Question about replacing my 5-speed MT clutch in my 2000 2.4L 2WD base Tacoma

All very interesting, Nolan. I going out to use the little sunlight I have available, so will have to come back to this later. Hope you don't mind. I have made all my parts purchases, which will let the job begin. Will be thinking while doing that.

 

No a problem at all, have fun

 

Yeah, I had prepared myself to entertain a short conversation with that flywheel guy when I picked up the flywheel, to attempt to get him to provide a little more explanation, so I could learn something new. I always want to dig deeper to gain better understanding of situations I am unfamiliar with, and will come out of my shell when the opportunity arises. Well. . . when I entered the establishment (an older, lesser, parts store with old looking radiator hoses of all types and sizes dangling from the ceiling, shelves of product covered with a patina of grime, and an old dirty counter where maybe a max of two people might be able to do business with them at the same time; his machining operation was in a dirty room off to the left, and it had numerous old round metal objects hanging on the walls and its floor looked as if it had never before been cleaned), my intention had been to draw him out in a short conversation about his complaint of the day before.

It didn't take me long to figure that he wasn't a man who would enjoy sharing knowledge in conversation, so I defaulted to silence, just paying him and picking up my flywheel. I had been prepared, even eager, to give him a $5 or $10 tip, to make up for any additional time my washing of the flywheel had cost him in setup, so long as he was willing to talk a bit more about what extra set-up time he had said was required, like (exactly) how does he do his setup, and how did my washing cause him a problem, you know, in a friendly spirit of learning. However, he didn't look all that friendly when I was picking up the flywheel. So, I now feel sure you are correct in saying that "I feel like he had to have been joshing you." And that is probably true, as reading strangers has long been problematic for me, as I only stand 5'6" tall in a world of 6' men who (generally) feel entertained whenever they believe they make me feel inferior to them. Now, it's not fair for me to say that of all people I interact with, but those interactions have been unpleasant often enough that I am wary around people I don't know. Once I get to know someone, then I am perfectly fine.

You have me wondering how you did this: "When I was fresh out of college and broke, I exploded the transmission and slave cylinder of my ranger. Shearing the bellhousing and input shaft off the transmission rending it garbage because the bellhousing was cast as a part of the rest of the case." Your recovery from that disaster was a good story, but while reading it my mind was flipping through various conjured scenarios that might have actually exploded the transmission and slave cylinder. You were then a relatively young man, so I have to believe you did it by driving your ranger overly hard, but then again there could have been dynamite!

Protecting bare metal surfaces, once well cleaned, is always a problem because of the potential for flash rusting, and rusting in general if left unprotected for long. I always try to ask myself what I am going to do to protect each metal surface I am cleaning. I have gotten in the habit of using a spray, or dip, of WD-40 to cover freshly cleaned metal for that reason when I need to let a part sit around a short time before being put back in use. It's because I think WD-40 is hydrophobic (fears, blocks water). I don't consider WD-40 a long-term solution in preventing corrosion. Oiling the surface would do the same thing, right, and probably be better for longer term protection. All the slick and shiny polished journals inside the engine and on the camshafts stay looking that way because they are always bathed in motor oil, and as you said cosmoline, the military grade metal surface protection, is used to protect metal surfaces long term. And then, adding a coating (paint, varnish, electrochemical surfacing) to the bare metal surface is used to prepare the surface for industrial use.

And, metallic interfaces need protection from corrosion of a different kind, and in these situations, it can be highly problematic. I believe you were the one who made me acutely aware of corrosion that is generated by galvanic action between any two dissimilar metal objects. Didn't you give me https://www.corrosionclinic.com/index.html Just attach a block of aluminum to a block of steel, and right at the interface of the two metals you automatically generate a voltage difference due to the two different atomic structures of the metals, in this case one acts cationically and the another anodically, one sacraficing itself to the other, generating corrusion of (eating away of) one of the metals.

OMG. . . I wanted to refresh my memory a bit and Googled something like "Galvanic current" and everything that came back was about beauty treatments of the skin!

Finally, galvanic action "is a corrosive effect that occurs when two metals that are electrochemically different (read dissimilar) come into direct contact with each other." And for their example they show a diagram where Aluminum (Anode) is in direct contact with Copper (Cathode), and at the metal interface there are -ve (electrons stolen from the copper) moving from the cathode to the anode while +ve (Aluminum ions -- aluminum atoms stripped of their valence electrons) move from the Aluminum to the Copper, leaving less aluminum metal on the anode. Let that run long enough and the aluminum will get eaten away. They say it happens in the following way:

1) A conductive path is created for electrons an ions to move between the metals

2) One metal corrodes as its ions (atoms) move onto the other metal

3) The least corrosion-resistant metal's corrosion rate increases, while the more corrosion-resistant metal's corrosion rate decreases.

4) One metal becomes the anode and corrodes faster than it would on its own, while the other becomes the cathode and corrodes slower than it would on its own.

They go on to describe galvanic action that occurs when two or more metals come into "electrical" contact (via an electrolytic environment, say the metals are all in water). In this case the movement of electrons and ions is facilitated by the electrolyte (water), but the effect is the same as the first example. And finally, they talk about galvanic action that is used in primary cells to create an electrical voltage (battery) that powers portable devices.

Metals are just elements in the periodic table, and elements can be arranged in various series, according to certain properties, in this case the property of being more or less electrochemically acting (or reactive), so metals can be selected for minimizing the effects of corrosion, such as, say choosing gold to plate the terminals of wires that are run into automobile connectors, so they don't corrode. Gold is electrochemically almost nonreactive, as can be seen in the electrochemical series:



Imagine bolting a copper water pipe to a cast iron engine block. Their galvanic action would be unremarkable. But then imagine bolting a platinum water pump to a magnesium timing cover. WOW!

Oh, I just let my time get away from me again. Now it is almost 3 pm, I wanted to write you, but now I have yet to begin work. All day yesterday I was busy figuring out a DTC that got thrown on her 2006 Infiniti G35. It was P0462 "Fuel Level Sensor A: Circuit Low Input," and implicates the dual gas tank (saddle bag tank) sending units, along with two PCBs in the dash, one that drives the instrument cluster and the other sits above the radio and relays the fuel signals to the cluster. Evidently, sitting in the sun all day in the summer can cause the surface mount resistors to become unconnected, so their solder has to be "reflowed" to make the connections become reliable. What a PITA to get to those boards, and since we only have two vehicles that we operate, and the Tacoma is "DOWN," well I must pick up the speed. In her case, the problem effects the gas gauge needle (generally they will stick at 3/4 tank, but if completely filled might let the needle go to to 100%, and that can lead to running out of gas unexpectedly) and I think it is only that, so will let it ride and see if it kicks the DTC again, and how often, meanwhile I will be putting the truck back together. It was kind of a highlight of my day watching 20 or so YouTube videos of the same code problem, and seeing all of them making one mistake or another. I feel like I am getting better every day in my knowledge and ability to take care of our vehicles. Oh, we have three, but the 1994 Celica ST has its dashboard torn completely apart because I was going to rennnovate the HVAC system, and couldn't find suitable insulation. Later!

Oh, forgot, I was going to read the details about the Mazda spark initiated auto-combustible gas engine. Have to get to that later. They did say that that new design will give them more power at higher efficiency, and I had begun to read about how they used the combustion characterics of the lower level gas types in two ways at the same time. Totally unclear so far.

 

:/ That's not very helpful to anyone, of he were serious you'd think he'd tell you a reason so that if you ever are in a position to recommend him to someone you can inform them in advance not to clean the flywheel and why. I mean I guess if you want to verify everything is okay you can bolt it onto the crank with the old bolts and measure the runout. About 3/8"-1" from the outer edge of the friction disk contact area is a good spot. To close towards the centre and you could get an inaccurate measurement as with the velocity of the crankshaft being greater at the outer edge than at a more inner diameter, that's usually where you'll find the most wear and/or warpage. Along with the outer diameter area being further away from the flywheel's "heat sink surface" which is the interface of it being fastened to the crankshaft. Same idea of why you measure brake rotor thickness, thickness variation and runout closer to the outside edge instead of closer to the hub. I believe 0.002"-0.004" of flywheel runout is a typical spec but check the service manual for a proper spec of allowable runout. Of course the less runout the better.

There are alot of people out there that have a problem with interactions where they are not the alpha for even a moment for no reason other than momentarily they are not the alpha. I feel often times those people tend to not be the most helpful. A guy can be confident, know what he's talking about or doing or otherwise good for the situation but there is a difference between any of that and just having to be "the alpha" in that interaction.

