Oh ok, thats a relief on the differential. I'll see about removing if it proves to be too much of a pain. I'll follow those instructions closely for the oil pan Self-adjusting tensioner, well thats good, haha. I had the timing belt too tight when I changed the belt on my old civic.

Its supposed to keep raining through tomorrow, so I'm gonna try and get a good amount of school work done, then dig in once the weathers nicer. Thanks again irab88

 

Couldnt you just set the crank pulley marks to tdc. Loosen the chain and set the cam sprocket to tcd and then put the chain back on tighten things up. Im new with these engines. But im sure theres an easier way to set timing.

 

well, yeah, but that's pretty much what i'm saying. the only real way to "loosen" the chain is to compress the tensioner. it's most easily accessible from the bottom (if the timing cover is on). the true way you set timing is by installing the chain correctly to begin with. but if you have a chain with a dull shiny link, or lots of shiny links, etc, you might get it off by a tooth or two, which is the case here. 2tuff did nothing wrong with his installation, it's just a matter that the chain is off a smidge. the fact that he hasn't had a valve meet the piston means that it's not off by a lot.

that's mechanical timing. ignition timing is done with the distributor. line the teeth up right, get a timing light and paper clip, and you're ready to time it. 10 mins, tops.

anyway, if the op needs help, lemme know

 

I've done it compressing the tensioner by just pulling up hard on the cam gear, to line up on the cam I use an extension or large screwdriver that fits in the cam gear holes and pop it slides right on with a little wiggling. I personally have played with 22r/e's for a while and had several. But I'm fairly confident 2tuff can handle it. I'd hate to see that timing cover leak at the oil pan afterward.

I recommend pulling the valve cover, tdc, verify its not 180 out at the dizzy, get the cam gear bolt off. pull the gear off the cam, make sure the pin on the cam is straight up and move the cam gear the appropriate teeth till its all good. And before installing the gear back on the cam, apply tension on the gear such as how I described earlier with a large screw driver or extension and wiggle the crank back and forth a bit to make sure there is no timing chain hanging below the crank gear. You'd know, it will feel smooth if its good. get the gear on the cam after you are sure, just get the bolt in it enough to hold things together and turn it over 2 turns on the crank till number 1 cylinder tappets are loose (pin up again). tdc and cam at 12 o clock and torque and your set.

 

Hey guys, I've been busy with things, didn't know I had more posts Just came back inside, i've got the valve cover off and the bottom crank pulley set to TDC. I think I may have heard of people doing what you described before gottadog, also remember reading about someone who ruined their cam gear from prying on it but not sure, lol.

I don't see any different coloured or shiny chain links.. is this bad? Do I NEED to have the shiny links to be timed correctly?

 

you're not in trouble yet. there is still hope

--keep the crank at tdc
--position the cam gear so it's at tdc
--with the distributor in, fine-tune the cam gear position so that the dist. gear is in the correct position
--put the chain on. the driver's side should be tight. make sure the cam gear is in the same position (if not, readjust)
--get the rest of the chain in the guide and tensioner (passenger's side)


(or, if you can get the chain all the way out, count the links and put sharpie marks on 2 opposite links)

 

eewww and wow.

 

Hey, I don't know if you're still planning on dropping the diff but when all was said and done I dropped mine by removing 4 bolts and the driveshaft yoke. It was actually pretty easy. I believe I addressed it in my thread, I got the process from irab, but I think I removed even less than he did.

 

i removed 3 bolts, and did not remove the driveshaft. i removed less than you did

 

hahaha ^ dannngggggg. ill have to remember that trick next build i do!

 

Oh irab88, I appreciate the correction, but I count 4 in your pic alone plus you raised the engine a few inches!

To be fair though, I forgot the crossmember is held on with two pairs of bolts instead of just two bolts, so add those to my number... your write-up was a huge help to me though, you even took the time out to e-mail me, thanks!

EDIT: I counted the bolt connecting the diff to the crossmember which looks like it was for something else, I'll accept your count of three PLUS the two engine mount bolts and the time to raise the engine up! So you removed fewer bolts, yes. I just didn't want to raise the engine so I used your method and changed a little at the end.

 

>sigh< details, details...

 

I already took out the distributor, I'll just pop it back in, so I can fine tune the cam gear position.. As usual i've been busy with things, im halfway through exams right now, with a nice amount of other issues, why do the holidays have to be so hectic? lol, but thanks a lot for your guys input so far! irab88, wouldn't I have to have the front timing cover off to get the chain all the way out?

 

Just came back inside.. I haven't taken the chain off yet. So, I'm assuming i'm going to (obv with dizzy already removed) remove the distributor drive gear bolt, pull of the cam sprocket, take the chain off the sprocket, keep it held up tight, so it doesn't come off TDC? I suppose it doesn't matter at this point, as long as the crank doesn't turn. I'll hold the chain up with a bungee cord to be sure.. the sprocket only slides onto the camshaft one way, because of the notches, correct? so im making sure the cam/sprocket is TDC, then put the chain onto the drivers side of the cam sprocket first, make sure the cam sprocket/camshaft is still facing up, then get the rest of the chain on, verify again, put it all back together and drive it away? lol.

How do I know if the camshaft/camshaft sprocket is TDC, facing up? The 2 dimples facing up, or a hair to the left? (11:30-12:00 I heard?)

I also have a black sharpie mark on the sprocket which is confusing me alittle, i marked it as facing straight up, before i disassembled. I see now that my 2 dimples of directly opposite of the mark.. my mark is at 12 o'clock, dimples are at 6 clock?

Edit: i can take a picture if it would help you guys

 

I'm confused by this..

The steps in general kind of confuse me i guess, after "keep the crank at tdc"

 

Does this help?

Also, to address your first confusion, i believe he just meant make sure the dimple on your top sprocket is up (just like you thought).

 

oh, he just means putting the distributor in correctly? I don't understand how moving the cam sprocket/gear is necessary

and OK, thanks

 

I understand it to mean that you move the distributor gear that turns on the camshaft into the correct position, but I could be reading that wrong.

 

by distributor gear, are we talking about the distributor drive gear, or that smaller gear on the distributor itself?

Edit: I do believe I can do this, just confused about the distributor gear part. Maybe I'll go out and just experiment and see how it works, just didn't wanna get the sprocket stuck off, and have to leave the hood up overnight with the chain bungee cord'd to it.

 

I was referring to the latter.