Completed My Tb/wp Replacement

[chilkoot]

I just finished my timing belt/water pump replacement today, refilled the coolant as per suggested technique and drove it home. I appear to have been successful, as the engine revs fine (at least to the 2k I took it to, more on that later) and my coolant reached optimal heat level and stayed steady (old thermostat was stuck open).

I'm pretty happy with myself, except for two issues that surfaced while I was prepping the car to drive it home:

1: While idling for the 10 minutes to refill the coolant tank my idle dipped down to almost nothing (~200rpms) once, gave it a little gas before it died and after it revved down it stuck at about 400-500 (where it had been idling before I even started any work). Is a dip like this normal for the ECU re-learning the fuel mappings? Is it normal that on my way home it idled at about 4-500 RPMs? (steady as a rock, but I didn't think these engines idled that low). It idled the same in neutral or in gear.

2: There is a distinct (read: loud) ticking coming from the front of both valve covers that corresponds to RPM. I didn't listen very closely to the engine before I started tearing it down which is stupid, I know, so I don't know if this is an old issue or something I did during the TB replacement. My instinct says it's lifters ticking, and has something to do with the fact that until 200 miles ago when I got the car it was on 10k mile old dino oil. Should a seafoam fix the ticking, or is it indicative or major problems? Are there things that can cause ticking other than the lifters? It doesn't sound like it's doing any damage, but the sound is pronounced and I can see a film of the old *BLEEP*ty oil in the crank case when I remove the oil cap. How big of a deal are ticking lifters, and how long do they take to do damage? I've only driven it the 150 miles here from when I picked it up and the 2 miles to and from the auto parts store, so I can't give any real detail on behavior. I want to be as cautious as possible. Is there any chance I screwed something up that would cause such a rhythmic ticking?

Issues that the tb/wp did fix: squealing idlers/tensioners, worn belts, stuck thermostat, bad plugs and wires, bad water pump, leaking coolant

I was afraid to rev the engine over 2krpms on the 1 mile drive home due to the ticking, but it seemed smooth. I couldn't hear anything from inside the vehicle, but the ticking certainly needs to be addressed.

Anyone with any questions about a DIY timing belt/water pump change, lemme know. I had difficulties in pretty much any area there was difficulty to be had.

Thanks for any help, all! (I really just want people to assuade me that I haven't messed up my car more than anything)

edit: i've been searching about the ticking issue and it appears to be harmless, but it just sounds so BAD. is it odd that it would appear so distinctly after a tb replacement? could it be that I just didn't notice with all the bearing noise I was hearing? I'm still worried about it, after the engine cools down I'll do some comparisons on sounds between hot/cold and idle/rev.

[mehullica]

About the ticking.Is it very loud? I've seen many people install the front black plastic covers on incorrectly. If you take off the black plastic plug wire covers on the valve covers and look at the cam sprockets there is a small metal tab on the sprocket for the cam sensor. This tab rubs against the front upper timing cover sometimes when installed incorrectly. The metal plate behind the cam sprocket has a metal tab to keep the timing cover away from the cam sprocket, if the timing cover is under the tab, it hits the cam sprocket and make a loud tapping noise. The cover should be over the metal tab. Hope this helps.

[chilkoot]

Mehullica: there is not an emoticon in existence powerful enough to convey the force with which I just smacked my forehead.

I'll check that tomorrow when it's light outside, that sounds like a very likely culprit. It's loud, and it doesn't sound muffled.

I love you guys, seriously.

[Threadcutter]

Mehullica: there is not an emoticon in existence powerful enough to convey the force with which I just smacked my forehead.

I'll check that tomorrow when it's light outside, that sounds like a very likely culprit. It's loud, and it doesn't sound muffled.

I love you guys, seriously.

chil:

Mehullica has probably nailed it for you.........I think I read here that within the last month or so someone else had done just that. Easy fix, feels good, big "phew" factor.......

While you've got the covers off (and the garage dark), look for arcing from the coil & plug wires. I think that's possibility number two though.

[chilkoot]

I resistance tested all of the wires before I installed them, nothing registered more than 14kohms, unless I pinched one installing the wire covers they should be ok. If there were arcing would the cylinders still be firing normally? The ignition end of it seemed to be silky smooth aside from the low idle, whatever it's doing it is doing it consistently.

I used plenty of dialectric grease on the boots before I installed, so hopefully that isn't the issue. Should I check for arcing with the covers removed and the engine idling?

Is there any demand for a more thorough writeup? I didn't take any pictures, but with a few simple additions the LexLS guide could be extremely comprehensive. As it is there was a lot of uncertainty as to whether I was removing the parts correctly. I had problems not because of misdirection, but because things such as "remove the fan clutch" should have read "the fan clutch is on there tight as a !Removed!, and after you remove the nuts it won't simply pull off. you may need to slowly rotate the assembly as you wedge a pry bar between the clutch and pulley plate, it'll only move a fraction of a millimeter at a time, and you have to keep rotating it, but you will see some slow progress"

also, the hydraulic fan started spinning as soon as I started it for the first time and continued to run the whole time the engine was on. The clutch hasn't seized, because I can spin the fan blade by hand without spinning the clutch pulley, but I was under the impression the clutch would have to heat up before the fan engaged?

[92Lex]

The fan spins all the time, it just spins faster with the clutch enagaged.

[chilkoot]

The fan spins all the time, it just spins faster with the clutch enagaged.

you're right, i'm an idiot. it's a fluid clutch. durrrr :chairshot:

[chilkoot]

I removed and reinstalled the LH spark plug/distributor cover and that was the culprit, she roars now. Thank mehullica.

Now i've got a vibration in the drive train over 2000RPMs, time to get my beastly strength roommate to help me torque the hell out of that crank pulley bolt (one of us on the breaker bar, the other on the chain wrench)

I could not have done this job without the LOC, or LexLS and I welcome anyone to PM me with questions on how to do anything or clarifications.

[OmarG]

i happy for you man! you did it!