2TR-FE Reliability

I got 112,000miles on my 2TR-FE with the 5 speed and its still truckin hard

 

The old 22r had a bad design in the "newer" engines with the timing chain guides made out of plastic wearing through causing a good amount of damage and they also had head gasket problems. I think the newer I4s in toyota trucks are more reliable than the old 22r, oh and the newer engines are significantly more powerful

 

i had no clue that the timing chain guides on the 22r were made out of plastic.

 

I just wish the new TR didn't have electronic throttle control, it's frustrating when the RPM's hang for 5+ seconds between 4th & 5th gears. And cold starts revving up 2100 rpms for 10 seconds is pretty annoying, as cable-controlled throttles let you at least blip the pedal to bring the revs down after a few seconds. Doing the same on this engine only makes it rev higher for longer.

Other than those minor annoyances, the engine runs like a champ and feels stronger than the torque/horsepower ratings. I like that the valve lash adjusters are hydraulic and that there's a timing chain rather than belt, two maintenance headaches that hopefully shouldn't need to be addressed during the life of the engine.

 

http://www.brian894x4.com/timingchain.html

"Over time, the loose chain, wears down the plastic chain guides.
These chain guides eventually break, loosening the tension on the chain even further. At
this point, the start up noise become much louder and lasts much longer. The rattling noise
may even be constant. Repairs should be made immediately, because if left unchecked, the
chain will now begin to wear a hole inside the timing cover. Once worn through, coolant will
be dumped directly into the oil sump."

This happened to my my 87 pickup with the 22r and it also blew a headgasket. I'm hoping to fix it up one day...

 

Keep an eye on the water pump weep hole. The seal still goes around 30k.

 

I am a brand new member- check out my new posting! 2TRFE with 5speed performs nice with the durability you expect from toyota.

 

Don't know how relevant this is, but dad has a T100 with the 4 banger (3RZ, was it?) with 479,000 miles on it. It was still running like a champ until he had a rogue cow that wouldn't go in the chute, and he used the truck to "encourage" her. She turned headfirst into the truck and planted her feet, crushed the front end and made Dad mad. Long story short, when he and she were done, she was on the chute, quite thoroughly bruised up (tenderized?), and the truck looked like that one car from Days Of Thunder, where there was only one quarter panel without a dent....

Over all those years, he did nothing but routine maintenance to it. And abused it on a daily basis to keep it from getting used to "the soft life". He recently found another one at auction with a mere 250,000 miles on it. That's now his daily driver and farm truck, though he gets the horse out for rogue cows now and keeps the T100 a safe distance back.

 

Nothing, zero issues with mine and it has all the power I need. Take my word for it, been driving one for 2 years and it's a very good engine. Don't let no one tell you different. It gets pretty good mileage, even if I drive it hard I still average about 20mpg. People will constantly bash it, but most all of them have never spent no ample time in one (test drives don't count). Have I ever wished I had a V6? Yes, but only for towing purposes. I plan to drive this truck until it either falls apart or quits, the latter is unlikely however. Truck will probably outlast me.

 

The newer single chain 22r's had plastic guides but my 82 22r had double roller chain with rubber faced steel guides. Never got anything but chattery when they wore thru. At 500k miles I maybe went thru 2 pr of chain guides. Shit talkin about early 20r's and 22r's is only that...talkin shit. That 4 cyl was and still is beast. I finally opted for a larger truck in 2009 and traded down to the 2nd gen Tacoma from the 82. That thing still ran great, got 25mpg+ with over 500k on it and still had working r12 AC. Flogged the shit out of that thing every bit of the way. Still catching air with it on daily drive home until 2nd gen. Can't top them. Completely boxed frame in good shape too. Only shit talk is bed rust on those, if it wasn't taken care of. Celicas , Coronas, Trucks all ran 20/22rs back then. 2tr-fe has long way to go to = or top those IMO.

 

x2

 

i do think the 2trfe is as good as an i4 can be these days and agree with the wish about the throttle being cable instead of drive by wire. i have high hopes for it, test in progress........

 

Well its been almost 9 years sense the new 2tr-fe came out in the Tacoma. I have 43,XXX on mine. I think its a great little engine.

 

Mines been a beast so far. 94k on the odo with a lot of that off-road and no problems yet. I'm hoping to at least reach 215k and match what's on my 22re so far. I see it happening

 

My 012 just turned 12k miles, therefore just broken in. So far it is getting smoother by the mile. Prior to this I had an 84 and 95 with the 22r. I am confident the 2.7 FE will have the same longevity and reliability. Touch wood.

 

I also had a corolla, full suspension, supercharged.. etc.


this is the luck i had with that

 

toyota did some serious and interesting stuff with the 2tr for reliability..

check this out!

 

I had a 1996 with a 2.4 for 17 years that performed flawlessly...



And now have a 2012 with a 2.7...



...which I expect will do the same.

 

Are we looking at an oil distribution system for the cam lobes?

 

We are, that was my reaction as well when i pulled the cover on my 2008 when it was knocking.. I have never seen that on a small truck engine before, let alone a modern engine.

I never did take the engine apart to find out what happened but it is sitting in my shed with 5 other engines waiting.. someday.. lol