So you are largely correct in while my transmission exploded, I was 20 and it happened while I was being a jackass and sailing at 150Km/H (94MPH) down a really steep hill. Just as I was thinking I should drop a gear and start slowing down because the truck was shaking very heavily, I heard a loud bang and heard the engine go to idle speed. I put my hand on the shifter and it was like a pool noodle. Stepped on the clutch and the pedal just stayed on the floor. When I got to flat ground and pulled over I saw brake fluid and gear oil leaking from under the transmission. At first I just saw a crack in the bellhousing and thought the slave cylinder exploded somehow inside the bellhousing or maybe the gears jammed inside the case or something. I was on the side of a busy highway during a high traffic time so I didn't investigate much because I figured either way there was nothing I was gonna do about it on the side of the road. Just got out my strap and waited for my buddy to come flat tow me home with his 4cyl sonoma...it did the job but boy was it working hard the whole drive I heard him grab first gear going up the hill to my neighbourhood which was a 70km/h (45mph) hill ahah. I only realized the full extent of the damage when I removed the transmission, rolled it off my abdomen and looked in at the clutch assembly through an opening smaller than I remember when I changed the clutch upon purchase of the truck. That's when I noticed about 2" of bellhousing still attached to the engine along with the input shaft still inside the friction disk. Technically that wasn't a transmission explosion. When I was Frankensteining the replacement together and could see the innards of the ruined one. Everything looked perfect inside there and every gear engaged the same as if not smoother than the replacement. I did not have the special tools to properly reassemble that transmission if I were to just replace the input shaft along with I had the fresh theory in my head that if you change one gear you have to change it's corresponding gear that it contacts. Which meant I would of had to change the countershaft and output shaft. Leaving basically just the bearings and synchronizers which is basically the bread and butter of a manual transmission rebuild. Not to mention the transmission case which was garbage. Me rebuilding that transmission was just another way of me saying I would of been finding every part and assembling it myself. As I mentioned, luckily I got a transmission from an extraordinarily skilled apprentice 3 years ahead of me on paper but with an passion for performance engines and transmissions that he'd already built many of with his dad who was a former transmission specialized mechanic as the dealership.... the catch was this apprentice hated manual transmissions with a passion. He could drive it fine but didn't understand them, was not interested in them and saw no reason to want one. Again extraordinary mechanic also very ahead in his understanding of electrical along with automatics and both naturally aspirated and forced induction engines... cut the clutch slave line because he didn't even know what it did though.
He put a supercharged custom built 7.0L V8 in his ranger with a 2 speed powerglide transmission. When he put it on a dyno it was making over 700hp with his preliminary tune that he also made custom himself just to get it to run at all rpm ranges with the forced induction involved.

Back on topic though, the reason my transmission experienced it's catastrophic failure is due to my own fault. I attempted to change a u-joint on my driveshaft but didn't get the bearing cap seated all the way into the driveshaft to allow the snap ring to be installed. I drove like that for 2 and a bit years just working around the vibrations which were most prevalent on take off from a stop and at 107Km/H. The bearing cap flew out and caused the u-joint to bind my driveshaft momentarily which in turn bound up my drivetrain momentarily. I guess between the engine and the rear differential, the transmission input shaft was the weak link. That had to give. It sucked but I did count myself a lucky man because with best case scenario being it simply ruined my driveshaft it could of ruined the engine, rear differential or otherwise sent debris either through the floor of the truck or into someone else's vehicle next to me on the road when it happened. I learned my lesson about neglecting issues for long periods of time. That was not my first u-joint install gone bad. I've never actually successfully changed a u-joint in my life that didn't end in replacing the whole driveshaft. Even in trade school when I specifically explained my prior bad luck with other u-joints and had a one on one with him and tried it under his supervision in the same manner he showed me using the same tools, the bent the shaft and couldn't get the snap ring in. I was in the skills Canada competition at the college level with a second place finish in the province, u-joint station came around with a u-joint changing tool and instructions that I read live during the competition because I knew I was not proficient changing u-joints... bent that shaft too aha. I'm willing to try one last time now that i'm even more experienced and have heard countless people tell me their "fool-proof" methods of changing u-joints along with countless hours on youtube that i've spent researching but otherwise i'm more than content paying a driveline shop to change my u-joints when the time comes ahah. I don't know what it is but changing u-joints is for the my biggest weakness as a mechanic to date. I have a 7% success rate so far. The 7% coming from me changing a u-joint once successfully but then botching it on the other end of the shaft. Rendering the whole shaft garbage.

I don't think wd-40 is bad for corrosion protect by no mean. I do recommend it to people for that purpose. Ironically I don't own any and don't think i've ever really bought a can either. I have no issues with it other than people claiming to me it works well as a penetrating fluid to help with corroded fasteners. I agree it's better than nothing but not that it works well for the purpose of being a penetrating fluid. I don't know which is better, I usually just use oil because I tend to have an abundance or at the least a flavour of oil in a quantity small enough that it's not really worth me saving for the next time I need that oil. Typically it ends up being either diff oil, transmission fluid, an odd ball viscosity motor oil or 200ml of motor oil just in time for when my 250ml capacity oiler is getting low. I've also used silicone spray tool. Not often because I usually have some sort of oil kicking around and the silicone sprays don't seem to last as long as they used to when I actually need specifically silicone for the task.

I don't believe it was me that turned your attention to galvanic corrosion. It's a very real problem that sometimes manufacturers will put thought into mitigating, other times it's as if they just close their eyes send the component out to work hoping they'll defy chemistry this time.

If you can think of it someone has probably tried it aha. Once upon a time there used to be magnesium valve covers. I've also been told there were magnesium timing covers back in the day but for a brief period in time. An issue with aluminum steering knuckles nowadays is that the wheel bearing hub assembly is still steel and although they say in the service manual to coat the outside of the replacement bearing in grease to prevent galvanic corrosion, they sure as hell don't do that from the factory. In that regard, I prefer an Iron knuckle because they don't seize "as" bad and you can be fairly rough with them to remove the bearing whereas the aluminum is easily damaged if you miss with the hammer. Some manufactures also would just install normal bolts into aluminum blocks and other components with dissimilar metals... nowadays it appears everyone uses bolts that are plated in some way to prevent that corrosion.. atleast for the first time you remove that bolt. I guess another benefit of the all aluminum engines of modern day is that there is less dissimilar metals to stress about working with. If they put everything together just right with a magnesium timing cover and platinum water pump, you could probably get away for a while without any gasket and at one point possibly no bolts aha. Especially once you get some aged coolant circulating that is in itself a battery.

That's no good that your other vehicle was trying to join the garage party too. You found the issue though so that's good. It's interesting some of the random issues that manufactures have over the years. Gm had a similar issue they officially blamed on "cold solder joints" but for their wiper motors. Easily repaired by desoldering the connects but due to so many technicians ruining wiper motors trying to solder them back, they said f- it just replace the motor with an updated part and extended a special service warranty to the affected wiper motors for 10 years or 240'000kms from the original in service date. Which ever came first.

The Mazda literature is a little hard to absorb at first, the best way I found to help understand it is to think about them creating stratified layers inside of the combustion chamber with varying fuel:air ratios due to the timing and frequency of fuel injection. From what I understand, in the similar sense of a diesel engine, they can inject fuel more than once per cycle

 

You were right about the rear main seal retainer. I can see that it cleans up pretty easily without a lot of work. Used on sheet of 800 grit black wet sanding paper and got rid of most of the corrosion. Take a look at the photos and see for your self. I'm not sure if it is necessary, but was thinking that maybe I should use a finer grit and make that surface a little better polished?

First the before:



And now the after:



Oops, now that I see them all blown up, I can see scratch marks that are bad enough that I know I need to spend time to polish them out.


Then I am sending a few other photos to show where things are at, and ask a couple of questions:

1) The rotating shaft of the rear of the crankshaft, where the rear main seal is going to keep oil inside the engine. I will have to clean that first, to see if there is a ridge or something rubbed by the last seal, and maybe use one of those neat Speedy Seals that you showed me (?whatever they are called that slip over the shaft so the seal has a perfect sealing surface to ride on.).



And then two photos to ask about how good of a job do I have to do to make sure the exhaust seals form properly. First experience cleaning old sealing material out:



Then, a look into the teeth of the starter motor. I twisted it with my fingers and it spun out strongly, as I thought it should:



Finally, the look of the resurfaced flywheel. . .



That's an idea of where I currently am in getting down to putting all the Tacoma parts back in place. I'm getting excited now that things can move along more quickly.

Thanks for your transmission explosion story. Now it is easier to comprehend why you called it an explosion, because it kinda was. And the reason is quite amusing to me because one of the things I had been thinking about potentially doing, since I had the truck torn apart as far as it has been, was to replace the spider thingys of the U-Joints (there are only 2). Now, hearing your story of your attempts at trying to replace your own, and not being able, that makes me feel like crazy because I had been thinking (to myself) that doing that job would be actually a little bit fun (never having done it before). Now, I have been forewarned. They don't look like they need to be changed out, so it will be easy not to do that job.

 

Spent about an hour with 1,500 grit wet black sandpaper polishing away to try to eliminate the streaks created by the 800 grit. Laying around the garage, the next finer grit was the 1,500, so I tool a piece of it, knowing that I really first needed a more course grit such as 1,000 (after the 800), and after that move to something else between 1,000 and 1,500, before finally using 1,500.
The result isn’t “jewelry” polished, but maybe it is good enough. The corrosion is barely perceptible now, and from a little distance, the surface appears “polished,” and to the touch feels pretty smooth.
Anyway, since I got the high heat anaerobic sealant now, my plan is to grease both the polished surface and the aluminum with that sealant before pushing the seal into place, trusting that once the anaerobic seal has cured, without air, the seal/metal interface will form a lasting seal.
Pls let me know if you disagree with me on this.

 

I had planned, and was ready to put Permatex 51031 High Temperature Anaerobic FLANGE SEALANT between the polished aluminum surface of the seal retainer and the seal itself, instead of driving the seal in DRY, according to the FSM, thinking that my sanding may have opened (widened) the bore enough that oil might be able to penetrate between the aluminum surface and the seated seal that press fit to the aluminum. Also, that sealant would block any micropores in the aluminum where corrosion might have eaten into the bulk aluminum material.

Then I asked myself what a FLANGE SEALANT was designed for. It is normally used like FIPG between two machined metal mating surfaces, such as the rear main seal retainer as it mates to the block, which is where my plan had been to use Permatex Ultra Black. The Permatex 51031 is used between two machined metal surfaces, same as the Ultra Black, normally. At that point, I called an application specialist at Permatex, but their bot told me they are only there during Eastern Time hours, so leave your phone number.

I downloaded two Permatex product summary data sheets, one being the Material Data Safety Sheet. They never mentioned any materials that could be mated using their anaerobic product, other than metal.

IYO, do you think that 51031 sealant would mess up the rear main seal's construction material when the seal is pressed into it, whatever it is (Teflon?), if I used the 51031 the way I planned to use it, to gain an extra secure oil seal? I think we had discussed this and you explained that using the anaerobic sealant was a better idea than non-aerobic because it cures in the ABSENSE OF AIR, so any of that sealant that got into the engine side would never cure to a hard substance, and would just disssolve into the oil supply, and not bother the engine. And any slop could just be wiped off with a cloth.

Similar question: since the anaerobic sealant cures in the absense of air, why should I not use that same sealant to mate the rear main seal retainer to the block, giving the same benefits? For the retainer, the FSM says to clean both sealing surfaces and apply seal packing PN 08826-00080, or equivalent. Somewhere in my reading, someone suggested the Permatex Ultra Black as the best equivalent, so I bought some back then. Then I bought the high temp anaerobic sealant. Then I read all the fine print on the plastic tube of 51031, and I felt like they were telling me to be extremely careful with this dangerous product, though there are YouTube videos showing techs using it for sealing mating surfaces of all kinds. Note: One of the ingredients is CUMENE, a known carcinogen, in experimental animals [It caused tumors at several tissue sites, including lung and liver in mice and kidney in male rats. Dec 21, 2021 https://ncbi.nlm.gov/NB...).

Maybe I will wake in the morning and realize I am overthinking again. . . at least I am THINKING!

 

I will definitely make sure that the flywheel runout is within specs before going any further than the flywheel. Thanks for suggesting it because I have the dial indicator gage setup and in the location where the flywheel sits there is enough metal to set the thing up easily. I had a hard time getting it set up for checking the runout of the brake rotors, on the Celica. If I run into that problem again, my plan is to spend the money to get a better articulated magnetic base and arm for the dial indicator. I understand your reasoning, thanks.

 

Everything looks real purdy and shiny aha, I fully support doing what you have to do to ensure the rear of the crankshaft is in good condition to accept the new seal and work properly. Especially seeing that it's not exactly a quite and easy job if the seal were to leak.

The retainer should be more than fine. One of my confessions to bad habits "that i've done for years with no ill effects (insert other common things that people say when they're justifying something wrong)" is that I normally remove seals by hammering in a #2 flat head a small amount between the outer diameter of the seal and the bore then prying out the seal like that. You have to be very careful to not nick the surface of the shaft it has to seal against or you'll have problems. If there's a knick in the static sealing side of the bore, I usually just take down the high spot with a round file or sandpaper as appropriate so that no part of it stands proud to the rest of the bore. As long as there is no path from the knick to the inside edge of the bore which is the fluid side, it doesn't leak. Even without additional sealant. I know that's bad... don't tell my mom.

For how good the exhaust surfaces have to be.. maybe a 7/10? Typically i'll either scrap off the larger pieces or hit the surface with a wire brush on a power tool and call it a day. Alot of guys I worked with along with myself when I was just a teenager trying to make my car work again, would simply replace the gasket and call it a wrap with zero cleaning and have no exhaust leaks either. Especially if it's that thicker graphite(I believe) type gasket, sealing the exhaust tends to be quite forgiving. If it's just a "fire ring" type seal then those also tend to be quite forgiving.The only exhaust gaskets i've encountered so far that are some what particular about their surfaces are the multi-layer steel types. Mind you even those i've seen installed with no cleaning and not leak... albeit on relatively new vehicles which light corrosion on the sealing surfaces. Nothing major and no pitting. To more directly answer your question though, I wouldn't polish the surface for say but getting the looser debris off would be as far as I would venture.

I personally hold the view of not touching u-joints unless I absolutely have to beyond just "don't fix what isn't broken" but who knows, maybe you'll be a whiz at changing them aha. I've never met anyone who's encountered the difficulties I have with changing them. No matter if they use a hammer, vice, 20t press, ball joint press, u-joint press or some combination of them all. I assume it's because I don't follow my high school auto teacher's advise for when things aren't going smoothly, which was to "talk to it like your girlfriend"

Ya, there isn't any issue with using the anaerobic sealant between the outside diameter of the seal and inner diameter of the retainer that i'm aware, similar jobs are the primary reason I keep the stuff on hand. In regards to using it to seal the retainer to the block. Short answer is yes you can use it in place of the RTV/FIPG that they suggest in the FSM. Down side to the anaerobic seal instead of RTV is that it's not as forgiving of imperfect surfaces and doesn't seal as well. Like the anaerobic sealant is primarily for applications where the two surface contact areas could almost seal on their own because they're machined so well, along with it doesn't form as robust a seal as RTV would. If both RTV and anaerobic sealant were subjected to progressively increasing pressures of the same medium they were sealing in a side by side test with all other variables controlled and optimal application procedures, the anaerobic seal would fail quite quickly in comparison to RTV. I think of anaerobic sealant more as an assistant in sealing than that the primary seal. The only places really that it's specially called for in FSM's is applications where the thickness of the RTV would change the spacing of the components too significantly to allow for proper operation. With that said outside of helping the outer diameter of a seal, I've used it on transfer cases and I sealed the tail shaft of my Frankenstein'd ranger transmission with it after cleaning the surface with acdelco glass cleaner. I haven't had it leak even to this day (I know the person I sold my ranger to) however a manual transmission and transfer case don't see pressure to their cases beyond the physical weight of the fluid in them unless there is an issue with their venting systems. So in conclusion, you can use anaerobic sealant in lieu of RTV but it's less forgiving and requires the surfaces to pretty much be within machining tolerances of each other to work. I believe the Permatex literature for the sealant you acquired stated it would seal gaps up to 0.02" when using the primer... I don't know what the primer is exactly but I know that brake clean alone is not sufficient when anaerobic sealant is the primary seal. As mentioned, i've used AcDelco glass cleaner as that's what my shop foreman recommend. I imagine something like strong denatured alcohol would work in place of the primer but I don't know. I've never used the specific stuff before. It could also be a "promoter" like the stuff you have to apply to plastic oil pan's prior to the RTV bead which in that case increases the adhesion to the plastic more so than cleans it.

 

Hehe, ya some spots don't make it easy to use a rigid armed dial indicator. Especially not that alot of components that a guy would normally magnet to are no longer made with ferrous metals. I got one a while ago that the base can screw into the back of vise grips so when in doubt you can just clamp it to something

 

I have seen someone using one of those with the vice grips, and it seems to be a good idea for the reason you gave. Where did you get yours? When I have the flywheel mounted, since the engine is non-operational, I am thinking that maybe my wife can turn the crank while I watch the dial indicator.

That's a big relief to me, having you say that it is ok to use the HT anaerobic sealant to ensure that the retainer side of the seal will not leak over time. I rubbed that surface in knocking down the 1,000 grit sanding ridges so much that I was turning against myself thinking that surely oil will eventually find a way out in that pathway, and was thinking that my only hope was the anaerobic sealant filling in the very small (potential) gaps. Now, I am feeling very good about moving ahead.

