2005 Tacoma Timing Chain Replacement 2.7

Per Angus on this site, His 2005+ TSB list reflects an Oil leak coming from the Passenger side Timing Cover. I placed the hyperlink for the TSB PDF doc that he listed below. (please let me know if you can not download)

http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/at...pdated-t-sb-0326-08-oil-leak-t-sb-0326-08.pdf

T-SB-0326-08 OCT 08 Engine Mechanical - Oil Leak from Front Timing Cover


I've had a steady oil leak for years now (1 quart-per-two-weeks) and never quite sure where it was coming from. Ive known that even though my truck has 240,000+ miles it doesnt blow smoke yet.. After reading Angus's post, and seeing the TSB for the timing cover leak, Ive found that it is indeed the location of my leak. (Thank you Angus )

What also is prompting me to address this issue, is a clacking seemingly from my timing chain cover when I de-cel at low RPM's While moving.. There is no clack when I am idling in place or de-reving the motor in place.

At 240,000 miles I know I need to replace the timing chain and tentioners regardless, so I am taking this opportunity to pull my Valve Cover to inspect, then pull the Timing cover off to Fix leak issue with a new gasket, as well as replace timing chain, tentioners, and whatever applicable hardware I find out that I need to replace.

I will be documenting this process in hopes that it helps someone else that needs to complete the same procedure.

I have been very hard on my truck and replaced a lot of suspension parts i.e spindals, bearings, axle shafts, U-joints, etc, but havent had to dig into the motor which seems pretty solid for the most part.

If anyone has any advice for me throughout this project I am officially SOLICITING THE ADVICE ahead of time..

Thanks in advance and wish me luck on timely-ness with this project on my daily driver. <

 

OK, Long day, Pulled all necessary (and probably some unnecessary) parts out of way so I can finally get to Timing Cover, AKA (whole dang front side of motor).

Pulled Front Bumper - Only had to cut two zip ties for my removal
Pulled Grill..
Drained Radiator fluid and Pulled Radiator.
Pulled Whole Wiring Harness from top all the way over to Passenger side.
*Be very careful when disconnecting, these wires are run really tight,
especially the fuel system ones. The plastic is very cheesy but somehow
I managed to get them all apart with out any collateral damage.
Removed both Air Filter Boxes..
Removed Radiator hoses and Smog hoses
Removed Alternator
Removed Serpantine Belt and Clutch Fan. (better to remove clutch fan
bolts before you take serpantine belt off because its easier to hold
Removed spark plug ignition wires and spark plugs


Tomorrow morning I will find out what else I have to remove, I know I will have to remove the power steering pump and other applicable hardware
like the belt tentioner and..... Haven't verified yet, but hoping just maybe I
won't have to remove the Crank Shaft pulley.. I think Im in slight denial..

We'll see how tomorrow goes... Going to pull Valve cover and then pull front of timing chain cover off and see just what I'm working with here.

Any suggestions are WELCOMED very gratefully..

My questions tonight are: Do I pull the Head and change the head gasket? Do I change the water pump? Think I might do both of these.. And while I'm in there do a valve job? Change the oil pump, Front main seal.. I'm sure there are a few things I am not thinking about.. Any Thoughts??


Cheers

 

-Head pull is unnecessary as long as it's not running hot
-Water pump and thermostat are a good idea
-The early 2TRs had a water pipe that bolts to the back of the thermostat housing that tends to leak, if leaking replace with the newer updated part
-Check internals of oil pump if they are not pitted and still look new reuse
-Check timing chain guides for wear, if wear is observed change entire chain kit
-Change front main seal and secondary oil pump seal (if the 2TR has one, the 22RE did and it was notorious for leaking)

 

THANKS FOR ADVICE!!!!!!!!!!!! feel like I've been out on a limb trying to figure my plan of attack.. This is my daily driver as well so pressures on!


Much Appreciated Fordless..

 

Keep lots of cardboard handy - I have made templates of cardboard to make sure the bolts are going back where they came from. It may look daunting, but it's just a bunch of nuts, bolts, torque specs and proper torque sequence. Be patient, you have already made it past 90% of what the average person would have - once done, you'll have an oil-tight Tacoma that is running better than when you started!

If you get frustrated, step away - put a post here, and someone will put some good advice / help up. Or, just step away and take a breather!

 

Thanks Yota, < Was just getting kind of stressed going over the service manual I downloaded that says to pull tranny, clutch assembly, exhaust, and a bunch of other stuff.. Your kind words sooth my worries. And some 5-HTP im going to take right now..

but seriously thanks

 

DAY 2:

25 degrees right now where I'm at.. and fantasizing about a closed in shop and propane heater while I'm drinking my coffee. So the FSM says to pull the whole motor and tranny.. but I think I will avoid that and just see what happens when i pull the valve cover and front of the motor (i.e. timing belt cover) timing belt cover is a very loaded word on this truck.. :> :|

 

So Today went slower than expected but none the less, got my answer as to what was truly the "Clacking" coming from the timing cover..

When driving down the road and de-accelerating, the clacking would start as long as there was a load on the motor.

It was hard to identify the clacking because I could never hear it unless I was driving down the road. Simply reving the motor and letting off the gas would not generate the clacking sound so I was a bit nervous about it not being my timing chain and something else, but didn't matter because I needed to fix the gasket leak anyway.

Once I pulled the valve cover I saw immediately that t was indeed the timing chain making the clacking.. As you can see in the pics, it was definitely loose as a goose stretched, AND with side slop. (it could be moved from side to side.

