Removing the head while trying to keep the timings

[Arnie91]

Am I right in saying that If I mark up the timings on the cam and crank sprockets, then loosen the tension via the round tensioner roller, I can slip off the belt?

So pretty much go up to step 12 on this

[Seerlah]

Does not really matter, but is the easiest way to ensure what is. What really matters is wanting to keep the cylinder head valves in the closed positions when taking head off and back on. Always have them closed when putting head back on, and having them closed when taking off prevents the potential of you damaging any. With both cam and crank gear lines matched up to their notches, it is indeed the most safe and best way to take head off. This will have cylinders one and four tdc, but more importantly all valves will be in the closed position.

[Arnie91]

Does not really matter, but is the easiest way to ensure what is. What really matters is wanting to keep the cylinder head valves in the closed positions when taking head off and back on. Always have them closed when putting head back on, and having them closed when taking off prevents the potential of you damaging any. With both cam and crank gear lines matched up to their notches, it is indeed the most safe and best way to take head off. This will have cylinders one and four tdc, but more importantly all valves will be in the closed position.

Okay so in effect, so is this a notch that exists on the gears already, or the notch that I will be painting to mark up the timings?

[diagnosticator]

Okay so in effect, so is this a notch that exists on the gears already, or the notch that I will be painting to mark up the timings?

There is a alignment notch on the cam sprocket, and a notch on the valve cover. There is also a top dead center alignment notch on the vibration damper pulley and an associated alignment mark on the sheet metal belt cover.

[Arnie91]

There is a alignment notch on the cam sprocket, and a notch on the valve cover. There is also a top dead center alignment notch on the vibration damper pulley and an associated alignment mark on the sheet metal belt cover.

I've marked up the cam and crank positions. I dont have any alignment notches on the front end at all. Not on the cam sprocket, the valve cover or the crank sprocket. Nill.

[Seerlah]

Weird. Can you take pics?

Those are necessary for proper timing when putting things back together. If not that, then mark the belt with one tooth on cam gear, and one tooth on crank gear. I always due this anyways and go with these marks. And if using new belt, transfer marks to new belt. I use white out, and it must be on both sprockets and belt.

[Arnie91]

Weird. Can you take pics?

Those are necessary for proper timing when putting things back together. If not that, then mark the belt with one tooth on cam gear, and one tooth on crank gear. I always due this anyways and go with these marks. And if using new belt, transfer marks to new belt. I use white out, and it must be on both sprockets and belt.

Will put some pics up in a bit for all to peep at.

Ive marked the timings down on the sprockets to the engine. Eyeing up the cam might be a bit odd but the crank markings are clear.

I've loosened the roller tensioner, pulled the belt off and removed the water pump. Hooray!!

The waterpump is shot to shite. The plastic turbine thing on the inside has 1/3rd of it missing, of which only 1/2 of that was inside the block. I'll have to go hunting for plastic parts inside the engine now. If the overheating is this, plus maybe a blocked radiator, i think ill come off extremely lucky. Lets find out if the head is warped.

The crank sprocket bolts are rusted to pieces, will need new ones.

I'm just about to refresh myself on the cam caps removal sequence and then bolt down the chain tensioner. Here it goes!

[Seerlah]

Some advice. Put loctite or thread sealer on any new hardware. It will back out if you don't (almost caused a catastrophe, but caught it in time) . Rust from the old hardware is what made them not vibrate out. Never had an issue with not putting loctite on old hardware. But new hardware, learned my lesson and conjectured reason why they back out. But makes sense to me when you look at old vs new hardware.

[Arnie91]

Some advice. Put loctite or thread sealer on any new hardware. It will back out if you don't (almost caused a catastrophe, but caught it in time) . Rust from the old hardware is what made them not vibrate out. Never had an issue with not putting loctite on old hardware. But new hardware, learned my lesson and conjectured reason why they back out. But makes sense to me when you look at old vs new hardware.

It's funny you say that, The bolts holding the exhaust manifold onto the block were super loose. Like, it came off as butter would on a knife.

I got most of the work done in a short amount of time. Coolant Flange off, Hardline Turbo Oil Pipes off, All of the bolts on the exhaust manifold to the block.

