My 3.4 timing belt thread

[Endlessblockades]

Just to chime in...nearly every unloved 3.4 of our vintage that I have seen has been an oily mess and it came from the VC gaskets. The oil can find its way all over the place. I had a bit of a spaz when I acquired mine for the same reason and it has been bone-dry everywhere since installing new gaskets. Without an ongoing source of oil seep, the engine will burn that stuff off - or you will see where it's really coming from. My VC bolts were hand-tight from neglect - especially in the rear of the engine. I might be a little behind on this thread, but if you haven't done already, those I would highly recommend it.

 

[2TH4IST]

If it's really bad, the plugs in the back of the head can fall out. Seen it on my friends 97 4r. Wild.

 

[Previologist]

Rear half moons like to leak after this many years, get oil everywhere and confuse mechanics who don't know this platform into thinking it is a rear main seal. Clean up the engine bay as well as you can, do the valve cover gaskets (and re-seal the half moons and plugs), then see what's left.

-Charlie

Based on my observations, the rear of the heads region is one of my chief suspect for at least some of the leaking. I can't see much, but enough to make me suspicious.

 

[3bears]

I know this started as a timing belt thread, but since were talking valve cover gaskets now..the first time I did them I used all OEM, and an inch pound torque wrench. I wasnt able to get to the manifolds and quit for the night. The next morning for fun I thought I would check the manifold bolts and some could take a bit more. Maybe all the rubber in the bolts, and the gasket and stuff has time to "relax". Now when I do them, I just plan to let them rest and retorque. But then I have the luxury of other cars to drive so dont have to go fast

 

[phattyduck]

When I did my valve cover gaskets, I went around the cover a BUNCH of times very slowly adding torque. It takes some effort, but here we are 7+ years later with no leaks and all accessible bolts still snug/tight.

-Charlie

 

[Previologist]

I know this started as a timing belt thread, but since were talking valve cover gaskets now

Don't worry, we will be going back to timing belts here soon. I just ordered my
timing belt kit and new crank pulley bolt, I will probably start by removing the undercover and draining the coolant before it even arrives. Valve cover job is also on this summer's to-do list, but first things first!

..the first time I did them I used all OEM, and an inch pound torque wrench. I wasnt able to get to the manifolds and quit for the night. The next morning for fun I thought I would check the manifold bolts and some could take a bit more. Maybe all the rubber in the bolts, and the gasket and stuff has time to "relax". Now when I do them, I just plan to let them rest and retorque. But then I have the luxury of other cars to drive so dont have to go fast

Yep I already reduced my leaks considerably by just a gentle snugging of the bolts I could see. No more smoking hood every time I park!

 

[Previologist]

And away we go. I started last night, and have my rad drained, belts and fan off, and am awaiting the arrival of my kit today. Unfortunately I didn't order the harmonic balancer tool from Amazon quickly enough, and it was sold out so I had to buy one of unknown quality off of ebay, and paid $4 more for it too. It likely won't be here until early next week but by then i will be more than ready for it, or maybe I will just make one. I'm also not sure my HF seal puller will work on the seals so I may have to source another one, so this probably won't be an overnight job. But with my rear axle situation there is no big hurry. I also may need (or want) to buy a seal driver.

Thanks to the rear axle work staring me in the face I probably won't replace my radiator right now. It looks spotless inside, for whatever that's worth.

 

[Previologist]

My kit arrived and I got down to the belt and not having the tool for the the crank bolt was standing in my way of progress. I have heard about the starter bump method, but it scares me. I'm way too paranoid. Seemed much smarter to just wait for the tool to come and not take the chance of something bad happening. But here I am, with the kit and lots of time this weekend...so I did the starter bump. Worked perfectly on the first bump. Nothing to be afraid of at all.

Now I need a pulley puller, so I will head to HF tomorrow and hope their cheaper kit can get the job done. I had the stealer set my new crank bolt outside since they won't be open tomorrow, so I'll get that too and keep pushing on. once I get the pulley off I will have a better look at the oil pan, the top of which is looking suspiciously "wetter" with oil than adjacent parts. Is it wicking up from below, or trickling down from above? So far I see no signs of a copious leak around the crank pulley and no obvious rivers flowing from elsewhere above

 

[AuSeeker]

My kit arrived and I got down to the belt and not having the tool for the the crank bolt was standing in my way of progress. I have heard about the starter bump method, but it scares me. I'm way too paranoid. Seemed much smarter to just wait for the tool to come and not take the chance of something bad happening. But here I am, with the kit and lots of time this weekend...so I did the starter bump. Worked perfectly on the first bump. Nothing to be afraid of at all.

Now I need a pulley puller, so I will head to HF tomorrow and hope their cheaper kit can get the job done. I had the stealer set my new crank bolt outside since they won't be open tomorrow, so I'll get that too and keep pushing on. once I get the pulley off I will have a better look at the oil pan, the top of which is looking suspiciously "wetter" with oil than adjacent parts. Is it wicking up from below, or trickling down from above? So far I see no signs of a copious leak around the crank pulley and no obvious rivers flowing from elsewhere above

Most auto parts stores loan out tools for free, you just have to leave a deposit, which is usually the selling price of the tool, when you return the tool you get the deposit back, it's the way to go on tools you only ever use 2 or 3 times at the most, the puller would be that type of tool, IMHO!

