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Chat Area => General Discussion Area => Topic started by: JamesV6CDX on 19 November 2007, 19:51:11

Title: The cambelt slip - conclusion
Post by: JamesV6CDX on 19 November 2007, 19:51:11
Spent the whole of last night in the piddling rain, sleet, dark, and cold, getting the cam timing bang on and putting the car back together.

Bearing in mind I was working under a dodgy bit of tarpaulin, in the pitch dark, with only a maglite to see by - the job took I would estimate just over three hours.

I cranked the engine over by hand again once timed up properly, and I could again feel good compression.

Double checked everything was done properly, filled up with coolant, and Fired her up.

My three bitterly cold and wet hours paid off. She roared straight into life. Sounded a bit tappety to begin with, but I wonder if that was the OS manifold gasket, been suspicious of that for a while.

Once she got a bit warmer, and the SAI also shut up, she purred like a happy kitten :)

Then died again. Tried cranking, and she fired up, coughed, and died. Went and got a can of petrol, and all was well again  ::)

Gave it a couple of gentle revs, sounded OK. Couple of hard revs near the redline - again, no problem.

A slight "knock" when I reved it, I Traced to a loose cable tray - whoops! fixed that.

Road test - seems the same as before. The flat spot at 4krpm has now gone, so I just wonder if it didn't slip all those teeth in one go. Maybe it had slipped only three teeth instead of four, and I got away with it??

I'll compression test it again, but the way it's looking, is that I had a very lucky escape!

In addition to it now running OK, it has a brand new genuine GM cambelt kit, water pump, aux belt, and aux belt tensioner, all fitted and set up properly by myself.

I've now done approx 300 miles, all between 70-90mph, and I'm averaging 30 miles per gallon.

Fingers crossed. Looks like my LPG install can continue this weekend...  :y


Title: Re: The cambelt slip - conclusion
Post by: JamesV6CDX on 19 November 2007, 19:54:19
Oh, and I found the radio code, so the CCR2006 is also working  ;D
Title: Re: The cambelt slip - conclusion
Post by: Omegatoy on 19 November 2007, 19:55:59
 :y really pleased for you James you deserved a bit of good luck!!!! :y
Title: Re: The cambelt slip - conclusion
Post by: Entwood on 19 November 2007, 19:57:06
Congratulations on both your luck and your tenacity .. :)
Title: Re: The cambelt slip - conclusion
Post by: TheBoy on 19 November 2007, 19:58:23
But when we checked timing a couple of months back, it was pretty close, and it had its flat spot then?
Title: Re: The cambelt slip - conclusion
Post by: Markie on 19 November 2007, 20:01:05
fantastic news.... and i did say on the initial posts, you may be lucky  ;)

Now buy a lottery ticket !
Title: Re: The cambelt slip - conclusion
Post by: Danny on 19 November 2007, 20:06:39
tis very good news, i'm quite pleased i said dont start it last night, tho i'm not sure my post alone was a big influence  ;D

i'm thinkin, before you LPG it, run it for a month or so just to be sure it's really completely back to its good self...
Title: Re: The cambelt slip - conclusion
Post by: STMO123 on 19 November 2007, 20:10:04
Thank God for that.
Title: Re: The cambelt slip - conclusion
Post by: VXL V6 on 19 November 2007, 20:53:48
Brilliant result! Well done mate!
Title: Re: The cambelt slip - conclusion
Post by: Auto Addict on 19 November 2007, 21:14:07
What a relief, well done James :y
Title: Re: The cambelt slip - conclusion
Post by: Jay w on 19 November 2007, 21:15:15
glad that worked out well......now you can join the LPG fun
Title: Re: The cambelt slip - conclusion
Post by: Dazzler on 19 November 2007, 21:15:49
Well done James, top job :y
Title: Re: The cambelt slip - conclusion
Post by: Kevin Wood on 19 November 2007, 21:19:53
Excellent news! Flat spot cured as well :y

I'd take some compression readings just so you have a baseline, and to see if the iffy cylinders pick up when hot.

Meanwhile, in a dry garage, so no excuse there, I still haven't got SWMBO's crank pulley off. >:(

I really have tried everything now, except booking it into the stealers and sniggering as I walk out leaving it to them to figure out.  :(

Kevin
Title: Re: The cambelt slip - conclusion
Post by: JamesV6CDX on 19 November 2007, 21:23:58
Jaime - no, it didn't have that flat spot after we corrected the timing initially.

I've had the flat spot for about three weeks - I just wonder....

I'm thinking possibly, car conked out and shuddered just to lack of fuel (hence engine sounding awful when it died)

And the cambelt slip was maybe unrelated, just very lucky that I detected it before total failure?

You should see the top idler, it was in a BAD way!!!
Title: Re: The cambelt slip - conclusion
Post by: JamesV6CDX on 19 November 2007, 21:25:24
Quote
Excellent news! Flat spot cured as well :y

I'd take some compression readings just so you have a baseline, and to see if the iffy cylinders pick up when hot.

