2TR-FE Head Gasket, Water Pump, etc

Alrighty here we are. Tomorrow begins the process of tearing into my engine for the first time. I'll try and keep this concise yet detailed (if that is even possible). In a likely futile attempt to a lots of basic questions I'll provide some background information.

Bought the truck at 168xxx (now at 216xxx). It had 5 previous owners and grew up on the east coast before coming to Colorado. I imagine some of those previous owners were nicer than others. The truck definitely has some rust issues but not so much on the frame as on many of the bolts that just so happen to be in important places. So far the AC system has been replaced, as have wheel bearings, control arms, all the suspension (multiple times), u-joints, steering rack, ECGS bushing, radiator, etc. I am not planning on letting the truck die soon.

In the entire time I've had the truck I have never seen the coolant temp gauge deviate from the middle once warm. I also now have the ultragauge which is super handy and means I can read the actual temperature instead of guessing. I was hauling butt into Vegas from Phoenix about a month ago and the coolant temp actually started going wild. I was shocked and pulled over quickly to find coolant sputtering out of the reservoir. I waited long enough to slowly remove the radiator cap to let even more bubbles out of the system. The next day for the first time ever I took it to a dealer at 214xxx (findlay or something) and they bled the system and said they added a half gallon of coolant and that there had just been air in the system. To be honest I think I f'ed up and did not properly bleed the system when I changed the coolant at 189xxx. Oops. Regardless, I continued driving over the past month and continued to notice bubbling in the coolant reservoir. I was unable to recreate the symptom (because I am unable to get the truck warm enough to open the thermostat after starting it cold and idling) and so it passed the combustion gas leak test. After driving for about half an hour I can easily pop the reservoir cap and smell combustion gases. It is clear that there is a leak from a cylinder into the coolant system. However, I will note that I am very impressed that the engine oil and coolant do not appear to be mixing, there is no white smoke out of the exhaust, etc. All I get are some little baby bubbles. Regardless, my engine bay is disgusting and I feel bad for the truck, so I have decided to tear into it given that I will not have this much free time in the coming months and this issue will not resolve itself.

I'll post some images of the compression tests results (W for wet, D for dry) 5-6 cranks each and pictures of the insides of some of the cylinders. (there is a line in cylinder 2 which confuses me)

Mostly I am posting for posterity. There are already head gasket replacement threads on TW that I have been finding extremely useful. Perhaps this may add more use?

At the moment I am not planning on replacing the timing chain or the headers though it is tempting. I am planning on taking the head to a machine shop to be checked and cleaned. I am praying that things are not significantly warped.

 

Cyl 2

 

Compression test results

 

I think getting the exhaust manifold bolts off has been one of the most stressful things I have done on the truck so far. They were significantly corroded. I mean really corroded. The heat shield on top has conveniently detached itself from two places so I only had to remove the top two bolts in order to sufficiently loosen it to access the rest of the bolts. For whatever reason the secondary air pump attachment to the exhaust manifold is far less corroded.

Today I will attempt to remove the compressor, throttle body, intake manifold, disconnect the fuel, and prep for (you guessed it) removing the head.

After some research I ended up purchasing

$22 E-cowlboy for Toyota/Lexus Crankshaft Damper Pulley Holding Holder Harmonic Tool with 2PCS Crank Bolts

this from Amazon to aid with removing and reinstalling the harmonic balancer/crank pulley. If that tool somehow does not fit I bought

$29 GEARWRENCH Universal Pulley Holder - 3900 15"

this universal one just in case. If need be I will swap pins for bolts and get after it that way. I don’t love the idea of bumping the starter and putting that much strain through the crank onto the transmission also makes me cringe (perhaps because sometimes even when I have the truck in gear it is slowly slips down hills unless I have the parking brake on too). But that is an issue for another time.

 

Oh yeah I also did a leakdown test and was very impressed with cylinders 1 and 4. Cylinders 2 and 3 may have a hg leak between then given that I could feel air coming out of adjacent spark plug holes when testing those two cylinders.

 

Yeah okay so that e-cowlboy (almost funny) part from Amazon that I linked previously does not fit. I suppose it was worth it to try. I'm jealous of all the other engine owners who are able to use it. Good thing I ordered the universal one just in case.

 

Alrighty. Head is almost off. Most things went well but I did discover some potentially helpful things.

1. Apparently my valve cover and timing chain cover were well sealed and it took some convincing hits from a nylon hammer to remove them. (I don’t anticipate this issue with the head gasket lol).

2. My chain tensioner was very stubborn and not want to depress. I spin the crank some more and just kept trying and eventually it went.

3. I now see exactly what others were talking about camshaft no. 1 rotating and magentically locking the chain up where you don’t necessarily want it.

4. Despite the warning in the FSM I damaged the oil delivery pipe. It’s just too tantalizing right there next to the wrench.

