Oh NO!!... NOT the dreaded timing chain cover COOLANT LEAK! =:O

[fixizin]

DAY-um, put some AC Delco tracer-dye in the radiator, and looks like the upper passenger-side corner of ye old TC cover is NOT mated to the block as it's supposed to be... durn.

And what's with that "wandering" gasket I circled in red??????

(Big orange "Romex" is for the engine block heater... yeah, not a thing in Florida...)

I saw somewhere in passing (prob. not on TRS), that there was some Permatex product you could smear on there to buy some time????

 

[franklin2]

Just wait till you go to do this job and repair it, and try to get some of the bolts out. Fun fun.

 

[fixizin]

I

Just wait till you go to do this job and repair it, and try to get some of the bolts out. Fun fun.

I've followed the tribulations of my fellow 3.slowers for years on this issue... it's a VERY INVOLVED repair... Lordy!

... I may have to punt this job... any idea on the "book hours" on it???

 

[Shran]

Oh yeah... fun. I can't imagine it's any worse than doing it on a 4.0 (which I have done several) and those are probably a 6-8 hour job. It's not THAT bad... getting everything torqued in the right order and the timing cover aligned to the balancer is the main thing.

If you can get an OEM timing cover gasket, you'll thank yourself. I don't have a part number handy, I can just tell you from experience that those gray paper Felpro gaskets are pieces of crap and the OEM ones are substantially better quality.

 

[fixizin]

Oh yeah... fun. I can't imagine it's any worse than doing it on a 4.0 (which I have done several) and those are probably a 6-8 hour job. It's not THAT bad...

For YOU it's 1 business day... for moi, I can see it easily going 3 days... ... unless I had the "powerplant" out of the truck on an engine stand.

getting everything torqued in the right order and the timing cover aligned to the balancer is the main thing.

What about the OIL PAN interface/interference???

If you can get an OEM timing cover gasket, you'll thank yourself. I don't have a part number handy, I can just tell you from experience that those gray paper Felpro gaskets are pieces of crap and the OEM ones are substantially better quality.

Oh, I thought Fel-Pro was BETTER than OEM?... anyway, on the one hand my OEM gasket lasted almost 27 years... OTOH I just hit a mere 90,000 miles in August so...??

ALSO, look at the section of gasket I circled in RED above... WTHey is up with that?

 

[Shran]

Oil pan/block/timing cover needs a little bit of RTV in the sharp corners. I usually pull the timing cover pretty close to the block first, then snug up the pan bolts, then snug up the block bolts.

Not sure what’s up with the thing you circled, looks like a gasket that blew out but it should be leaking a lot more of that was the case.

 

[RobWigglezz]

It's honestly not that bad of a job. I recommend getting the radiator out, alternator and bracket out, power steering and AC moved to the side so you have plenty of room.

Just go slow on the long 13mm head bolts. If they barely crack loose, work it back tight and loose and they'll eventually come out.

When you reinstall the cover, thread the bottom 2 m6 bolts into the cover through the oil pan and gasket loosely so you don't push the oil pan gasket in while trying to get the cover on the 2 dowels.

I used a normal felpro timing cover gasket kit that includes both gaskets, front seal, and speedy sleeve. I covered the gasket front and back with a thin coat of grey RTV. As mentioned, RTV the sharp corners by the pan.

 

[fixizin]

I used a normal felpro timing cover gasket kit that includes both gaskets, front seal, and speedy sleeve.

D'oh!... a bit lost already... where's the 2nd gasket... and what's a speedy-sleeve?

PS: @ 90k miles I have no qualms about replacing the water pump (and that vulnerable brass 45-degree temp sender elbow) while I'm doing this... but the timing CHAIN should still be good... yes? What's the test for that?

 

[franklin2]

I used a normal felpro timing cover gasket kit that includes both gaskets, front seal, and speedy sleeve.

D'oh!... a bit lost already... where's the 2nd gasket... and what's a speedy-sleeve?

PS: @ 90k miles I have no qualms about replacing the water pump (and that vulnerable brass 45-degree temp sender elbow) while I'm doing this... but the timing CHAIN should still be good... yes? What's the test for that?

I have never done this exact engine, but most timing cover gasket "kits" will give you a new rubber seal for the front of the pan, and two short pan gaskets that you splice in with rtv. Then they give you the large cover gasket and the round crank seal.

The speedy sleeve can be important on a high mileage engine. When you pull the harmonic balancer off (with your balancer puller) you will see the smooth surface on it where the front crank seal rides. Believe it or not, over many years the rubber seal will eat a groove into the smooth surface of the balancer. Put a new seal in place over this worn groove and it can leak. So they make a very thin sleeve and usually give you a small tube of loctite. You smear the loctite on the smooth surface and then drive this sleeve with a block of wood onto the smooth surface of the balancer, and it covers the groove and makes a new smooth surface for the new seal.

One thing that was mentioned also, many of the newer engines do not have dowel pins to locate the cover properly on the front of the engine. The OEM's got more and more sloppy in their designs. Bolt holes are always a little oversize so you can get them started. So when you get the cover in place, it can move around a little bit before you tighten the bolts. So there is a danger the new crank seal will not be centered around the crank snout sticking out. Of course the factory had a BR549 centering tool. What most people at home do is leave the timing cover bolts loose, press the harmonic balancer back in place and let the seal help center the cover. Then they tighten the cover afterward.

 

[pjtoledo]

the timing cover itself may be eroded on the gasket surfaces.
I replaced mine rather than try to clean & fill pits.

the test for the chain is how far it will move, how much play.
I'd have to look that up.

 

[fixizin]

the timing cover itself may be eroded on the gasket surfaces.
I replaced mine rather than try to clean & fill pits.

That's a bit scary... but wouldn't the gray "high-torque" RTV fill-in those pits? Does FoMoCo still make such large castings for these old pushrod mills?

 

[fixizin]

...
I saw somewhere in passing (prob. not on TRS), that there was some Permatex product you could smear on there to buy some time????

Any clue on this?... forget where I saw/read that, and whether it was Form-a-Gasket 1, 2, or something else entirely...

Really don't want to put any "stop-leak" goo inside the cooling system... unless there's a sure-fire way to FLUSH it later...