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How To: Timing Chain Replacement

93K views 66 replies 28 participants last post by  Cinlove 
#1 · (Edited)
DISCLAIMER: I am not responsible for anything you do to your car, etc etc.

This is a how-to describing the process that InfantryMP and I made while changing his timing chain. I would highly recommend you obtain a copy of the service manual. This guide should not serve as a substitute to the service manual.

A few notes: We did not remove the oil pan. We did not have an engine hoist. Just a block of wood and another floor jack.

Without further adieu:

Remove upper strut bar. Replace nuts on strut to avoid the suspension falling out when you raise the car. This is optional. We didn't remove it and had no trouble, but it will make your life slightly easier.

Raise the car up on jack stands.

Remove passenger front wheel.

Remove plastic skid trays and passenger front fender liner.

Drain the oil.

Remove upper intercooler pipe. Stuff rags in both the turbo outlet and intercooler (just to be safe). For some UICPs, this requires removing the bumper.

Remove coils/spark plug boots. Unclip wiring harnesses on valve cover and move out of way.

Remove spark plugs.

Remove valve cover.

This is where we rotated the crankshaft using the 22mm socket to line up the timing marks on the camshaft cogs to the chain. It looks like our chain skipped a tooth.

Exhaust cam looks good:


Intake cam is off:


Drink a little beer.

Remove the coolant reservoir. Unclip the wires, and remove the bracket holding the heat sink on.

Remove the bolt holding the power steering lines in place.

Loosen (but do not remove) the bolts on the water pump pulley. It's much easier with the serpentine belt still attached.

Loosen the tension and remove the serpentine belt.

Remove the 3 bolts holding the power steering oil pump on. Pry the pump out of the bracket and set off to the side.



Remove the top bolt on the alternator, and loosen the bottom nut. The bottom nut is on the left side of car (right side as your looking at it). It's hard to see but easy to feel your way around to. This will allow the alternator to pivot forward; move it as far forward as possible.

Now we need to remove the engine mount. Place a piece of 2x6 under the oil pan and jack up the engine just enough to take the pressure off the mount. Make sure the piece of wood does not extend under the timing chain cover as this will make things much harder later… trust me.

Remove the bolts holding the mount to the chassis, and then remove the nuts/bolt on the engine side. We did not remove the long center bolt holding the two parts of the mount together. Slide the mount off.



Remove the engine mount bracket that is attached to the timing chain cover.

Remove the water pump pulley… you already loosed those bolts, right? You may have to raise/lower the engine just a bit to get it out.

Remove the idler pulleys.

Remove the auto tensioner pulley. (16mm, reverse thread!) Now remove the auto tensioner itself.


Now we need to remove the crank pulley. It's a 22mm bolt, but it's on tight. Try to loosen it with an impact wrench. Ours didn’t have enough torque to remove it so we had to improvise. We put a breaker bar on the crank pulley and rested the bar against the suspension. With our fingers crossed we cranked the starter (very short pulse) until it broke the bolt free. I wouldn't recommend this, but it did work like a charm. Once the bolt is out, lower the engine just enough to clear the pulley from the chassis and set the pulley aside. We will need it later for alignment.

Remove all the bolts on the timing chain cover. Some are 12mm and some are 10mm. Don't forget the 10mm bolts coming up through the oil pan into the timing chain cover. The one on the right (front of engine) doesn't come all the way out unless you intend the remove the bracket under the A/C pump. We simply loosened it and fully took it off once the cover was free. You'll see what I mean.

The cover will need to be pried off. Start with a flat-head screwdriver and pry the boss.



It will probably need some more help, so grab a wooden hammer and stick that down the timing chain area and pry.



Once that's loose, remove through the bottom of the car and set aside.

Drink a beer; you deserve it. You're doing great!

OK. Let's get the engine and cams in roughly the correct position before proceeding. Put that crank pulley back on and thread the bolt in it. No need to tighten it, we are just using it to rotate the engine. Rotate clockwise until the crankshaft timing mark (the protruding thing on the shaft) is at the 9 o'clock position, and the timing marks on the cam gears face each other, level with the head (9 and 3 position for the exhaust and intake cam, respectively). See picture. This should ensure that cylinder 1 is at TDC. We stuck a long skinny screwdriver down each spark plug hole just to double-check our work. If you did it correctly, cylinders 1 and 4 should be at the top of the block



Remove the crank pulley again, taking care not rotate the engine. Impact guns work wonders here, even though that bolt shouldn't be too tight.

