Hi guys. I've been chasing a coolant lose in a '86 Re for a couple of months now. My brilliant mechanic, no offense intended, said: "Hey your radiator is leaking." He didn't even check the petcock!

Bottom line, I've decided to do it myself. Here's the question??? My Peterson's book says you need to remove the oil pan before removing the timing chain cover. Can anyone tell me if this is really necessary? I thought, hey, while the head is off, I'll replace the cover, chain, and tensioner and save work later.

Thanks for looking
Terry

I do not believe you have to. If you take the head off bring it to some one to ckeck for cracks. I had a 22 re that had over heated and it would loose fluid over a few weeks before it over heated again. It ended up being a small crack in the head causing the fluid to be burnt off over time without being noticed. Other culprite that I know of is that the chain guides wear out and the chain chews through and coolant leaks out. Check the hoses and the radiator because they do tend to go. I replaced mine a couple of times.

Thanks for the reply Jay. I got the head off today, and the chain and cover look OK, so that work gets skipped. I had 2 headbolts that were rusty red, 1 that was black with exhaust and the others were oily. That seemed all over the place for me. I'm cleaning it up and putting the new gasket on. This is not my only ride, but I enjoy driving the Toyota.

Terry

Now is the best time to do the Timing Chain. Your half way there. It will run better after.