 

[Previologist]

i do plan to stop at the parts stores first, but looking at their pullers online I don't see how they would work on my crank pulley. They don't look anything like the ones that all of the writeups and videos show

 

[Previologist]

I didn't see anything that would work without causing damage at the auto parts rental cache, so I bought a bolt puller.

The crank pulley is still stuck as hell. The washers are bending. Dousing it with penetrating oil and may go try again with extra washers.

But I think maybe I shouldn't. I bought m8x1.25 bolts but they would not go in as far as they need to. They ran into something long before they reached the back where the threads are. I'm not sure what they are hanging onto. i might only be pulling on part of the whole assembly, which may not be a good thing. I'm afraid I may have to retap or drill the hole out and use smaller bolts or something, which I am not well equipped or well qualified to do. But I think I better stop pulling until I figure out the right plan of action.

 

[2TH4IST]

You might need to run a thread chaser or tap through those 2 holes to clean out the gunk and build up. Had to do that on mine when I did the timing belt. You also might need to get thicker washers, so they don't bend.

 

[Previologist]

I got it moving, I was just perplexed by how much resistance there was to threading the bolts but they were indeed threading in. I have the pulley backed out as far as I can get it with the crank bolt just slightly threaded in, but it is still stuck as hell and that's as far as I can get it. Rapping with a rubber mallet does no good, I can't even wiggle it and there is no safe leverage place for pry bars. Can I put the center bolt of the bolt puller directly into the crankshaft? Its small enough it should avoid the threads (I could even tape the bolt threads) and long enough to bottom out in there but I sure don't want to damage the crankshaft or bolt threads. In the meantime I'll spray some oil on the back end, now that i can reach it

 

[brillo_76]

I got it moving, I was just perplexed by how much resistance there was to threading the bolts but they were indeed threading in. I have the pulley backed out as far as I can get it with the crank bolt just slightly threaded in, but it is still stuck as hell and that's as far as I can get it. Rapping with a rubber mallet does no good, I can't even wiggle it and there is no safe leverage place for pry bars. Can I put the center bolt of the bolt puller directly into the crankshaft? Its small enough it should avoid the threads (I could even tape the bolt threads) and long enough to bottom out in there but I sure don't want to damage the crankshaft or bolt threads. In the meantime I'll spray some oil on the back end, now that i can reach it

It took me about 6 hours to get one crank pulley off.. The Water pump had a microscopic seep from PO had the Water pump done and it went down and rusted my crankshaft. I kept working it back and forth with spraying it with good penetrating oil.. Then I thought I was in good shape.. Then came the timing belt gear....I had to do the same with it.

Keep soaking it and working it back and forth back and forth... It will come off..

If you got it moving your on your way. I had one engine. I could not get the crankshaft pulley bolt loose.. We had it in an engine stand with a camshaft pulley tool jammed into the flex plate. With an 8ft pipe on a breaker bar with 2 of us on the end of the end of that pipe. It finally came loose... I was grateful the threads were ok in the crankshaft as we figured either it was coming loose or something was busting.

I think what happened is someone in the past didn't tighten the pulley bolt tight enough and wore out the key and the crankshaft pulley. So instead of replacing the harmonic balancer and key. They put the impact on send it and super over tightened the crankshaft bolt. :/

 

[Previologist]

6 hours, holy cows, guess I'll stop complaining and keep spraying lol! Should I assume slipping the bolt inside is a bad idea then?

I can see a stripe of rust where it has slid off, which I'm sure isn't helping.

My wrists are pretty messed up so I don't want to wrestle it. I may go buy a longer bolt if I can find one the same size as the crank bolt, then I could use the puller again.

 

[Previologist]

i cut the head and washer off the old crank bolt and used that to give the bolt puller something to work against again. I only needed to get it another fraction of an inch before it easily came off. Found even more rust on the crank. My 8x 1.25 bolts appear to have been hanging up on the rubber in the damper-rubber came out when I finally extracted them, with some difficulty.

 

[2TH4IST]

Awesome! Glade you got it off! Take some emery cloth and wd and get that rust off. Add a very light coat of grease upon reassembly.

 

[Previologist]

Good news, my crank seal is definitely leaking at a pretty good clip- hopefully that is the cause of most of my oil drips further forward and further back. It certainly seems to the likely cause of oil along the perimeter of the oil pan mating surface.

I got the pulleys all centered properly and took the belt off, but not before noticing that the last change left the right pulley on the left (driver side) and the left pulley on the right, and they did not line up the timing marks for the cams on the belt at all. It's worked fine for more years than I have owned it so clearly these are not problems.

Then I noticed my timing marks are off by a tiny bit, maybe a millimeter. Certainly much less than a tooth. I hope that isn't a problem either.

 

[Previologist]

i wonder if that "rust" is just baked oil. Now the gear is stuck as hell too. Got a puller on it and I'm afraid to tighten it any more. Guess all I can do now is alternate spraying it with penetrating oil and heating it with a torch. Might be a while. I'm not too keen on trying to pry it, after seeing many pictures of broken ones.

 

[brillo_76]

Sounds like you got one I had. Keep spraying and working it. Once off you can super clean it all and sand it smooth again. Then anti seize it when you put it back together to keep the moisture out of it. My gear was harder to get off then the crankshaft pulley.. Fun times..