The sprockets however looked pretty good with just a tad bit of wear on some of the teeth. Very minimal but some.. The top plastic covered guide was unscathed. Looked brand new.

One issue I had was one bolt in the middle of the valve cover was stuck in the hole and no matter how many times I moved it back and forth gently, it ended up breaking off.

*Pulled off Valve Cover
*Pulled off Power Steering assembly
*Pulled off AC Pump and Assembly
*Pulled off Serpentine Tensioner
*Pulled off Belt Pulleys
*Pulled off top Chain Guide
*Pulled Crank Shaft Position Sensor?

Tomorrow I will pull Crank Shaft Pulley and get the Timing Chain Cover removed.

Cheers

 

Good work so far Duck! That timing chain's not going to be easy, but it's certainly doable! Once done, you should be good for another 240K miles or so. Internals look pretty good from the pics - outstanding!

 

You should be able to file two flat sides into that broken bolt and use a big pair of vice grips to get it out. Just make sure to cover the surrounding engine really well with rags when filing, b/c u certainly don't want those filings inside the engine. It does sound like you have some slack in your timing chain which is not surprising being that you have a manual trans. Manual truck timing chains typically take more abuse than auto equipped trucks. I would wait til I took the primary chain cover off before declaring the chain a loss though. Make sure to put the motor at TDC before pulling the balancer. It can be done afterwards but it's easier with it on there.

 

Thanks for the encouragement and advice!! Didn't know that a manual tranny was harder on a timing chain per-se. I did figure all the high reving in the sand would push everything to the max.. Thanks also for the TDC suggestion, would have remembered that back in the day, but haven't thought about it now till you suggested. Im also regretting not pulling the CrankShaft pulley before I tore everything down because I realized yesterday that my 1/2 inch drive rattle gun is three hrs away

 

On the older Yota trucks, ie 22Rs you COULD take a 1/2" breaker bar on the crank pulley bolt and lay it on the frame and bump the starter. That would break it loose, it's certainly not the preferred method but it does work. I know from experience.

As far as the manuals and timing chain wear it really has mostly to do with the large changes in RPMs and shock from the drivetrain that the manual equipped engines endure. Auto trucks have the torque converter and fluid to soak up the drivetrain shock and the RPM changes in a auto are much more gradual. The timing chain is the weakest spot so it takes the abuse and it causes slack.

Also since you have a manual trans you can put the truck in gear and lock the parking brake and use a breaker bar to break the crank pulley bolt.

 

Day 3: Noon Update

*Pulled Crank Pulley
*Pulled Thermostat Housing
*Pulled OutPipe for water Behind the Housing?? think that was antifreeze..
*Pulled other sensor at top of cover, maybe oil temp or oil pump sensor?
*Made Diagram for Bolt Pattern
*Pulled all Cover Bolts

So I thought by now I was ready to split the case and unearth everything under cover, and once I looked below and saw how connected the oil pan assemblies are, I am having a stark realization that I need to pull the oil pan assemblies like the FSM states...

ANY THOUGHTS ON THIS?? MAYBE JUST PULL FRONT BOLTS? AM I IN DENIAL?

Anyhow I attached a JPG file of the blown up bolt-hole diagram in case
anyone wants to print and use mine.. It is 8 1/2 by 11 inches so should print good on normal printer.

 

Don't forget BEER

 

Wishing I could drink beer right now if I wasn't almost 12 years sober THIS WOULD DEFINITELY BE THE TIME I would take a couple down straight to the dome.

Was trying to avoid pulling the whole motor like the FSM says, Now I am finding out that it looks like I need to remove oil assemblies AS WELL AS tranny, CLutch disk, Flywheel and Exhaust... Any advice on whether pulling cover with Oil pan assemblies still connected but attaching bolts pulled would be damaging to the surfaces?

 

Sorry I don't have an answer to your questions. I thought the oil pan was at the bottom of the timing cover but after looking at your pics there is another assembly there. I'm curious if you can do it without removing them as long as you seal it back up adequately. My truck has had this same oil leak for quite some time, although it may only lose a 1/2 quart over 5k miles and I only have 162k on it. I didn't realize there was a TSB for this. I had contemplated doing this myself but haven't done anything quite this involved before. Looking forward to seeing your continued progress!

 

Bottom of the 2tr timing cover notice it has an o-ring seal for the oil pump pickup. So once you get those 4 bolts out it should come on off. **Please Note the Large Bolt installed on the timing cover pictured above. DO NOT remove it, that is the oil pressure control valve bolt that is set from the factory.

 

Right on thx Fordless much appreciated.. Didnt want to damage anything, but tomorrow I'll give that a try and see if she pops off.. thanks for the diagram

 

No problem, Just remember that Toyota sealed that cover to the oil pan with Super Yota RTV. So after you get the bolts out you may have to pry on it a little to get that stuff to let go. But be careful to not damage the sealing surfaces.

 

Not gonna lie, today I almost am feeling defeated.

So far I have spent all day and have the passenger side splitting open,
but for some reason, the drivers side is just not budging. Th e FSM says
to get in each of the four perspective corners and find a place to "pry" case open. As to the drivers side, there is no place to pry the cover off. I'm skeptical about forcing a flat head screw driver in the side for fear that I will: 1: damage the surface that meets the cylinder head, or 2: break the timing cover that is CAST ALUMINUM. Do not want to damage this piece.

At this point I've got some really good advice from Fordless (THANK YOU ) but been unsuccessful getting this off..

My next step is probably going to be dropping the transmission and pulling the motor.

maybe then I can find another creative way to split this case... find some sort leverage point..