I'm in the process of installing my timing chain on my 98 z24, we just can seem to get the chain on.

all the gears are in time and where they are supose to be, they are held by bolts so they wont get untimed but it seems like the chain would be ''to short'' we can't get it up on that last gear, we only get it on 3 out of the 4..!

any help would be very usefull , thank you.

um going thru the exact same thing! how did u figure it out?

Is the timing chain tensioner un-sprung? You should have slack....




PRND321 Till I DIE
Old Motor: 160whp & 152ft/lbs, 1/4 Mile 15.4 @88.2
M45 + LD9 + 4T40-E, GO GO GO

yes, i took the tensioner plunger out completely. Is there any other way to loosen the tensioner shoe itself? The haynes manual was saying something about a U-shaped piece of wire through a reset hole (which i didnt find) in order to get the plunger out, but i took my plunger out without any wire or anything. Is there any other way to produce some slack so i can fit the chain around all the sprockets?


and thanks a lot md enforcer for ur response

anybody else have a hard time fitting the chain back on? um still confused about y it wont fit back on all the sprockets...ANY help is appreciated, thanks guys

It's a PITA. Have to make sure the tensioner is completely retracted, it sort of clicks in like a pen does with a big screw driver, and even then it takes some toying with to get the chain on. I believe I put the chain over the exhaust sprocket last, and held tension between the crank and the intake cam, with the tensioner bolts loose.



22 miles per gallon and dropping fast...

Okay, thanks, LT1cavy, for ur response - so ur saying that even after u take the tensioner plunger out that there is a way to retract (or move) the actual tensioner shoe itself?

When I installed the timing chain on my girls 2.4 the engine was out of the car, BUT, I have the whole shoe, and tensioner out of the motor, and the chain slipped on fine. There will be tension in the opposite side of the tensioner (cant remember off the top of my head which side it is since im not looking at a motor) and you MAY have to move the sprockets a little bit to get it to seat, then put the pins back in to hold the timing, then put the tensioner shoe and tensioner back in, pull the pin (a paper clips actually works fine too that what we did, you have to figure out a way to compress the plunger and it will line up with a hole on the tensioner itself, then push a paper clip in there and it will hold the tensioner) and it will pop out, and you have tension on the chain. The tensioner shoe itself IIRC should acutally be on a pivot with 1 or 2 bolts holding it just gotta pull those bolts, again im trying my best to go off memory since its been about 5 months since I put my girls engine back together. If im incorrect, im sorry. Goodluck!!!

Pull all the plastic timing chain guides out as well.

It also helps to make sure the chain is stretched tight between the 2 cam sprockets up top. You can set the chain on the exhaust sprocket & try moving the intake sprocket back just a hair w/ a screwdriver to possibly grab another tooth, but be absolutely sure its right. The 3/8" pegs or bolts holding the cam sprockets in time have to slip in & out easily. Try moving both sprockets closer to each other just a hair so when it grabs the chain, it pulls it tight between the 2.

It doesnt make any sense, but the last thing I installed when I did one was the tensioner/shoe like mentioned above...
I couldnt for the life of me get the chain to slip over the tensioner shoe using a prybar w/ the tensioner set all the way in.

So- set the chain all up, then BOLT the timing chain tensioner in place, then push the chain tight w/ the tensioner shoe as you are trying to get it to slip over the peg it swivels on. I think I also left the tensioner off, but maybe not, but definately dont release the tensioner spring until its bolted into place. If you are using the 2 piece tensioner- be certain you have reset the tensioner properly before bolting everything back up.

WOW, thanks sneezy and reddevil a bunch. um definitely going to wrap this whole thing up tonite - um going to take my tensioner shoe off as well as the plunger and i believe that should do it. And, reddevil, wat do u mean by 2 piece tensioner? i have a plunger that bolts into place and then pushes against a shoe that swivels (pivots from the bolt on the right side).

I don't think I had my tensioner out of the car, but I do believe I only had one bolt in it and the other one loose. It's very finicky, and when I did get the chain on I think the engine was a few teeth out of time. Once the chain is over everything, it's a lot easier to get just enough slack to move it one or two teeth, I remember that much. Hard part was getting in strung but keep working with it, it will go. Don't force it too much, it's more a matter of finding that sweet spot



22 miles per gallon and dropping fast...

