I have just joined the ranks of those Towny owners that have repalced the head gasket. Job went reasonably well & the rebuild is better than before (replaced missing bolts, improved seals etc).
Now I lack power to the point where it nearly won't pull away & then hangs on to gears far too long and even refuses to change up depending on load.
Engine runs fine without load but is slightly slow to rev up. Also prefers starting with foot to floor and idle drops too low when cold (steady at 750 when warm).
Any suggestions please?
Is it possible that I have slipped 1 notch on the cam belt at the crank shaft? Would the engine still run OK? I could not find any timing marks on the crank pulley cam belt gear (inspected very closely) so used my own mark which was not as accurate. Does anyone know how to set Top Dead Center without the crank shaft marker? If I can do this, then I can confirm the other settings.
I can't drive it like this, so a solution must be found!
Thank you all for any help offered. - (#2493) Ray, 10 Mar 02

Timing out, and you'd bend valves, more than likely. Have you neglected to connect any of the boost sense hoses? A lack of extra fuel would cause those symptoms... - (#2494) david miller, 10 Mar 02

All pipes were labelled before removal and fitted OK. Possible something has come off that was not removed deliberatley, but can't see anything. Turbo is working fine. The only thing I have found, but assume OK, is a small black plastic pipe protruding from the back (not top) of the vacuum unit on the fuel governor. Can't see any unused pipework though that would connect to it. - (#2495) Ray, 10 Mar 02

Like David, I would think that one tooth out would bring a valve in contact with a piston but, a check on the crankshaft pulley mark is worth it in my opinion. I too found the mark very hard to see but, it should be there, on the back flange of the crankshaft pulley, aligned with a similar mark on the oil pump. If you have not got it, the repair manual Part No RMO25E, costing only about £9, and available through the local Toyota dealer, is invaluable when carrying out this job - (#2498) John Davis, 10 Mar 02

that black plastic fitting's a vent.
The timing mark on the pulley's hard to find, BTW, nearly hidden behind the belt cover - (#2503) david miller, 11 Mar 02

Fixed It. After hours of checking and cross checking I finaly decided to recheck the cam belt timing and it WAS out at the crank. It took about an hour to convince myself because I could not see the timing marks properly. In the end, I painted a line across the font of the pulley and another across the sump. Only then I could see the error.
Engine runs great now which also proves the engine can cope even with the cam timing slightly out.
Thanks for everybodys help. - (#2516) Ray, 12 Mar 02

Well done Ray and you have proved that the engine will run without damage with this "one tooth" error on the pulley. I know, when I did mine that the marks were extremely hard to see and this caused me a great deal of concern and the checks, checks, and double checks were worth it. - (#2517) John Davis, 12 Mar 02