5. Just because leftover tv stand bolts are M8 x 1.25 x 40 just like a perfectly sized bolt for holding the harmonic balancer/crank pulley, doesn’t mean they will stand up to 190ft/lbs (assuming it was torqued correctly).

I am hoping that by tucking the 2tr in with some shop towels, it will be happier in the morning while not collecting any dirt from my disgusting engine bay.

 

I was at this point about a week ago, but I was in the reassemble phase. Took it apart about a month ago, and had a work trip for a couple weeks before I could reassemble. Anyway..

Found it more convenient to disconnect the small bracket holding the AC lines in the bottom center of your last picture, it let me move the AC compressor around to a more convenient spot. I was sitting in the engine bay to break torque on the head bolts.

Also found it a lot easier to get at the exhaust manifold nuts after completely removing the heat shield, and I'd use a long (literally 36") extension from the wheel well, I could reach all but one or two that were easier with a socket in the engine bay anyway.

I don't know what kind of gasket set you got, but mine didn't come with a water pump gasket, front main seal, or any of the four o-rings (2 for water, 2 for oil) in the timing cover. Each o-ring is over $10 from toyota, but if you went to an auto parts store with a set of generic metric o-rings, you could get the four of them for under $5.

Quick question, does your power steering pump, right behind the pulley, say, "TOYODA"? Thought that was funny on mine.

Probably already know all of this, but just throwing it in in case it helps.

 

I just typed out my response and then paused to add images and my browser deleted it. Let’s try this again.

Thanks for the response Jodara! My truck has a bit too much rust to follow your advice. The fact that the ac line bracket on the front of the block appears to be attached is nothing but an illusion of the camera. The metal itself is actually broken near the block which makes it easy for me- nothing to unbolt! I might add bailing wire/JB weld on reassembly.

In terms of the exhaust manifold, I attempted to remove the cover much to my disappointment. I believe there are 5 bolts that hold it on. 2/5 are corroded entirely around the circumference of the bolt, so they are holding rust at this point. The two on top were in good condition (due to their location), but that bottom one simply does not want to cooperate, so it is hanging by that bottom bolt.

Now some notes on the part number and o-ring gasket mess that this job quickly devolved into. I did some research (not enough) before starting the job and ordered what I thought was sufficient in the first image from Camelback Toyota. Devin in the parts department is great, you just have to get ahold of him. Bummer that we no longer get a 10% discount by the way. Anyway, I believe after that order I was still missing some o-rings for the timing chain cover and may in fact still be missing one for the timing chain guide on top and the chain tensioner. Even though the “valve grind gasket kit” appears to have two(?) gaskets that look like they could be for the tensioner, they are not. It does however come with the coolant temperature sensor gasket (in silver instead of copper, I won’t even bother questioning that at this point). I’ll post my further orders for parts when they arrive.

 

If it helps, I'm about to tear mine apart again.

There's something in there... | Tacoma World

One other thing I had some trouble with was getting the timing cover back on. Lining up the oil pump with the crank timing sprocket was difficult. Best suggestion is to get down below with a flashlight and a little pick, to move and adjust the oil pump to get it lined up. I did it a couple times for practice before I put the sealant on to do it for real, I didn't want to risk the sealant starting to harden or cure before I had it in place. Also, always pulled the fan and shroud together first, when reinstalling I realized I could install the fan itself, put the shroud in place, then slide the radiator in, much easier. Should make it easier to come apart in a similar manner, too.

One last thing, I can't see your coolant bypass pipe. The stock one I had on my truck was plastic, I broke the upward facing nipple off when I tried to move it to reinstall the bracket on it when I replaced my clutch years ago. If you're already that deep in, have the coolant drained, and have the plastic bypass pipe, it's worth replacing while you're there. Requires pulling the intake manifold to get to it later if need be.

 

[QUOTE="One last thing, I can't see your coolant bypass pipe. The stock one I had on my truck was plastic, I broke the upward facing nipple off when I tried to move it to reinstall the bracket on it when I replaced my clutch years ago. If you're already that deep in, have the coolant drained, and have the plastic bypass pipe, it's worth replacing while you're there. Requires pulling the intake manifold to get to it later if need be.[/QUOTE]

Forgot to mention.. The new one I got from Toyota was metal.

This guy:

(in case I'm calling it the wrong thing), flange with 2 bolts to the back of the timing cover.

 

Forgot to mention.. The new one I got from Toyota was metal.

This guy:

(in case I'm calling it the wrong thing), flange with 2 bolts to the back of the timing cover.[/QUOTE]

I think you are spot on. I believe it is “coolant bypass pipe no. 2” haha. I also forgot to mention earlier that my power steering pump also says “TOYODA” and that is hilarious.