Check me on this:

The Permatex HT anaerobic sealant I have has a tube opening that is a small hole. It's directions say to make SURE that you apply a continuous bead; they don't want any discontinuities in the bead. Now, when I apply it to the retainer surface, I guess I should make the (continuous bead) application as close as possible to the front edge of the sealing surface (which has a chamfer), possibly to include the chamfer, so when pushing in the seal the seal's leading edge will carry (smear) some of the sealant into the sealing area all around the retainer sealing surface. That is totally in my imagination at this point. I don't know exactly how the sealant will get inside the sealing edge from its "continuous bead", so let me ask you. Should I use a nitrile glove and smear that substance all over the retainer sealing edge, and not pay attention to the manufacturer's requirement that I lay down a continuous bead, considering that a continuous smear, rather than a continuous bead, would likely fill in all the potential gaps imagined, while obeying the spirit of the manufacturer's rule?

You gave an enlightening discussion of the differences between this anaerobic sealant and RTV, and yes, the specs on the anaerobic do talk about it sealing two well machined metal surfaces and how it is able to fill in small gaps, on the order of a few thousandth or so, and 20 was probably the upper limit. Curiously, that was the "step" measure of my flywheel that the guy just quickly ran his fingers over and said "yes, that's a 0.020-inch step" hahaha. Also, it seems reasonable to me that it is not as capable as RTV, as you pointed out, which answers my other question, thanks. Originally, I only wanted to use it for the very tiny gaps that might exist in the retainer-to-seal space, to ensure a good long-term oil seal, but when reading the (almost unreadable crammed in font) information on the anaerobic I started being confused about it being used in making oil seals. That unfortunate issue of wondering off into the weeds, from time to time, is a big problem when you lack solid experience. On the other hand, sometimes it leads to alternative solutions that sometimes turn out good. You are keeping me balanced, so I really appreciate your being there.

The AcDelco Glass Cleaner you use as a final cleaning step. I found 100% Isopropyl Alcohol does a good job at cleaning the final layer of oil from metal surfaces, even use it now when I want to clean my tools before storing them away. I was thinking of using it as the final preparation step before sealing anything to metal, such as the retainer-to-seal surfaces, and the retainer-to-block surfaces. Am I not understanding what AcDelco Glass Cleaner is? I have been a Windex champion for cleaning glass all my life (reminds me of a movie titled something like "My Big/Fat Greek Wedding"? where the main character was also a windex champion). Should I chase down that AcDelco Glass Cleaner to have it around my garage? Or, am I misunderstanding what you meant by "primer"?

After cleaning the garage preparatory to digging in in earnest, I started cleaning the varnish off the crank-shaft end where the seal rides, along with the rest of that end of the block where other things get attached, so everything will all be ready when I am. I tried to look closely at where the ring around it made by the old seal might have scarred it beyond repair. I am thinking that your other idea about a "sleeve" that goes onto the rotating shaft renews the surface perfectly, so want to ask you the best way to take the measure and where to get the sleeves. Do I need micrometer accuracy, or will a harbort freight caliper get me the proper measure? Though not yet done cleaning, I wanted to show you the condition of the rear end of the crank-shaft.

I will replace the pilot bearing, and once finished cleaning the shaft surface will again use some very fine grit wet sanding paper to see how well the shaft will clean up, and see if I can't remove the abrasions and rusted spots that can be seen in the photos. Just remember that this engine started with horrible oil sludge, so that varnish is hard to whittle down.

I have used some degreasing chemicals, but found that diesel seems to do pretty well. Scotch Brite might help as well, but haven't yet tried. I am especially concerned that I get the mating surfaces perfectly clean of all oils.




Finally, I really had to laugh when you discussed the U-joint phobia:

"I personally hold the view of not touching u-joints unless I absolutely have to beyond just "don't fix what isn't broken" but who knows, maybe you'll be a whiz at changing them aha. I've never met anyone who's encountered the difficulties I have with changing them. No matter if they use a hammer, vice, 20t press, ball joint press, u-joint press or some combination of them all. I assume it's because I don't follow my high school auto teacher's advise for when things aren't going smoothly, which was to "talk to it like your girlfriend"

It is my honest opinion that your auto teacher's advice is solid! Even inanimate objects have something inside that can talk to us, at least if we are men. So many times just falling back and giving an unyielding effort a little bit of free time from the frantic banging, resting your mind, relieving the particular stress of the moment, and then coming back a little later and just looking very carefully at everything involved, every place where one thing touched another, or where some kind of mark might be telling a story, a sudden insight can occur that tells you (sometimes) a whole different way to do the same thing, or you see something you had overlooked. Come to think of it, that's maybe more something I do because I am not already skilled, but maybe it has a more general application?

Moreover, I am not going to attempt to replace any U-joint that is not clearly in distress, based on your experience. After all, it only requires removing the drive shaft, which is silly easy in comparison to taking out the transmission and changing the clutch, so I could have that simple pleasure whenever I might want, and will not push it.

 

So I got my vice grip mountable dial indicator from the matco tool truck when I was an apprentice at the dealership because it was on sale and he happened to show up minutes after I realized my magnetic one wouldn't work for the task at hand. It's okay but I wouldn't buy it again, it's very finicky to use is my biggest complaint. When possible I still try my damnedest to find some possible way to accurately use my magnetic one. That one is a cheapy I got in school from Princess auto (basically a Canadian Harbour freight) but if I have a ferrous surface for it, it's never let me down.

Having your wife as a helper is awesome for things like that. Even though mine is willing to help, i've gotta so used to primarily finding a way to struggle on my own unless it's a significant difference in time to have help or a guy just happened to be next to me at the right time. I used to either end up turning the engine via a flywheel mounting bolt if I could without torquing them more or install a bell housing bolt for a pivot point and use a prybar to rotate the flywheel via the ring gear. I couldn't always get a ratchet and socket on the crank while looking at the dial indicator.

Smearing the sealant on vs. Applying the bead wouldn't make much if any difference here. Yes most of it will be displaced by the seal but I agree with your thought process and do the same sometimes due to the same reasoning. The two reasons they want you to apply a continuous bead is so that it's not contaminated via contact with something after application and because if there is a break in the bead it creates a potential leak path.

In the event of sealing a large component like a timing cover or some oil pans or anything else were a continuous bead isn't possible due to having to reposition or apply more pressure to your sealant tube to continue it's flow, I was shown two ways to go about it. First way is to back track a little bit as you near the point of having to end your bead and start again, then continuing from that retracted position creating a small overlap of two smaller beads that will fuse together upon fastening the component to it's home. The second way I was taught is to just apply the bead and leave any potential gaps until the end then lick your finger and lightly dap any gaps closed. Licking your finger will prevent most sealants from sticking to your finger and also allow you to verify your sealing surface is clean. If it's clean then the sealant will stick to the surface and you'll just get a dap from contact where as if it's contaminated the whole bead will lift off the surface when you dap... I only really use the overlap method as it's quicker and i've developed techniques like occasionally lifting my sealant applicator further from the surface or "leading" my applicator a little further ahead from the bead to see if it lifts off the surface along with I typically make sure my surface is prepped before I even get the sealant then another quick cleaning and wipe before I start the bead.

Hey and in regards to your machinist feeling a 0.02" gap, it's possible ahaha. When I frequently had or worked with vehicles that had tapered wheel bearings that needed some play in them when setup properly to allow for heat expansion due to braking I could pretty reliably adjust to 0.001-0.003" of play. I don't know if I can anymore because I haven't touched a setup like that in about 3-4 years. Not to say I never verified by measuring. I'd rather be sure than just confident.

A guy could for sure wander off and encounter slender man looking for better and alternative ways to do things but I honestly feel that the majority of my learning has come from trying something different. Especially on my own vehicles. One of the top lessons I learned from experimenting is to experiment first on things that are easy to do again and/or cheap to replace if the experiment were to epically fail. If it falls into that category of hard to do again or expensive in a worst case Ontario situation, then do your research and do a cost benefit analysis. An example of that for me is that there are few situations where I take fluid recommendations as a requirement and not just a suggestion. That has a potential though to be very costly if I were to experiment by running a 0W-12 motor oil in a Ram 3500 6.7 Cummins then go towing a camper across Montana. Or using atf in place of brake fluid. I support experimenting, those are just my tips for deciding when and where to experiment.

