1G Cleaning the timing side of the engine

[GooeyGus]

Hi everyone,
This weekend I begin to tackle what I call "Project GSX". It is a 1990 GSX I picked up a few weeks ago for $700. Super clean inside and out, but has a head full of bent valves.

I have a new head and all the components I need to fix the car.

Every timing component was changed by the dealer 5000 miles ago, but then the guy I bought it from decided to do some work of his own. I think he removed the timing belt and put it back on, as well as pulling the valve cover and putting it back on. I think he reused the gaskets.

TO make a long story short, the timing belt got covered in oil from the top of the motor and broke. It all looks like it's coming from the valve cover area and flowing down.

So once I get everything taken apart and get the head off, I want to give the whole area a good cleaning. Does anyone have any recommendations on how to go about doing this? Can I use water/de-greaser in that area without having to worry, or should I just try to clean it as good as I can with paper towels?

Also, I want to make sure I have NO LEAKS that could get on the timing belt once it goes back together. I can take care of less critical leaks once the car is running, but I want to make sure that anything that can directly effect the timing belt is sealed up nice and tight.

To keep the belt free of oil, I bought a new complete valve cover gasket w/ half moon seal, as well as new cam seals. Are there any others I should change? I've heard that these are the main gaskets which can get oil on the timing belt.

Thanks for the help!!!!

 

[viprez586]

Use some brake parts cleaner, or engine degreaser.

Toyota has this stuff called FIPG(Fixed in place gasket), Great stuff - like badass RTV. I used a very light layer on the valve cover and it worked great. Remind you that you should either use FIPG or RTV on the cam "humps" and around the entire half-moon gasket. This is directly from the FSM.

Anyway, FIPG is pretty universal, all OEMs have it now-a-days.

The only other seal right there by the belt is the water-pump + gasket, and the front main cover. Kind of over-kill to do these right away.

 

[GooeyGus]

I have a new waterpump and gasket (even though I have receipts showing it was changed 5k miles ago... Might as well just do it. Peace of mind!!) and I was going to do the front case gasket, but then decided against it. The reason being that I dont want to have to break the crank cog loose and I have absolutely no other reason to. The balance shaft belt is new, so I don't want to mess with it. Plus if I was changing the front case gasket, it would have added quite a bit to the parts list because I would have went all-out (new front case, oil pump, gaskets, balance shaft elimination, etc etc).

That being said, if the front case gasket IS leaking (I dont think it is...) is it possible for it to leak onto the t-belt? Seems like it would leak down onto the ground, but not onto the belt.

If it CAN leak onto the belt, I'll bite the bullet and take the front case off and do the gasket. I just want to do it once and do it right, so I dont have to worry about an oily belt killing my brand new head!

 

[Calan]

I just want to do it once and do it right, so I dont have to worry about an oily belt killing my brand new head!

I think you answered yourself there.

If it was mine and I saw what the OP did with a simple VC gasket, I would strip it down to the bare block and replace all the gaskets and seals. It's not all that much more work, and you can be sure of your own work and have more peace of mind. In fact, that's exacly what I did when I first got the Talon three years ago. The motor only had 2000 miles on it after a rebuild, and it was leaking like a sieve from every place possible. I guess they put the gaskets and everything back together blind-folded or something.

As for the front case leaking onto the t-belt...it depends where the leak is. The t-belt and sprockets generate a lot of turbulence, and oil can get slung everywhere under the cover.

If you go the distance, be sure to replace the crank seal, oil pump sprocket seal, castle nut, water pipe-to-water pump o-ring, and oil filter housing gasket. If your really adventurous you might as well replace the oil pump gasket and maybe even re-seal the oil pan just for giggles.

Use some brake/carb cleaner and a sharp razor blade to (carefully!) clean the block surfaces, and make sure the front cover and VC are flat before bolting them back up. Use some copper spray on the OEM felt gaskets, and RTV only in the corners of the VC gasket where it meets the cam caps and CAS, and around the half moon plug. I usually run a very small bead of RTV around the lower lip of any casting that a seal presses into...just because. And be sure to oil all seals before sliding them over a shaft.

Also be aware that you can have leaks from the two t-belt tensioner bolts and at least one of the water pump bolts, so use some sealer on them (I use the blue gel Loctite on just about all of those fasteners...medium strength thread-locking as well as sealing the threads).

And of course be sure to use a torque wrench and don't over-tighten things!