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2G 6 bolt timing cover, 7 bolt block. Crank pulley & inner Belt rubbing on cover.

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TSI_too_slow

Proven Member
60
11
Mar 1, 2019
Camden, Indiana
Good Morning guys. Right now the issue I'm fighting is that the Crank pulley rubs on my 6 bolt timing cover that's on my 7 bolt block. I've read multiple forums and tried various things throughout the last few weeks. (I will add timing belt is NOT rubbing anywhere at ANY point in time.) But even after all my attempts and trying things I've read on the forums that fixed the issue for numerous others, my issue persists. Do I need a 6 bolt Crank Pulley?! I don't know.
So far I have removed cover, made sure all holes on the cover and block match up, Found specs for all of the timing cover bolts and made sure they were all where they should be and were correct length etc. in case wasn't the correct length, I made sure all bolts are torqued to spec as well as crank pulley every time.
Removed the thin gasket at the back side of timing cover. I've even gone as far as sanding down the outside portion of the cover where the crank pulley rubs and the inner nipple where the mid-lower right bolt goes into the face of the to tighten timing cover. nothing has given me the clearance needed. I tried an extra Crank pulley I had laying around and it also rubs so i dont believe the rubber is distorted on the crank pulley. I don't have an extra 6 Or 7 bolt cover I can switch. I'm almost to the point of buying a 7 bolt cover again because I'm tired of this issue. The inner Belt rubs on the cover as well when I was doing mock up. All the 6 bolt cover swaps to 7 bolt engines I've seen and read haven't had this much of a problem.
Engine is out of the car and the old cover was a 7 bolt that was broken & taped together so it's of no use.
Any thoughts ideas or suggestions are appreciated.
 
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Ah, an issue I encountered personally so I can comment! However, in my case I did nothing and it just rubbed itself out over time (~3000 miles or so). I also put a 6 bolt cover on my 7 bolt block because it was the only cover I had. Even had to glue it up in some places and cut a few places to allow clearance for the mount. But in my case the only rubbing that was happening was behind the right part of the harmonic balancer pulley. 1G and 2G are the same in terms of depth and size. In red I highlighted the part that rubbed initially. So if you want, cut that spot out but I'd say it wont hurt anything to let it rub itself out.

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P.S I want to talk about how these belt lines appear in the first place. Firstly, the timing covers have a hard rubber gasket in a few places around the sides which helps seat it and seal it against the block. They more or less act as spacers. So if you're missing some of those thing rubber gaskets, when you tighten the bolts down it may press certain places of the cover more than others, resulting in an uneven surface. Also, the same thing happens if you're missing some of the metal inserts in each bolt hole on the cover. They also act as spacers and locators for each bolt. If you're missing one, you might overtighten that specific bolt and thus make the cover indent more.

The third factor is a bad pulley. Either imbalanced or just crooked, it would wobble and eat into the cover, as seen in the picture. So if you're having issue with any of this, firstly double check the integrity of your cover, then check that ALL the rubber gaskets and metal inserts are where they should be, and then look at pulley concentricity and if they wobble or not. Hope this helps!
 
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@Kryndon THANK YOU FOR THE INPUT, it is appreciated! I should have mentioned, I did check to make sure the metal 3/8" spacers are in their proper locations for the bolts. I did remove the entire gasket to try and gain more clearance. Did you have to use a 6bolt water pump? looking at
yours it appears the bolt lines up for the front cover where the water pump meets the cover. mine does not match up to put the proper bolt in to hold the cover in to the water pump. but theres no rubbing issue there.

Where you marked in red is exactly where mine rubs as well. I sanded the ever living hell out of it and it still rubs. I wanted to leave it and run it and let it wear in but was worried about it rubbing all the way through so I haven't quite decided to go that route yet.

My last question, the oblong nipple that sticks out between the motor mount and the crank pulley (part of the timing cover), does your inner belt rub on that? Mine does even in just mock up.
 
I used the 7 bolt pump, the 6 bolt one wont bolt on so you don't have a choice. Personally I didn't see any clearance issues, although the bolt hole you see empty right on top of the right side of the pump is unsuable. On the 6 bolt pump, there's a hole on the pump casing to meet with that hole. But the 7 bolt pump doesn't have it. It's not a big issue.

Here's a picture to see it in more detail:
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I forgot to mention that initially, I could hear the crank pulley rubbing against the cover and making a sound which sounds an awful lot like faint rod knock. In my case it was because the right-most bottom bolt couldn't seat properly and was backing out from all the vibrations, which made the cover go forward and rub against the pulley even more. This went away after awhile and I managed to find a better bolt.

As for the oblong nipple, it doesn't rub. Neither the pulley nor the belts are in contact with the cover anymore. If you're feeling anxious with sanding the cover too much, do what I did and use a soldering iron. This type of plastic is perfect for melting and molding. You can experiment with flattening that area out by melting it down or completely poking through it. Worst case you just melt back some more material onto it.

Also in the parts where I was missing those rubber gasket strips, I just used some black RTV silicone and after hardening it works the same way. Worth a shot if you can't find an original cover or gasket strips.
 
Why are you guys not just running the 7 bolt covers on your 7 bolt engines? are they not available?

Well, where I'm from, you can't find these new. And the ones which you can find used are either too cracked up, or are missing one of the 3 total pieces. They also want a lot of money for the stupid cover, and I already had a 6 bolt cover on hand which I repaired and made to fit.

I recall there used to be a part number for a Hyundai one piece cover which fits perfectly on our engines but I forgot the # and I believe it was not available in all countries. The DSM one is obviously discontinued.
 
@motomattx to me I thing the 6 bolt cover is a cleaner look since its only 2 pieces vs 3 and also because the 7bolt covers are hard to find and if you do find one theyre expensive or somewhat broken. But as Kryndon said, im also using a 6bolt cover because that's what was available. Had a buddy with 3- 6 bolt covers so that's the route I took. if I cant fab this cover ill switch to a 7 bolt 3 piece again.

@motomattx if youre referring to EDM taillights as the ones with the orange corner light, those are also hard to come by. I haven't seen a set yet.
 
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@motomattx to me I thing the 6 bolt cover is a cleaner look since its only 2 pieces vs 3 and also because the 7bolt covers are hard to find and if you do find one theyre expensive or somewhat broken. But as Kryndon said, im also using a 6bolt cover because that's what was available. Had a buddy with 3- 6 bolt covers so that's the route I took. if I cant fab this cover ill switch to a 7 bolt 3 piece again.
I've had plenty of perfect 3 piece covers an can get them occasionally, I never knew they were in demand or I would have kept them.
 
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