Toyota Filter Question

[Luxor]

The following was a post from a Tacoma forum does anyone know if there is any truth to it.

"toyota bought the rights from Mercedes Benz Co to use their oil filter design. They have a check ball in them that keeps the oil up in the engine when the motor is shut off. Lots of peeps had problems in the 22r engines that didnt use the toyota filter, because the timing chain tensioner is pressurized by oil, so when you start up the motor the timing chain would end up rubbing the water pump housing and over time would wear threw causing the water to leak into the oil pan..

 

[tundra30]

Well, I can say that I have opened many a Toyota filter and have never seen "check ball" in one.

 

[JohnBrowning]

My family has owned 7 22RE engines and I have race preped them and never had the problem you spoke of. I was also a Toyota Tech for a few years.The tensioner uses a combination of spring pressure and hydralic pressure. The chain can not get anywere near the cover it is attached to sprockets. The area that the water pump bolts to is so thick that even if this did happen it would sound like a coffee can full of gravel going 30 mph. It would take some time to happen. You would have to be a moron not to notice it. I can not see this happening it sounds like an urban legend to me.

P.S. I can not coment on the filter part. I can say that I have never seen a check ball in a Toyota filter. I also can not see them buying a filter design from anyone else. THe idea of a check ball is not enough I do not think to deserve a pattent. Their have been alot of check balls used in various oiling systems. Remember that bypass filtration was once standard of alot of vechiles.

[ September 02, 2003, 06:53 PM: Message edited by: JohnBrowning ]

 

[BennyBoy]

No ball but they did introduse the anti drainback valve(rubber ring).Now most filters have them.The oil pressure thing is true.when the plastic guides brake(from
age&heat)the chain will rub the rear of the water pump.
this happins alot with crappy filters because the 22r's use
a hydralic chain tentioner.a poorly made filter(with old
castings)will let oil drain back into the engine,adding more time to fill the empty filter and pressurize the system.If
this happins you'll hear a 1~2 second rattle on start up.

Sorry about the poor spelling(I was rebuilding engines when I should of been doing homework)

 

[pgtr]

BennyBoy is correct - this is a typical problem w/ 22Rs that occur at about 100K to 200K miles. The plastic guides/tensioner crack/break over time and due to wear etc. The chain gets sloppier and in really bad cases, will slop around to the point of wearing thru the front cover or in rare cases possibly even jumping a cog.

There is at least 1 aftermarket supplier that offers a heavy duty chain guide option made out of steel rather than the plastic ones Toyota uses. I want to say Northwest Offroad(?) but check w/ the popular mail order catalogs.

I'm not saying it's advisable but some folks like to tweak the oil pumps PSI up a few psi when installing a new chain.

The symptom of a worn timing chain on the 22R is usually a lot of 'clatter' briefly at startup that lasts maybe 10 or 20 seconds. This is not unique to the Toyota 22Rs. I've got a Nissan KA24 in the shop right now needing a timing chain and does the exact same thing.

===

Separate Issue: The anti-drainback feature of OE filters was specifically popularized on the 22R among others to help keep oil in the filter etc at startup at least that has always been my understanding (though some disagree) - The lack of ADBV can also purportedly cause clatter at startup but this is not the same as a worn timing chain on an older engine nor am I convinced the lack of ADBV may cause premature wear of timing chains specifically. All I'm saying is that in both cases they just make similar noise at startup from what I can tell.

thanks,

[ September 30, 2003, 01:08 PM: Message edited by: pgtr ]