legacycentral bbs

Thermostat and coolant, possibly upper and lower rad hoses. Accessory belts.


I forgot to mention REMOVE THE RADIATOR!! It makes the job 10 times easier and you dont have to worry about denting it with tools.

Seems like a heck of a lot of parts to put into an engine I've never even heard running!

I'm going on a hunch that all is well and that the car is worth the money of all these parts going into it. If all goes well, the car should be in A1 shape with less than $600! (and a pile of labour!)

I'll update next week after I get it all done!

Thanks!

Rabin

only issue with removing the radiator at least with my job is I don't really need to replace coolant/water pump....and the trans lines for the auto are a little bit of a bitch to get at......I'll see how much clearance I have.....and make a decision at that point......we'll see if i can get the girl I'm dating to drive me to get coolant if I need it....hahaha

I didnt change oil or water pump when the last time I did this. I didnt even change the oil or coolant lines either.

Id say consider the job near impossible with the radiator attaced for the sole reason that its hard to find a tool to fit the crank pulley bolt shallow enough to clear the radiator.

hmmm....that's strange.....I put on my underdrive pulley in 2000 without removing the radiator....I removed the fans though.

What did you use to loosen the crank pulley?

Legacy777 wrote:hmmm....that's strange.....I put on my underdrive pulley in 2000 without removing the radiator....I removed the fans though.

I also only removed the fans.

Ciper: I used a large socket w/ breaker bar propped against the alternator.

MK

jam a breaker bar or screw driver in the access port at the bell housing to hold the torque converter I also found that putting either a deep socket or regular socket with an extention on one of the bolts of the converter through the access port works just as well, though that seems more damaging than the other way.

yeah I just put a breaker bar down the access port on the bell housing....then used a socket and break bar on the front crank bolt.


One other quick question......do you need to drain the oil if you're doing the oil pump....the fsm says to....don't know if it's necessary. I'd probably change it afterwards to make sure any gunk that might have got in there, gets out.

I need new belts, & threebond...and I've got everything

Thats strange. Why would you have to drain the oil? You dont drain the oil to change valve cover gaskets and they are lower than the pump right?

Yeah...you got me....only thing I can think of is that there may be oil in there....but I don't see how......it should drain out.....I'll probalby just leave it alone....if I make a mess....I make a mess

It may just be one of those "standard" procedures they put in the FSM.

Hey guys,

One last question I hope you can help out with.

The FSM indicates that the valve lash adjuster should be bled out. Is this necessary?

Also what exactly is threebond? And where does it go?

Parts going in:
new water pump / gasket
Tstat
reseal oil pump
cam seals
front main seal
top & bottom rad hoses
valve cover and gromets
timing belt
belt tensioner

I'm hoping the tensioners or OK, or at the very least have bearings that can be replaced.

The $150 car is in pretty darn good shape - only needs fluid flushes, and two boots to be perfect - course I have yet to hear it run

Jumped the gun a bit part wise, but the car looks good, so I doubt it runs like crap.

Last minute advise is GREATLY appreciated!

Thanks.

Has anyone manged to change the timing belt by just removing the elec fans on the radiator?

yeah, it's not that hard. I think you could do it with the fans on but that sounds like too much extra work just to save taking out 8 bolts.

I find it easier to pull the radiator than remove just the fans if you live in a rust area. I only have 2 screws on each fan as half of them snapped when trying to remove them. You have to drain the coolant if you change the water pump anyway, so that's the only reason not to remove the radiator. It should just pull out easily after rmoving the top retaining brackets and hoses. You don't have to worry about danaging the radiator and it gives you more room too. Also saves your knuckles from scraping on the fins.

Steve

MY92 wrote:Has anyone manged to change the timing belt by just removing the elec fans on the radiator?

I've done it. After bending some of the fins on my previously perfect radiator I used a large piece of cardboard to protect it. Make sure you do this right away unless you don't care. Like the others have said though it would be prudent to remove it and it will give you about 6-7" of space that will make it much easier.