Meanwhile, in a dry garage, so no excuse there, I still haven't got SWMBO's crank pulley off. >:(

I really have tried everything now, except booking it into the stealers and sniggering as I walk out leaving it to them to figure out.  :(

Kevin

Kevin - depending on the bolt spacing on the auxiliary part of the pulley, I have a fantastic tool made for me by sassanach, it may just help you out....
Title: Re: The cambelt slip - conclusion
Post by: TheBoy on 19 November 2007, 21:25:46
Quote
Jaime - no, it didn't have that flat spot after we corrected the timing initially.

I've had the flat spot for about three weeks - I just wonder....

I'm thinking possibly, car conked out and shuddered just to lack of fuel (hence engine sounding awful when it died)

And the cambelt slip was maybe unrelated, just very lucky that I detected it before total failure?

You should see the top idler, it was in a BAD way!!!
But you said it was 4 teeth out. You would know about that.
Title: Re: The cambelt slip - conclusion
Post by: Kevin Wood on 19 November 2007, 21:38:45
Quote
Kevin - depending on the bolt spacing on the auxiliary part of the pulley, I have a fantastic tool made for me by sassanach, it may just help you out....

Well, I'd say by looking at it that the holes are on a smaller diameter than the Omega's - and there are only 4 of them. I'll go and have a measure.

The other two options, as far as I can see, are to throw it all back together, pack it off to a garage and stump up for it or get myself a compressor and a windy wrench. Anyone have any opinions on whether that'd sort it? It's going to cost the same order of magnitude either way, but with one option I get a free compressor and windy wrench.  ;)

Kevin
Title: Re: The cambelt slip - conclusion
Post by: JamesV6CDX on 19 November 2007, 21:57:20
Quote
Quote
Jaime - no, it didn't have that flat spot after we corrected the timing initially.

I've had the flat spot for about three weeks - I just wonder....

I'm thinking possibly, car conked out and shuddered just to lack of fuel (hence engine sounding awful when it died)

And the cambelt slip was maybe unrelated, just very lucky that I detected it before total failure?

You should see the top idler, it was in a BAD way!!!
But you said it was 4 teeth out. You would know about that.

It could have been three teeth. It was dark, I was worried....
Title: Re: The cambelt slip - conclusion
Post by: Martin_1962 on 20 November 2007, 00:01:58
Great news James, and Kev the method I have used on pulleys (used on a Rootes 1600) was socket on bolt, bar on chassis and use starter motor
Title: Re: The cambelt slip - conclusion
Post by: Kevin Wood on 20 November 2007, 09:22:24
Quote
Great news James, and Kev the method I have used on pulleys (used on a Rootes 1600) was socket on bolt, bar on chassis and use starter motor

I tried this yesterday. Bar went "clunk". One dent in my garage floor, but bolt still stuck fast.  >:(

Kevin
Title: Re: The cambelt slip - conclusion
Post by: Marks DTM Calib on 20 November 2007, 10:06:09
Thats is good luck.... :y

In future.....check the bleeding obvious (fuel!) and report the exact findings (exact number of teeth out!)......the advice given is based on the information given.
Title: Re: The cambelt slip - conclusion
Post by: Marks DTM Calib on 20 November 2007, 10:07:49
Quote
Quote
Great news James, and Kev the method I have used on pulleys (used on a Rootes 1600) was socket on bolt, bar on chassis and use starter motor

I tried this yesterday. Bar went "clunk". One dent in my garage floor, but bolt still stuck fast.  >:(

Kevin

You wont shift that bolt without a 3 foot bar and the crank locked, there dam tight but then they need to be.....have you tried warming up the pulley assembly and then tapping it at 12, 6, 9 and 3 Oclock positions in order to get it off the cam belt sprocket.
Title: Re: The cambelt slip - conclusion
Post by: Kevin Wood on 20 November 2007, 10:18:19
Quote
You wont shift that bolt without a 3 foot bar and the crank locked, there dam tight but then they need to be.....have you tried warming up the pulley assembly and then tapping it at 12, 6, 9 and 3 Oclock positions in order to get it off the cam belt sprocket.

Yep. Have tried that, but have read reports that the main bolt needs to come out before it will separate, or at least it needs to come out to do the cam belt. Can't quite see the point of that :-/ Could be internet mis-information, of course.

Anyway, It's had another dousing in plus gas.

Locking the crank is key to getting it off, I think. I have applied a lot of torque to it with the transmission   holding it but you can only apply smooth torque like this due to the transmission winding up. Guess I need to find a way of locking it, although I can't get to the bell housing let alone find somewhere to lock the flywheel. Guess it's inlet manifold off, starter motor off :-/

Any point in trying a reasonably priced impact wrench, do you reckon?

Kevin
Title: Re: The cambelt slip - conclusion
Post by: Marks DTM Calib on 20 November 2007, 10:21:18
No....can you make a long bar to bolt to the cambelt pulley?
Title: Re: The cambelt slip - conclusion
Post by: Kevin Wood on 20 November 2007, 10:49:20
Quote
No....can you make a long bar to bolt to the cambelt pulley?

I doubt I could fabricate anything that'd take the kind of torque I've been giving it, tbh. If the aux. pulley would come off there's a chance I could make a short bracket that would lock it against a nearby bolt on the engine, under tension, but I have not got any metal substantial enough to make anything else, I fear.

Kevin
Title: Re: The cambelt slip - conclusion
Post by: JamesV6CDX on 20 November 2007, 15:24:35
Quote
Thats is good luck.... :y

In future.....check the bleeding obvious (fuel!) and report the exact findings (exact number of teeth out!)......the advice given is based on the information given.

Cheers Mark,

MID reported 30 miles, so I didn't initially think about fuel  :-[ :-[

I still think i've probably grazed a couple of valves though, I will compression test again, but It may still benefit from a rebuild (in the summer!) ?
Title: Re: The cambelt slip - conclusion
Post by: Kevin Wood on 20 November 2007, 15:29:00
So, what's the final theory, then? Timing slipped a little while ago and caused the flat spot. The pulley bearing finally started complaining verbally as you were pulling up the driveway and, by coincidence, you ran out of fuel at exactly that moment?

Kevin
Title: Re: The cambelt slip - conclusion
Post by: Marks DTM Calib on 20 November 2007, 15:35:01
Quote
So, what's the final theory, then? Timing slipped a little while ago and caused the flat spot. The pulley bearing finally started complaining verbally as you were pulling up the driveway and, by coincidence, you ran out of fuel at exactly that moment?

Kevin


Sounds like it..... ;D
Title: Re: The cambelt slip - conclusion
Post by: GastronomicKleptomaniac on 20 November 2007, 15:37:01
Quote
Quote
Thats is good luck.... :y

In future.....check the bleeding obvious (fuel!) and report the exact findings (exact number of teeth out!)......the advice given is based on the information given.

Cheers Mark,

MID reported 30 miles, so I didn't initially think about fuel  :-[ :-[

I still think i've probably grazed a couple of valves though, I will compression test again, but It may still benefit from a rebuild (in the summer!) ?

 Bah. Stick a V8 in it. :y
Title: Re: The cambelt slip - conclusion
Post by: Marks DTM Calib on 20 November 2007, 15:39:06
Quote
Quote
Thats is good luck.... :y

In future.....check the bleeding obvious (fuel!) and report the exact findings (exact number of teeth out!)......the advice given is based on the information given.

Cheers Mark,

MID reported 30 miles, so I didn't initially think about fuel  :-[ :-[

I still think i've probably grazed a couple of valves though, I will compression test again, but It may still benefit from a rebuild (in the summer!) ?

A vac test would prove interesting.
Title: Re: The cambelt slip - conclusion
Post by: Kevin Wood on 20 November 2007, 15:54:11
Quote
A vac test would prove interesting.

Can do one of them at the weekend.   :y

Once the MX5 spawn of satan has been removed from the garage.  >:(

Kevin
Title: Re: The cambelt slip - conclusion
Post by: Paulus on 20 November 2007, 17:56:47
[size=48]YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAA[/size]
Title: Re: The cambelt slip - conclusion
Post by: TheBoy on 20 November 2007, 19:14:44
Quote
Quote
Quote
Great news James, and Kev the method I have used on pulleys (used on a Rootes 1600) was socket on bolt, bar on chassis and use starter motor

I tried this yesterday. Bar went "clunk". One dent in my garage floor, but bolt still stuck fast.  >:(

Kevin

You wont shift that bolt without a 3 foot bar and the crank locked, there dam tight but then they need to be.....have you tried warming up the pulley assembly and then tapping it at 12, 6, 9 and 3 Oclock positions in order to get it off the cam belt sprocket.
LOL - I recall ;)
Title: Re: The cambelt slip - conclusion
Post by: Kevin Wood on 20 November 2007, 19:38:53
Well, gave it one last squirt of plus gas and one more heave with the 6' breaker bar extension and BANG!

Has something broken? No, bolt has finally yielded!

So game on, James. Garage will be all yours come the weekend!

Kevin
Title: Re: The cambelt slip - conclusion
Post by: JamesV6CDX on 20 November 2007, 20:21:02
Quote
So game on, James. Garage will be all yours come the weekend!


Fantastic :)

LPG kit is all boxed up... you rekon between the three of us, we can get it done over the two days? :)
Title: Re: The cambelt slip - conclusion
Post by: Kevin Wood on 20 November 2007, 22:13:43
Quote
LPG kit is all boxed up... you rekon between the three of us, we can get it done over the two days?

No problem :-/

 ;)

Kevin