My latest rabbit I found myself in, which is minor in comparison to others, is trying to decided what brake rotors and pads to get for my truck when mine wear out as i'm at 168'000kms and had 6mm on my front pads when I serviced them back in October so I expect by either the summer or next fall they'll be up for replacement. The pads I pretty well have picked out which will be ceramic and Akebono's as they made my factory pads and my only grip is I want a little more bite from them and a firmer pedal. Otherwise I think they're great. Rotors i'm unsure about because they haven't warped for me(much) but I can feel they are a bit and have been for atleast 100'000kms. I may get factory ones again but I'd prefer ones a bit denser and heavier if possible since I tow commonly... it's a challenge to figure that out without weighing them or holding them as manufactures don't tend to post such info.

Isopropyl is a better option than the acdelco glass cleaner for this application. I think the acdelco glass cleaner is amazing stuff made with fairy dust but, my main reason for using it was because the acdelco glass cleaner was provided as "shop supplies" so we could get a can for free where as the alcohol we would have to go purchase on our own after work. At home I use isopropyl. The primer is a different thing altogether. It's a specific chemical that you apply before the sealant to help the sealant work better... to be honest I think the "primer" is just an expensive cleaner the sealant manufacturer sells to make some extra pocket change.

After the crank is cleaned up, the general automotive way for checking machined surface imperfections is to run your finger nail/a toothpick across the surface and if your nail/toothpick catches the groove/imperfection then it'll be a problem. If nothing catches and you just see a "shadow mark" then you'll be okay.

When possible I prefer a micrometer to be more precise but if your caliper is accurate and the measurement is repeatable then I don't think it'll be an issue. If you have long enough reach with your calliper then I would recommend placing them perpendicular to the length of the crankshaft and not on the sealing surface section so that you'll surely measure over the highest part vs placing the calliper length wise to the crank and, there is a potential albiet small, that the crankshaft either has a greater or lesser diameter at the sealing surface area depending on how the seal lived it's life there.

Also I looked and Rockauto does sell one option for a repair sleeve for your engine so if you wanted to verify your measurement I would even just search the SKF 99346 part number listed here and compare your measurements to theirs

I will not believe you if you say you have a leak ahah. The only time I see cleaning that well is when I guy is changing head gaskets and even then a strong case can be made that you're still doing a better job. The typical and GM recommended cleaning choice for blocks, heads and basically any other machined surface is either a plastic razor blade(which sucks) or a metal razor blade held perpendicular to the surface and scratching the surface. Holding the blade perpendicular prevents it from gouging the surface which is more likely if the blade is angled to the surface. The biggest no-no from gm for internal component cleaning is a roloc disk other abrasive cleaner on a power tool as the material will heavily disintegrate and contaminate the lubricant with particles too small to even be filtered out "causing component failure in as little as 20'000kms" one guy though that was a joke and would clean blocks and heads with a roloc disk on his drill when he was doing head gaskets because it was much much faster and never blew an engine but I don't know. The rest of cleaned manually with brake clean, a razor and, scotchbrite pads. I imagine GM publishes that bulletin every year and did a tech talk about it for a reason.
I speak sweetly to things when someone is around for the entertainment value but maybe that's something I should do more. I for sure value and am getting better at taking a break then returning to things with a clear mind as that's usually been very favourable.

I'm also biased but I fully support not changing your u-joints until they require it aha.

 

Got out of having to watch the SuperBowl so I could have time to work on cleaning the crank shaft end and other exposed parts of the block.

Before I stopped for the day, I snapped a few photos so I can see how far I have gotten and how much is left to go. Use a lot of diesel on blue paper shop towels, three different colors of Scotch Brite, including a thick whithish square Scotch Brite-looking thing whose instructions sounded like it was sandpaper, something I found unexpectedly stuffed in a drawer, some used wet fine grit sandpaper, and a lot of hand movement. Oh, (admission of guilt) and I also used a razor blade set at a very slight angle to the cast iron for the block surfaces. I would never do that on an aluminum surface, but the cast iron seemed to enjoy being dared, and the age of the block, plus the fact that it got sludged created surface imperfections, caked on stuff that looked like the blade at an angle might have been the only way (then I read how you set the blade perpindicular to the surface and scratch it with the blade -- and I can see that is a way to get off the same stuff I did without using the blade at an angle).

I'm just going to pull up the photos so you can see them. I plan to attack those surfaces yet again, maybe tomorrow, to make sure they are done good enough. And while I am in a space that is wide open and I can just sit in there as long as I like, I am thinking seriously of washing the frame rails and adding some black paint, to keep them from rusting. I like to push the cleaning and painting as far as I can when there is a chance. Then, when I am finished, I can feel like everything that needed to be done has been.



Really appreciate your finding the crankshaft repair sleeves at RockAuto. That was above the call of duty. If the little trough doesn't polish out, I think it is truly worth the money to create a surface that cannot be penetrated by oil, once I get the seal placed properly. Since they are in stock and known to fit my engine, do I even need to measure the shaft diameter? I think I will, even if I don't have to, and compare my measrement with the RockAuto specs, as you suggested.

Just looked ahead at RockAuto, and the information I got seems a little different that what you got, for the same Tacoma:



The only REAR repair sleeve is the one sold by SKF (99346) for $26.79 ----- oh, just realized that your numbers WOULD be different because you reach RockAuto via Canada! And I was thinking maybe they were stimulated in to action to lower their costs when you gave the repair sleeve a lookup. hahah joke on me.

And SKF does not provide a measurement, just sells the sleeve with installation tool, and bang you are done. I really like that for when there is a mark on the shaft that will not go away!

BTW: regarding the back of the block, except for the place where the rear main seal retainer is attached, aren't those surfaces mated up with the bell housing surfaces?

Just got the signal that it is time for a bath, before dinner, so I must leave some things unsaid. Thank you for the fountain of carefully explained tips you gave in your last posting. Every bit of what you say helps, and mostly helps a lot, so I am forever in your debt. Maybe the day will come where I can add information to yours. Right now, I feel that things are a bit one way.

 

Im not a big football guy but holy, ditched the Superbowl to work on the truck. Thats commitment. Already it looks immaculate and honestly with the attention to detail you're putting in, I doubt you'd be a gorilla and damage the surface with a razor blade even if you were cleaning an aluminum head gasket surface with the blade at a shallow angle.

If you have prime real estate to renew the frame surface then I don't see why not. I coated mine with black Cosmoline this fall and it was not very comfortable trying to get around under there and spray around things. In the summer when I touch it up i'll try to accost someone to let me use a hoist.

When in doubt the repair sleeve is for sure recommend. Especially since replacing the crankshaft isn't really a cost effective and risking the seal leaking again not a risk worth taking. Especially since you'd have to basically do the job all over if it did leak.

Work is slower today so I have a little extra down time. this is the webpage that comes up when I search the skf part number on the interwebs. 3.5" appears to be the nominal diameter of the shaft. https://www.skf.com/group/products/...ear-sleeves/skf-speedi-sleeve/productid-99346

Aside from the retainer surface, I believe there should be a plate directly on the back of the block to provide some shielding for the assembly rotating in there followed by the bellhousing. There is a flatness spec for both bellhousing and plate contact surface but i've never in my life checked it or thought about it. Unless you have a hard shifting concern and nothing else is found to be at fault and both locating dowels are present I typically just close my eyes and carry on. Never seen or actually heard of a warped bellhousing.

Enjoy your supper and don't worry, you don't owe me anything. Pay it forward. I like tacomaworld because aside from subtly advertising the KDMax tune, it also helps me stay somewhat mentally engaged with auto repair topics which I enjoy not that i'm not a mechanic as my day job.

 

The product application engineer from Permatex called this morning and we discussed my "applcation" for the HT Anaerobic Sealant (rear main seal-to-retainer gaps). I explained to him exactly why and how I planned to use the sealant, to make sure he understood clearely what I wanted to do.

His answer was disappointing, the anaerobic sealant is not good for any kind of plastic (?) that makes up the material of the seal. That's why they only advertize its use as a gasket between two metals. He said the trouble is that the anaerobic sealant will lead to cracking of any plastics. He added that thread sealers are also anaerobic and have the same problems, say if you screwed a bolt through a metal piece fastened to a bulk of plastic. It would crack that plastic as well.

So, he recommended a thinner, more like a liquid, silicone (?) based "Aviation Form A Gasket Sealant Liquid" #3 sealant #80017, that comes in 4 oz and 16 oz cans that is applied to both surfaces, let to set up a couple of minutes before pressing the seal into the retainer. This product is slow drying, non-hardening, brush top, approved for aviation use, resists gasoline, oil, grease, and has a temperature range of -65F to 400F (-54C to 204C). I found this at Amazon:



It also comes in a smaller sized can.

Other places that Google showed cost lots more $$.

