Maverick H1L

iTrader: (8)

Whew, long post. Been a while since I posted about my car, but the weather has improved and a job is going to be in the works shortly... (Finally got the second car fixed, sort of...)

The time has come for me to find out what the heck is going on inside my 2.8 and to see whether I can salvage it or not. If not, I am going to do anything possible to stuff either a newer, running V6 or a V8 under the hood so I can get to school in the fall.

The problem began in late Jan/early Feb (been so long I am unsure but I do know it was during the winter.. BRRRR!), and it was the fact that while cranking the engine to put the car back in the garage for the night, the engine mysteriously LOCKED up on me. I had plenty of oil pressure at the time, not to say that the oil was any good because when I drained the pan I got about 1.5 gallons of gas/oil mix.

I need input on what I should look for here. The plan is to do this with the engine IN THE CAR (I have no lifting mechanism other than my arms). I already know to check the main bearings by pulling the lower caps one at a time and inspecting the bearings for symptoms of oil starvation or what, plus i am also going to spring for rod bearings at the same time. The cam timing is going to be checked and the timing chain/gear set is going to be replaced.

I have no issue with the oil pan not being removable, as I have looked four times to see if I really needed a crane or lifting apparatus or not and I don't. Yes, I do have gaskets for nearly the whole engine, minus the plenum set and timing chain cover, since my neighbor gave me his leftovers and I had to go out and buy an upper gasket set for the intake anyways, so I have a lot of leftovers, and I also don't have one head gasket. Can I get away with RTV on the timing cover or do I have to have the gasket because of the chain? Does anyone have pics as to what a good camshaft should look like with around 175-200k?

I don't plan on doing a port and polish since I have heard that the carbon coating on the intake is good for gas mileage, and I need all I can get. The evap can is going to be fixed (solenoid replaced and new filter installed), and I am going to somehow obtain a good MAF sensor if I have to sell one of my limbs to get one... The ECMs are going to be tested at AutoZone (yes, I have two, one that came with the car and a code 54 and a replacement I am not sure of-anyone recommend a better place?)

A timing light and torque wrench are on the parts list, BTW. Any other tools I find I need I will rent along the way.

Any input on this will be appreciated a lot, even from TechSmurf... (no offense, I haven't decided to un-iggy you yet)

Maverick H1L

iTrader: (8)

I have good and bad news. First, the good news:

Problem is solved.

The bad news:

The number six cylinder somehow got a bolt inside it, which got lodged in the top of the piston and wouldn't allow the piston to come to TDC.

Particulary those who have blown their 2.8's recently, anyone have a spare piston/connecting rod they would like to sell? I prefer they come pre-assembled so all I have to do it ring it and slap a bearing on the lower end and go. Either drop me a PM or email me @ maverickh1_l@yahoo.com. Any help here is appreciated.

TechSmurf

I can get you one.. recently blown 2.8.. prolly 5 bucks (work to remove it from the block) + shipping. They might have a little surface rust... if the rust looks any worse than I think it is once we pull the piston, I'll let you know.

Maverick H1L

iTrader: (8)

Thanx man. I need to get the car going ASAP because the car I had just fixed is unfixable unless someone happens to have a Chrysler 2.5 piston/connecting rod laying around...

br()bert

how the hell did a bolt get in it? And comon man i was out in the freezing snow storms changing the head gasket! I thought you was a real man! Just kidding! At least your not one of those people who drops their car off to have everything done to it by someone else

Maverick H1L

iTrader: (8)

Well, br()bert, I had to wait until I had the cash to get the socket so I could get the last head bolt out. Dont ask how the bolt got in there. I don't know. I have never seen that bolt before, its too small in diamter for anything I have replaced in the engine bay, and it has fine thread, so it can't be used in the pass compartment. And I know for damn sure I have never dropped a single bolt into the engine...

What in the world is so damn special about the head bolts? Are they some special alloy or something? Why is it that I am supposed to replace the whole set if only one or two is necked or otherwise bad? I don't get this... I have to go out and spend nearly $30 on a set of bolts I can probably pick up at a hardware store for much cheaper (not to say I would, just wondering) on top of another $30 for another head gasket and a upper intake set I only need the plenum gaskets from...

br()bert

they say they stretch, but i know people who have used the same ones over again after a head gasket job and their car(s) are still fine. Its really up to you. take a chance for $30 or not.

Maverick H1L

iTrader: (8)

Well, I have to get ONE. Just one bolt. The front outer one on the pass side decided to be a pain in the azz and rust all to hell, so I had to drill/cut its head off (don't worry about the head... it's fine) and pull the rest out with one of my extractors (used that on the bolt head too, two different size extractors didn't work). The rest are all fine and look okay next to a straightedge on a piece of paper.

br()bert

PB blaster was a great help when i was doing my head gasket.
Only broke one exhaust bolt during the job.

