Because my '96 cruiser with 280K miles has had a piston knock for the past 40K miles, I thought I'd drive it until it died. But it hasn't. So, I decided to revive it by fixing all the things I've put off. The engine knock occurred because I couldn't keep oil in it. I know I'm going to have to rebuild or swap the engine at some point, but I thought if I'd fix some of the issues on this one, I'd buy some time. Which means a new front seal, distributor o-ring, and oil cap gasket. This write up adds some information on those three items that others may find useful.
I got my confidence up by doing a front brake job a few weeks ago and repacking the DS wheel because it needed a new rotor. I read here on mud there are six places where 80's cruisers leak oil:
I spent a few evenings under the truck cleaning years of oil and grime using Simple Green and Simple Green Extreme Aircraft and Precision Cleaner. The only difference I could tell from the regular Simple Green and the Aircraft type is that the Aircraft type didn't have the the dye nor the fragrance.
Lying on my back, with eye protection, I sprayed the Simple Green on a part, scrubbed it with a nylon or brass brush, and then wiped it off with a shop towel. I repeated as necessary. I didn't want to use a steel brush because I didn't want to scratch anything. I also didn't want to use brake cleaner or Gumout on everything because I didn't know how rubber and electrical connections would react to that stuff and I didn't want to inadvertently poison myself. It was a dirty job, but I needed as much to be clean as I could possibly get so that I could double check my work. My power steering hoses had been leaking for a long time along with my oil leaks and the whole underside was just gunk and residue. I had my power steering hoses replaced a month earlier, so that leak was fixed.
To get at small places from the top, I screwed a brass brush on to a piece of PVC pipe and went to town:
You may be able to see the brush bettter:
To wipe up the gunk using this method, I wrapped a rubber band around a shop towel that itself was wrapped around the brush and mopped up:
I decided I'd do the following work, because I was there. Many people ask what they should if you're going in, anyway to make these repairs. This is what I decided to do. Thanks again to the advice on mud:
I had never changed or even tightened a belt on this vehicle. I'm glad I did this because I found:
Here are the torque values for the all bolts in the above work. (I give the values in ft-lbs and inch-lbs because one of my torque wrenches is in inch-lbs.) (Oh yeah, I ended up changing all my fluids out as well a few days later.)
A/C Idler pully 29 ft-lbs 348 inch-lbs
Alternator Idler Pully 32 ft-lbs 384 inch-lbs
Alternator top bolt 43 ft-lbs 516 inch-lbs
Alternator lock bolt 15 ft-lbs 180 inch-lbs
drive belt adjusting bar with the bolt and nut. 15 ft-lbs 180 inch-lbs
Power steering pump bracket bolts ft-lbs 0 inch-lbs
Distributor hold down bolt 13 ft-lbs 156 inch-lbs
Battery tray bolts ft-lbs 0 inch-lbs
Lower radiator hose bracket 15 ft-lbs 180 inch-lbs
Radiator shroud bolts (x2) X ft-lbs 43 inch-lbs
Water pump bolts 15 ft-lbs 180 inch-lbs
Upper starter mounting bolt 29 ft-lbs 348 inch-lbs
Stearing stabilizer bolts 24 ft-lbs 288 inch-lbs
Thermostat bolts 15 ft-lbs 180 inch-lbs
Differential Drain Plug 36 ft-lbs 432 inch-lbs
Differential Fill Plug 36 ft-lbs 432 inch-lbs
Transfer case Drain Plug 27 ft-lbs 324 inch-lbs
Transfer case Fill Plug 27 ft-lbs 324 inch-lbs
Oil drain plug 18 ft-lbs 216 inch-lbs
Transmission drain plug 15 ft-lbs 180 inch-lbs
Spark Plugs 14 ft-lbs 168 inch-lbs
Brake bleeder valve 8 ft-lbs 96 inch-lbs
Here are part numbers. I got the parts at my local dealer:
Front Crank Shaft Seal part #90311-52022
Idler Pulley Part # 16603-66010 (I didn't need a new one. You might.)
Oil Pump Seal Part # 15188-66020
(Don't recall the distributor o-ring part.)
I purchased the 3/4" breaker bar at Northern Tool as well as 30mm socket so I could take off the bolt holding the harmonic balancer. I purchased a 300 ft-lb, 3/4" torque wrench from harbor freight.
More to come...