HOWEVER, I ran into some trouble when it came to the big bolts that go into the turbo housing (I think). I got two of them off with my impact wrench, the third one which is closest to the engine was rock solid. Considering that they've been repeatedly sprayed with pb blast for the past couple of days I dont think anymore prep could have gone into it. I managed to strip it! God damn it. Im going to try hammering on a smaller socket, is that doesnt work, im going to have to drill into it and use my extractor bit piece on it. Considering how tight this thing might be It might not go well. How on earth could it resist an impact wrench with over 900lbs+ on highest setting. Damn.

I did also get all of the headbolts out! gotta find a magnet tool to take them out, maybe then, I might be able to slide the valve cover rightwards, avoiding having to touch that last manifold bolt.

I also have some VERY VERY VERY strange to show all of you. There is a small hole on the front of the engine, just behind the cam sprocket. It looks like a bolt would go into it as the area is raised for a bolt. BUT! BUT! Theres a tiny little gold round ball stuck into it! This thing looks like a christmas decoration! I mean why on earth is it there. It just doesnt make any sense. Anyway, pics will come soon.

[old guy]

Normal. That's an oil feed line cross drilled through the head and then closed off with a peened ball. If you look closely you will find three on the front of the head and two on the back.

[Arnie91]

Normal. That's an oil feed line cross drilled through the head and then closed off with a peened ball. If you look closely you will find three on the front of the head and two on the back.

It looks so bizzare. Thats interesting I just googled up about it. Do they have this on new engine's these days or is the metal working processes different?

Im definitely going to be getting the engine hot washed, resurfaced.. the whole shebang while it's out. Found a place that does it for a really good price. And while the cylinder head is exposed, how difficult is a clutch job? Lol. I had a new clutch put in only about 5000 miles ago. It was a cheap OE clutch that was worth around £140 squid. It seems to be slipping on acceleration. It might be oil leaking on the flywheel, a problem with the clutch slave, or just installed wrong by the dodgy mech who I no longer use. Either way, with more added power I'm going to be needed a good clutch with room for a turbo upgrade. So something that can handle 350ish range would probably be enough.

[Seerlah]

To change clutch you have these options. Pull block, pull tranny, or pull tranny with block. No matter what route you choose, it is time consuming and involved. But people find some ways easier than others. I don't suggest you tackle this yourself for a first timer, and have a competent car guy help you out. But if you feel you are up to the challenge, go for it. Most feel pulling tranny with block to be the easiest way. But if your car is currently in the service position with missing cylinder head, I suggest you just pull the short block.

Tip: Hardest part will be putting tranny and block back together, and why many feel it easier to pull both together and put back together outside. But I suggest just pulling the rest of the engine. Most work already done. But when putting the block back, it is quite the challenge at times.

1) Be sure not to damage forks of pressure plate when aligning.
2) What I do is pick up longer m14x1.75 bolts (think this is size). Then I pull the bell housing/block together slowly and evenly with one of these longer bolts on the top corners of short block. The two will pull together smoothly, as you vary between threading down the two bolts evenly. If they don't pull together with ease, then there is a problem (torque to pull the two together I would say is like 3ft/lbs tops, but my feeler method has never been gauged. you should be able to turn a ratchet on bolt with one finger). Stop and figure why. After you figure why after accessment and reason found, give it another try.

But after reading your post, look into the bell housing to see if there is any oil. Clutch will slip for various reasons, but slave cylinder is not one of them. But having it slip only on acceleration sounds to me like clutch is on it's last leg and needs replacement. I hardly ever engine brake to prolong the clutch life. I usually shift to neutral and coast. Avoid slipping the clutch as much as you can too.

[Arnie91]

Since I stripped the bolt closest to the block on the exhaust manifold. It's too late on a sunday to start drilling into it.

Is there another way of removing the top half of the engine by disconnecting the turbo? The head is loose on the right side, but still solid on the left side. Im not sure if it's to do with the cam chain tensioner on the back, or if its the exhaust manifold. I know there are bolts on the block and are secured onto the manifold with nuts. I've tried pulling the whole block to the right but it wont budge, which means it can only be lifted upwards.

