QuestionQUESTION: Hi there. Our crank shaft pulley work its way off. So in getting into checking the damage to the crankshaft and planning the repare, a good friend hastily took off the timing belt. Now the cam gears turned a little, and we are sure exactly how to go about making sure everything is properly aligned and getting everything in sync and getting to TDC. We are trying to put on new timing belt kit, water pump, crank and cam seals.
Any help would be greatly appreciated. We are trying to do this today and tomorrow.
Thanks.
ANSWER: ?????????? need more info.... Year, model, enigne size, AT/MT, single cam/dual cam?????????
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QUESTION: ***Subaru, '96 Outback, 2.5 L., DOHC , auto. tranny...Forget the former questions about getting everything aligned.
***Are the plastic camshaft gears held on by fasteners that are left or right hand threaded? What is the recommended procedure for removing those fasteners, in frame, in order to replace the oil seals?
***Chilton is so vague.
THE FOLLOWING IS CONTEXT FOR THE ABOVE QUESTIONS
***#1 piston is at TDC, cylinders #1+3 have their cam sprocket alignment marks where they need to be. Oil seal replacement on that side of the motor seems easy enough; the timing gears are opaque, and a channel lock may be applied to the 60 mm. hex(that was molded into the gear-to hold it)and the fastener removed.
***On #2+4 side, the timing gears are convex, that is, the fasteners (and hexes that are molded into the plastic gears) are inset, so that the only obvious way to hold the gears is to grab them with the channels; which seems like it would damage the timing gears.
***There are flats machined (or cast?)into the cams which i could hold, but i do not know if the bolts are clock- or counter- clockwise, and i lack the confidence to lay into the breaker if i might be making things tighter or if the hold down wrench might slip.
***What i want from you is a strategy to hold that cam so it won't slip and cause the valves to whack the pistons.
i do not want to pull the engine to pull the cams to replace the seals. i just need to get those timing gears off.
***Oh, i hope this is gin clear.
ANSWER: lol, way to much info for me ... The cam gears(not plastic, a type of alloy metal that will break very easily) come off by removing the 17mm bolt in the middle of them. They are normal threaded. You will need a cam holder tool, that will lock the cams together so you can loosen the bolts and will also help time the cams. I dont' know how far you are as of right now, but there are things to becareful of, so that you don't bend valves. With the crank gear lined up to it's mark, the pistons are half way on all 4 cylinders. Don't worry about TDC for any cyl, just make sure the crank gear is lined with it's mark. If you haven't taken the t-belt off yet, with the crank gear lined up the left bank (right side as you look at front of engine) cams will be loaded (valves opened),, the right bank will not be. You need to be careful because when you take the belt off, and the gears unload in the wrong direction you can bend the valves. You want to turn the top left gear counterclock wise, and the bottom left gear clockwise, to unload them. Then lock the cam gears to remove the bolts. Replace the seals and then put the gears back on and torque to about 65ft lbs. Then line your right bank cams as following. The top gear has to marks ( a single line, and a double line). The single line goes at 12 0'clock, and that will put the double lines to 6 o'clock. The bottom gear also has the sams markings, only offset. Set the double lines to 12 o'clock which should line up with the double line on the top gear, and the single line should be pointing to 9 o'clock. Then set you left bank top gear same way, you will feel tension because it will be opening valves. Then set the bottom gear same way as the right side, only this time the single line will be facing 3 o'clock. NOTE: Remember to turn the cam gears the opposite way you unloaded them. Then with a new timing belt, you will see 1 dotted line, and 4 solid lines. Set the dashed line on the crank gear mark, with the words on the belt reading left to right. Then align the right bank cam gears with the solid line on the belt, and then do the same for the left side. You will need to use a mirror to see the lines on the bottom 2 gears. NOTE: Lines on belt, must match lines on gears or damage will occur. Finish putting the belt around the rest of the pulleys and your all set. I hope this helps. I think I could have done entire job from scratch in the time it took me to type all of this.. lol good luck
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QUESTION: Hi there Frank. Thank you for your very helpful answers. Well, we got it all back together and something is not right. I started the car for just about ten seconds and there is a loud clack,clack,clack sound.
I didn't mention this at the beginning, but a well meaning friend removed the timing belt and tensioner(at the outset of the job) without knowing what he was doing. He didn't take any precaution to align anything first. How likely is it that the damage occured then?
We didn't know which way the cam gears turned and there was nothing that we could do at that point, so we just hoped for the best and i think we did everything properly, but it seems that some serious damage has occured at some point.
The next question is, what is the most likely damage done and what is the worst case scenario? Bent valves, damaged rods and pistons?
Scrapping the car is not really an option for us, so it seems we will learning more about Subaru engine repair than i had ever planned on.
Sincere thanks, christopher
ANSWER: Very possible that damage could have happened when belt was taken off. I wish I could hear the noise, to have a better Idea what's going on there. When the engine was running, how did it run. Did it sound like it was missing a cylinder, or did it run ok, but noisy? First thing, is double check everything you had apart, and make sure nothng got left loose. Without being able to listen to it, I don't want to condem the engine. Worse case, damaged pistons and rod bearings. Not so worse case, bent valves. Might even be only one side. If you do end up pulling the heads off, check and see it looks like the valves hit the pistons at all. If not then the pistons and rod bearing should be ok. My best recommendations is try to determin where the noise is exactly coming from, or have someone more familliar try and listen to it to give you a better idea what it might. I am sorry, and i wish you the best of luck.
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QUESTION: Thanks again Frank. I want to truly express that you are providing a great service to us novice mechanics. I hope that you are blessed and rewarded in helping others. A very wise man (and more than that He was and is) said, 'it is more blessed to give than to receive'. Anyway, just wanted to encourage and thank you before i ask my next question.
Related to the above noise and problem- i should have said that i put everything together except the radiator, accessory belts, harmonic balancer, and timing belt cover. Any chance a noise would be related to no water in the pump?
I am going to double and triple check to see that nothing is loose. I though it would be okay to just start the car for 10 seconds without the radiator hooked up, was i right? Is it possible the engine would be noisy because of that?
thanks again for your patience and willingness to help such a novice like myself.
Sincerely, christopher
Answeri would personnally bolt the crank pulley on, put the radiator in and fill with coolant. Just to make sure the waterpump propellers don't get damaged, if not already. Coolant acts as a lubricant for the waterpump. you can leave the drive belts, and the covers off for now.