Correction, I only THOUGHT I had ditched the game to work on the truck. When I went in for dinner, thinking I had successfully dodged the game, there it was, ready for kick-off, commercials and all. She wanted to watch the game. I think it was for the excitement, because she only has a basic idea of how the game is played, being a Filipina. She has a couple of controllable lights in the yard whose color can be changed using her phone app, so she made the colors red when the red team was ahead, and white then the white team was ahead, and pink when we went to bed at the conclusion of the regular game, when the game was tied. hahaha

Yes, I am pretty careful with the razor blade, aware of what potential danger awaits the careless. I find that the razor is a handy tool when it comes to cleaning surfaces.

Black cosmoline for the frame of your Tacoma? Is that because of the harsh winters you have up there in Canada? I live in Durham, NC, in the SouthEast of the US, where the low in the winter hasn't gone below 16F (-9C) in the past four winters. I'm thinking more like a couple layers of rust resistant black spray paint.

And I agree with you on the rear crank sleeve as a guarantee of sealing success. A little extra money now can prevent a leak that would be a major disappointment.
And thanks for the link to the SKF 99346 information. I will have to go measure to make sure it will fit. There is a dimension called B that shows how far onto the shaft the tool can push the Speedi-Sleeve, and I will also be sure to check that as well.

You said "Aside from the retainer surface, I believe there should be a plate directly on the back of the block to provide some shielding for the assembly rotating in there followed by the bellhousing. There is a flatness spec for both bellhousing and plate contact surface but i've never in my life checked it or thought about it. Unless you have a hard shifting concern and nothing else is found to be at fault and both locating dowels are present I typically just close my eyes and carry on. Never seen or actually heard of a warped bellhousing."

I had already bought a new Toyota OEM "Plate, Rear End" because we did some damage to the plate that was between the bell housing and the block when trying to separate the transmission from the block. My brother was helping me at the time and he isn't all that gentle. Anyway, I appreciate your heads up on the flatness spec. The locating dowels are still there. Is any type of sealant needed between that plate and either surface it contacts? Or do the bell housing bolts do the job all by themselves?

Finally, I had been meaning, all along, to ask you about your "Get KDMax Pro Tuned." signature. So, I just searched a little today and found "KDMAX-PRO-10.0 Tune by @PapaRee and @TWTaco" and it included your name as one of the "Canada Tuners, serving Alberta -Athabasca, Fort McMurray, Grande Prairie and Lloydminster @joba27n (Nolan)" I will guess that tuning relates to tweaking the (Toyota provided) code (software) inside the Tacoma's on-board computer that handles all of the engine functions so the goal is that you get more torque and HP, or better mileage, or something, but tune and sound go together. Maybe you could explain what it is all about. I didn't see anyone tuning 1st Gen Tacomas, so I guess that's not available. I once had a neighbor whose brother had a georgeous shop in Charlotte, NC (huge amount of well appointed space with two lifts that consumed about 1/12th of the space, where he "tuned" McLaurins exclusively. That's the limit of my knowledge of Tuning. That same neighbor was the stimulus for me pulling the engine of my 1994 Celica, rebuilding the engine and putting it back together, and he helped my wife find her Infiniti G35.

What a gray drissly day down here in NC. I need to go do something, but first I better buy the Permatex and measure and buy the Speedi-Sleeve.

 

SKF 99346 Speedi-Sleeve:

Trying to understand SKF's sleeve usage information. Maybe you can review my thinking?

The data sheet you referenced gave me this drawing of the sleeve details, which includes the following: the ID (d1), thickness (t), and shaft coverage (b1) of the sleeve.



Thickness t = 0.25 mm that is extra thin, as can be seen if you look at a metric ruler

For the ID, notice that they do not provide nominal measurements, just shaft dimensions, like actual measures:



Shaft diameter range includes the minimum and maximum diameter of the shaft it can be placed on, but not really, only possibly. They mean that an actual shaft that you are going to place the sleeve onto must have a diameter that is less than the minumum value of that range, i.e., < 88.82 mm, because what they present is a result of manufacturing tolerances, and they cannot guarantee that if your shaft actually measures somewhere in that stated range, it will definitely fit. They can only guarantee that their sleeve will definitely fit your shaft if the diameter of your shaft measures less than their minimum ID, i.e. <88.82 mm.

I had difficulty making the measurement of the rear crankshaft diameter, nonetheless I can still confidently say that the diameter of that shaft is < 88.82 mm, so that means this sleeve will fit my rear crankshaft.

Here is what I did. I used my Harbor Freight caliper to measure across the shaft diameter at each of the 5 holes, which gave me 5 measures around the shaft, and I did that 3 times. The measured values were rarely the same -- lots of variance, indicating that the shaft outside surface must have a ridge or some non-linearity to it. NOTE: none of the measures obtained was equal to or greater than the minimum shaft diameter specified. That observation is key. Casting out one value I considered to be the least likely measure (i.e., most likely an incorrect measure) from each of the five sets of three, then taking an average, I got 88.2 mm as my best guess of the actual largest shaft diameter, which is 0.62 mm smaller than the 88.82 mm minimum specified as ID.

What I can say from that exercise is that the shaft diameter is DEFINITELY smaller than the smallest ID that the SKF-99346 speedi-sleeve can have.

But, then I can note that the 0.62 mm has to be distributed to either side of the diameter, so I am dealing with only 0.31 mm on either end of the diameter. Looking closely at a metric ruler, 0.31 mm is such a small difference as to be hard to notice. When the seal goes down over the sleeve, it will probably collapse the sleeve such that it will make a tight seal with the shaft?

If you think it necessary, I do have micrometers that can probably work with the 88 mm range (about 3-1/2"), so I could remeasure, but is it really necessary?

I mean RockAuto says they will fit my vehicle, so they most likely do, I'm thinking, however I will wait for your answer before just buying that sleeve, out of a sense of caution. I already got a second dust cover that I bought by mistake and even with returning it will have to pay more than I want to. My part buying process is complete, except for this sleeve and the different permatex.

 

Thats very interesting information from the application specialist. I've never heard of that and have seen other guys use the anaerobic sealant I mentioned for the same uses with no issues. I do also have a small container of the aviation sealant that was recommended instead but ironically something I was trying to find out the other day was if it could be used on plastic. That answers that question for me. I didn't make the products so i'm not going to contravene what you were told but I will note my observations of the aviation sealant which are that yes it is thinner viscosity wise and stays a little tacky after it dries. Also it is not an anaerobic sealant. It will cure in the air as it has on the outside of my container and between the threads of the cap everytime I use it. I don't have a specific use for it honestly. I've had the container in my tool box since 2016 but only last year have a started playing with it to find it's niche. I've used it very frequently as of late to see where it would be most useful so far the most notable uses i've found have been to seal some plastic components, a hose to a corroded heater core inlet pipe and bolts that have threads exposed to the exterior of the vehicle. If does allow for disassembly with not much more effort than if it were not there.

Haha, she just wanted to spend some quality time with you and be festive in the process. It's good to have those breaks every now and then.

Not so much for the harsh winters but just for the general purpose of minimizing rust. Because it's so cold here things don't really tend to rust. Places that are bad for rust here are the places where their winters tend to hover around freezing point and Ontario because they pour the salt down heavy on the roads there. I've worked on 2 year old vehicles that came from Ontario when bolts were breaking left, right and centre because of all the rust due to their salt usage. Fortunately we don't salt our roads in Alberta, they just put gravel on the road in the winter. I guess only really fortunate in the rust prevention department. The downside is our highways are basically skating rinks in the winter, especially after the plow goes over it and polishes it up. Also windshield repairs and replacements will make you killing here from the gravel breaking peoples windshields. Anyone here that has an undamaged windshield just hasn't gone a full year yet. A cracked windshield technically is a major safety hazard but with everyone's windshields being cracked it's more of a shock to get in a vehicle with a windshield that isn't cracked. Typically up here though you wait until the cracks start causing visibility issues before you replace it or you'll go broke trying to keep on top of cracked windshields. I used to use fluid film but I also usually try to wash my vehicle once a week including the underside in the winter and that tends to remove the fluid film in a relatively short time. Where as the cosmoline sticks and is much much harder to just wash off. It's also quite similar to me as the wax coating that comes on new trucks which is thicker but also quite good. I also get purposefully sloppy with it to cover the body of the truck a bit on the underside. I just use black because it's my own vehicle, not a show truck and it's easier to tell where I need to touch up but, for my cousins car we used the "clear stuff"
This is the product I use

No sealant is needed between the bellhousing and back of the engine. Some times a little grease on the locating dowels helps things slide together but otherwise nothing is required there. The bellhousing is basically a glorified clutch housing and transmission to engine adapter.

Yes so I'm also one of the two KDMax tuners in Canada. My main intention getting of getting into it was to learn how to build a business as I was inspired by reading a couple "rich dad, poor dad" books last year.

