Front engine cover

[david85]

Pop's K3500 seems to want some attention again after sorting out the knocking injector issue. Its been leaking coolant for the last couple weeks and I finally managed to find the time to track it down this evening.

Seems to be coming from the cast aluminum front engine cover where it mates to the front of the block. I've done a water pump job on it a few years ago but never but thats as deep as I went.

So first question is are there any snags I should watch out for?

Second, should I replace anything else while I'm at it?
Front main seal seems obvious, but what about the harmonic balancer and timing chain? Truck has about 240 000 km on the clock (147 000 miles). I hear there is a timing gear set upgrade that replaces the chain. Is this worth the price or should I just let it run?

Third question is who wants to shoot me?

If I understand this right, the injector pump will have to unbolted since thats mounted on the timing cover.
To get to the injector pump, the intake manifold comes off.
Can I leave the fuel system floating in place without having to remove the pump and lines from the truck?
Then the front brackets come off,
Fan cover, fan, water pump and so on...

Then finally I have access to the front cover / timing cover.
I have a haynes techbook that will help with things like torque specs but thats about it so I'm looking for some pointers on what I can expect. Right now there is no time to do this job so we might have to park the truck for a little while depending on how things play out (my work is weather related at the moment so if its raining hard enough I might get a chance sooner than later to work on it).

So who thinks they can kill me with one shot between the eyes?

 

[snicklas]

David,

I would PM Calvin (towcat). He has worked on the 6.2/6.5. I believe he's had several in the past. I think he would be a good source......

 

[towcat]

I'm up to my eyeballs in desktop fires right now.
will respond later if you can wait.

 

[david85]

No problem, I'm up to my ass working on a condo project

 

[towcat]

what year is the timing cover and how often has the coolant been serviced?

 

[david85]

Coolant is probably about 2 years old. Truck is 1993, not sure if the cover has been removed before. Bought with roughly 100k miles so I'm guessing no.

 

[david85]

I think I have the over all proceedure understood. What I'm wondering is if I should replace the timing chain, sprockets and harmonic balancer at the same time. Are there any tell tale signs I should look for?

 

[Black dawg]

you can leave the pump"floating". I would replace the timing set, its expensive, but they do get noisy and the motor runs weird when they get loose.

 

[david85]

Is there any specific test to decide if the chain is acceptable? (how tight should it be?)
Should the timing sprockets be replaced as well?

Time is probably running out on this and the leak is getting worse.

 

[david85]

I have the engine torn down to the timing chain and I measured 1/4" of lateral slack in the chain.

Is this normal or should I replace this???

 

[david85]

In case anyone is still following this. Here's how things ended up:

New parts:

Bosch injector nozzles,
Timing chain, and sprockets,
All new front engine seals and gaskets,
New water pump,
New return line kit (<<<those are a ***** to put on!),
New silicone connector between the turbo and upper intake plenum (old one was weeping oil all over the place through a small tear).

And I think that's it....

Oh right, I also left some skin behind in various areas of the engine bay....

The new chain is nice and tight and for ~$60 plus shipping from rock auto I don't regret it. Compared to the old one it's a night and day difference. Took only two days to get it in.

The water pump had play on the inside bearing so there is some silver lining in that I found that problem before it let go on the road some where. Little miffed about that because I put that very pump in a few years ago. I hope this AC delco pump will last a little better. Overnight from rock auto.

The old injector nozzles were utterly fubared! Most were very tight, and I was unable to remove any of the pintles. All eventually clamped down hard enough that pliers couldn't get them to budge anymore. I'm amazed the truck still idled smooth all things considered. I suspect these were the factory original nozzles but can't prove it. Pop off were all still good at around 1800 PSI which was a little surprising to me.

The nozzles I bought were the same part number bosch replacements off Ebay that I had stored for the last few months. Was about $100 for the set.

I had to fiddle around with the pop tester until I found the right fittings to connect the GM injectors to it. I had to spend some time on the lathe to get two unrelated fittings into a mix & match adapter that could then be soldered. All this time I thought the ford IDIs had the same fitting (the diesel ranger with mitsubishi engine matches the ford).

After everything was back together, I triple checked everything and started the engine after about 12 seconds of cranking. First try and without bleeding any of the lines. Truck settled into a stable idle and I took it for a drive.

Seems to run better but since I rarely drive it, the difference is for my Dad to decide. What I did notice is that after the test drive and the engine was at operating temperature, the idle was 300 RPM above what it was before all the work The transmission also seems to be upshifting a little earlier now that the engine is pulling ahead with less weight on the go pedal.

I guess it was more sick than I realized. I still have to do an oil and filter change (fuel filter too) and will also be putting fresh coolant in after a flush. Probably over the weekend. The rest of my day will be spent on the road with my truck.

Sheesh what a week.........