I got my confidence up by doing a front brake job a few weeks ago and repacking the DS wheel because it needed a new rotor. I read here on mud there are six places where 80's cruisers leak oil:
- The front seal
- The oil pump cap gasket (see: How to Replace Oil Pump seal w/ Pics)
- The distributor o-ring (see: HOW TO: Replace Distributor O Ring)
- The oil pan
- The oil pan arch
- The rear seal
I spent a few evenings under the truck cleaning years of oil and grime using Simple Green and Simple Green Extreme Aircraft and Precision Cleaner. The only difference I could tell from the regular Simple Green and the Aircraft type is that the Aircraft type didn't have the the dye nor the fragrance.
Lying on my back, with eye protection, I sprayed the Simple Green on a part, scrubbed it with a nylon or brass brush, and then wiped it off with a shop towel. I repeated as necessary. I didn't want to use a steel brush because I didn't want to scratch anything. I also didn't want to use brake cleaner or Gumout on everything because I didn't know how rubber and electrical connections would react to that stuff and I didn't want to inadvertently poison myself. It was a dirty job, but I needed as much to be clean as I could possibly get so that I could double check my work. My power steering hoses had been leaking for a long time along with my oil leaks and the whole underside was just gunk and residue. I had my power steering hoses replaced a month earlier, so that leak was fixed.
To get at small places from the top, I screwed a brass brush on to a piece of PVC pipe and went to town:
You may be able to see the brush bettter:
To wipe up the gunk using this method, I wrapped a rubber band around a shop towel that itself was wrapped around the brush and mopped up:
I decided I'd do the following work, because I was there. Many people ask what they should if you're going in, anyway to make these repairs. This is what I decided to do. Thanks again to the advice on mud:
- Clean up the alternator and change the brushes. (Bought new brushes from Autozone.)
- Put on new OEM belts
- Drain the radiator
- Replace all the radiator hoses
- Replace the distributor o-ring
- Replace the oil cap gasket
- Replace the front main seal
- Check the water pump (by manhandling a bit to see if there was play in the bearing)
- Check the A/C compressor and possibly change out the bearing (because it squealed and had been doing so for three years).
I had never changed or even tightened a belt on this vehicle. I'm glad I did this because I found:
- The a/c pully was loose and that was the cause of the whining. Compressor bearing was OK.
- The top bolt holding the alternator on was 1/4 of the way out.
- The two transmission lines going into the cooler were loose and leaking.
Here are the torque values for the all bolts in the above work. (I give the values in ft-lbs and inch-lbs because one of my torque wrenches is in inch-lbs.) (Oh yeah, I ended up changing all my fluids out as well a few days later.)
A/C Idler pully 29 ft-lbs 348 inch-lbs
Alternator Idler Pully 32 ft-lbs 384 inch-lbs
Alternator top bolt 43 ft-lbs 516 inch-lbs
Alternator lock bolt 15 ft-lbs 180 inch-lbs
drive belt adjusting bar with the bolt and nut. 15 ft-lbs 180 inch-lbs
Power steering pump bracket bolts ft-lbs 0 inch-lbs
Distributor hold down bolt 13 ft-lbs 156 inch-lbs
Battery tray bolts ft-lbs 0 inch-lbs
Lower radiator hose bracket 15 ft-lbs 180 inch-lbs
Radiator shroud bolts (x2) X ft-lbs 43 inch-lbs
Water pump bolts 15 ft-lbs 180 inch-lbs
Upper starter mounting bolt 29 ft-lbs 348 inch-lbs
Stearing stabilizer bolts 24 ft-lbs 288 inch-lbs
Thermostat bolts 15 ft-lbs 180 inch-lbs
Differential Drain Plug 36 ft-lbs 432 inch-lbs
Differential Fill Plug 36 ft-lbs 432 inch-lbs
Transfer case Drain Plug 27 ft-lbs 324 inch-lbs
Transfer case Fill Plug 27 ft-lbs 324 inch-lbs
Oil drain plug 18 ft-lbs 216 inch-lbs
Transmission drain plug 15 ft-lbs 180 inch-lbs
Spark Plugs 14 ft-lbs 168 inch-lbs
Brake bleeder valve 8 ft-lbs 96 inch-lbs
Here are part numbers. I got the parts at my local dealer:
Front Crank Shaft Seal part #90311-52022
Idler Pulley Part # 16603-66010 (I didn't need a new one. You might.)
Oil Pump Seal Part # 15188-66020
(Don't recall the distributor o-ring part.)
I purchased the 3/4" breaker bar at Northern Tool as well as 30mm socket so I could take off the bolt holding the harmonic balancer. I purchased a 300 ft-lb, 3/4" torque wrench from harbor freight.
More to come...