1986_1-ton_22RE

I recently replaced the timing chain on my 1986 fuel injected 1-Ton with just under 110,000 miles, more for
peace of mind than anything else. Given there were no indications of head gasket problems, I decided against
removing the head as I'd heard horror stories about head bolts stripping the threads out of the block. I'm not
trying to instill fear or spread rumors, I have absolutely no idea whether that's a common issue, but in my
view removing the oil pan posed less risk of incidental damage. Since my head gasket was fine, I saw no reason
to take any chances.

A search turned up helpful tips and tricks, but I never found a video or description that
fully incorporated what worked for me. Removing the oil pan turned out to be quite straight forward, with
plenty of clearance to reinstall it with a full bead of gasket maker in place around the rim of the pan, all
without lifting the engine or using pullers to dismantle the steering linkage assembly. Here's how:

Use a floor jack under the chassis crossmember (the one between the lower control arms) to jack the truck up,
place a fully extended jack stand under each side rail of the frame to support the truck, then lower the
floor jack and move it out of the way. The front wheels are now both extended to the end of suspension travel.

Remove the nut and outer bushing from the passenger side of the steering damper (mine is OEM, and holding the
outer casing of the unit prevents the inner rod from rotating with the nut. Such may not be the case with
aftermarket parts). Swing the damper down and out of the way.

Remove the aforementioned chassis crossmember (4 nuts and bolts).

Remove the bolts holding the steering idler arm to the frame rail (the idler arm is on the passenger side).
I'm looking at a parts diagram which shows 3 bolts, but in my mind there were 4. Some were more accessible
from under the hood, the others from underneath the truck. Pull the idler arm down and check the steering
assembly for clearance of movement, because you're about to turn the steering wheel counter-clockwise to
full wheel lock.

If I recall correctly, after turning the steering wheel, I pushed the idler arm to the rear and
then upward, and that gave the necessary clearance to remove the oil pan. If I'm wrong, just fiddle with
the steering linkage until you find a position that works.

If you're careful during reassembly, you can apply the gasket maker to the oil pan while it's out of the
truck, and install it without smearing the bead. I recommend using good lighting, and finding a body
position that allows a full view of the gasket surface during installation. As you've probably guessed, I
messed up my first attempt. I knocked a couple inches of bead off a back corner of the pan, and had
to reapply the sealant. It's not tricky to do correctly, but it's not hard to mess it up either. I used
Toyota 103 FIPG (Form In Place Gasket), which doesn't have a long work time, so it's far better to get it
right the first time.

One more thing. Most of the fasteners holding the oil pan in position are bolts, but two are actually
positioning studs with nuts. One of mine came out of the block with the nut. It's much easier to properly
align the oil pan with both studs in place, so if that happens to you, consider working the nut off the
removed stud and screwing the stud back into the block before reinstalling the oil pan.

That's it. Good luck.

Jimkola

I've never seen a head bolt strip a block. Seen plenty of heads get ˟˟˟˟˟˟ed up. 99% of the time when the bolt or sparkplug wasn't started by hand.
Removing the head is just better. Head gaskets were commonly done on 22R's. Might as well replace since you're most of the way there. It also gives you easy access to the fuel filter, along with all those hoses under the intake. Having an oil leak afterwards was pretty uncommon when done the right way, which can't be said when the head is left in place.
People do the shortcut thinking its a time saver, but I highly doubt it save much, if any, by the time the work is completed. and that's assuming nothing went wrong.

1986_1-ton_22RE

Thanks for the input, that's good to know. It was an accumulation of things that made me nervous. I just changed fluids, and looking online beforehand I saw a lot of complaints about drain plugs stripping threads out of transmissions and diffs. Of course, most of these trucks have changed hands many times, few people do their own work, and it seems like shops use impact wrenches for everything these days, so those problems could be due to previous overtightening, cross threading, and who knows what else.

Then I watched this:
At about 4:20, you'll see what I mean. The video doesn't show how they initially tried to remove the bolt - the shoulder is already visible - but earlier in the video they mention that the truck only has 130,000 miles, so I figured this may have been the first time the head was being removed. Of course, this is the internet. I have no idea who these guys are or what their skill level is, no idea who may have been monkeying around inside that engine before them, and no idea how many miles are actually on the truck. In other words, I have no idea what caused this problem, but I didn't want the same experience. So much info on the internet, and yet so many questions.

Had I known this was extremely unusual I probably would have done it differently. Thankfully, the job turned out fine. The engine is dry as a bone, plus, I was able to paint the oil pan, so it looks a little nicer...

Jimkola

There are useful 22r# videos on YouTube, but they are definitely in the minority.