Resolved 2G Engine Rebuild

[RubyEclipse]

Hello everyone! I just purchased my 1996 Eclipse GST a few months ago, had some issues with a few different things. Most recent was car was smoking and running very uneasy, so I decided to pull the engine. I am going to do a full engine rebuild-ish, I bought new wisco heads, still looking at the rods I want, if there’s anything anyone thinks I should buy and upgrade I would love help! Trying to push more power but not an insane amount seeing how I want this to be more of a daily but not quite. Thank you guys!

 

[RubyEclipse]

I got the last tensioners in, is there anything else I need to do before I put the crank gear on?

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The seals behind the lower sprockets.

I don’t think I did, which sprockets would that be exactly? Because I didn’t replace those seals.

 

[pauleyman]

I got the last tensioners in, is there anything else I need to do before I put the crank gear on?

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I don’t think I did, which sprockets would that be exactly? Because I didn’t replace those seals.

Your choice. There are oil seals behind all of those sprockets.

Take the water pump pulleys off.
Take the hydraulic tensioner off. It must be compressed before you can put a belt on.
That balance shaft belt still doesn't look tensioned. Pushb on the top of the belt. It should be pretty taut.

 

[RubyEclipse]

Your choice. There are oil seals behind all of those sprockets.

Take the water pump pulleys off.
Take the hydraulic tensioner off. It must be compressed before you can put a belt on.
That balance shaft belt still doesn't look tensioned. Pushb on the top of the belt. It should be pretty taut.

Ok, sounds good. All of that will be done today.

 

[1990TSIAWDTALON]

Clean the debris off of the intake cam gear. Whatever that blue thread crap is. This engine needs to be CLEAN, EVERYWHERE.
As @pauleyman said, your auto tensioner has not been recompressed, I would advise a new one but if that tensioner has "tension" still, it can be used, but if it fails, you will be back to point 1 and start all over again.
You should NOT be able to compress it at all by hand. If you can, any little bit, throw it away and put a new, preferably OEM, back on.

 

[RubyEclipse]

Ok

Clean the debris off of the intake cam gear. Whatever that blue thread crap is. This engine needs to be CLEAN, EVERYWHERE.
As @pauleyman said, your auto tensioner has not been recompressed, I would advise a new one but if that tensioner has "tension" still, it can be used, but if it fails, you will be back to point 1 and start all over again.
You should NOT be able to compress it at all by hand. If you can, any little bit, throw it away and put a new, preferably OEM, back on.

, I purchased a new one just cause I want to be safe. How do I get the gear off without it spinning? Every time I try the cam just spins. Like you said though, I really don’t want to be at point 1, especially so soon so I want to be safe.

 

[pauleyman]

If you need to take the cam gear off use an impact or there is a hex on the cam you can use to hold it.
Sometimes you gotta look around grasshopper.
Only marty will get that.

 

[Justin DuBois]

If you need to take the cam gear off use an impact or there is a hex on the cam you can use to hold it.
Sometimes you gotta look around grasshopper.
Only marty will get that.

A word of CAUTION
Do not allow a wrench holding the cam to rest on, or run into the cast aluminum head when you impact or "breaker bar" the bolt holding the cam wheel on the cam. It takes a ton of force to break that bolt loose, and thread lock may have been used on the bolt.

It's a real SOB getting those off and the chance of slipping is real.

 

[RubyEclipse]

A word of CAUTION
Do not allow a wrench holding the cam to rest on, or run into the cast aluminum head when you impact or "breaker bar" the bolt holding the cam wheel on the cam. It takes a ton of force to break that bolt loose, and thread lock may have been used on the bolt.

Its a real SOB getting those off and the chance of slipping is real.

So should I take it off and use an impact? I really would not like to risk breaking the head.

 

[Justin DuBois]

So should I take it off and use an impact? I really would not like to risk breaking the head.

If the cam is outside the head you are better off for this.

 

[RubyEclipse]

If the cam is outside the head you are better off for this.

Ok, I’ll take it off today then.

 

[1990TSIAWDTALON]

Put a wrench (1 1/8" or Crescent) on the cam hex. Put a 3/8" rachet with a 6 point socket (3/4") on the cam bolt. Twist the cam bolt with the ratchet counterclockwise (lefty loosy), not allowing the cam to move with a wrench on the hex area. It should break loose. I think the guys don't want you to lay one wrench on the heads valve cover surface as it will deform it, so the left hand holds the cam wrench and the right hand holds the ratchet to loosen the bolt. Of course the valve cover has to be off to see the hex part on the camshaft. It's there for a reason.
As long as you hold onto the cam with a wrench, away from the edges of the head, you could use an impact.
Picture is worth 1000 words:
Marty

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[RubyEclipse]

I got it all cleaned up, thank you so much for the pictures!! I also took back off the old tensioner, it is very very tight, I cannot budge it, so how do I push the hydraulic pin down?

Also is there anything else I need to do before I get the belt on? I lined up the times on the cams, and I currently have the tool to hold them coming in tomorrow. Any last minute ish stuff to do?

 

[Justin DuBois]

I got it all cleaned up, thank you so much for the pictures!! I also took back off the old tensioner, it is very very tight, I cannot budge it, so how do I push the hydraulic pin down?

That is by design. The piston is slow moving high pressure. Use a vice (service manual shows this). You need the grenade pin to help you set the position of the tensioner pulley.

