Plays_with_Toys
02-06-2008, 09:20 PM
So... my story starts two weeks ago when my heater wasn't working too well. Maybe a heater core? No puddle under the car, but I can smell coolant. Then it progresses until one day the car starts to overheat. The temperature needle just climbed a little after the car was at normal temperature. So pour in fluid, move on. Hope to find something. Then I discover a puddle under the engine. Cool. So, replace upper hose, lower hose, and thermostat. Fill up. And I'm good for about 3 days. Leak is back, and worse than before. This last saturday the car started to get a little hot on my way to work and when I stopped, there was a fair shair of steam coming from under the car. It was all burning off of the exhaust manifold. So I pour fluid in at the end of the work day, and it's taking alot of fluid to fill. I look under a huge puddle is forming. So I toss in as much as I can and baby the car home (4miles). The needle starts to climb 1 block from my house, so I coast it into the driveway.
Flash to today. New water pump, new gasket. I'm tearing off the timing belt cover, I get the timing belt off, then look at the old water pump. The top most bolt was all the way unthreaded. The bolt just left of it was not threaded tight (I twisted it with my fingers with no resistance), the next one over was finger tight with some resistance. Of the 6 bolts, only 3 were in there with any sort of strength! I'm glad the bolt didn't come loose and reek havoc on the belt. Well, so I put everything back together with the new pump and seal. Go to start it up, and the thing is really lumpy trying to fire up but just won't start up. It's almost like the motor is 180 out, but the cams and crank didn't move while I was working. The right side cam did snap one setting forward, so I rolled it back in line. When the tensioner was put back on and released, it did look like the right side cam might have been one tooth retarded. Is this enough to throw off the cam positioning sensor and cause the car not to start? I'll be tearing into it again friday. I'm just ticked. This is the third time I've done the timing belt and the first two had no hiccups like this. :evil:
Flash to today. New water pump, new gasket. I'm tearing off the timing belt cover, I get the timing belt off, then look at the old water pump. The top most bolt was all the way unthreaded. The bolt just left of it was not threaded tight (I twisted it with my fingers with no resistance), the next one over was finger tight with some resistance. Of the 6 bolts, only 3 were in there with any sort of strength! I'm glad the bolt didn't come loose and reek havoc on the belt. Well, so I put everything back together with the new pump and seal. Go to start it up, and the thing is really lumpy trying to fire up but just won't start up. It's almost like the motor is 180 out, but the cams and crank didn't move while I was working. The right side cam did snap one setting forward, so I rolled it back in line. When the tensioner was put back on and released, it did look like the right side cam might have been one tooth retarded. Is this enough to throw off the cam positioning sensor and cause the car not to start? I'll be tearing into it again friday. I'm just ticked. This is the third time I've done the timing belt and the first two had no hiccups like this. :evil: