Please god help me. Im an idiot

[moses]

Alright today I decided to change out my headgasket. Everything went good until I tried to put it to TDC. I could only find one shiny link after about 50 turns. Someone told me to just put any 2 on top with the dots and you should be fine. Not fine as I found out. :bash:
Anyways I am trying to put everythng back together because I am too scared to move on but I cant get this sprocket back on. The longer cam is misaligned with the shorter one. To make matters worse I dont know how to put the timing chain tensioner back on. Please someone help me put this back together. I am never doing something like this again.
I havent took out my cas yet so I think I am good. I started to take out the cam, but I never moved it. Can someone tell me how to put the sprocket back on and how to get the tensioner back on. Thanks

[90hatchie]

would help if u told us what motor

[moses]

Oh sorry sr20det s13 kouki. I think I got the sprockets lined up on the chain right, I just cant get the tensioner in. The dots seem to have moved a little bit, but everything still looks like it is in the right place. Im matching it from my pics I took

[japslapsilvia]

ok, so u started to take it all apart and stopped halfway?

to get the tensioner in u have to compress it in a vise and use the little latch to lock it in place

get an FSM and STUDY it.

[sillyvia13]

sillyvia13 aim lmk when you want to finish it...

SR I guess from the cas comment.

[moses]

Ok nevermind I just went ahead and finished it up. Ill let you guys know when I put it back on tomorrow. Thanks for the help

[moses]

quick question. Is there anything on the back of the intake side of the engine that I need to take out? It doesnt seem like anything is there but I cant seem to take it out. Do I have to take out the hard water lines or anything?
http://i340.photobucket.com/albums/o334/driftn240sx/damnbolt.jpg
Hey guys I cant get this bolt out. Does anyone have any ideas? It is behind the engine, against the firewall, With no room. It is hitting my ac lines and I cant get a ratchet or anything on it because of the metal bent up by it. Do I have to bend the metal back?

[moses]

Can you guys assure me on this?
Torque on cam caps is 8.7 foot pounds or 10 foot pounds
Torque on the sprocket bolt is 94-101 foot pounds
right. I am looking at a fsm

Another thing. I just found a crack on my exaust cam. It is where the little piece sticks out for the sprocket. It does look like it goes all the way to the cam. Should I put it in?

[JVD]

That sounds right.

Those cam cap bolts are so weak tho. I snapped one. Just be careful. Use a smaller, more accurate torque wrench if necessary... or just tighten them by feel with a small ratchet.

[Sileighty_85]

i wouldnt even use a tourque wrench on the cam shaft caps, I dont, and never had a problem.
I had a freind use one on them and snaped three of them off.

use the German Tourqe spec = Good-en-tight

Snug them good and they'll be fine

[moses]

94-101 on the sprocket bolt sound right?

[moses]

Another problem.
The crank is on the second timing mark and I got 20 links in between dots on sprocket, 5 on intake side and 8 1/2 on exaust but I can not get the sprocket to sit flat because the pin wont line up. What does this mean and what can I do?

[markyboi]

i thought it was a bit funny when you are calling out to god for help and your sn is moses

[RBPowerSilvia]

hehe that is funny/ well hey the best way to learn is to just do it. try going to www.shopkey5.com (http://www.shopkey5.com) this may help you a little more.. the user name is UTIEXTON1 and the password is UTIExton1. make sure you type it in eactly as i told you> and another thing, listen to them about not using a torque wrench, and if you do be very careful bcus those bolts do break very easy!! then you'll asking god for new bolts hehe j/p :P

[moses]

what can I do in this situation
The links are all lining up and the motor is at top dead center. The left side has 5 links to the engine
I know the exaust side is suppose to have 8 and a half and it only has 8 right now
http://i340.photobucket.com/albums/o334/driftn240sx/damnbolt-1.jpg
http://i340.photobucket.com/albums/o334/driftn240sx/cam2.jpg

but the sprocket is not lined up with the cam because I cant pull the chain any more. What should I do?

[moses]

seriously no one can help me

[lazysk8er2]

this is tough man try and get someone down there to fix it for you. sorry man

[aNskY]

i wouldnt even use a tourque wrench on the cam shaft caps, I dont, and never had a problem.
I had a freind use one on them and snaped three of them off.

use the German Tourqe spec = Good-en-tight

Snug them good and they'll be fine



this is the worst advice ever

always use a tq wrench


follow the fsm, not the fools on here.

[moses]

I have something that has been on my mind for a while now, since I havent been able to work on my car for this week. When I was at the shop picking up my head, the guy picked the head up to show me the bottom and a couple of the rocker and shim fell out. It look like he put them back in the same spot but I couldnt tell. I didnt even know those were shims and I dont think they did either since the only thing they see are v-8's but he said it was ok.
Should I worry about it on a stock head? What should I do?

