Toyota/22RE experts, advise needed. May need bottom end rebuilt... or motor swap

[ozzy702]

Here's the history of the truck, 93' pickup with a 22re. Currently has about 170k on it. 4 years/10k ago I tested the compression and it was low but I can't remember exact numbers. I want to say that one of my cylinders was down around 130 and the rest about 150. I put a new engine builder head, cam, timing chain w solid guides and water pump in it and kept driving. It has a header, 2 1/4" exhaust (may have a plugged cat since I smacked it on a rock, could be robbing power?), has had a recent tune up as well.

Everything was fine, lower power than I'd like but I'm used to Toyotas so it didn't bother me. Went to Moab in October of this year and the way down it was fine but on the way home I basically had my foot on the floor just to do 65 mph on the flats. I've had several Toyotas and know this truck pretty well and to me it feels like it's way down on power. The 2nd thing I found is that when I got home from Moab I noticed it had puked oil all over the place. Probably lost a quart or so over the course of the week in Moab, never happened in the past.

So, here's the part where I need advice. Do I rebuild the bottom end of this 22RE, and if so, who should I have do the machine work/rebuild it and how should I rebuild it (compression ratio, bored over)? Or do I try to find a 3rz and drop it in? I'm leaning towards the 3rz but have no idea how to go about finding a solid 3rz. I'd like to have everything done by the time I start to tear down the truck and redo the suspension and axles this summer. I would probably be completely content with a good running 22re that had factory numbers of HP but right now it's just not cutting it and I'm only on 35's with 5.29's.

I'm not a motor guy by any means. I can fab up link suspensions, cages, bumpers, etc but I'm a novice when it comes to motors so any thoughts and recommendations are appreciated. I also have no idea what rebuilding the 22re would cost vs. the 3rz.

 

[Kevin B.]

I'm not a motor guy either, but I can tell you from experience that unless you get a screaming deal on a motor (not likely), you'll spend less on rebuilding the 22RE vs. swapping a 3RZ.

If you're good with the 22RE, run with it. I wouldn't "build" it though. I ran a 261 cam and a Thorley header on my last 22RE and they really made a difference, not so much in top speed but I could pull hills without downshifting as much. The next thing I was going to do to it was an engnbldr Street RV head, if you already have that then a cam and header will have even more effect. Combine that with a fresh motor and it's going to feel twice as fast as what you have now. But I wouldn't mess with the bottom end. Have the machine shop bore out to the next size if you have to, but don't go bigger and don't mess with stroking or funny pistons and higher compression, I don't see the return on investment there. Decide that you're happy with a mildly modded 22RE, or ditch it and put a bigger motor in.

If you do decide to do the swap, look beyond the 3RZ. They're a great little motor but they're getting hard to find and it seems like most guys know what they have. When I was looking for mine I ran into one guy that wanted $2500 for a 4cyl Tacoma that had been rolled five times. The appeal of the 3RZ is how easy it hooks up, but I think you could do a 5VZE or a small block V8 for less money.

 

[sixstringsteve]

I'm not a motor guy either, but I love me a 3rz. The 5vz is kind of a pain since the gas tank and exhaust are opposite each other, so you'll have to redo all that. I say rebuild the 22re, or find a rebuilt one from someone you trust (that's the tough part). Most 22res are hammered by now, as they're famous for reliability, and most have been pushed far harder than they should have.

 

[ozzy702]

I'm not a motor guy either, but I can tell you from experience that unless you get a screaming deal on a motor (not likely), you'll spend less on rebuilding the 22RE vs. swapping a 3RZ.

If you're good with the 22RE, run with it. I wouldn't "build" it though. I ran a 261 cam and a Thorley header on my last 22RE and they really made a difference, not so much in top speed but I could pull hills without downshifting as much. The next thing I was going to do to it was an engnbldr Street RV head, if you already have that then a cam and header will have even more effect. Combine that with a fresh motor and it's going to feel twice as fast as what you have now. But I wouldn't mess with the bottom end. Have the machine shop bore out to the next size if you have to, but don't go bigger and don't mess with stroking or funny pistons and higher compression, I don't see the return on investment there. Decide that you're happy with a mildly modded 22RE, or ditch it and put a bigger motor in.

If you do decide to do the swap, look beyond the 3RZ. They're a great little motor but they're getting hard to find and it seems like most guys know what they have. When I was looking for mine I ran into one guy that wanted $2500 for a 4cyl Tacoma that had been rolled five times. The appeal of the 3RZ is how easy it hooks up, but I think you could do a 5VZE or a small block V8 for less money.

I have a new (~10k on it) head from engnbldr and his 261 "crawler" cam as well as a throley header. I'm thinking about just boring out .040 over, bumping the compression a tick (don't see compression info on engnbldr) and rebuilding the bottom end since the top end is essentially new. In theory I know what to do but in reality, it may be worth the money to just have an expert do everything for me. With the time that it would take me to do everything (2X what a pro would take) I could be making money doing something I'm good at (IT, basic fabbing, gear setup, etc) and more than pay for the labor.

I'm open to suggestions on who to have do the work if anyone has someone they feel confident with.

 

[Marsh99]

I had this kind of problem in a 85 runner. I had a plugged cat that had broke apart and was trying to poop out the end of the exhaust.

 

[sixstringsteve]

oh yeah, I had forgotten about that. Definitely try to fix the exhaust first. If nothing else, cut it off above the damage and see if there's any more power.

 

[ozzy702]

Thanks for the advice. I'll do that sometime in the next week or two. Should be a quick fix if that is the problem.

 

[ricsrx]

I have had the pluged CAT, it was a major lose in power, but i dont recall puking out oil.....

 

[skippy]

your probably puking oil cause your leaking compression into the crankcase and the crankcase pressure is pushing oil out anywhere it can.

 

[ozzy702]

your probably puking oil cause your leaking compression into the crankcase and the crankcase pressure is pushing oil out anywhere it can.

I'm no motor expert but that sounds like it could very well could be the case since the leaking oil corresponded with the drop in power. The weird thing is that this motor doesn't smoke. I would think that bad rings would cause serious oil consumption and it would smoke like crazy.