Also is there anything else I need to do before I get the belt on? I lined up the times on the cams, and I currently have the tool to hold them coming in tomorrow. Any last minute ish stuff to do?

Read this many times:

Timing Belt VFAQ

You need the timing marks aligned on:
The balance shaft(s) plural, the cams and the crank. - Consult the service manual for the diagrams on how to ensure the balance shafts are in the right position for Top Dead Center.

1. One balance shaft is driven by the small belt that is tensioned separately - That belt is the one that kills your timing belt and vlaves if the balance shaft seizes up or if the belt fails - so treat it just as nicely as you do the main timing belt - and make sure you replace it with new whenver you replace the main belt. There is a mark on the gear that alignes to the front case.

2. The other balance shaft is driven buy the oil pump. The Oil pump sprocket has a dot on it that aligns with a mark on the pump - and there is a bolt you can remove on the backside of the block to insert a screw driver to hold the b-shafts in the correct position. It is possible to have the oil pump mark aligned and have the b-shaft out of phase - so use hole in the block to get it right.

3. The CAM gears have marks that need to align - use a ruler to inspect the 4 marks - make sure they are in a line that crosses over the center of the cam gears. Fit the belt into the teeth of the cam gears.

4. The crank trigger plate has a notch that aligns TDC on the pump. Ensure the outer pistons - 1&4 are TDC using your visual guides poking out of the spark plug holes.

Setting the tension is the last thing you do and you leave the grenade pin IN while you are doing it. After everything is set you rotate the engine by hand SLOWLY to make sure everthing is moving without hitting things. Rotate the engine several times and bring the marks all back into alignment with the Cam gear pins pointing up. If the grenade pin is happy sitting in the hole and slides out without binding - then you know you got the pulley positioned correctly and you can remove the pin and run it.

 

[1990TSIAWDTALON]

Once you get the tensioner compressed (do it SLOWLY), put a tiny Allen wrench thru the holes to hold it compressed. Follow @Justin DuBois instructions. It sounds like you are getting close to timing it all.

 

[RubyEclipse]

Ok, I’m almost 100% sure it is all timed, I’m like 97 percent sure. Just checking to make sure with you all that I’m ok up to this point.

 

[Justin DuBois]

Ok, I’m almost 100% sure it is all timed, I’m like 97 percent sure. Just checking to make sure with you all that I’m ok up to this point.

pictures

 

[pauleyman]

Ok, I’m almost 100% sure it is all timed, I’m like 97 percent sure. Just checking to make sure with you all that I’m ok up to this point.

Did you check the phase of the rear balance shaft?

 

[RubyEclipse]

Yes I did check it, I remembered , then put the bolt back in.

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[pauleyman]

Yes I did check it, I remembered , then put the bolt back in.

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I don't think so. Take that tool off the cams and take another pic. You have zip ties evwrywhere, it wont slip. Dunno what those red marks are but there should be some grooves in the gears. You also have too much slack. You have to do this with the hydraulic tensioner in place and the pulley in place. All of it will be wrong once you pull the slack out. You're not that far off. It's going f to take some finesse. I prefer a couple binder clips I stead of zip ties. Easy to reposition. Zip ties are fine. In this case I'm quite certain you're going to have to cut and reposition. Do you have the tension tools also?
Be careful when you bolt hydraulic tensioner back on. You have to lift the arm up. If you don't the pin sticking up will rest on the arm and you can shear it off reuining the hydraulic tensioner. Basically...pay attention.

 

[RubyEclipse]

My new tensioner comes in Monday, the old one works perfect but I was told to get one just in case so I did. The red marks are on the lines so I could see them better.

 

[pauleyman]

Watched the video. 100% the crank is wrong. Check/fix the cams. Turn the crank slightly counterclockwise and let it slip a tooth. Then you rotate it forward and you'll notice the slack tighten up and it will line up with no slack. From the intake cam all the way to the crank there should be no slack. All the slack is removed by the tensioner

 

[RubyEclipse]

Watched the video. 100% the crank is wrong. Check/fix the cams. Turn the crank slightly counterclockwise and let it slip a tooth. Then you rotate it forward and you'll notice the slack tighten up and it will line up with no slack. From the intake cam all the way to the crank there should be no slack. All the slack is removed by the tensioner

I don’t have the tensioner on just yet, should I put the old one back on? It still works great. The new one comes in 2 days. You want me to take the belt off and slip it 1 tooth back for the crank?

 

[Justin DuBois]

My new tensioner comes in Monday, the old one works perfect but I was told to get one just in case so I did. The red marks are on the lines so I could see them better.

My cam gears have actual notches at 9 and 3 o'clock. I'm looking at yours wondering if I'm not seeing them, or if they are not notched? Maybe the notches are a 1G thing?

https://www.dsmtuners.com/attachments/img_7433-jpeg.741099/

 

[RubyEclipse]

My cam gears have actual notches at 9 and 3 o'clock. I'm looking at yours wondering if I'm not seeing them, or if they are not notched? Maybe the notches are a 1G thing?

There are notches, the intake cam has only 1 notch and the exhaust has 2, each across from each other

 

[Justin DuBois]

There are notches, the intake cam has only 1 notch and the exhaust has 2, each across from each other

Normally you would see the notch in the surface of the gear in the window of the cam gear alignment tool.