StratfordShark

This will seem very elementary to the experts on here!

I wanted to check belt tension myself (have had TB warning light after kick down) so got hold of Kempf tool.

Drained radiator because one write-up recommends getting hoses, wiring loom etc out of the way to give more space (I need to change coolant anyway).

Started taking off hoses then occurred to me to check that I could get to the crank pulley bolt OK. I'd already got standard and deep 27mm sockets in readiness. The standard was too short (bolt quite deep in pulley). Tried deep one on a ratchet and found I'm right up against the back of the fan shrouds.

So I'm wondering if it's impossible to turn the crank without taking off the fan shroud? Or do you jack up front and have better access from underneath (though looking down at pulley as in photo it looks like the back of the fan shroud at bottom of radiator creates same problem.

I thought checking tension was simple once you had the cambelt cover off! Is it just harder on an S4, or maybe I should look for another socket which reaches the bolt but still allows clearance from fans to turn? Am I missing something simple about rotating the crank bolt?

Thanks.

killav

I've had much better luck by getting on the ground and turning the crank from the bottom of the car. My harbour freight deep metric socket set worked/works fine. You will need an assistant though, to tell you when to stop, or you can get up and down many times.

mark kibort

buy a deep socket (like a sparkplug socket) and a long lever either, ratchet or fixed breaker bar both being 1/2" , but the rachets with 3/8" work well for just turning over the car, not torquing the main crank bolt. i think the size of the socket is 27mm

davek9

As you have already drained the water, it won't take that much work to remove the fan's & shroud. We did that for a friend a few weeks back on an '87, even easer on a MY with a mechanical fan!

IMHO it wil be a lot less work, than trying to adjust the belt while turning the crank from under the car and not being able to see the timing marks., also you can attach a longer pipe on your ratchet for leverage.

F451

We did it from below, but there were two of us. One to crank, the other to yell:

More...more...more...STOP!

That was on the '88 S4 (thanks Capt. Earl!).

SharkSkin

It's a lot easier on a 78. You'll find it a lot easier if you pull the shroud & fans, which is a ~5-10 min. job.

StratfordShark

I didn't realise from first look that it was that easy to take off the shroud. Searching around it sounds like a matter of just removing bolts at top, pulling fan connectors, and carefully pulling it off including tabs at bottom. Any particular watch outs? Most "5-10 minute" jobs take me a lot longer!

SwayBar

Good tool!

Next time, you'll realize you don't need to drain the coolant just to check the timing belt tension (..unless you're changing the coolant too of course).

I would try this method.

I have different depth sockets and extensions which I attach to my 250 ft lb torque wrench which give lots of leverage to turn the engine over. One combo I used was my Craftsman 1/2" 27mm with the short 1/2" extension on the torque wrench.

One more thing, it'll be a lot easier to turn the engine if you take out the spark plugs! Oh yeah, you'll need to remove cylinder #1 spark plug anyway to make sure #1 is at top-dead-center (..the piston will be at the top of the bore).

StratfordShark

To be honest I'd decided not to take out the plugs, though it must make turning the engine very easy.

It's a bit lazy of me but I find it's a bit of a performance putting the plugs back, using different combinations of extensions/universal joints to get access to the hole, making sure they're at correct torque. Also have installed new leads and terrified of maybe clumsily breaking one at the boot. I'd rather have the hard labour of turning the engine against compression!

Thanks though for tip about No 1 plug. I will do this one to confirm TDC!

worf928

The easiest way to get the fan shroud out:

Remove the two 10mm bolts that hold it to the radiator.
Remove the air pump filter housing cap and the filter.
Remove the air pump hose from the housing.
Lift the driver's side of the shroud slightly and push it back just enough to see the top oil cooler connection.
Using a 27mm wrench to counter-hold between the shroud and the rad, remove the top oil cooler connection with a 32mm wrench. Tuck the oil cooler line out of the way.
Loose the power steering hose reservoir clamp so that the res can move by 1/2" or so.
Then lift up the driver's side of the shroud to about a 45 degree angle and move it towards the driver's side.
Then lift up the right side and clear the rad.
Lay the shroud flat and disconnect the wiring harness.

SharkSkin

2 points --

1) Having the #1 cylinder at TDC means you only have a 50% chance of it being at TDC on the *firing* stroke. Really, you ought to be able to look at the cam timing marks and the mark on the balancer to determine if you're at TDC #1 firing, or 360° (180° Cam) away from that spot.

2) The spark plug wrench that is included with the car's tool kit makes short work of pulling/installing plugs. Gice it a shot!

StratfordShark

I know - it's a nice tool and one of the few that actually fits in the plug ports!

Sod' Law says it's the only tool in my otherwise complete original toolkit which is damaged - the little rubber gasket has come away from the metal. It usually leaves the plug in the hole after it's unscrewed (no biggie since I then withdraw the plg with one of those pincer things for retrieving dropped bolts etc).

But I can't use it for inserting the plugs quickly as they drop out and/or there's more risk of cross-threading them when they're not held by the rubber.

I always keep an eye out on eBay for a replacement plug tool but have missed out on a couple!

StratfordShark

Brilliantly detailed Dave! Thanks so much for these timely instructions. Was going to do this tomorrow and I would have been thrown by stuff like the oil cooler line. Will need to acquire those wrenches though - they're quite a size. I do have sockets this size but without checking I don't know if it's possible to use sockets on these fittings as presumably the oil line runs up to them?

worf928

Correct. The oil line runs through them, so you need wrenches.

Also, on the passenger side you have two auto transmission fluid cooler lines. I *think* that you shouldn't need to disturb them to get the shroud out (not present on 5-speeds so I wouldn't know). But, you might have to.

Good luck.