Maverick H1L

iTrader: (8)

Used it. A heck of a lot of it. I even used it one day, and the following day, and came back the third day to try to remove the bolt and still got zip... That was last month, before I ran out of the stuff working on a different car getting the back doors open (don't ask)...
Good thing was that I had less than an hour on my new exhaust nuts and studs so they came out like they went in, easy...

Maverick H1L

iTrader: (8)

Help! I need something to get the engine going period. I think it may be called oil pressure or something... (Disconnected the F/P relay to avoid damage in case something like this would happen...)
"Oil Pressure? What oil pressure? I don't have any oil pressure!"
Something is seriously wrong here... I have four quarts of oil in the pan, and when I lifted the dist cap I found the rotor not in the same place I set it, so I know that the pump is turning.

I leak coolant like a stuck pig bleeds blood, partly from the broken seal on the timing cover's patch (someone notched it for some weird reason and it leaks if I don't plug it with JB Weld) and maybe because I used a different gasket on one side of the intake manifold than the other because I couldn't find the new gasket... I used one I got from a friend that was still brand new... I also used a different RTV than I usually do.. the copper kind instead of the red kind. How big does the bead have to be on the china walls?

I bought a torque wrench and tightened EVERYTHING according to my crappy Haynes manual, and this is starting to make me wonder where I might find some dynamite...

TomP

Someone here re-used their head bolts and stripped the threads out of the block! I think it was that Fiero guy?

Anyway here's the "cheap" test for re-using head bolts- The old bolts should spin in easily to the block! With the head off, just spin the bolt in with your fingers. If it hangs up, and it's not some old gasket material on the bolt, don't force it in with a ratchet!! Throw the bolt away and get a new one.

If a bolt threads in easily, you can re-use it. I'd try all bolts in one bolt hole, and then take the good ones and try them all in another bolt hole. Since you're doing this with the head off and just spinning it in without tools, it shouldn't take that long to test every bolt like this.

We found a few like that when I helped that guy work on his 2.8/2.8 swap, when he pulled the heads off the donor 2.8.

TomP

(Tried to edit my post to add a pic, but couldn't...)

We used ultra-copper for the china wall area; I think I laid a bead that was 3/16th inch thick. I also drew the bead along the outer cooling passageway... I think I have a pic somewhere that I drew up... ah yeah, found it... its an edit from my 2.8/2.8 webpage.

If you just needed the plenum gaskets you could've cut your own from a roll of thin black gasket material and an X-acto knife. I do that all the time... costs $3. Use the old gaskets as guides. Although I never cut the lower-plenum-to-intake-manifold gasket, that one looks like a bitch to do.

Different gasket for intake-to-head shouldn't matter, since both were new.

Maverick H1L

iTrader: (8)

In about 20 minutes I am going out to get myself an(OTHER) intake gasket kit, since I also need the valve cover gaskets.

I still want to know why the engine refuses to show any oil pressure when the only gaskets having anything to do with the lube system that are missing are the valve cover gaskets.

Anyone having an FWD 60* need any gaskets? When I go out and get this second set of gaskets, I am going to have a whole sh1tload of extras that I know I can't use....

BTW, where can I get just ONE head bolt? The one I need is the one I cut the head off of so I could get the cyl head off... I don't need to be spending $30 for a set of head bolts if the other 15 are just peachy and I only need one! I went to Home Depot and bought one that is the exact same thread type and size as the one I am trying to replace, but it is too damn fat to fit in any of the threaded holes, and I had to pull the alignment pin, that I am trying to get the bolt through, off of the bolt once already and put it back... What a pain!

Yes, the engine is already back together but I have to tear it down again to put in the new gaskets, whenever it stops raining... NY weather sucks. If it don't snow, it rains. And if it don't rain, it's just damn cold...

Maverick H1L

iTrader: (8)

Got the new gaskets in and everything is just peachy. Got oil pressure and everything now (corroded connector on the gauge sender). No more gas leak. Its ready to run.

Putt, putt, putt... that is all it does.

Have to reset the valves yet again... Okay, here is how I did it. On cyl 2 and 4 I adjusted the valves according to the "see if you can pull the pushrod up and down" as per TomP method, and then I counted the threads on those cylinders which averaged out between 4 & 5 threads visible on both valves per cylinder. I set the rest of the valves according to this method, using 4 threads visible per nut, and have half of my cylinders getting compression (high pitched whine is present when not right... definitely have a whine here! and it is not the starter either...) and the rest not. I am not going to be getting myself a compression gauge and need to know a reliable method to doing this so I end up with both a running 2.8 and no valve tapping.