1994 LC Timing Chain? (1 Viewer)

[Michaelmr2]

So I am talking with this guy about his 94 LC and he says "The inline 6 in the Land cruisers uses a solid timing chain as opposed to the belt – you don’t replace it as a maintenance item like you do with a timing belt."

this seems wrong to me. Anyone share the truth?

 

[Tool Pusher]

So I am talking with this guy about his 94 LC and he says "The inline 6 in the Land cruisers uses a solid timing chain as opposed to the belt – you don’t replace it as a maintenance item like you do with a timing belt."

this seems wrong to me. Anyone share the truth?

That statement is true. That does not mean that nothing can go wrong with it, or that if something does go wrong it should not be fixed. But it is designed to last the same as the rest of the engine. If you do a rebuild, you should replace the timing chain. It does not need to be replaced as a maintenance item as the timing belts do on some other Toyota engines.

David Sword

 

[Michaelmr2]

great to know. Ok one more question. What would it cost to have the front right birfield repaired if its clicking?

 

[ThePookieBear]

If you take it to the dealer...ridiculous. My dealer here in Wichita, KS wanted nearly two thousand dollars. I did it myself for a little under seven hundred dollars in parts. Its really not hard at all. I am in no way a mechanic but I got it done following the instructions. If you buy from Cdan at American Toyota, he has a kit he will send you. I think its all the seals needed, plus the trunion bearings, and then whatever birf you need. Thats if you need to replace that stuff. I got a birf, seals, trunion bearings, and drive flange. My wheel bearings where good. If you can reuse the costly stuff and you just need to replace the seals its even cheaper.

 

[Cj80cruiser]

You might have to wait for others responses to correct me but I think just by switching sides with the birfs could clear this up. While you're in there you should just do a complete front axle rebuild, many of us have. You can get the whole kit for about $180 including all gaskets, wheel bearings, trunion or knuckle(same thing) bearings. The kit that Cdan can sell you will have all toyota parts but more expensive. Most will tell you DO NOT let the dealership do it. They will rip you a new one on labor.

 

[Cj80cruiser]

I think ThePookiebear replaced his birfs too so that's why his estimate is higher. The birfs are expensive but you can post up in here and people will point you in the money saving direction.

 

[Michaelmr2]

I am not a mechanic either and Just dont have the time or most of the tools I might need. I probably wont go to the dealer unless I can get a hook up there somehow.

Im sure I could take it to a reputable shop local to me here in Denver (slee or Mile hi 4x4)

 

[Vitesse_6]

I rebuilt my front axle when I first got mine, It wasnt clicking that I remember but it was fairly dry.
I had my Birf's rebuilt for $280.00 and all new bearings and seals kit.
It is a fairly easy job, Just time consuming and greasy, Depending on your ability you should consider doing it yourself.
I have heard about switching birfs side to side buy you would need to take them apart and do 80% of an axle rebuild along with it.
Good luck

 

[Tool Pusher]

You might want to try pumping some grease into the housing through the plugs on the side of the knuckle and see if the klicking goes away. Sometimes it is due to a dry birfield. If your knuckle seals are shot or if your axle seals are shot this won't help for long as all the grease will leak out especially if it gets thinned out by the diff oil.

David Sword

 

[Michaelmr2]

keep in mind that I have NEVER EVER owned a truck before, or any AWD/4WD vehicle before.

a lot of this is new to me and I never heard of some of these parts. I was a sports car guy.

 

[Cj80cruiser]

If your knuckle seals are shot or if your axle seals are shot this won't help for long as all the grease will leak out especially if it gets thinned out by the diff oil.

David Sword

This is bad all around. However, I did ride on my leaky knuckles for a few thousand miles and besides them being really dirty with contaminated grease no worse for wear. The contaminated bearings had to be packed until the old stuff was pushed out.

 

[Michaelmr2]

If I were a soccer mom, or an old man (getting there) Where would I take this to get it fixed? and how much do you think its going to run including labor?
Lets just figure that me doing it is out of the question at this point.

 

[IdahoDoug]

I'm not sure what you're talking about here, but there are no bearings in the front axle that can be "packed until the old stuff was pushed out". You can do that only on a bearing with a zirc fitting, and there are none on the front axle.

This sounds like a mere axle repack is in order, but no information has been provided as to the vehicle's mileage or symptoms other than the single word "clicking". So, tough to call. I definitely would not be planning to purchase new birfields if they're merely clicking and it's a DD.

DougM

 

[Michaelmr2]

This sounds like a mere axle repack is in order, but no information has been provided as to the vehicle's mileage or symptoms other than the single word "clicking". So, tough to call. I definitely would not be planning to purchase new birfields if they're merely clicking and it's a DD.

