Engine Timing Cover

[jonbill]

thats too far in, should sit flush with the outside face of the timing cover. 

I think thats in danger of falling in! 

[Wally]

got it all back on. Whew. thanks

 

[Captain Obvious]

9 hours ago, Wally said:

heres an image of my work so far. does this look right? The rubber doesnt quite look right to me. I really dont want to take the timing cover and everything back off again....

No, that does not look OK. Not only is it pressed in too far, but the seal is damaged. Bent and creased on the left side in the pic.

You cannot use this seal anymore. If you haven't already, you need to pull that one out and throw it out and start over.

Sorry.

And also... Be very careful of the position of the keyway that drives the harmonic balancer. Make sure it's correctly sitting in it's groove before you push the pulley (balancer) into place. If you don't you could crack the balancer when you tighten the big bolt in the front.

[Wally]

got it. new seal is on the way. thanks

[Captain Obvious]

Yeah, sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but there's no way that bent one would ever seal.

It's important to get the seal pressed evenly and squarely all the way around. If you don't have a press (that can help assure squareness during assembly) and you're doing it by hand/eye, you need to make sure you don't get it cokked on an angle while you're pushing it in.

 Those seals have a thin metal reinforcing structure molded inside the rubber. If you bend that internal structure, you're screwed.

[Av8ferg]

Concur with the above ^^ comments. Here is a pic of the seal I replaced during my rebuild. I think it’s supposed to be flush like this.




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[Captain Obvious]

Yes, the seal on @Av8fergs pic looks good.

Too bad the timing cover is so shiny. 

[Zed Head]

Notice the key in the keyway also.

Good

Very bad.  You were probably going to fix it but just in case.  Might as well take it out and put it in a safe spot while you work on the seal.

[Wally]

ok, i am sorry i am a little ignorant on this but what do you mean "notice the key in the keyway"

[Zed Head]

This is a little metal rectangle (actually more of a slice of a circle, rectangular in one direction ) that fits in to a slot in the crankshaft nose.  Proper name is woodruff key, I think.  Don't lose it, it would be easy to push it in to the cavity.  Looks like you almost did.  Use a magnet and/or pliers and pull it out.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Key_(engineering)

Edited March 5, 2021 by Zed Head

[Captain Obvious]

The key ZH is talking about is the same thing I was talking about earlier... "Be very careful of the position of the keyway that drives the harmonic balancer. Make sure it's correctly sitting in it's groove before you push the pulley (balancer) into place. If you don't you could crack the balancer when you tighten the big bolt in the front."

That key fits into a semi-circular groove cut into the snout of the crankshaft. The problem is that since the key is semi-circular, it can "rock" in the groove. And if that happens without you realizing it, you may think you have the pulley fully seated onto the oil slinger, but you don't. Then when you put in the big bolt in the front and torque the crap out of it, you crush the key, mangle the oil slinger, and worst of all, crack the pulley casting. It's not pretty.

So you have to make sure the key is properly located in the groove before you put the pulley on. And I would recommend you use a bright light and look down the pulley groove to make sure you see the key in there looking like it should before you put the big snout bolt in.

[Zed Head]

Didn't mean to blow past your earlier comment CO.  You said keyway, I thought you were talking generally about being careful with the damper installation.  Once AV8 put his picture up it was easy to show that they key itself was about to get pushed out of its slot.  Good versus bad.

I was thinking the same thing about the bright light and the groove except I was going to add reading gasses or magnifying glass.  Should be able to see if the key is getting pushed out of its groove.  That whole damper/crank snout area needs much more finesse than it seems.  The parts all look stout but they need special attention.

Edited March 5, 2021 by Zed Head
- ly