I'm lost here. If the head is off, what is the upper chain attached to? As far as torque spec's, the only # I quoted was 80-90 ft. lbs on the 20R crank pulley bolt. Which is right out of the Toyota manual. I can't believe the 18R is that much different.
Your beating a "dead horse". The method has been well covered here. Let the reader decide if they want to take the chance.
Pulley To Crankshaft 80 Ft-Lbs 960 In-Lbs 108.47 N-m Years: All Note: 5S-FE Crankshaft Pulley to Crankshaft As I mentioned earlier. My info was based on the 20R. Obviously the 18R requires less torque. (my bad ). The timing chain issue remains the same. Again, anyone reading this thread can decide if they want to try the breaker bar method or not.
After this I'm done. Did you read perkolaters comment about using this method? Definitely use a 6pt socket, not a 12pt. Also make sure to use a 1/2" drive, not a smaller one. First attempt I sheared my 3/8 to 1/2 adapter like it was a twig. If it will do this to a 3/8 to 1/2 adapter, what's it doing to the timing chain. Goodbye kids, it's been fun.
It should be noted that my adapter was a crappy China steel version that came in some random cheap kit of sockets I had; definitely not a quality one or even a cheap impact version. Personally I wouldn't be worried about the timing chain breaking - let it break! Personally if I'm gonna open it up, parts will be replaced inside with new as I'm already in there doing work. If the chain breaks, it's not like they aren't still being made, they're only like $100 for a FULL kit, the 22re one is even cheaper. To me I'd like the peace of mind with having a fresh, unstretched timing chain, fresh guides, new oil pump and new chain tensioner.
I agree. What if you only want to change the front crank oil seal? Which brings us to the question how do you retorque the crank pulley bolt to factory specs (even if you don't damage the timing chain)? Or lets say you get it all put back together, and 1K miles later the chain breaks due to earlier torque. Now your back to square one. Obviously, to reattach the crank pulley bolt the breaker bar method won't work. So you either need a chain wrench or crank pulley tool. So why not just start with that in the first place? I suspect other posters checked with a ASE certified mechanic and discovered the breaker bar method is not such a great idea.
^yep. On my 4wd I put it in Low range 1st gear with the ebrake. Truck held more still than torquing my lug nuts.