I was told by a few mecanics to take de pull de crank shaft out a bit, put the chain around the 3 other gears and then with the crank gear out a bit, sliped it on and pushed it back in!

but after putting evrything back together i'm having other problems, my idle doesn't stay put, it varies between 900 ans 1200 RPM and when i accelerate sometimes the RPM jumps a good 500 RPM and i'm guessing it can't be to good. I've changed the air filter and cleaned the throtle body, hasn't helped at all. I've been told to change the gas filter so i'll try that next. I'm really stumped I don't know what to do!

I used these instructions from this thread:

http://www.j-body.org/forums/read.php?f=11&i=139385&t=139385#139385

i tried using that book and it didn't help much so ill let you know step by step right hear. and yes it is a difficult process

note: when doing this job its best to have new chain,water pump and guides, along with 2 8m bolts

DISASSEMBLE!

1. place jack under front of engine
2. remove motermount on front
3. remove harmonic balance
4. remove (i think) 16 small bolts from cover
5. remove 3 guides
6. remove shoe/tencioner using small flathead screwdriver
7. remove chain
(note: it is best to replace water pump at this point)

INSTALL!

1.place crank at tdc. their will be a mark on the crank that will face directly up, if their is no mark remove spark plugs and place at least 12in rod in cylinder 1 and move crank till cil is at highest point.
2. place exhaust cam on time. the mark will face directly down, to lock cam on time get a 8m bolt slide it through hole, (you are not in time till that bolt is in and you can no longer move the gear
3. wrap chain around water pump and exhaust cam gear
4. take the intake gear and put it in time (same as exhaust) but this time retard it 1 tooth. as it is retarded wrap chain around it then pull chain on top tight by putting intake gear on time (advance that tooth back to what it was) and again 1 more 8m bolt through timing mark to lock both cam gears on time
5. then retard the crank 1 tooth. wrap chain around it then move it back to timing.
6. make sure chain is tight on top and on right, if not repeat steps 1-5
7. RESET TENCIONER!!! no one knows how to do this but to reset tencioner press it in till it is just a hair out farther then its case, lift chain so the boot is under while re-installing tencioner
8. to open the tencioner back up place a small flathead screwdriver on small cylinder and press in more, it should pop out if not you didn't pres it in far enough
9. place in your new guides and reassemble!

wow, definitely thanks A LOT guys for all the input - minitransam, steven, lt1cavy - i actually finished it up this weekend and everything is back on the car except the header. Just a few tips for anyone else doing the same thing: i had trouble putting the chain back on because the cam sprockets actually moved on me! they, of course, couldnt move a lot because i had the 8mm bolts in, but they rotated just enough so that i could not get that chain over to the next tooth. so i had to use the ratchet on the cam sprocket to slightly rotate it (just a hair) so i could slip the chain on and have no tension between the intake and exhaust gears.
Another challenge occurred when the tensioner plunger was being installed...the thing wouldnt pop put! lol i tried for the longest with no results, but then i read where someone said that u hav to push it in further than u think...this is true...BUT the plunger will NOT pop back out if u over tighten the tensioner bolts to the timing chain housing. I simply loosened the bolts and the plunger popped out.

QUESTION: does that extra 90 degrees count?? when tightening everything up, the haynes manual said to torque the crankshaft bolt to a specific amount (cant remember the exact amount at the moment - maybe 150 to 200 ft lbs) and THEN tighten another 90 degrees. I used a torque wrench to get the exact torque amount listed, but it wont budge another 90 degrees! lol i almost broke my arm trying to go another 15. Should i be concerned?

your welcome Randell Rainey! I hoped this thread would be helpfull and am glad to have helped aswell and kudos to the guys at work that gave me some advice! this is a pretty hard job on these motors since you have to remove so many things to get there but once you've figured out how everything works it's not that bad! and for your question i really have n o idea I am not a mecanic so I can not help you there my brother is the one that actually messed with the stuff I mostly watched and learned

Glad to hear. Going to put mine back together now.