My 22re has coolant in the crankcase. I pulled the head but don't see any obvious cause. I suspected a bad head gasket. Has anyone ever had a similar problem? Also would appreciate advice on cleaning out foam from crankcase... -Dean248
If the head gasket doesn't show any signs of leakage, possibly a head problem, cracked, corroded, ect. or a possible cracked block could be the culprit, but I would be more willing to bet on a worn timing chain that has broken the guide and worn through the timing cover on the drivers side. Drain it, new oil and filter, run it a bit and do again, may take several times to get rid of the mess.
Many thanks. I see two grooves and a worn spot mid-way, my truck has 140,000 miles on it, and the dealer told me not to replace the timing chain prior, they said that the chain should last 250,000 miles...... I'll pull the cover to verify. I'm still concerned about the foam in the crankcase. Should I replace sprockets with the chain? You've given me some peace of mind. -Dean 248
he's talking about the exhaust side timing chain guide, the straight one. it will break and then the chain eats through the timing cover till it hits the coolant passage, one lil pin hole and its all over. your dealers full of crap. single row chain is good for 100k or so maybe
If you can see grooves worn into the side of the timing cover, then the guide is broken, the guide is plastic, has an upper and lower mounting bolt that bolt to the front of the engine block under the cover, when the chain gets worn and stretched the chain slaps against the guide until it breaks off and drops into the oil pan, then the chain starts hitting against the cover until it eventually wears through that and dumps coolant into the engine. Normally you replace the timing chain as a complete set, includes the chain, upper and lower gears, new guide rails, and new tensioner, they do make aftermarket kits that have a metal drivers side guide which won't break like the OEM plastic ones, some people like them, others don't. The timing cover, if thats the problem, can be replaced with a new cover, an aftermarket cover, a used one, or heli-arc welded, whichever fits your needs and wallet. The foam inside the crankcase takes a bit to get rid of, if you have the pan off, you can spray the insides down with solvent type cleaners, even diesel in a spray bottle, but messy, or just do the oil/filter change routine several times to slowly drain it out and evaporate it out, coolant is not the best on bearings so don't do any hard loading of the engine until its gone, and best not to let it sit as rust quickly forms on internal machined surfaces.
let me rephrase that last question...Where will the broken guide pieces end up ? Do I need to pull the oil pan to retrieve ? I assume the pan can not be removed without lifting the engine? Thanks for your patience!!
The broken pieces will be in the bottom of the oil pan, have seen a lot of them with the pieces still in there and never posed any problems as they are usually big enough chunks that they just lay on the bottom, but its a better feeling to have them gone. I honestly don't remember on the pan removal on the newer 2wd truck, seems the crossmember comes out, rear tranny mount unbolted and raise the rear of the tranny to drop the pan, but don't quote me on that one. Good luck
I have the 4wd. Doesn't appear to have much clearance,but I don't have the experiece to know if the pan will clear with any "tricks".....many thanks