When I did my cam seals I didn't spend the extra 20 minutes to replace the O-ring behind the drivers side cam seal even though I had it because it didn't seem to be leaking ( I know, I'm a total fool ). Well now it looks to be leaking only 3K miles later so I'll probably be going in again soon and this time I plan to remove my radiator first.

bean: Why are you taking the valve lash adjusters out? These live under the valve covers, do you have alot of valvetrain noise?

Ciper - don't mind me. I wanted to see if there was any servicing to the rockers while I had the covers off. I just read too far and they were discussing rocker arm removal! I'm not doing that so I don't have to blead out the adjuster.

Back to my timing belt replacememnt - I have everything out, and I hit a snag. The toothed idler beside the water pump is shot. Looks like the bearings can be replaced with two 60052SRJ bearings, but I can only find 1 in town. Looks like I will wait for Monday to either order two bearings, or the idler itself from the dealer if the bearins seperately are too much $$$. (Idler is $79 CDN)

Everything went well so far except my NEW garage furnace won't start up,(Did the entire job in -25C under a heat lamp!), broke the perfect plastic engine cover while removing it, as well as part of the timing cover

Since I can't get this done this weekend, I'm going to take my time and address the other issues as well - like two broken CV boots, and fluid changes.

I also found that removing the rad with the fans attached was a piece of cake. I'd never attempt this with out just removing the whole unit - it's so easy and it took 15 to remove.

My only remaing question is what to use to seal the oil pump to engine? I bought some permatex Form a Gasket that doesn't harden. Will that work? I've also got some aviation goop - but I thought the permetx would be better. Advise is very much appreciated!

Rabin

Ouch, braking the timing cover sucks, esp if you broke the part around the bolts. If you broke the left, right sides or the middle where it connects to the inner cover you have to get both pieces again and that blows :\ good luck though

Subaru says to use some three bond sealant. I haven't been able to get any because none of the local dealers have the stuff Opie posted, and the one dealer wanted like 34 bucks for a little tube......I told him no thanks. I don't know what the equivalent would be in a permatex sealant.

If you don't want to pay dealer prices for sealant, you might want to look at a product called Hylomar. It is a type of non-setting sealant designed both for gaskets and metal to metal joints. It can take the place of silicon, and eliminates the worry about little pieces breaking off and clogging oil passages. I have a tube of the 'universal blue' and it is incredibly sticky stuff, with a long shelf life. It is easy to find in the UK, and fairly easy to find in the US. If I am not mistaken, Permatex is the the North American distributor for at least some of their products. There is lots of info on the web about it; just Google 'hylomar'

I have to say, my direct experience with Hylomar has been good, but limited so far. It is THE sealant of choice in the mercedes community, where they are constantly worried about clogging of the incredibly complicated oil passages in MB engines. If you want to start an easy flame war, go to one of the mbz.org diesel groups and mention silicon RTV. Given the design of the oil passages in the boxer, it probably pays to keep the use of silicon RTV to a minimum.

Thanks for the info, I figured it's some form of that type of sealant.....I'll figure it out

I finished the job a couple nights ago. Everything went well and the car sounds awesome. Lots of power and very smooth revving.

If this engine hasn't seen a complete rebuild - then it was just VERY well maintained.

I ended up using Permatex Form a gasket #2 (non hardening) and it seems to work fine. No leaks so far!

After taking the car out I found two other issues - one electrical (not chargine), and the rear suspension is toast...

I'll be posing those problems in the respective forums though...

Thanks for all the help! If anyone wants to ask specifc questions on the process let me know - I'll try to help if I can.

Rabin

yeah i think I have some of that #2 gasket stuff....need to check.

I'd recommend getting 4 kyb gr2 struts....not too expensive, but a very good strut. They'll dramatically change how the car handles.

someone posted this on the USMB....very good info

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