Pulling the front cover on a 6.9

[Rick Wallace]

All right im getting my mind ready to pull off the front cover to insure I put the IP drive gear in properly.What do I have to look forwaerd to?Oh if I mash my finger I wont whine !

[kenpobuck]

You don't have to take it off. If you can get a mirror and light at the right angle you can see the mark on the cam gear. when you get it at the top mark the groove with a white or yellow paint marker. Then mark the spot on your ip drive gear and set them together. put the houseing back on the engine and bolt up your ip. That was how I did mine. saved me alot of headache.

[Rick Wallace]

I tried that the first time,I now own 3 different sized dental mirrors,and I never did see it,I used the measure method on ziggters and have never been certain about it.I want to be SURE,im tired of no truck...............thanks

[1bigjoe]

did you find top d center on#1 cyl,, did you look at the timeing line on the balancer ?was the timing gear cover off? did you look down at the cam gear to see the perminate coloring on the gear (red) or is it 180* out drop the timing gear ''y'' in the red zone
bolt back up, or you could do it the other way and be positive about it,
drain the rad, drain the trans lines,remove the rad, remove the fan(thats alot of fun) remove the alt, all the belts, the vacume pump ,ac, water pump(better get a new one of those change it now) now you can see the front of the block but it's still hard to see the marks---------your choise

[Rick Wallace]

Yes,yes,yes,and I never saw the color marks,I may try it again before I proceed,

[kenpobuck]

If you can, it helps to wipe the oil from the gear as it comes around. A bright led light helps as it has less glare on the shiney mirrror. It took me two times around with a breaker bar on the crank pulley but I did finally find it. Removeing all the stuff needed is a real pita. If you goes this far with it you might as well get a new t-stat for it as well.


Mine didn't have color on it at all. I had to look for the marks on the cam gear.

[Rick Wallace]

I planned on a new t-stat ,who engineered that spot? I guess he was hung over that day, Good tip on the red light,I never thought about that.

[kenpobuck]

Lol, I said led not red light but I bet that a red led would work even better. Seems your brain is taking things a step for the better man.

[Rick Wallace]

OPPS, I misread,! One of those head doctors would make a carrear on tring to figure out my brain! LED light hmmmmm I got one of them to,and a red ,and a green,....see what I mean?

[kenpobuck]

LOL. Hey most people say I need a shrink for driving this old diesel let alone swapping out a perfectly good 302 for it. But he way I see it the rest of the world could learn a thing or two from us idi guys.

[starmilt]

Any body that thinks you are crazy for dumping a 302 in favor of a 6.9 is crazy. lol

In a bronco I would honestly rather have a 300 six than a 302.
A 302 may be allright in a 2x ranger but that is about as far as it goes. In my opinion they do not have enough bottom end for my use in any 4X and as far as a pickup I expect them to do anything I want when I want so they don't cut it.

[kenpobuck]

In defense of that 302 np435 combo it did pertty good. The winter before I pulled it out they go the f450 7.3 stroke and goose neck with a tower on it stuck at work. The front wheel on the truck dropped off the pavement. They were gonna call a wrecker to ge tit out and I told them to hook it up to my bronco. They laughed at me but did it. I put it in 4 low and first gear and started to pull. I never slipped tire and dragged that rig back abot 20 feet back up onto the lot. When they figured the whieght of it all it was about 22,000lbs. After that they respected the beast lol.