]
> Wolfgang;
>[color=green]
>>"so just replace the valve spring and have the valves all adjusted."[/color]
>
> Thanks for the tip Wolfgang. I didn't see how to replace a spring with
> pulling the head. I have the factory manual, and, as I said, I pulled the
> valve cover to check. I suppose you must mean to loosen the head bolts
> which also clamp the rocker arm assembly to the top of the head. Then I'd
> probably need a clamp to compress the new spring. I may not be the right
> guy to do this, despite it probably being a simple job to a good
> mechanic.
>
> If I take it to a Toyota dealer, they'd do a good job, but find some
> reason to raise the cost to $1k. If I locate a likely AAA rated mechanic,
> if you are right, and the mechanic is honest, it might be the safest/lead
> expensive way to do it, right?
>
> Thanks,
> Richard
>[/color]

Wolfgang;

Thanks, hadn't thought of that aspect of the problem, but I do get it.
Could do that, carefully.

How about the top side. Can I remove the cylinder head bolts (in 2-3
passes in the correct order, as the manual says) which also hold down the
rocker arm assembly, and lift it straight off without disturbing the cam
timing? It seems like that is possible. Probably could have seen that when
I had the valve cover off, but I did put it all back together). One would
only have to remove the cam sprocket if one were going to actually pull
the head, as opposed to simply lifting up the rocker arm assembly. Am I
getting this right?

If so, maybe I'll try this myself, as I've got the time. It is courage I
lack, knowing that it is very easy to add significant cost to repairs of
this type.

Thanks for your time;
Richard

I like the rope idea, as long as you get it all back out.
"Wolfgang" <NOwolfgangdieterSPAM@cox.net> wrote in message
news:P99Oe.8792$A33.3305@lakeread06...[color=blue]
> I've seen it done two ways - One is compressed air thru the spark plug to
> hold the valves shut -- the other it to cram rope thru the sparkplug and
> bring the piston up to force the rope against the valves holding then[/color]
shut.[color=blue]
> A local machine shop might give you names of good local mechanics who[/color]
could[color=blue]
> do the job.
>
> "rdhrdh" <rdharper@starband.net> wrote in message
> news:6331711a4372ace092cbd7bb186cd5a5@localhost.talkaboutautos.com...[color=green]
> > Wolfgang;
> >[color=darkred]
> >>"so just replace the valve spring and have the valves all adjusted."[/color]
> >
> > Thanks for the tip Wolfgang. I didn't see how to replace a spring with
> > pulling the head. I have the factory manual, and, as I said, I pulled[/color][/color]
the[color=blue][color=green]
> > valve cover to check. I suppose you must mean to loosen the head bolts
> > which also clamp the rocker arm assembly to the top of the head. Then[/color][/color]
I'd[color=blue][color=green]
> > probably need a clamp to compress the new spring. I may not be the[/color][/color]
right[color=blue][color=green]
> > guy to do this, despite it probably being a simple job to a good
> > mechanic.
> >
> > If I take it to a Toyota dealer, they'd do a good job, but find some
> > reason to raise the cost to $1k. If I locate a likely AAA rated[/color][/color]
mechanic,[color=blue][color=green]
> > if you are right, and the mechanic is honest, it might be the[/color][/color]
safest/lead[color=blue][color=green]
> > expensive way to do it, right?
> >
> > Thanks,
> > Richard
> >[/color]
>
>[/color]

Wolfgang;

My truck is purring like a kitten. Mileage is as good as its ever been.

Thanks for the info. It was helpful in convincing a "AAA" rated shop to
"just replace the spring". They didn't want to do it. I was persistant,
showing him the 1 month old Smog results etc.

Well, they did end up just replacing the spring. They used the compressed
error trick, although they liked the idea of the rope trick.

If I'd of taken the truck to the Toyota dealer, I'd of been charged a
minimum of 2400 bucks. So I saved $2100 assuming no other damage, which
appears to be a pretty safe bet at this point. Couple of years will
tell.

Thanks again,
Richard