the tensioner is hydraulic and the only pain is actually compressing it when you go to put the chain back. Don't worry about it other wise. Make sure to check the guides while your are doing the head gasket.

 

Thanks for the reply. I've finally gotten back to it
today. The head is off, and things look pretty good.
The tensioner turns out to be a non-issue. Before
pulling the cam sprocket, I verified that the tensioner
could be compressed easily with a short, narrow pry
bar. Had some difficulty cracking a couple of the
head bolts. Turns out there has been some corrosion
on them. Should I buy a new set? Are they a one-time
stretch item?

As for the plastic guides, they are there. Not sure
what they should look like, but they exist and are
not obviously trashed. The timing chain itself seems
to be reasonably tight and not coming away from the
sprocket, so I'm pleased not to have to get into that
job. Unless there is something specific to what I
should check on the guides, I'm leaving that kid
be.

I'm still contemplating whether or not to have the
head rebuilt, or whether to just buff it up and bolt
it back on with new gaskets. Haven't had the chance
today to do full inspection, but prelim suggests the
head is not warped significantly. Still need to check
and see whether the valves leak, but if they don't,
I'm thinking of just bolting it back together and
seeing what shakes. Seems to me the only
down side is I might need to tear into it again,
but then I only lose my time and the price of a
gasket set.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

=Mark

 

There is a plastic wedge shaped tool that you stick down through the front cover to hold the chain tensioner in place. If it comes out you have to remove the front cover. BTW are you the original owner of your 1886 SR5 4x4? :lol:

 

Yes, I am the original owner. I bought it new in the
fall of 1985. Put around 60k on it over about 12 years.
Since then, another 12 or so years, it's been sitting
in my back yard waiting for me find a round too-it.

 

Couple of years sitting? Your already that far into it, its just a few more bolts to replace the guides, front seal, water pump. If you do it now, you wont have to later.

 

I've been mulling this over for a few days while
attending to other matters. The water pump can
be done easily at any time, so there doesn't seem
any reason to mess with it so long as it's working
and the bearing is good.

On the guides, after viewing a picture of them at
NAPA, it seems that the upper front tab on the
tension side damper has left the building, so
there is some reason to replace the pair of
guides. I have been under the impression, based
on the Toyota shop manual, that removal of the
timing chain cover is a rather involved operation.
Manual says that I need to drop the oil pan, which
on the 4WD means unbolting the engine and
jacking it up by the transmission. However, after
looking at the situation, it appears that the cover
can be removed without taking off the pan. The
only snag being that you can't replace the pan
gasket and so would have to rebolt the timing
cover to the portion of the old pan gasket that
extends forward of the block. No doubt a bit
of form-a-gasket would be needed to ensure a
seal. Not ideal, but I don't see why this should
be a problem. The chamber in the oil pan is not
seriously pressurized or anything, so isn't this
feasible?

Or what am I missing?

=Mark

 

when I replaced my head, I made little wedges out of wood and just tucked them in to keep the tension, worked great. I had someone else do my timing chain a few years back, and was surprised to hear that the guides are made out of plastic to keep them quiet. If you overheated, the chances are great that the head is cracked, very very common for those aluminum Toyota heads. I'd just finish removing the head and have it checked, imagine doing all that work just to put a warped or cracked head back on and have the same problem in a couple months when the gaskets fail. Like a true Toyotist told me "Do it right the first time." I think the wear on the plastic guides is down near the middle to the bottom that is covered by the timing chain cover, I dont think you can see the wear without removing the cover.

 

1886


=Mark

there's your problem! LOL

 

yeah, he missed my joke.

 

Yeah,didn't see it!

 

Just unbolt the 3 diff mounts, and rotate that sucker down to the ground. This allows just enough room to drop the pan. You will have to remove the oil pickup tube, before you remove the pan, lets you easily remove everything.

When you got things this far apart, might aswell do it!

Timing chain won't be that bad, its just time consuming..