[HalveBlue]

I have something that has been on my mind for a while now, since I havent been able to work on my car for this week. When I was at the shop picking up my head, the guy picked the head up to show me the bottom and a couple of the rocker and shim fell out. It look like he put them back in the same spot but I couldnt tell. I didnt even know those were shims and I dont think they did either since the only thing they see are v-8's but he said it was ok.
Should I worry about it on a stock head? What should I do?

O_o

What?!

Dude, that fucking sucks. Those shims come in certain thicknesses and are NOT interchangeable.

Technically, you need a special tool to figure out the correct thickness for all the shims. Also, the guides should be replaced whenever the head is taken off.

Realistically speaking, you can probably get away with it.

But honestly, I DON'T RECOMMEND IT.

Those shims are very important to ensure proper performance of the valve train.

You know the saying: Do it right, or do it twice.

Good Luck!


P.S. For anyone that's snapping bolts when using a torque wrench: YOU'RE DOING IT WRONG!

Either the wrench is broken, you're using the wrong spec wrench, or you're not paying attention.

The head contains a lot of vital moving parts with minimal tolerances.

Do everyone a favor and USE A TORQUE WRENCH.

[moses]

I guess there is not really much I can do, so I am going to just start it up and see what happens. I know it sounds really bad but I need my daily driver back and im not even sure if it fell out of place. So I guess just wish me luck, unless there is a eaiser way.

[Sthrteen]

If everything isnt aligned to spec....Bad things are gonna happen. Make sure everything is perfect.

[Chrischeezer]

can u bolt the cam down, then pull it into place with a wrench? then bolt it up.?

[moses]

I havent got to work on my car for the past week because I went home for vacation. I can not bolt the cam down and then get the chain on. So my plan is to put the sprocket on the cam, put the chain on the sprocket, then try to bolt down the cam. I ordered some JWT S3 cams but there not getting in for a while, but I will try it on my stock cams first.
Will I be able to tell if there is a problem with the shims if I hook everything up and turn the crank with a wrench?

[moses]

can u bolt the cam down, then pull it into place with a wrench? then bolt it up.?

Thank you it worked, but I dont know if this is right.
http://i340.photobucket.com/albums/o334/driftn240sx/intakeside.jpg
http://i340.photobucket.com/albums/o334/driftn240sx/bothcams.jpg
http://i340.photobucket.com/albums/o334/driftn240sx/exaustside.jpg

Can you guys tell me if this is right? The motor is at TDC and there is really no more chain left to pull on each side. The tensioner is not in either.

[HalveBlue]

No, it's not right. At least judging from the pictures your provided.

The silver and gold links are mating marks and need to line up with the marks on the cam sprockets.

Honestly, I suggest paying a mechanic to finish this up for you.

Or, at the very least, spring the money to buy a new camshaft to replace the old one.

And read the FSM.

Good Luck!

[moses]

As far as the gold links go, I only had 1 on the whole chain, so I couldnt use them and I am replacing the cams. I just want to get them lined up. If I could find a mechanic to do it, I would.
I dont get the fsm since it is japenese, can I use a sr20de fsm?

[landins13]

no but you can use a s14 sr fsm for the timing and you will be ok.

[aNskY]

As far as the gold links go, I only had 1 on the whole chain, so I couldnt use them and I am replacing the cams. I just want to get them lined up. If I could find a mechanic to do it, I would.
I dont get the fsm since it is japenese, can I use a sr20de fsm?

there is only one gold link, that goes on the crank sprocket. there are 2 links that are a little darker silver than the rest, they may be hard to spot, but i guarantee they are there. they line up with the dots on the cam sprockets. all the "count this many links" is a shortcut so that you dont have to rotate your engine by hand 8 bajillion times to line it up, but i always line everything up 100% just to be sure...

[moses]

OK, the FSM only talks about lining up the marks. I really dont want to replace the chain if I dont have to. One because I leave for Iraq in a month and two because I am really not prepared for it. Is there any other way?

This is what I was trying to reference. From NICO
http://i340.photobucket.com/albums/o334/driftn240sx/nicopic.jpg
Mine
http://i340.photobucket.com/albums/o334/driftn240sx/bothcams.jpg
Is that good enough

[aNskY]

put all the slack on the tensioner side then count the links...

[moses]

OMG I just fuckin got it. I finally found the colored links after cleaning each one and going around twice. So I lined the links on the cams and put it at TDC. I think this is right so now I am just waiting for my cams and I will start it up.
http://i340.photobucket.com/albums/o334/driftn240sx/goodboth.jpg
http://i340.photobucket.com/albums/o334/driftn240sx/goodintakeside.jpg
http://i340.photobucket.com/albums/o334/driftn240sx/goodexaustside.jpg
Does this look right? The only thing I am worried about is the slack even with the tensioner on. Is this ok?

