Mechanic Fixed Head Gasket, At Completion Tells Me I May Require Engine Rebuild (1 Viewer)

[BILT4ME]

I went over to the shop at lunch today to check in on the Cruiser.
Mechanic showed me how the sprocket on my camshaft had failed, and that he ordered a new sprocket arriving tomorrow. At that point he will slap it back together and we will cross our fingers the tick is gone.

Did the previous mechanic forget to remove the retainer bolt from the camshaft when assembling, thus junking the sprocket and impacting the head?

May want to consider checking out the timing chain guides as well to make sure any misalignment didn't cause a chunk to break off and end up around the gear at the bottom.

Glad the new mechanic found a possible solution, quickly.

 

[SNLC]

Toyota sells .50mm and 1.0mm larger pistons that’s two rebuilds in my mind. Or they made them bigger I guess if your bore was damaged more than .50mm.

They also sell stock size so in my opinion that is three rebuilds.

Cheers

 

[mudgudgeon]

I went over to the shop at lunch today to check in on the Cruiser.
Mechanic showed me how the sprocket on my camshaft had failed, and that he ordered a new sprocket arriving tomorrow. At that point he will slap it back together and we will cross our fingers the tick is gone.

Did you get any pictures?

Fingers crossed here for you too dude

 

[tmxmotorsports]

Crazy

 

[80 Life]

Got another quick update on Friday.
After putting it back together with a new camshaft sprocket the noise almost fully went away. The remaining noise the mechanic says is coming from the chain, and is likely the tensioner. A new tensioner is arriving today or tomorrow.
For those of you who have been following for 8 long pages, this actually would seem to make some sense. When I gave the original mechanic my cruiser I think he added the knocking noise by improperly assembling the camshaft, and the tick the new mechanic still hears is the original timing tick present since day once that I was trying to chase down when I brought the vehicle in for a new head gasket, but was no longer heard when the aggressive knocking noise was added to the mix.
To think I almost listened to the original mechanic and bought a $4k new block from Toyota....smh. I am not sure how the timing could still be messed up as I paid for a new chain, tensioner and guides through the original mechanic, but clearly he wasn't up to snuff when it comes to working on this stuff and also the broken camshaft sprocket could have junked things up.
Although I seem to still be complaining, this is great news. After all this its hard to believe anything until I have the Cruiser in hand running smooth again. Cheers

 

[FMC80]

Doesn’t sound like you’re complaining to me. You sound like you’re still in disbelief. I don’t blame you. It’s unbelievable, and I think you’re taking it in stride. I’m happy for you that your cruiser seems to finally be in competent hands.

 

[bj70bc]

Got another quick update on Friday.
After putting it back together with a new camshaft sprocket the noise almost fully went away. The remaining noise the mechanic says is coming from the chain, and is likely the tensioner. A new tensioner is arriving today or tomorrow.
For those of you who have been following for 8 long pages, this actually would seem to make some sense. When I gave the original mechanic my cruiser I think he added the knocking noise by improperly assembling the camshaft, and the tick the new mechanic still hears is the original timing tick present since day once that I was trying to chase down when I brought the vehicle in for a new head gasket, but was no longer heard when the aggressive knocking noise was added to the mix.
To think I almost listened to the original mechanic and bought a $4k new block from Toyota....smh. I am not sure how the timing could still be messed up as I paid for a new chain, tensioner and guides through the original mechanic, but clearly he wasn't up to snuff when it comes to working on this stuff and also the broken camshaft sprocket could have junked things up.
Although I seem to still be complaining, this is great news. After all this its hard to believe anything until I have the Cruiser in hand running smooth again. Cheers

 

[landtank]

I’ll tell you exactly what happened and it will likely happen again if you don’t relay this to the new mechanic.

The slippers are tensioned hydraulically. Oil pressure builds and pushes the tensioner piston out and against the slipper. Some people associate a startup rattle with the tensioner being initially relaxed and then pressurizing the tensioner and eliminating rattle.

This is plausible with the exception of early 1993 engines.

The tensioner on these engines have a ratchet style tensioner. To install it you need to compress the tensioner and rotate a spring loaded clip on the side to hold the piston in the compressed position.

Now when installing it as soon as the piston comes in contact with the slipper and compressed slightly that clip rotated out of place and the ratchet feature is engaged.

