Under Valve Cover Pics - Toyota 3RZ with 225k

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Not too shabby! If someone is familiar with 3RZ-FE's I'd be interested to hear your opinion about the timing chain adjuster position, is it near the end or no?

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Originally Posted By: Bottom_Feeder
Nice!

Who makes drive belts in Mexico?


the goodyear gatorback on my truck is made in mexico
 
Originally Posted By: LeakySeals
Wow thats clean. Barely a trace of varnish towards the back. Must be hotter back there for some reason.


Looks like the PCV is back there. Typical from what I have seen.
 
Nice pics. Thanks for posting.

I personally feel like ALL our engines should look like this after a quarter or a million miles if A: engine design is good. And B: Oil does its job.

Only neglected engines should show varnish or build up and even then, it should be severely neglected with degraded oil in the sump for years.

What's the info on the oil change intervals and oil Brand?
 
Yeah, that's pretty clean. My Mazda looked similarly so the last time I had the valve cover off, at about 591K; it had been a little sludgy back at 476K. Has that single-row roller chain "stretched" (worn) significantly? I like your cam-to-cam helical gear drive!

My last V-belt, bought at Autozone, was also from Mexico.
 
I wish I knew the precise answers, guys. This truck is new to me, I have only changed the oil once. But it was dealer serviced diligently... from the records I have it looks like a simple 3k-5k OCI was kept with whatever 5W-30 the dealership had on the shelf. The records have Castrol GTX mentioned, synthetic blend (no brand stated), and Exxon. Whatever they did, it worked! Doesn't burn a drop of oil from what I can tell.

I've since moved to Valvoline synpower which I'll change around 5k.
 
Had an opportunity to reseal the oil pan so I got to look at the bottom end too.

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The good news with these engines timing chains is you will hear them knocking and when that occurs it's time for a new chain / guides but it won't end in catastrophic failure till quite a while after this point so don't panic if it occurs, just don't keep racking of the miles and you will have more than enough time to change it. Typically around the 200,000 mile mark is what I've seen.

Your tensioner looks pretty far extended so it looks like it will be time soon. Is there any play in the chain with the tension on there? If so and because the tensioner is far extended you might want to do it while you are in there.

This is one of the best Engines that Toyota put out and they are extremely reliable.
 
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Thanks for the input, Stevie! I had not realized that the tensioner was so far out. The engine is at 240k miles now.

There doesn't seem to be slack in the chain and it doesn't have any knocking that I can tell. I popped the oil pan on there already but the front diff is still out. Now you've really got me thinking...

Do folks usually change the balance shaft chain as well?
 
If the pan is on already, don't worry about it. You'll know if the chain is loose and you have lots of time to change it. I just thought since you had most of it apart now would be the time to do it considering the rest of the engine looks virtually new and those engines are known to go forever and ever when the chains are looked after.
 
Sounds good. This truck doesn't get much more than 5k miles a year so I probably have some time.

I ran across another 3RZ thread on a Tacoma site and a guy had posted pictures of his timing chain and the adjuster looked a little more extended than mine. He removed it and found it continued to extend 10 more clicks -- maybe there's more tension adjustment in there still?

When the time comes I'll probably use an LCE timing chain kit.
 
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