[starb0y]

I would be more worried about the shims, I mean they only fit a certain way so you should be good but if he put a shim in the wrong place your donezo. You just need to screw with that tensioner for alittle bit, took me about 30mins to get it back to how it was.

[HalveBlue]

Yup. That looks right.

You may have a tiny bit of slack after everything's torqued down, but not so much that the chain can jump (which actually happens a lot when you start torquing down the cam sprockets).

As far as the shims are concerned, here's the deal (Feel free to correct me on this one, anybody. I'm a bit rusty):

The camshafts open the valves by applying pressure on the Rocker Arm (RA). The RA itself, however, rests on two valve shims (a guide shim with a little slot in it and a blank one).

In order to ensure a flat, even surface for the RA to rest on Nissan uses a special tool to measure the difference between the guide shim (which come in only one size) and the blank shim (which come in many sizes).

The danger is that when shims are mismatched the RA won't sit on a balanced surface.

Once the engine starts performing several thousand rotations per minute this could cause some serious damage. Anything from the valves not opening and closing properly to the Rocker Arm breaking/dislocating.

Anyway, good luck with your project and stay safe in Iraqistan.

Hooah!

[moses]

Well there is not much I can do with the shims since I can not measure them. I called the shop and they said they knew not to mix them up. I have RAS installed so I will stop if I hear something and rebuild when I get back.
Two questions. The FSM says to put the CAS in before the tensioner. Does it matter if I put the CAS in after the tensioner? The chain does not like to stay on the sprocket when I take out the tensioner.Two, can I use regular lube or do I need hi pressure lube (what my american car friend said) and also when will I have to do my next oil change?
Thanks for your input guys, the cams should get in friday and I will start it up saturday.:x: And I hope to dyno at the end of january.

[opponheimer]

dude i made a shim measuring tool its easy......... real easy... do you have any spare lifters?? then a metal rod? dial indicator coming off the rod, to measure the height of the tops of the valve stems? then vernier calipers to measure thickness of each shim? then you sand paper the shims to the right thickness gently and flat.

i'll sell you the rod with the lifter attached if i can find it..... without shims matched up right your rocker arms will fly off at high rpm..

[starb0y]

The FSM says to put the CAS in before the tensioner. Does it matter if I put the CAS in after the tensioner?

If thats what the FSM says, follow the FSM.

And its better to be safe then sorry about those shims..

[moses]

I will show this to someone I work with at work and see if he can help me to make one, if not and you show me how to use it, I will buy it. Thanks a lot for your help.

[opponheimer]

you dont need to put the cas in before the tensioner, just align the motor to tdc, then the cas to tdc, and slide it in.

[opponheimer]

HOW TO: Measure Valve Shim Heights (Pics) - SR20 Forum (http://www.sr20forum.com/technical-information-library/145625-how-measure-valve-shim-heights-pics.html)

click that link, and your golden...

[moses]

OK. I have something to confess that has been on my mind. It is one of the stupidest things Ive done. When I torqued the head down, listened to my friend and did it wrong by going from the outside, in to 105ft/lbs (what it said):smash:. So should I break them and re-torque them or just leave them as is? I have not started the motor yet.
I also bought a dail indicator and will try to make a tool to make sure the shims are in the right spot.

[moses]

OK. I just got everything in and started the motor and it did not break apart and blow up:rawk:. There is one problem though. There is a ticking sound by number 3 intake. It got a little better as I let the engine run, but it was still there after 15 min. I would post a video but I cant get the sound in it. I am going to wait till tomorrow to actually drive it because of light. I popped the top open to see if it skipped a tooth or if there was anything out of the ordinary but it looked good. The air fuel ratio was at 14 and after I tightened up some intake parts, idle was good. I tried to make a tool to measure shims, but it failed horrible. Ill post picks tomorrow.
The question I have is should I drive it with the noise and if so is it normal with the s3 cams? I already revved it up to about 6,000 rpm, but it was without moving.

[moses]

I drove it and it perrs now. Im gonna break in for about 300 miles, change oil and then head for the dyno. Thanks for all your help guys.
This was my fail at making the tool to check shims. I guess the shims were good.
http://i340.photobucket.com/albums/o334/driftn240sx/image001.jpg

[Chrischeezer]

well... you'll know if ur rocker arms go flying

[moses]

Alright guys, I just ran my car hard all the way to redline and the top diddnt blow. So I guess everything is good. There is one problem though. I have a leak and I cant figure out if it is oil or water, but that is another thread. Thanks for all your help.