Of course I can't get specific with the tune because thats a trade secret and I actually wasn't involved in it's creation so I don't know what all they did but, I can speak from a mechanic perspective of tuning. Yes tuning can be for a variety of reasons, the target of our tune is drivability. We also have significant gains in the power and torque department and a small average fuel economy improvement that's most noticeable with manual transmission drivers of on average 1.2L/100kms based on the people I have tuned. Tuning is essentially changing the target parameters of an engine. Primarily camshaft timing, ignition timing and fuelling. In school we learned a bit about tuning from one of our instructors that owned and raced his own F4 car along with the theory of camshafts during that module in second year. The reason there isn't any tunes for first gen Tacoma's is because most tuning gains come from the camshaft. Ya you can play with ignition timing a bit and trick the computer into adding a bit more fuel with a plug in tuner/chip but they do exactly that, trick the computer into injecting more fuel which will provide a slight increase in power. If you have a distributer you can play with the ignition timing a bit and realize some power gains but the two factors with older vehicles such as a 1st gen Tacoma is that they usually tend to already be operating at their peak. Adding more fuel while slightly bumping power will cause issues in the medium term like fouled spark plugs, increased fuel consumption and oil dilution with fuel which all hinders the long term reliability. Advancing the ignition timing will lead to the engine knocking (unless you use higher octane fuel) which is also very damaging to the engine and can destroy it in seconds if the knocking is severe enough. Along with if you live in extremely cold climates such as Alberta, having too advanced (base) ignition timing from advancing the distributer will lower the cranking speed of the engine which can prevent the engine from starting in the cold and advanced timing will make it harder for the engine to warm up. Because an engine is basically an air pump, the ability to "tune" the camshaft timing which in turn changes how the engine breaths is where the largest gains are realized and is why auto manufactures implemented Variable Valve Timing to begin with. In essence, at lower rpm a camshaft timing which is retarded on the intake and exhaust side with little to no overlap between the intake and exhaust valves being open at the same time will provide more efficient and powerful operation as the retarded intake timing will create a lower pressure zone in the cylinder(vacuum for slang) so that when the intake valve opens the air( and fuel) will be drawn in with more velocity which promotes better swirling and mixing in the combustion chamber improving efficiency. At higher rpm advanced intake and exhaust valve timing along with some overlap between both of them being open will be more efficient and powerful as with higher rpm and everything moving faster, the early intake timing allows the air to fill the cylinder more and early exhaust giving the cylinders more time to clear the exhaust gases out. The overlap also serves the purpose over using the outgoing exhaust gasses to create a "draft" in the cylinder which also helps draw in more air at higher rpm to fill the cylinder more. The key there is more as the higher the engine rpm, the less the cylinders get filled (exception being forced induction engines). We had that demonstrated in school by the instructors rigging up a compression tester to a cylinder then running the engine at various rpms so that we could see that the higher the rpm the lower the compression numbers as the cylinders didn't have as much time to fill up in comparison to idle. Other uses nowadays for variable valve timing is for "internal egr" meaning that retarding the exhaust timing at certain situations can cause reversion of the exhaust gases causing exhaust gas recirculation without needing a dedicated valve to do that. Of course is alot of trial and error that goes into making a tune as it's also dependant on the use of the vehicle and other engine design features and characteristics among other things. The intake manifold is another advancement in technology to the engine in the sense of long skinny intake runners produce more low end power as the air entering the cylinder will have a higher velocity allowing better cylinder mixing and filling where as higher rpm/ forced induction engines benefit from wider but shorter intake runners as it can allow a higher volume of air through it to fill the cylinder. Nee vehicles nowadays often have a valve which directs the air through two different paths depending on engine load and rpm to essentially mimic that effect. On the exhaust side the opposite is true in regards to length as the purpose there is to create a scavenging effect from I believe Bernoulli's principle due to the timing of the exhaust pulses passing by the collector of the manifold/headers at the right time. No technological advancements there i'm aware of for adjustments on the fly. BMW's technology is variable valve lift which they essentially use to throttle the engine for more efficiency. In simple they'll have the throttle wide open but control the valve lift to control engine rpm under certain circumstances. Gm when I left, was also rolling out a variable valve lift system which I honestly forget the specifics of but I believe it worked off of a dual profile camshaft that could slide over for high or low lift.. I believe the 2.5 engine also had variable valve lift made possibly by changing the rocker arm profile... tbh I really forget how they did it. They big one I know that's been toyed with before but not to a level ready for mass production was variable compression.

Thats essentially the basics of tuning. Of course every engine is different and there is a limit to the benefits or each strategy along with an ideal of each parameter that varied wildly not just based on rpm but numerous other factors including but not limited to, such as whether hp or Torque is desired, the other features and characteristics of the engine, emmissions and what kind of vehicle it's going into. Automakers do that math and more. For example, the chev V8 had a different intake and corresponding torque and hp numbers for the "same engine" depending on if that v8 was in a Silverado, Camaro, Tahoe or Police Tahoe. Compression other factors changed too such as compression ratio. Typically lighter vehicles will have a higher compression ratio vs the same engine in a truck. Yes more compression equals more power but, that also wears the engine more and puts more strain on it plus typically trucks have more of a goal of durability so combined with the fact it's assumed it will be worked harder towing and such along with a truck simply being heavier in general and taking more power to move from that alone compared to a car, the lower compression creates less power but also puts less strain on the engine. Nowadays they mostly factor that in with just engine software tuning from the factory. A modern example is compare the power of the 3.5L V6, 2GR-FKS engine between a camry, a sienna minivan and a tacoma. The Tacoma which in theory needs the most power because as a truck, it's assumed it might be towing and hauling. along with it's greater mass in general, has the least amount of power in the 2GR-FKS applications.

Thats engine tuning in a nutshell from a broad mechanic perspective.

Also I see your message regarding the repair sleeve, when I get home from work i'll respond to that

 

Ya, she got me with the SuperBowl, but I would have known if I had only thought about it a minute or two. It's capitalism's dream day, when all people in the US (at least) have been trained to go (pay for as they) watch grown men play a national game, the outcome of which decides which city, team, quarterback, has the biggest dick, and the cash registers all become full, so it will consume as many hours as it possibly can, the more hours, the more money is made. In earlier days, the Canadiens did the same with Ice Hockey, now the US marketing power has assumed Ice Hockey as well as Football, Baseball, Golf, anything but incentivizing kids to get their minds around learning how to create and use technology.

The strangest thing ever. . . I could not read the print on your photos of the cans of RP-342, so I Googled. . . hahaha
The great Google came back with a single hit (first I have ever seen that) from some publication called "Economist Writing Every Day" [Sep 13, 2022] saying: Saving a Rusted Car with Rust Bullet Paint and Cosmoline RP-342 Coating.

Sorry, just looked at my cp and realized that the Google search was set for "News." That's why it only came back with a single hit. Setting it back to "All" gives me plenty of information:

- RP-342 Black is a military-grade rust preventative spray that is the strongest, longest-lasting, and fastest drying rust preventative aerosol. It is a dry-to-the-touch black pertroleum was coating that can conceal unsightly blemishes or surface discoloration. It can protect metal, steel, or iron surfaces for years, both indoors and outdoors.

So, that sounds like a good product to use on the frame of the Tacoma? I am in that mood at the moment, since a lot of the work getting the rear of the engine clean is finished and I am ready to move to the next thing to install. Replaced the pilot bearing and put the rear end plate in place to see how it all goes back together. Of course, I have to place the orders for the permatex and the speedi-sleeve, which I will do after writing this. Let me show you the pictures I took last night:



Question: what is that stainless steel ball bearing thingy on the upper right of the rear of the block?

When I moved my fingernail across the mark left by the original rear main seal, it makes a slight feeling that tells me it is there, so I know there is an indentation. I did use extra fine wet sandpaper to clean/polish that surface, and did it enough to satisfy myself that there wasn't much damaged surface left. Without being super critical, it feels pretty smooth to my fingers.

Now I need to get the permatex and the sleeve so I can put the rear main seal in place and seal the retainer against the block. While awaiting those orders, I will move along to the accessible frame to see how well what I can get to will clean up. Which of the two RP products would be best for my Tacoma? And, will I be able to spray that stuff while under the vehicle while inside the garage without killing myself from deadly fumes? haha

Much appreciate all your discussion about Tuning. I think you taught me something important when you said:

"Because an engine is basically an air pump, the ability to 'tune' the camshaft timing which in turn changes how the engine breaths is where the largest gains are realized and is why auto manufactures implemented Variable Valve Timing to begin with."

Thinking of an ICE as an AIR PUMP gives me a whole new perspective on these engines. A slight change in viewpoint, a major change in view. When I begain looking at "headers" and what effect they have on an engine's performance, I came close to hearing that the engine is a AIR PUMP, but this one you stated had a much greater impact on my understanding.

