Well i searched the boards and couldnt find any post on replacing the timing chain so i gotta ask it. How do you do it??? I have a 1989 Iroc 350 TPI and im bringing it out of storage soon and I thought i might as well change the timing chain to a double roller, since it probebly still has the original one still in it. Then someone told me(backyard mechanic) that I will need to pull off the oil pan because the oil pan gasket mates the with timing chain gasket for the seal. And that I will need to lift the engine to do this. Now I just planned on takin the rad out, front fascia also and doing it in my drive way, but if i need to lift the engine i might think twice about doing the whole project since I have no way of lifting the engine in my garage. Any info would be awesome :hail:

 

It is true that you need to lower the FRONT of the oil pan to take off the timing cover. You should have enough room under the pan to let it rest on the front Xmember. You also need to take off the water pump and probably the starter (to get to the back oil pan bolts). I don't know if it makes any difference whether the rockers are loosened or not, I know somebody else will. You'll want to use a gear puller to take the crank sprocket off, and if you can get one, use a piece of pipe big enough to go over the crank snout to drive the new one on. You want it to stay square to the crank. The chain you get will have instructions on how to line up the dots on the sprockets. If you do need to raise the engine, a well-placed floor jack should work. If I remember correctly, there is a bracket under the smog pump that should be plenty strong for this. I've lifted the whole engine by that before. Just make sure nothing binds.

I think that's about it. You should be able to do it in under half a day, I think. Most of it is getting stuff out of your way.

 

mostly correct,
you need to drain the coolant and remove belt
remove water pump
use a puller to take off the harmonic balencer
loosen the pan so it hangs about 1/2 inch in front
some times the gaskets get messed up, som put a little black rtv on with thier finger
take off the timing chain cover
use the proper tool to turn engine over and line up the dots (dot to dot)
take chain and sprockets off and insert ner ones
clean gasket surfaces
put timing chain cover back on
tighten pan back up ( make sure it will not leak)
put on harmonic balencer with installer ( the pressure will hold the cam's crank gear)
put on the water pump w/ new gaskets
fill with antifreeze and install belt
change oil if desired
timing should be fine because you never messed with the distributer

The biggest problem with this is messing up the pan seal which can be a real pita. Use your judgement. Are you changing it because you have 120K+ miles on it or because you want to?
Let your conciece be your guide.
Jess

 

Thanks for filling in the blanks, I'venever had to do it in the car. I did mine hanging from the cherry picker. I always use the balancer to turn the engine. I know it's taken off the engine, but I slide it back on as far as it'll go by hand and turn. It's hard sometimes, but I didn't think it'd mess anything up.

 

Be warned this job is a severe BITCH. I even took my radiator off and still had a hard time gettin to stuff.

 

make sure the car is on TDC cause i had some probllems before with this

 

I found a double rolling timing chain for pretty cheap so i decided it would be a good idea since its never bin done and it does have 120 000 kilometers so around 80 000 miles (im guessin since i dont know miles). Is it worth the trouble to put a double roller in there??? Mostly for the piece of mind knowing that it is done and wont have to be done again for a long time.
Oh ya, what is TDC????

 

True dead center??

 

top dead center

 

Why dont you look into timing gears?

 

Whats the advantage to puttin in gears??? Are they much better then the timing chain??

 

gears don't strech. as far as better? they cost more, are louder, gain very little over a true double roller, and (verify this) i've heard that they may trigger false knock readings.
jess

 

hmmm i think a buddy of mine has a set on his volvo. Not totally sure. But he is a mechanic and said they make a lot more noise and that it might not sound that good. But he does have a cougar xr7 and this summer, itll be in the 11's!!!! :lala:

 

the gears only make the whinny nosie if you get them like that you can order ones that are quite. and the whinny nosie is some what like a blower nosie there are only two people in my town that have them on ours vec. the other guy has his on a truck you get alot of looks from people with those on cuz like i said they make a whinny nosie like a blower would and trust me they are nosie. at a stop light is when they are at the worst you have people look at you like your power steering is going out or somthing but then your flying or putting down the road and people mouths just drop . they can be expensive though and your not supposed to rev higher then like 6000 rpm i think or they will start sliping and if your not into drag racing or anything like that then a double chain will just be fine for you. the gears are supposed to be more accurate the just the chain you just have to decide which one you want to go with.