JX - Crank Out Of Position ???

[StoneRoses]

Hi

I've made a schoolboy error on my JX today and need some guidance please.

• Locked IP and cam at TDC #1 with flywheel mark aligned with bellhousing indicator.
  
• Removed cam sprocket and tension pulley (new timing belt imminent)
  
• Removed old head (cracked)
  
• Set new head for TDC #1 and locked it with slot bar
  
• Installed new head and gasket.
  
• Head bolts torqued in correct sequence to spec
  

All good at this point, so proceeded to remove the old timing belt.

But…two of the four bolts that hold the v-belt pulley to the crankshaft were seized, I needed the bolt extractor on them…which is where my worry started. The force of turning the bolt extractor turned the crank. I completely and utterly forgot this obvious effect would occur, and am now feeling suitably embarrassed about it, to say the least.

I'm guessing that I inadvertantly turned the crank about 1/3 turn counter clockwise when to my I horror I realised.  So I put her into gear, which allowed me to remove the seized bolts without turning it anymore. So although the v-pulley bolts are all out, worryingly the crank is out of position.

I put her back into neutral and gently turned crank via alternator belt until a piston gently kissed a valve. Didn’t stress anything, all very softly softly. Then turned the crank back the other way upon which the timing mark appeared, which I aligned with the bellhousing mark.

So am I in the clear, i.e., are the cam, IP and crank now all more-or-less back in sync and ready for a new timing belt ?

Or is there risk that that the crank is at TDC for NOT #1 ?

I’m really cross with myself, I guess the lesson learnt is that I should have loosened the v-belt bolts as the very first step. Live and learn.



Cheers,
Gareth

[colinthefox]

When the bellhousing marks are aligned, no1 piston is at TDC. It's the position of the cam which determines whether its at TDC (firing), or TDC(end of exhaust, Beginning of intake). This means that once the bellhousing marks are aligned, you're OK. You may need to think about that for a while.....

BUT....once you have the cam belt back on, it's absolutely imperative to rotate the crank two whole turns clockwise by hand to double check that you don't have any contact between pistons and valves.

Those crank pulley bolts cause no end of grief, don't they?

[StoneRoses]

Cheers