Did my timing jump?

[seth98es]

Well my Galant with the 6bolt swap has been running smoothly. I drove it around about 80 miles today on the freeway and it was running good. I got a new brake light switch for the brake pedal today and wired it up. Then I go to start the car and it the car sounds very bad. I do not know how to explain it, alsmost sounds like severe lifter tick. It also is vibrating a lot more then it used to. I havent driven it yet, going to check the timing tomorrow, but what else could it be if I didnt jump timing?

The car has about 2000 miles on it since the motor swap and I put a new timing belt, tensioner, pulleys, and bs belt on before I put the motor in. What are some symptoms/noises caused by a jumped belt?

 

[seth98es]

Looks like all 8 intake valves are bent, each one made an imprint on the pistons. So what do you guys think? Should I smooth out the imprints on the pistons or just get new pistons? Really dont want the hastle of installing new pistons. Taking the head to the machine shop Monday, seeing how much it will cost to rebuild it. Any tips? Going to get a Mitsu headgasket and some arp headstuds, anything else?

http://www.iamsethmo.com/Pics/Engine Swap/7-23-05/

 

[gamiller31]

Any clue as to how timing got off?

 

[seth98es]

I am pretty sure the tensioner failed. I think I might have overtightened the belt causing the tensioner to fail.

What do you guys think of the pistons? Should I buy new pistons or just flatten out the rough spots on the ones I have?

 

[dwc4g63]

As you well know new pistons are expensive and labor intensive. Depending on the condition of your cylinder walls you might even need to have them rehoned and get bigger pistons which means pulling the block and alot of other work. I've had the same thing happen and i took a pic to show the guy at the machine shop even he said it would be smarter to just smooth them out, and he stood to make alot of money off of me if i got new pistons. So far I'm about 3,000 miles into my new head with smoothed out pistons and no problems. So I guess you could do whichever you want, this could also be a good time to put some 2g pistons in there or some good forged units, i guess it all depends how much money you got to waste and how much time you can have your car down.

 

[seth98es]

Yah I think I am just going to keep them. What should I use to smooth them out? Dremell with what bit?

Ive also heard that the imprints will get hotter faster then the rest of the piston and could cause some pre-detonation if they are dented bad enough. What is the deal with that?

I guess if it doesnt work out I will just be forced to rebuild, but I really dont have hte cash right now.

 

[dwc4g63]

yeah i heard the same thing about the predetonation...it does depend on how bad they are dented, if you had stock pistons i cant imagine they are much worse than mine were..post a pic if you can, i used a dremel tool with a coarse sandpaper roll on it, then used a finer grade, then finally i hand sanded it with an even finer grit i dont remember then exact grit numbers, but the overall goal is to get the dents rounded off so that its almost flat again,just get it as smooth and as even as you can, by the time i was done you couldn't even tell they were dented anymore. and like i said ive put about 3k on them with no ill effects. Use your best judgment or take a picture to a local shop or post it here if you're still worried.

 

[seth98es]

Well I think Im just going to get new pistons and some ARP rod bolts. I dont mind it being down for a bit longer. Im getting some SI Valves, bronze guides, aftermarket springs and titanium retainers. Hopefully I can find a new dailey for the time being.