Oil Spray

[chrisfiat]

and the one thing NO ONE ever mentions is, after you have the timing belt in place and properly tensioned , turn the engine over BY HAND with the plugs out 2 crankshaft revolutions, to make sure nothing hits or binds and recheck your timing marks. NOTE if you put paint marks on the belt they will not realign , so check your setup marks on the pullys and head and block

[aj81spider]

Thanks for all the inputs. You are giving me way more confidence doing this than I have a right to have!

So tonight I marked everything per your suggestions. I turned the crank shaft in each direction so the piston was an equal amount down in the cylinder, marked both sides then measured the middle for TDC (a trick I learned on this forum - perhaps from Keith!). I double checked it with the screwdriver method and it all matched. Once I had TDC I then marked all 4 pulleys.

I pulled the intake cam pulley off and the seal was definitely leaking. However that leads me to tonights question - How do I get the seal out? I don't want to ding the camshaft or anything else, so any advice you have for getting it out would be appreciated.

Once the new one arrives putting it in doesn't look like it will be too bad (famous last words), as the socket for the crankshaft pulley looks like just the right size to tap it in evenly - but any installation tips are welcome too!

[JerryH]

I recently replaced my own seals. Wizard124 pointed to this method for removing the seals:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ri8xnBnF4yk

I was reluctant to try it, but after trying a few other methods, I tried this method and it worked great!

[garion]

I followed that same method when i did my cam seals. Worked great... It didn't work so great when i did it on the front main seal. The screw just bent the metal, and made a bigger hole.. I ended up using a bent screwdriver in the hole to work it out by prying.. Hopefully I didn't mar the surface too bad. Looked ok once I got it out...

[aj81spider]

OK - partial victory.

I got the cam seal out and got the new one in. Got the timing belt on and everything put back together again.

It was past my quitting time but I decided to try to start her up just to see. The car started, but ran at a low idle and stalled. It then wouldn't stay started. When I gave it some gas with full choke it ran for a second or two, but would stall.

That's when I decided to quit for the night.

I'll start looking at it this weekend, but if anyone has suggestions I'm all ears.

I thought the timing belt was all aligned properly and I gave it two revolutions and everything seemed to still be aligned. That will be the first thing I check (hopefully I won't have to take the radiator out again!), but any other possibilities?

There is also a pulsing hissing sound - I would say it sounds like a spark plug is blowing by - but I checked them all and they seem to be seated firmly.

Thoughts welcome.

[aj81spider]

I pulled everything apart again tonight. The alignment of the cams and crank were a tiny bit off, so I redid it.

I also have Mark's electronic distributor and it occurred to me that I might have screwed up the timing on that, so I reset it.

Everything is back together but I have not turned the key yet - I need some advice.

The tensioner did not seem to work that well tonight. First I couldn't get it loose, then I couldn't get it to tighten. It's finally back together, but on the long run between the crankshaft and the input cam the belt has about 1/2" of play. That seems looser than before. Am I OK to start the engine (please say yes - the thought of pulling the radiator a third time in three days is depressing)?

It's a newly rebuilt engine and I'd hate to trash it before it has 50 miles on it.

[majicwrench]

AJ,
The timing belt is not stretched tight like an alternator belt, it will have some slack on the long side. NEVER get belt tighter then tensioner does on its own. Too loose is better than too tight.

"Cams and crank a tiny bit off" hmmm, if you painted all the marks, the belt and the pulleys, and something stationary, hard to be off. Hope you've got it right. Give or take a tooth or two you are not gonna bend anything, but it sure won't run right.
So, if car ran before this--it must have,- oil spray- something you did. If it's making a pulsing hissing sound that sounds like a big vacuum leak.

Turn key, see what happens. Fingers crossed.

Just curious, how did you tighten cam pulley bolt?

[aj81spider]

Thanks Keith, I'll fire it up in the morning.

The way I knew it was off a little was by my paint marks. I'm thinking that the crank moved a little when I was stringing the belt and I looked at it under the car at an angle (that's my story anyhow!). It is dead on the paint marks now.

I tightened the cam pulley by taking the old belt and stringing it around the pulley then grabbing it with vice grips. It was kind of a poor mans chain wrench.

[majicwrench]

really tough to get pulley bolt tight enough that way. Did you put locknut on the bolt??

Will be saying a little prayer tonight

[aj81spider]

Ok - I'm a novice at this and definitely willing to learn. What's the right way to do the bolt? I can pull the cover off and tighten some more if I know what to do.

[FiatBen]

I followed that same method when i did my cam seals. Worked great... It didn't work so great when i did it on the front main seal. The screw just bent the metal, and made a bigger hole.. I ended up using a bent screwdriver in the hole to work it out by prying.. Hopefully I didn't mar the surface too bad. Looked ok once I got it out...

I wonder if using two screws on a bigger seal, one on each side, and alternating by hand with a screwdriver would have worked it out? Just thinking outloud as I know sooner or later I will have to do this on one of the cars.

[Jimb]

I simply put in a sheet metal screw until it bottomed out and then pulled it with a claw hammer. Came out extremely easily.
Jim

[aj81spider]

Success! The retimed engine started right up and runs well.

Hopefully Keith's prayers will keep my cam pulley attached to the cam - but everything is back together and the leak is fixed. I do have a new problem (see the new "Ticking Sound") post in the engine area, so I'm not all the way back to doing interior restoration work.

To pull the seal I was afraid to use a drill and screw - I did not have confidence in my ability to not slip or mar something. I ended up getting the tool below from Amazon for $13. It worked great. Put the hook on the seal, rested the post on the engine and it popped right out with very little force.

[aj81spider]

I'm happy to rely on Keith's advice, but it turns out relying on his prayers made me really nervous.

As detailed in another thread I stripped the #1 plug and it blew out of the hole. So this week I tapped a helicoil and installed it. Tonight was the night to fire it up (let the thread lock set overnight) and I decided being nervous about whether the engine would destroy itself was not really a good state to be in, so I tore it all apart to torque the cam pulley.

I pulled the radiator for the third time and pulled the timing belt. I had gotten a chain wrench and torqued the pulley to the 87 ft-lbs called for in the manual. It was a pain as the chain was too big and I had to pull the coolant neck on the head to get it around the pulley. However once I did the chain wrench worked great and torquing was very easy.

I will say that practice seems to help - the whole thing only took two and a half hours to tear down, torque, change the timing belt, put back together and run a few cycles of the fan.

Hopefully this is the end of the story - at least the cam seal story!