chain tensioner question (1 Viewer)

[turbocruiser]

turbo, the guide is not supposed to require maintenance during the lifetime of the motor. replacing it easily would not be a design priority.

Very good point, and neither is the chain, so that point applies there too. I've just seen so many other designs for example on MB's that do not require removal of anything other than pulley or fan or something simple...the cover is designed to make the access and the job much more simple regardless of how unlikely it is to need to get there through the working life of the motor while in the rig (prior to rebuild IOW) Anyways, very good point, just one that other makes have made easy to get around. That's all I guess.

 

[cruiserdan]

turbo, the guide is not supposed to require maintenance during the lifetime of the motor. replacing it easily would not be a design priority.

Correct, of course.

The guide was re-designed and the top is a bit different. I have heard of an early guide breaking but I have not personally seen one. I replaced mine because it was the early design and I had the timing cover off. The one I removed looked fine to me but I could not bring myself to leave it in there as I was so close to it.

 

[turbocruiser]

The timing cover has studs protruding from the bottom that attach the upper oil pan. The front of the cylinder head gasket seals the top of the timing cover. The front two cylinder head bolts go down into the top of the timing cover.

Gotcha! So the trick then is to remove only the two front cylinder head bolts, drop the pans, and then drop the timing cover, otherwise leaving the head and all attachments (exhaust manifold, intake manifolds, etc) on??? Is there a risk of warping the head by only removing the two bolts? This is cool, I'm just tryin to figure out how you managed to do it with the head in.

 

[cruiserdan]

No. The front bolts are a smaller diameter and basicly hold the timing cover and the head togther. Of course the valve cover has to come off and the distributor needs to be removed to get at them. We did not actually "drop" the timing cover. More accurately my friend Todd (a fellow Garand collector and a damn fine mechanic) drove the cover off to the front using a wooden block. We had the pans off, the crank pulley off, the PS pump off and the A/C compressor off. We left the oil pump in the cover. To reinstall the cover I removed the oil pump gears on the bench to give me some wiggle room to get the cover in without dragging it on the bottom of the head gasket. It went on and up at the same time. After the cover was back in place I installed the oil pump gears and cover.

 

[semlin]

the two bolts from the head into the timing chain cover are not real head bolts. they are skinny little light duty suckers only torqued to 15 ft lbs. the head gasket actually crosses the head and seals up the block before the timing chain and all the head bolts are on the otherside. once it gets to the timing chain the head gasket is just an oil sealer around the timing cover doing more or less the same thing as the valve cover. if you can persuade the timing cover to drop off the h/g without tearing the head gasket you are good.

edit: or what dan said

 

[IdahoDoug]

What Semlin said. Plus if you do muck up the bottom surface of the HG a bit, I feel that a smear of the same sealant that goes on the block/timing cover seam where the HG rests on it would be fine for a proper reseal on assembly. As Sem notes it is merely an oil seal at this forward point on the engine.

DougM