[donsdan]

i had to remove my head to change my HG
but now i am woried that i can move pistons from side to side by pushing hard with my fingers it moves a small bit but it worries me
its a gen 3 engine with approx 90k on it....
is this normal?
or what should i do?

 

[Kurdain]

Well some wear is normal so after 90k you would probably have a slight bit of movement.
It's really hard to say if it's too much without really measuring it.
Did it burn oil?
Did you have low compression?
Why did you pull the head?
Did the car run ok before you removed the head?

I would venture to say that you are ok if the car ran fine before hand, toyotas run forever, even abused ones run a long time.
I would also say that if it moves more than a hair, and I mean a hair, you should seek someone knowledable and local that could come inspect it.

Other thing you could do would be to reassemble everything and do a compression test followed by a leakdown test, that would pretty much tell you for sure.

 

[billwot]

There is supposed to be clearance between the pistons and the walls. That's why you have rings.

bill

 

[donsdan]

but should i be able to move it by pushing it?

 

[Byron]

Yes. You are most likely rocking the piston on the wrist pin, not actually moving it as much from side to side. If you push it toward the flywheel and then the crank pulley, you should get much less motion than when you push toward the exhaust valve side and then the intake valve side.

 

[kirkosaurus]

Why did you pull the head?

i had to remove my head to change my HG

.

 

[^Trickster^]

was it fine before you removed the head? do they all move the same? if so, id find it hard to believe they suddenly broke because you took the head off

Graeme

 

[billwot]

but should i be able to move it by pushing it?

If you couldn't, it would indicate that the rings were seized.

The piston just floats in the cylinder. Its the rings that create the seal.

bill