I got the replacement for the pipe. The barbed end of the plastic one broke off inside the hose on disassembly… it was time to go.

Thanks for the thread link! I’ll take a look.

 

Attached my orders from rockauto for idler pulleys and a new belt (not super impressed with the gates belt at a glance) and my latest received toyota parts order. Waiting on a couple last nonessential things from toyotapartsdeal. Planning on picking up cleaned fuel injectors and the head tomorrow, as well as a new chain tensioner gasket. It got cold so I am looking at sunday and monday for assembly time.

 

Quoted from Bassackwards: https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/2005-tacoma-timing-chain-replacement-2-7.357418/page-3

Timing Cover O-rings & FIPG:
- Lower oil o-ring 96723-35028
Two o-rings in the middle of the timing cover on each side
- 90301-25014
- 90301-25020
- Lower pass side of timing cover o-ring 90301-19021
- Camshaft oil delivery pipe o-ring 96723-19011
- Seal packing/FIPG for timing cover/oil pan/valve cover 00295-00103

This is gold. Just wanted this here so I can have everything in one place.

 

Aha. The 90301-17017 o ring is for the oil filter assembly. I've decided not to bother taking that apart, just like I decided to leave the heater hoses and fuel lines and some other assorted items.

 

Turns out I neglected one part number this whole time. How could I have not seen this coming? It feels like it is always one bolt or one little o-ring. In this particular case, I am referring to PN 96723-19014. This is the timing chain guide o-ring for the guy that sits right on top of the front of the head. Now, would it be possible to reuse this o-ring? Maybe. Could I probably find another o-ring that matches these dimensions closely enough to function until whenever the next time I do something to this engine? Maybe. However, I am feeling lazy. I would love an excuse to take longer on this job, and I have the time. So, I've decided to order this $8 o-ring from the nearest dealership and wait two days for it. I'll pick up some new spark plugs while I'm at it because the more I pass the old ones on the floor of the garage the more I think "wow, those are kinda nasty, I want to replace them".

In terms of progress on the truck, I got the head back from Heads by Drew in Aurora and they did a great job. Cleaned it up real nice and took off .002" to make it perfect. $140 too which I thought was reasonable. I prepped the exhaust manifold gasket surface which was a pain considering how rusted it is, as well as cleaning up the AC bracket, tensioner, timing chain cover, valve cover, air intake system, and of course the head gasket surface. I've decided to clean up a couple of slightly corroded non-sealing surfaces on the block too just so everything sits nicely. Head should be going on today, and I should have everything done by Friday the 26th or so. We will see!

Side note: I had the most wonderful surprise when I removed the skid plate for this job. Previously two of the nuts holding the skid had broken off so I was using an annoying system where I had to hold loose nuts (nothing worse than holding loose nuts) and start threading the bolts through before using an impact to finish it off. I think Randy's Offroad in wa state actually tack welded two new nuts on for me because now I can use regular bolts like a regular tacoma owner! Very happy about that. That is such good customer service to notice that bs and fix it without charging or asking me. I suppose there are many situations where that unwarranted work would be irritating but this time I was overjoyed. Such a small yet lovely thing.

 

You'll enjoy this then!

https://www.theoldcruiser.com/general/what-does-the-toyota-teq-logo-mean/

 

you are absolutely right, this was a delight, thanks for adding that!

 

After far too much consideration (and a few beers) I decided to order some valve seal pliers and a spring compressor to pull the valves. I had kind of wanted this to be as minimally intrusive a procedure on the truck as possible… but while it’s opened up it is impossible to get the fact that I have new valve stem seals off my mind. I will probably also lap the valves because more than likely they have some pitting and are not sealing amazingly.

I have also opted to replace the hose from the sensor on the intake manifold to the area just below the throttle body as well as the secondary air pump hose with non-oem replacements.

I elected to replace the insulators for the fuel injectors (as well as the fuel injectors) because one had a bad spray pattern and their ports were all dirty so I figured screw it. Only one of the insulators broke into pieces upon extraction.

I would like to mention that when I was turning the motor by hand before I had disassembled anything and cleaned the cylinders it felt like it was catching at the top of each stroke. It now turns very smoothly and I am led to believe that is a result of cleaning the carbon deposits on cylinder walls. Super satisfying.

One image I attached is of a clean head, and another is the glorious water pump gasket. It’s impossible for me not to get a kick out of this.

The others images are far less entertaining. They are pictures of what seem to be the voids cast in the head for oil flow to the valve lash adjusters. It seems that they cast the head and then machined down into the void to allow for oil flow. What confuses me is why the castings appear so jagged and inconsistent. I would be curious to learn more.

I am either dillydallying or I am really taking my time with all this nonsense (or both) and so I am hoping for the rest of this process to go smoothly and correctly. (Seriously please dear god).

 

On my garage wall......