Gonna do head gasket for first time 22re any tips tricks

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WckedMidas

WckedMidas

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Apr 25, 2005
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Just as title says doin head gasket on my 22re in a 86 4runner. Bought a head with suposedly 15k miles on it lower intake manifold.exhuast manifold . Fuel rail injectors pressure regulator . I beleve there all on it still. Any got any tips sugestions. Not pullimg the whole motor out. So doin oil pan gasket out the question.

Just picked up . New head bolts. Dont think i needem but to be safe i gotem . Timeing chain kits and gasket kit. Ngk wires and plug v power line i think. Are they any good? Rotor button cap.oil antifreze oil filter . Anyone think of anything else i need?

Is there a gasket between exhuast manifold and downpipe? What size are the threads on exhuat manifold that holds rhe downpipe on. I wana go buy new ones i no mine gonna snap when i undo them on old head
 
Go with a Toyota head gasket. Or you'll be doing it again.
 
Head I picked up has a head gasket kit don't no the brand and to broke to oe
 
Stop at the hardware store, get a 1-1/4" expansion plug. Drain the coolant, pull the bottom hose off the rigid tube under the alternator, put the plug in so it doesn't keep dribbling on the floor and making a mess.

Pull pass side kickpanel, disconnect harness from computer, push it through the firewall. Pull connector off fusebox behind battery so the engine harness is free, zip-tie it to the top of the intake. Disconnect distributor signal wire and coil wire. Disconnect the throttle cable, zip tie it off to the charcoal canister.

Unbolt exhaust manifold from head, pull all the studs out and throw them away, get new ones and the special nuts.

Remove distributor. Remove dist drive gear and upper chain gear from cam. Remove bolt that sits in the puddle of oil at the front of the head. Loosen head bolts, you might have to fight with the 2 on the exhaust side that are between the 1-2 and 3-4 exhaust ports. Be patient, work them back and forth, DON'T SNAP THEM OFF.

Lift the entire head off with the intake and wiring attached. Much easier to work on the intake with it on the bench. This is how techs do it at the dealership.

I'm probably missing a few things. It's been several years since I've done one.
 
Also the tube that connects to the bottom of the lower intake manifold needs a rubber o ring. I fought a leak there until I went down bought a little o ring and it was gone
 
As said, label everything, take pictures as you take it apart, and organize everything you take off. It’s a pain to be saying “Now where did this go?” or “Did this bolt go in this hole or that one?”

Have a friend or an engine crane available to put the head back on. It’s just heavy enough that it is a bitch to try to get into place yourself without damaging the head gasket.

And I agree on getting a reputable head gasket - entirely too much trouble to go through only to have to replace it again in three months...
 
All I will add is replacing the cylinder head on a 22re is NOT HARD. The nice, new, FelPro gasket the engine builder insisted on installing in my truck failed at 20K miles last October. This was on a new engine. I had the head off in a few hours, took it to the machine shop, and they had it flat and ready for pick-up that afternoon. The rest of the evening, and part of the next morning was spent putting it back on. Truck was running 24 hours later. Yes, get help with putting it back on. I managed to get it off OK, but getting it back on solo would have been a challenge.

Also, like I said, this was a USA made FelPro gasket. This was also the THIRD FelPro gasket I've had fail on three different engines, all built by reputable builders (2FE failed at 10K, 22RE failed at 160K, 22RE failed at 20K). Get a Toyota head gasket and don't look back.
 
Thanks for the tips. Also once I get it together and running so I need to check the valve lash or rocker arm gap I can't remember what it's called. After I drive it 500 miles or so
 
Chase the head bolt threads in the block with a tap. Make sure the new head bolts screw all the way down into the block without any binding before installing the head. Use only a very light coat of oil on the HB threads when installing. You don't want the oil spewing back onto the HG as everything is torqued down.
 
When you get ready to pull the head be sure to remove the bolt at the very front of the head ,it goes down into the timing cover.
It is in the area just below where the distributer shaft and gear are and was hidden in a puddle of oil when I did mine the first time. (cost me a new timing cover before I caught it :()
 
Doin it this weekend in a friends garage he's a mechanic and Maryland state vehicle inspector. He's gonna stand there like a good friend and try to make shore I don't fudge somthing up . basicly I'm doin the work he's drinking the beer . but neither one of us has ever done a 22re motor. Do the valves need readjusted after I drive it a bit.

The plan is replace head gasket this weekend . drive it back and forth for work next week then drive 4 and a half hours to va home to my wife and kids. Pick a jeep army trailer up and be back to Baltimore towing a never saw till we get there and pick it up jeep army trailer for my friend whos helping me fix the truck
 
Valves.

After installation adjust valves to spec. Warm up engine real good. Adjust again. Adjusting after that is optional, say in a few hundred miles, but a good idea.
 
What do I adjust them to I'm reading 8 and 12 wich is wich intake or exhuast
 
And what size bolts are on exhuast manifold so I can get new nuts for it
 
WckedMidas said:
And what size bolts are on exhuast manifold so I can get new nuts for it
Click to expand...
I believe the STUDS on the exhaust manifold are m10x1.25 and take a 14mm hex wrench. Might be M10x1.5.
 
I like to use old muffin tins to organize parts. Egg cartons also work well, I write on the lid above the part where it belongs. I had over a dozen egg cartons full of parts when I had my truck apart.

I have a scrap of 1X wood with holes in it and an outline of the timing cover drawn on it, as I remove a bolt, it goes into the board at the same spot.

I made a wooden jig that sits on a B&D Workmate that I can sit the head on. I can R&R the valves, intake, everything. I get it all back together, pick it up (get a buddy to help, it's heavy), set if back on the engine.

HeadOnStand.jpg


Exhaust studs... I HIGHLY recommend you only go OEM on these AND the special nuts. Aftermarket studs will strip out the head when you torque them down. You might also consider having all the stud threaded holes Helicoil'd. And the spark plug holes.
 
The head I'm putting on it came with the lower intake manifold and exhuastmanifold still bolted on plan on dropping it in just like it is wasn't SUPOSE to have any leaks on old motor it was on. Motor snaped connecting rod and the head was rebuilt 15 k miles ago
 
Are the studs that connect the downpipe to the exhuast manifold the same size as the ones that go in the head same thread and diamiter
 
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