Ordering timing chain now, questions

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

Well, the kit I had was wrong, the upper sprocket was completely different but they had one with the right sprocket. Now I get the lower sprocket and chain on but I can't pull the sprocket up high enough to get it over the end of the cam over that pin that holds it in place. It's like the chain is a link too short, the old one fell off. The new kit I got is for 85-95 so it almost seems like I've got something funky going on here. Im stuck now.
 
No, no guides on, no tensioner. Just the crank sprocket, and trying to slip the chain/cam sprocket over the end of the cam. I need it to stretch about 2-3 mm. Its killing me, Im about to slap in the old one with new sprockets, guides, and tensioner and just throw the chain in my toolbox.
 
Well, there is just no way in hell that chain is going to fit. Im so pissed right now I cant even see straight. I counted the links on both the chains and the old one has one more link than the new one. Should I just hock this napa crap and call engnbldr on monday? This is fxxxing bull****, an 8 hour job held up by a chain that is supposed to slip over the end of the cam.
 
Yeah, sounds like you need to get the right chain. You probably wouldn't be doing yourself any favors by putting the old one back with new tensioners and such. Good luck man! It is a very frustrating job even with the right parts ;).
 
Well, I took the kit back to napa, and showed him the chains side by side. They were obviously different. The only thing I can think of is that I have a later style head because the cam sprocket didn't match the one from the 84 kit, and the chain was shorter than the original in the 89-95 kit. He said he can't swap it out with the chain from the older kit which did work so now Im pissed. Should I get the older kit, re-use my old cam sprocket, and call it good?
 
Ok, got the right chain, they made me buy another chain because the one in the 85-95 chain wasnt long enough and wouldnt let me return the one in my kit :rolleyes: but I have it mostly back together but I have a mystery bracket lol. It kind of looks like a clutch fork and it's kind of beefy with 3 holes. I cant for the life of me remember where it came off.
 
I ended up using the cam and crank sprockets, guides, and tensioner from the 85-95, and the chain only from the 84. Then it went together perfect, Im not so bothered the guy charged me for the extra chain and wouldnt let me return the one that was too short because Im finally getting it done. Ive taken the power steering apart 3 times now looking where that bracket might fit. I cant see how it would though. There is one hole in the face of the block right next to the timing cover where the water pump is on the driver side, there is an ear under the square bracket the pump actually sits in, and I cant find any other holes that haven't been used yet. The bracket has me perplexed. The only thing I can think of is that it is some sort of support between the alt, the block, and the ps bracket but I cant figure out for the life of me how it would go and cant remember either. It all seems to bolt together fine without it.

PS the bracket looks like a slingshot, with one welded nut on it.
 
Is the nut on one of the ends of the fork? Does it have a curved slot in the "Handle" of the sling shot? If so, it's probably for the top of the alt, so you can tension the belt. Oh, and weird about the sprockets and chain..... Glad it's together though. :cheers:
 
Glad you got the right stuff finally.. That sucks that they didn't work with you on that wrong chain. I can't place that bracket right now since it's been awhile but here are some pics of various stages when I did my 88 that may jog your memory:

DSC00770.jpg

DSC00771.jpg

DSC00772.jpg

DSC00773.jpg

DSC00774.jpg

DSC00775.jpg

DSC00776.jpg
 
Well, I got it all together, filled it with oil and coolant, started it up let it run for a couple minutes. Turned it off to check the oil, now it looks milk shakey????? Should I drain it and fill it with oil again? I took it for a short drive up the street and it did fine, doesn't seem to be knocking or anything, and when I drained the oil before this job it didnt have any oil in the water? WTF??
 
:DOk that scared the living crap out of me :D. I checked it again this morning, the oil looked clear. I bought a whole case of oil the other day though so Im going to change it again todlay. Thanks for your guidance guys. The fork shaped bracket bolted to that empty whole in the front of the block on the driver side, one fork bolted to the tab on the bottom front of the ps bracket, and a bolt ran through another fork and the ps bracket into the back of the pump. Now it's time for my vented rotor swap :grinpimp:, gotta fix one p.o. mistake at a time. When he did the brakes last he only changed the outside pads :rolleyes:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Back
Top Bottom