[old guy]

Remove the three bolts connecting the turbo to the exhaust manifold and leave the exhaust manifold connected to the head. Lift the head straight up leaving the turbo in place.

[Seerlah]

I find this angled wrench easiest to remove those bolts. It may be tough getting the bolt off, so soak it well in PB Blaster and bang every now and then. Hitting the bolts periodically while spraying periodically helps. With each bang, you are loosening something. And every bit helps. I sometimes soak with PB Blaster and bang periodically, and still have to end up using MAP gas.

If you have to use MAP gas, you are not trying to expand to an extreme. Heat directed at the threads (the flame will reach the threads, if you have a good tip) will assist in loosening the grip (learned this trick at my old job with rusty parts). You want to just create a decent shift in size of bolt to turbo with the heat (very small size shift, to create an unbalance. like 15-30 seconds blasting should more than enough, if you have a decent tip). Trick is to break the the bond the heat cycles made over time by various tactics. Or just go gun ho and blast it, because that also works (pure brute usually gets things done). But most times, a little goes a long way.

Also can't remember if turbo brace is bolted to head or short block, but this will also need to be removed if bolted to the head. Just undo the brace on the engine side. I usually take head off this way (manifold is treated like a carry handle). And place manifold on cylinder head before putting head back onto short block. Thank yourself later.



Another thing you can try is double nutting the stud with the stripped nut. Haven't ran the stock mani in a while, so can't recall how much of the stud sticks out when manifold is installed. But they are just studs. You can try and double nut the stud and take it off, since you said the manifold nuts are not that tight. Or hammer on a deep socket that can fit. I know you are in the UK, but Craftsman always has these cool little tools for stuff like this. Or try a smaller vice grip (Irwin still gets play here) on the stripped nut. There are options.

[Arnie91]

Remove the three bolts connecting the turbo to the exhaust manifold and leave the exhaust manifold connected to the head. Lift the head straight up leaving the turbo in place.

I couldnt go down that route. For some reason one of the bolts has a thread coming in from the other side, which would require the manifold to slide out.

But fear not! I removed the hardline oil pipe into the turbo, found a low profile socket and wrenched on it hard with all my Arnie Strength. It came off, with a celebratory dance.

NO CRACKS.

Pics coming now

[Arnie91]

I find this angled wrench easiest to remove those bolts. It may be tough getting the bolt off, so soak it well in PB Blaster and bang every now and then. Hitting the bolts periodically while spraying periodically helps. With each bang, you are loosening something. And every bit helps. I sometimes soak with PB Blaster and bang periodically, and still have to end up using MAP gas.

If you have to use MAP gas, you are not trying to expand to an extreme. Heat directed at the threads (the flame will reach the threads, if you have a good tip) will assist in loosening the grip (learned this trick at my old job with rusty parts). You want to just create a decent shift in size of bolt to turbo with the heat (very small size shift, to create an unbalance. like 15-30 seconds blasting should more than enough, if you have a decent tip). Trick is to break the the bond the heat cycles made over time by various tactics. Or just go gun ho and blast it, because that also works (pure brute usually gets things done). But most times, a little goes a long way.

Also can't remember if turbo brace is bolted to head or short block, but this will also need to be removed if bolted to the head. Just undo the brace on the engine side. I usually take head off this way (manifold is treated like a carry handle). And place manifold on cylinder head before putting head back onto short block. Thank yourself later.



Another thing you can try is double nutting the stud with the stripped nut. Haven't ran the stock mani in a while, so can't recall how much of the stud sticks out when manifold is installed. But they are just studs. You can try and double nut the stud and take it off, since you said the manifold nuts are not that tight. Or hammer on a deep socket that can fit. I know you are in the UK, but Craftsman always has these cool little tools for stuff like this. Or try a smaller vice grip (Irwin still gets play here) on the stripped nut. There are options.

Remove the three bolts connecting the turbo to the exhaust manifold and leave the exhaust manifold connected to the head. Lift the head straight up leaving the turbo in place.

Results of the wrenching here - http://www.audizine.com/forum/showth...3#post11923293