DougM

It has a 2.5 OME lift. The current owner is suggesting its the Birfs Currently has 123K miles.

 

[Cj80cruiser]

If I were a soccer mom, or an old man (getting there) Where would I take this to get it fixed? and how much do you think its going to run including labor?
Lets just figure that me doing it is out of the question at this point.

Franky @ Franky off road did mine while I helped(minimal) and learned. After I bought all parts including grease, loctite, front diff oil, axle kit, and labor probably set me back around $500. Franky did it for $200 which is pretty much unheard of I think. I bought my grease,loctite, and diff oil from NAPA. The wheel bearings came from Man-a-fre. The front axle kit minus the wheel bearings from Iron Pig which I could have gotten the wheel bearings from them too but I already purchased. All these places are great places to find parts. Look at the MUD vendors too.

frankies4x4.com -------- Alabama 256-413-8300 -------- Rainbow City
metaltch4x4.com sleeoffroad.com
cruiserparts.net
jtoutfitters.com
sor.com
man-a-fre.com
cruiseroutfitters.com

 

[Cj80cruiser]

I'm not sure what you're talking about here, but there are no bearings in the front axle that can be "packed until the old stuff was pushed out".

DougM

When I went to Franky's Off Road. He did the rebuild while I learned. The passenger side of the Front axle was full of diff oil and grease. I watched him as he manually took a glob of bearing grease on his palm and packed the new grease in as I watched the old black contaminated grease come out the other side.

 

[Hilux]

keep in mind that I have NEVER EVER owned a truck before, or any AWD/4WD vehicle before.

a lot of this is new to me and I never heard of some of these parts. I was a sports car guy.

Well for a tank SUV AWD/4WD you pretty much...nope, you did, choose from the best lineup out there.







Now can someone either tell me where to look, or tell me why a Cruiser TC (IIRC) is a lifetime chain, and a 22R is not?

IIRC a Tacoma is to, no, but thats different, they have two chains and two tensioners.

 

[medtro]

I'm not sure what you're talking about here, but there are no bearings in the front axle that can be "packed until the old stuff was pushed out". You can do that only on a bearing with a zirc fitting, and there are none on the front axle.

Yes, there are bearings in the front axle that can be "packed until the old stuff was pushed out". You just need the right tool for the job.

http://www.partsamerica.com/productdetail.aspx?MfrCode=PBI&MfrPartNumber=648480&CategoryCode=3489

 

[Brian894X4]

Now can someone either tell me where to look, or tell me why a Cruiser TC (IIRC) is a lifetime chain, and a 22R is not?

IIRC a Tacoma is to, no, but thats different, they have two chains and two tensioners.

That is a very good question and as a 22RE owner myself who's had to replace my own chain, I can say I'd sure like to know.

My guess is that the 1FZ, being a new engine in 1992, the Toyota engineers long figured out their design flaws with the single timing chain of the 22R and possibly made the chain stronger. Also, I believe the factory guides on the 1FZ are metal backed rubber, while the 22R are plastic and tend to break. But where the 22R seems to first fail is the chain stretches over time and its possible Toyota figured out a way to mitigate this on the 1FZ, plus the metal backed guides for extra security.

The duel timing chain of the 20R pretty much lasted the life of the engine and all that was added strength. Could be that the 1FZ chain links are just much bigger or the sissor gear design puts less stress on the chain.

In the end, some of these 1FZ chains do fail though, but it seems to be very uncommon, especially compared to the 22R.

 

[Brian894X4]

Now can someone either tell me where to look, or tell me why a Cruiser TC (IIRC) is a lifetime chain, and a 22R is not?

IIRC a Tacoma is to, no, but thats different, they have two chains and two tensioners.

That is a very good question and as a 22RE owner myself who's had to replace my own chain, I can say I'd sure like to know.

My guess is that the 1FZ, being a new engine in 1993, the Toyota engineers long figured out their design flaws with the single timing chain of the 22R and possibly made the chain stronger. Also, I believe the factory guides on the 1FZ are metal backed rubber, while the 22R are plastic and tend to break. But where the 22R seems to first fail is the chain stretches over time and its possible Toyota figured out a way to mitigate this on the 1FZ, plus the metal backed guides for extra security.

The duel timing chain of the 20R pretty much lasted the life of the engine and all that was added strength. Could be that the 1FZ chain links are just much bigger or the sissor gear design puts less stress on the chain.

In the end, some of these 1FZ chains do fail though, but it seems to be very uncommon, especially compared to the 22R.