The problem comes in when you stumble during it’s install and the ratchet engages prior to having the tensioner fully installed. At this point you won’t be able to seat the tensioned all the way in by hand and need to start the process all over. Should you try and tighten down the tensioner in this state you will break something.

I might have one of these tensioners at home and if I do I’ll post a picture

 

[80 Life]

I’ll tell you exactly what happened and it will likely happen again if you don’t relay this to the new mechanic.

The slippers are tensioned hydraulically. Oil pressure builds and pushes the tensioner piston out and against the slipper. Some people associate a startup rattle with the tensioner being initially relaxed and then pressurizing the tensioner and eliminating rattle.

This is plausible with the exception of early 1993 engines.

The tensioner on these engines have a ratchet style tensioner. To install it you need to compress the tensioner and rotate a spring loaded clip on the side to hold the piston in the compressed position.

Now when installing it as soon as the piston comes in contact with the slipper and compressed slightly that clip rotated out of place and the ratchet feature is engaged.

The problem comes in when you stumble during it’s install and the ratchet engages prior to having the tensioner fully installed. At this point you won’t be able to seat the tensioned all the way in by hand and need to start the process all over. Should you try and tighten down the tensioner in this state you will break something.

I might have one of these tensioners at home and if I do I’ll post a picture

This mechanic is awesome, but his English is not... Now to try and relay this message. Thanks

 

[FMC80]

Maybe this will help. @landtank is this what you’re talking about? The new style tensioner doesn’t come with the hook or the little tip that points out perpendicular from the end of the tensioner.

Differences between the tensioner I removed and the tensioner I installed:

Edited to reflect that my 1FZ-FE is a 94MY

 

[landtank]

I can't tell from that pic but the one side would have a ratchet setup. I can't find mine but here is a web pic, not so clear

you would press down the tab so you can depress the piston and then place the hook on the peg to hold it in place.

the part number I searched on is 13540-66010, not sure if it is still good

 

[FMC80]

I can't tell from that pic but the one side would have a ratchet setup. I can't find mine but here is a web pic, not so clear

you would press down the tab so you can depress the piston and then place the hook on the peg to hold it in place.

the part number I searched on is 13540-66010, not sure if it is still good

This is the part number that was available for my vehicle. I believe it is the most current and it supersedes the part number you posted.

The new tensioner assembly does not have the hook or small protrusion. Someone can correct me if I’m wrong but I researched mud and I found the same results.

Here are pictures of the old style tensioner I removed. Better pictures for you.

 

[landtank]

that has to be an intermediate version. If you look and the picture I posted it has the ratchet setup. Pretty nice as it would maintain a minimum of slack in the chain as the chain stretched and slippers wore. I found this when doing a head gasket and then another at a pick and pull on a motor already torn apart some. No way I was going to throw it out, but lost track of it over the last 10 years.

 

[FMC80]

It isn’t an intermediate part; it is the current part. I looked up the part numbers for the tensioner assembly and 13540-66011 is the newest part and you will receive it without the hook and protrusion.

I think your advice is sound if you’re using the old style tensioner but the new style only requires to be compressed for install with a new gasket of course.

 

[landtank]

here is a better pic of the early tensioners

And I was answering the OP's question on how the slippers could have gotten damaged by the previous mechanic as he has a 1993 built truck!

 

[FMC80]

here is a better pic of the early tensioners

And I was answering the OP's question on how the slippers could have gotten damaged by the previous mechanic as he has a 1993 built truck!

I see, so there’s a third style. Good to know

 

[Kernal]

@80 Life : can you post up photos of the damaged sprocket?

 

[80 Life]

@80 Life : can you post up photos of the damaged sprocket?

I will ask for the sprocket when I see the mechanic next.
He had shown me how it didn’t properly rotate, but there wasn’t anything obviously wrong with it beyond the rough motion. He showed me it still on the camshaft. Maybe a look at it removed will reveal the issue.

 

[80 Life]

The new mechanic called to say he installed the new tensioner with no luck. He is at a loss and ready to give the cruiser back.
My entire family is up in Avon for the yearly ski-trip we do. Looks like for the first time in 24 years I won't be attending. Cheers

 

[tmxmotorsports]

The new mechanic called to say he installed the new tensioner with no luck. He is at a loss and ready to give the cruiser back.
My entire family is up in Avon for the yearly ski-trip we do. Looks like for the first time in 24 years I won't be attending. Cheers

Boooo go skiing take a break from it