For the love of a tractor engine: The life and times of the 18R-G

[sillycar chick]

They ARE the same I have a 3/2TG AND an 18RG remember Definately the same

[o_man_ra23]

Righto... didnt say they werent... just sed I wasnt sure... but it seems you are

Dont get ya panties in a knot over it

[sillycar chick]

I was just having a stir Owen, about the whole RA28 thing

[o_man_ra23]

yeah yeah, you will regret them words when I have an 18RGTEU in my RA28 though

[sillycar chick]

lol by that time the 3TGTE should be done hehehehe

[Steve M]

airfrireman
Yes, there are two types of tentioner and slipper, I personally don't believe they are interchangeable.
the older style has a straight metal shaft from the tensioner that goes into the metal backed slipper. these slippers have a metal lump cast into the back of them.

The second type had a mushroom headed tensioner plunger shaft that pushes onto a cast RUBBER lump on the back of the slipper, the same as the 18R-C rubber lump.
I wouldn't be using an old tentionser with a new style slipper as it will quicjly eat a hole into the rubber lump.

What I did a little while ago was had some mushroom headed plungers made up and I reshaped an 18R-C slipper (easy job that now fits better than the original 18Rg slippers). I haven't run the engine (or built it) yet, but it all measures up fine with lots of adjustment room.

[Steve M]

Adding to my post above, you can change the whole syste mover , i.e. tensioner and slipper, but not any one item.

[airfireman1]

Thanks steve, I have both types of tensioners,and guides, a brand new one with the rubber bit on the back and the other type.
Since both tensioners have just a steel shaft to press against the actual curved tensioner, why would it wear a hole in it unless there is more to the tensioner than what I have.
Interesting that the 18rgeu had the later style tensioner with the plunger setup and the
18rgu had the other style with a longer cast plunger.
Anyhow I will get a genuine filter tomorrow. As I said I will be picking up the 18rgeu cyl head from the reconditioners tomorrow and I may refit that one, just to satisfy myself that this head is as new. I am unsure of the head I have on it at the moment as even though it seems quiet when the engine is cold, it has a few tappet noises when its at running temp so quite possible the valve clearances are not within spec along with the fact that this head came of an unknown un run motor and even though it looks like it has been recond at some stage, the quality of the rebuild may be in question.
Cheers

[airfireman1]

If you are prepared to go with the more efficient rotary type those brackets are more readily available, I just happen to have 2. You only need to get a longer hose made from the evaporator to the comp the other hose fits very. I will post a pic when I get around to it
Cheers

[airfireman1]

I picked up the head from the reconditioner on friday and it looks like brand new. So I have decided to fit it. SoI have taken the head off and inspected the tensioners and guides.They are badly worn.That may be half my problem me thinks. So, I have a mixture of different guides and slippers so it looks like I will modify a brand new 2tg long curved guide and use a reconed small curved tensioner,new top damper and fit a new top chain. UPDATE
The slippers and dampers are very very worn.So its time to remove the timing cover and replace the chains and the tensioner.What is frustrating is that if the toyota engineers had thought about it and moved the pivot point up about 8mm you would be able to replace that tensioner without having to remove the timing cover. Oh well its going to be a pain to do as its hard to liftthe motor out without the cyl head on. I will even try and do it with the engine still in.

[airfireman1]

I have been on the phone and road for the past 2 days ringing around and going to most of the engine parts people here in the west. I have been asking about timing chain guides and ensioners for the 18rg. 3 places said they had them but when I actualy went there to compare them they were not the same. They mostly had a very poor copy aftermarket l/h tensioner that was a lot straighter and slightly smaller with a rubber lump on the back. It was no where near a strong as the original. One company that does a lot of engine recoditioning did have a book with a listing for the rg tensioners and guides but were unable to match anything up. They suggested bringing my old set in and they would get there enginge reconditioners to see what they had in there other store where they actually do the reconditioning work. It may be worth a try.
I did manage to find a genuine long curved r/h upper guide though. It was the only one they had in stock and it was $177.00.
I will probably fit the reconed ones and see how they go, my only concern is how hard they are and also they are quite a bit thicker than the genuine ones.

[Steve M]

That left hand guide that is straigghter and has a rubber lump sounds like an 18RC top tensioner slipper. There are two lengths of those that I've found, one the same as 18RG, maybe a little longer, the other a bit shorter. I just modified the longer one to suit my 18RG. Haven't run it yet though.

[airfireman1]

I have noted and it has been backed up that there were 2 different type of top tensioner fitted to the 18rg## The type I have has a solid metal back, the other type has a concave rubber block on the back. What I need to know is what tensioner( the one that screws into the head) suits that one.? There seems to be do definate answer to this.
The 18rgu had the longer cast external tensioner and used the internal tensioner that does not have the rubber back.
The 18rgeu uses the shorter tensioner external and the internal part of the curved tensioner was the same as the 18rgu one.
I have managed to get a new genuine long curved guide and toyota parts over here have managed to locate me a new small curved tensioner but I will not know which one it is until it arrives on monday.
The good thing is I have managed to remove the timing cover without damaging the sump gasket so I can change it all with the engine in the car.
Since I have all the front off I will also be putting a new rollmaster lower timing chain kit in it as well

[Steve M]

Concave runner back sounds right for 18RG, 18RC is convex.

Concave rubber back requires mushroom flange headed tensioner. This is to spread the load more evenly over the rubber surface.

Here's the basic concept of what is needed for the rubber backed slipper/

Note that these are not Toyota genuine ones, I have them made up to suit a modified 18RC damper.
The genuine toyota ones have a head that's not as thick.
The other model, early one, has no mushroom head at all, just a domed shaft end.

[airfireman1]

Cheers Steve for the pics, I did a mock fit up of the timing cover to the head with the curved tensioner fitted (the one with the cancave rubber back)
Result is that the plunger does not contact the concave block in the middle but more towards the top edge of the block. Other than that the tensioner is the right shape and length.
So my next question is how did you modify the plunger head? It lookslike it may work even though it will contact the upper section of the tensioner.
On the good side I have fitted a complete rollmaster 18rc timing chain kit to the lower half.
New sprockets, chain and tensioner. The old bottom chain was also stretched and the tensioner was also worn. So now its all a great fit.
Cheers