Let me ask an overview question without asking for the proprietary information. I can only imagine tuning an engine as you described as being directly related to changes made to the software (code) within the ECM, the computer that controls the engine. That's what you are really doing, right? I don't have to know HOW you accomplish that, but just that you do change the code. After knowing that, I think I understand what Tuning is (basically) all about.

And, since that is what you are doing, you are not going to be able to tune just any vehicle, but only the ones you have the ability to tune, probably the 3rd Gen Tacomas, plus maybe the 2nd Gens, but not, say, a Chevy Traverse. Each vehicle has its own characteristics. And the farther you get from the model and make, the harder it is to give the vehicle a tune. And there are well-trained people, maybe engineers, who specialize in understanding the vehicle characteristics well enough that they can optimize a vehicle's code (tune) by making software (firmware) changes that control the various operational parameters of the engine to optimize the engines's operation in a desired way.

You gave me a lot of information (THANKS) that I will need to reread a few times to truly absorb. You covered most of how ICEs work in all that you said, so you gave me the most important things I need to know so I can better understand what I am doing when I attempt to diagnose and fix problems, once I understand all of that.

Ok, I am going to buy some stuff and get back to work. I am getting very excited about putting the truck back together. I don't anticipate it taking me all that long, once I get some more time consuming things cleaned up, like the frame and the transmission.

 

I don't really think it's critical to mic the crankshaft the purpose of the repair sleeve. It is interesting that it measures a smaller diameter than they specify because the sleeve should have a small amount of interference with it's fit so that it doesn't start to spin separately from the crankshaft or leave any sort of gap for the oil to bypass between the sleeve and crank. I would still try the sleeve and aslong is it has some resistance to installation and doesn't just slip on and off freely, I would carry on.

Ya i've never been a huge sports fan but I also never fully grasped what made the championship games just shy of a national holiday. In my opinion you're also correct about the Stanley cup for Hockey not being as big as it used to be in Canada, I felt though that it lined up with Don Cherry getting canceled for expressing his opinion about immigrants to Canada in regards to remembrance day.

I don't know what the ball bearing looking item is in the back of the block there. My guess is it was installed there from the factory to seal a machined passage but i'm honestly not sure... I feel like i've encountered and found the reasoning before but I couldn't find much from an internet search and nothing is coming back to be aside from thinking it's to seal a machined passage.

I'm not sure which RP product would be best. I used the rattle cans in black just for the connivence and the colour because it blends into the current frame coating. My buddy got the bulk pail and used a sprayer to apply his because he found it easier and attached a hose to get inside the frame where it closes near the front. When I emailed them they told me that the -342 product offers the most protection and that there is no difference between the black and "heavy" aside from colour. Don't let me sway you though into what to do for your frame, i'm not even technically following the gm frame reconditioning procedure. They want you to apply a rust converter first. I believe they recommended Loyds or something similar.

For spraying in a garage... I did... however a respirator is not a bad idea... i'm still alive... but I would at the least have the door cracked and maybe a fan to draw the fumes out. I would also suggest a tarp on the ground. It's easy to spray it on thick accidentally and get runs. If it drips on your floor it will be a task to clean off.

Ya so i'm not gonna use the word coding but more so the calibrations of the software. Or what I feel is a better description is we change the target parameter of components. So an example would be changing cam timing target from say 20* advance to 35* advance or ignition timing from -25* to -5* advance( I just made up those changes). We only change the software prior to uploading our calibrations and by changing it I mean we update the software to the latest version as described by technical service bulletins from Toyota. Updating the software is not compulsory but primarily to prevent a situation where we tune someone and then they go to the dealership for another issue where the fix is to update the software which would wipe our tune from the computer. Not really a big deal as we can just reflash the tune again and do such for free. It's just an inconvenience if someone has to drive a few hours to reflash the tune because the dealer repaired something else. I swear GM had new software updates all the time for various issues. From the rear seat reminder not being activated at the factory, to certain codes coming on for the wrong reason to a recall that prevented the rear window defroster from activating with remote start as it was causing the window to shatter. Presumably from the voltage spike that occurs from starting the vehicle. Not all updates apply to all vehicles and some updates go along with the replacement of a part. An example of that would be when camry's had an issue with the torque converter shuddering due to locking up too soon, the repair was to replace the torque converter with an improved part AND update the software that changed the torque converter lockup strategy. For the Toyotas that we tune, I only know what the purpose of two updates were. One was a factory update to the transmission shift logic because the third gen automatics hunt for gears alot. The second update was to change how the engine reacts when you steer the vehicle at a slow speed. It would idle up beyond 1000rpm when steering at a slow speed which would cause the vehicle to lurch if you were backing into your garage or pulling into a tight parking spot for say.

Technically any vehicle can be tuned. We use VFTuner as do most Toyota tuners but if you wanted to do a gas engine GM for say, EFILive would be the program that you use. Even with VFTuner, they don't support every Toyota model. Ford Powerstroke engine computers at this time can only be flashed by removing it from the vehicle and plugging it into a computer. When I left GM, the new vehicle networks which I believe was called "Global network" or something along those lines, and was introduced in the 19 I think, to new models moving forward had a firewall so good that even in 2022 I heard that no one had cracked the code to get into those computers to allow for tuning yet.

Engineers set up the initial calibrations which nowadays especially, are tailored primarily towards emissions more so than performance or even fuel economy. To be honest though you don't need to be an engineer to be a tuner. You just need to do your research, understand how the engine works and, spend time with trial and error to find what works best. Without variable valve timing, real power gains came from changing camshaft profiles via replacing the camshaft or regrinding it, boring the cylinders larger and installing a larger piston, installing a stroker kit or otherwise changing physical parts on the engine.

Knowing how things work helps immensely. More tips I can offer is to always check and diag. Don't just guess. Second is use the code as a starting point but don't use the code to tell you whats wrong

 

Good information on Tuning, thanks. That will be something to invest mental energy in after the truck has been put back together, and whatever problems come up while trying to give it a final oil clean get ironed out, and I learn more about how ICE engines actually work. I had heard that headers might improve the HP a bit and possibly help give the truck a little better purr. . . I didn't like its sound before the sludging, hahaha. At least I am thinking about it; you have given me a jump start.

Went ahead and ordered the SKF 99346 Speedi-Sleeve from RockAuto, and the Permatex airplane glue, along with some more Ultra Black, so when that gets in, the rear main seal will be installed.

Read some reviews of the RP-342, and the results looked nice, certainly nice enough for my Tacoma, but then I started coming across "words to the wise" suggesting that spraying that stuff inside my garage is going to be very messy. That was the main complaint that people made about the product. Some said to use Kevlar PPE, sealed air mask respirator, clothes that you will want to throw away because of the smell, and even with that, expect to get overspray on everything around. So, I nixed painting the frame on this go-around, and come back to that once I get the truck back running well, which will push me into better weather so I can work outside. Also, if I paint the frame with it up on the QuickJack, it is going to coat the QuickJack frames as well, and I am not so sure I like that idea. I still want to paint the frame with that RP stuff, because of the age of the truck. There is some rust, not much, but some, and I want to get in there and deal with it asap.

Found the screws for the thin black flat "plate, rear end" that is mounted above the rear main seal, so I mounted it and was working on the third screw when it dawned on me that I have to mount the starter before moving along with the flywheel, etc., else it will be a bear to put it in place. At that point I went to work cleaning the starter. Once it was clean enough, I asked myself if maybe I shouldn't tear it down and look for anything that needs to be done to it before putting it back in place. So, I did it according to the FSM, and when I got the gearing out, discovered that the FSM isn't all that thorough. Back to YouTube, and I found a fellow who explained how to get the gears out. I still need to get the terminals and brushes out to see how much wear has occurred to them. So, though I didn't come across anything badly work, I still don't yet know whether I will need to buy repair parts. I did see kits at RockAuto, but they provide pretty much everything, except for the large diameter O-ring, which Toyota says must be replaced.

As for that stainless ball in the back of the block, you were right in what you thought. I came across this on a reddit/EngineBuilding forum:

mcpusc - 3y said "sometimes they're used to block oil or cooling passages to save a little machining required to install a plug. It's done as an economy measure by the manufacturer. On rebuild, you can pry them out, then drill & tap to replace with a pipe plug so you can get in there to clean the gallery."

0-1-1-2-3-5 - 3y said "Likely blocking one end of a drilled oil pathway. These are often used on crankshafts where there is no other way to drill the oil passages, and the balls tend to have gunk and metal shavings and other solid shit behind them since a crankshaft is basically a centrifuge, so they should be removed for cleaning."

I am going to pretend I didn't read that. . .

Oy, I didn't get photos of the starter torn apart, so these will have to do for the photo session, sorry:



Have two doctor's appts tomorrow, so the day will be "wasted."