Radiator out. I noticed before that the top plastic radiator cap (i mean the whole top plastic section) seemed to be seeping slightly but the radiator otherwise looks to be in good shape. Coolant and trans fluids were nice and clean. Anyway to have this repaired or is it cheaper to just get a new radiator?

Steering pump came off easy. The bolt behind the fluid line was left out so I believe the pump was replaced at some time.

Valve covers look like ill have plenty of room to pull out.

My biggest concern is I dont see a nut holding the harmonic balancer on the crank. Whats up with that?

 

WTF????!!!!!!

Ummmm.........That's kind of important. There is supposed to be a nut and washer securing that pulley to the crank!!! I would say if you need to purchase parts, THAT is definitely one you should have on your "list".

 

Im trying to figure out who,what,when,and why pertaining to that nut. lol


What could of happened to it. It didnt back itself off. But why would someone remove it and not replace it? Likely someone replaced timing before?
Theres a lot of gunk in the hole. like YEARS worth.

 

You can see scratch marks around the hole where someone was working on it. No way that's gonna fall off on its own.

You'll discover the rest of the story once the timing cover is off.

 

I did the scratching with a flathead trying to see how thick the gunk was...could barely even see the hole I pulled big glob out

 

The who, what, where, when, why and how that crank pulley bolt and washer being MIA is irrelevant at this point. The only thing that should matter is that it should be there. If that bolt is installed and torqued to proper spec, there is no way it could have loosened by itself and backed out of there.

At this point, I would be paying close attention to the condition of the crank pulley, the crank snout with the keyway, along with the crank trigger wheel and crank sprockets when you get that far apart. If there is ANY slack in the way the trigger wheel and crank sprocket fits onto the keyway of the crank, THAT can most definitely set off a P0340 that won't go away.

 

Got driver side valve cover off. Chain is tight no play at all.
Was hopeing it was just a tensioner. Ill have to pull other side tomorrow and front cover this weekend.
I hope the ghost lies within or I will be forced to tapout and give up.

Nicked the seal with razor ....will I need new gasket or will sealer fill the nick?

 

I was just going to suggest that you turn the engine over to have the timing marks at their proper locations, but just remembered you have your crank pulley bolt and washer missing in action, so you can't turn it over by hand. My next suggestion is for you to "bump" the engine over with the starter, until you have that raised portion on the driver side cam sprocket aligned with the CMP sensor poking through the front cover. That will position the timing reference mark (the dot you see between the chain links) on the sprocket to where you want it.

In answer to your question, yes you should be replacing both valve cover gaskets as well as the front cover gaskets. The last thing you want to do is have to go back inside this engine for a self-induced oil leak!!!

 

Working on pass side valve cover now. Cant wiggle this side out. The hump in the cover is hitting the plastic evap housing. Ive never opened an evaporator housing up so I dont know if its all one piece or if the plastic housing will come off alone and give me the extra inch I need.


Once thats off I guess im out of luck untill next fri when I get paid. I dont have the right puller to get the harm balancer off unless anyone knows any other ways.



++++update...... I pried it up enough to get a finger and a flashlight in there. Theres a big amount of slack in the chain even up by the cam sprocket. Is this the likely cause of my issues? Wouldnt slack in the driver side chain where the cam sensor is be more likely to cause the cam sensor error though? Or would any timing issue on either side cause it?

Hopefully this is the issue ive been having and at least now have an answer and solution.
Im going to stop for the night as ive sweated since 6am in my jobs sweatshop (welder)

Hopefully someone can help out with the pass side cover clearance issue.

I appreciate it guys!

 

Valve timing being out of time on either bank, or both banks will definitely set a P0340. The CMP sensor being on the driver side bank of cylinders doesn't matter. If all cylinders are in proper time, it doesn't matter which bank the PCM gets its cam position input from.

In answer to your question about passenger side valve cover clearance, you could try removing an engine mount. That'll give the engine some flexibility to move to a position that will give you enough clearance for removal.

About the crank pulley, couldn't you just rent a bolt grip puller from your local auto parts store?

 

Furthermore, if you don't mind me commenting. Judging by the looks of that driver side cam sprocket, this engine doesn't look like the oil has been changed very regularly. That said, I wouldn't be surprised at all if some of the timing chain guides are broken.

 

Ya.... im eager to get in there and have a look. Going to look for a puller tomorrow.
Any idea of length/thread of crank bolt?

What im having a hard time wrapping my head around is how to tell if timing jumped?
You set crank sprocket mark at bottom and cams at 10 and 2 right? That gives tdc?
Then what....you wont know if things jumped untill you get new chains on and see if your marks all line up with new chain marks?

 

I wouldn't be using anything other than what is called for, for the crank pulley bolt and washer. According to the workshop manual, the hardware numbers are -N806165 (washer) and -N806139 (bolt).

Once you get the front cover removed, along with the crank trigger wheel, you will have a clear view of all timing drive components. If there is as much slack as you've described, I wouldn't be surprised if you have broken chain guides on that bank. As far as how to tell if it's in proper time? If the workshop manual is correct in stating there are 61 chain links in each chain, you will need to count links to determine if each bank is within time correctly. So with the crank sprocket timing mark at the six o'clock position, you should have one chain link aligned with that mark. You should then be able to count thirty links on each side of the crank sprocket timing mark on each side of the cam sprocket marks (the cam timing mark aligns in between two chain links). So you would start with the passenger side bank. Once you establish that, you can move onto the driver side bank, which may be a little more difficult when trying to view where it aligns on the crank since it's the inboard one.

 

Bought this cheap puller. I hope it has the right bolts. Going to dig in after I mow the yard.

 

Even if you don't have the correct bolts in that puller set, you can always pick up three bolts and washers as needed to make it work.

More importantly, did you manage to get the right side valve cover removed? There's no use worrying about pulling off the crank pulley, until you get that valve cover removed as you need to, to get the front cover off.