DarylJ

I know there are other guides on how to do this out there, but this one is from my perspective of someone who's never done it before - and it's really more a commentary on the guides I've been using, with some hopefully useful advice and pictures. Also, as I go along I hope I can get some comments on what i've done wrong, the hard way, or what to look out for.

I'm taking my time, but here's where I'm at:

- Removed the airbox and top timing gear cover to figure out what was going on initially.


And it's not good. The balance shaft tensioner has no bearing left in it. That explains the nasty noises.


Now I just hope that the balance shafts are no longer indexed so I have a good explanation for why it's running so rough (rattling fillings out of my head kind of rough). And yes, I did limp it home 2 miles after this happened.

- OK...now I have realized it was go-time. Set the motor to TDC using http://www.clarks-garage.com/shop-manual/eng-13.htm
The text in there is nice and all, but really doesn't prepare you for the full craptastrophy that actually FINDING the mark is.
I'm standing in front of the driver's door, looking down at the back of the motor. It's supposedly somewhere in here:


Hey...it really IS in there:


And when it's set, it looks to be confirmed on the cam gear:



Initially, I used the cam gear to try to figure out what the mark should look like on the flywheel. Of course, the cam gear spins twice for every time the flywheel does (or so Clark says) so I got it wrong the first time. Spun it again, and was able to the the line and the OT marking on the flywheel. Bonus.

- Put in the flywwheel lock from my spiffy new Arnnworx MAXI engine tool set (http://www.arnnworx.com/enginetoolsets.htm). By the way....thanks Bruce. They showed up quick and they work great.

xsboost90

that mark in the rear almost never goes "dead on" when setting it up. I dont know how many ive pulled back apart, moved a tooth and they were farther off than before. If the flywheel mark is very close to the belhousing mark thats probl it, even though i triple check everything anyway.

DarylJ

- Next comes draining the cooling system, removing the p/s and alternator belts and the other part of the belt covers. Yeah...some of the pictures are out of sequence...deal with it: I'm using the ones that best illustrate my point.

Hey...look at what's left of those bearings:


-Continuing on, I go through Clark's on how to remove the belts: http://www.clarks-garage.com/shop-manual/eng-05.htm

OK...so here's where we talk about #9. Remove the crank shaft bolt. Sound easy, right? Sure.

Did I mention my car has been flooded three times? About this high:


No, I didn't really need to take out the radiator according to Clark, but I needed to clean the Delaware River mud out of it anyway...and it does seem to make things a bit easier when you put the gear puller on.

So anyway...back to that bolt DON'T TRY IT WITH A 12-POINT SOCKET. IT'S A STUPID THING TO DO. REMEMBER:

DarylJ

And here's what's left of my balance shaft tensioner:


So now I've got everything off, and I've laid out each set of rollers so I have some change of matching the correct ones back up.


Oh, I should mention the the lower balance shaft was off by 3 teeth, and upper by 2. Yay! that explains it, I hope.

Its filthy in there:


So I've done some cleaning:


I still need to do some more, and then I guess I'll start by tackling the upper balance shaft seals. I've got a line on a lower bracket (mine has a broken off p/s horn so I'll wait on doing that one.

And now you're all up to date on my last 3 or 4 days of working on and off

Let the commenting begin.

DarylJ

So how do I triple check? Assuming the timing was on before I took it apart (and it appeaered to be running fine), and everything on the cam sprocket was lined up when things were lined up on the flywheel, where else can I check? Did I miss something on the crank shaft that can be indexed as well?

Mamooguy

Nice photos, thanks! And nice commentary too. Top-notch entertainment!

hpservertech

Keep the pics & comments comming. I'm doing mine in 2 weeks.

Yummybud924

lol, you're lucky. My water pump bolts were frozen and one of them broke in the block and all the other ones pretty much stripped when I removed the old bolts so I had to drill/ heli coil all the water pump bolt threads, not fun at all.

the job wasn't really hard but it was very time consuming for me.

Make sure you use new water pump bolt and not reuse teh old ones and you'll have to use an inch pound torque wrench to tighten them up.... they strip very easily as it's aluminum.

apierce918

there's a hole in the bottom of the bellhousing too with a notch in the flywheel that should be about centered in the hole.

hpservertech

How hard should it be to turn the crank?

V2Rocket

Should take some effort, but it's not impossible. Standard length 1/2" ratchet is enough for sufficient leverage.

my84-944

Try pulling the spark plug and putting a wooden dowel on the hole, turning the crank will move the dowel up and down. While this is not the way to time the car, it will help to let you know when you are close to the mark. This is how I did mine, of course the head was being replaced so the time was off a bit more than yours should be. Also you should be able to line up the marks on the back and the cam. The trick is to set the back mark ( top rear of the engine)and move to the front. You will need to take your time, and it will move slightly off when you mount the belt. But anything more than half a tooth should be reason for concern.

tomrc

+1 for removing the spark plugs, makes turning the crank so much easier. Also when you find TDC and everything is lined up put a mark at the bottom of the flywheel, it saves you a few trips up and down lining things up the next time.

DarylJ

Trying to double check on something.

In the diagram:


#21. Not sure it's in there, and I've already put on the timing belt. I didn't end up resealing the front end, as everything looked good once I got in there.

So anyway, I did take off the timing belt drive gear (#14) and up. I don't recall seeing anything behind it, and I don't see any unaccounted for parts. How thick is this washer, and would it likely just fall out when you remove what I've removed, or is this some sort of sleeve that would likely have stayed in there.

Just trying to get a sanity check before I back-track and disassemble.

Thanks,
Daryl

And there will be an update of todays activities sometime soon for those that need your entertainment from my misfortunes.

Mike951

Heres the thread you were tlaking about.. That thing doesnt look to bad for being up that high in water like you said it was.. Throw up a picture of that balance shaft bracket thing you were tlaking about today at my house.. Im curious to see what you were talking about. Good luck with the project.. let me know how everything turns out.

-keith