Now we need to compress the chain tensioner. There are two holes on it. The hole on the right contains the ratcheting mechanism. Insert a small flat tipped screwdriver in there to separate the top teeth from the bottom. Squeeze the piston back in, and insert a small allen wrench into the left hole. This will hold the piston in place. Remove the tensioner.



Remove the upper chain guide.

Remove the chain. Drink some more beer. InfantryMP looks like he needs a beer, am I right?



Confirm that the crankshaft and camshafts are in the same position. Refer to this:



Install the new chain. You need to ensure that the colored links on the chain match up perfectly with paint marks on the gears. Triple-check your work here; this is super important.



Re-install the chain tensioner. Pull the allen wrench if you are reusing the old one, or pull the grenade pin on the new one.

Install the upper chain guide.

Temporarily re-install the crank pulley again. Rotate the engine (clockwise) about 20 times, watching for anything wrong. Eventually, the colored chain links will line back up on the gear markings. If so, you are done with this part. Drink beer, relax, the hard part is over.



Find your timing chain cover, and clean up all that old gasket nonsense on it. Apply some high temp RTV around all edges and re-install on to car. Start with that 10mm bolt by the A/C pump if you didn't remove that bracket earlier.

Re-install everything else you removed. Tighten the crank pulley after you have the serpentine belt installed. It sucks to do, but follow the factory specifications.

184 ft-lb → 0 → 81 ft-lb → Then tighten a further 60 degrees.

Yes, I'm serious… that's what it says.

With everything installed, start the car up and let it idle for a few minutes, checking for any leaks.

Finish that beer.

For reference, this is the new chain:

 
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#39 ·
Nice writeup man very helpful. Is it not necessary to lock the cams when removing the tensioner and chain? It is in fact an interference motor right? Just curious if there is risk there in the event a cam rolled off valve opening. Also is there a maintenance interval on the chain? Thanks man.
 
#40 ·
Nice writeup man very helpful.
Thank you.

Is it not necessary to lock the cams when removing the tensioner and chain?
I don't remember seeing it in the service manual.

It is in fact an interference motor right? Just curious if there is risk there in the event a cam rolled off valve opening.
Yes it is. Unsure about it rolling off. Ours didnt :)

Also is there a maintenance interval on the chain? Thanks man.
I don't think there's a specified interval, but if you have older style that stretches, just replace it when able. Also, if you have to motor open for whatever reason (new build, etc), it won't hurt to just throw a new one in.

 
#41 · (Edited)
I am in the process of changing cams and installing a new timing chain right now. I just want to say thanks for the tip about breaking the crank pulley loose by bumping the starter. This worked like a champ. What is the best high temp UTV silicone for reinstalling the timing chain and valve cover with?
 
#42 ·
Glad it helped! This is what we used:



I can't say if it's the "best" or even "correct." But it seems to have done the job without leaks. Just whichever you choose, pay careful attention to not apply too much or too little. Too little and you'll leak, too much and theres a possiblity it'll drip into the oil pan, get sucked up and clog an oil hole, damaging everything.
 
#45 ·
Ok will do. Thanks guys.
 
#46 ·
What did you guys find was the best thing to use to clean up all the old silicone from the cover and from the engine block where the cover was removed? I used sand paper on the cover once I scraped the old silicone then cleaned the cover with brake cleaner and blew it out with compressed air. I am a little nervous attempting to clean the block. I have a rag stuffed down into the oil pan but I want to make sure none of that silicone gets anywhere it shouldn't. Any suggestions?
 
#48 ·
I stuffed a rag into the oil pan, and carefully used a razor blade to clean the edges.
I use lots of blue masking tape to close off areas that should to be protected. After using a razor to remove most of the glue residue, being especially careful to not dig any metal pieces away, I follow-up with fine ScotchBrite (removes less material than sand paper and doesn't shed sand grit).

Then fully flush the area with brake cleaner until clean, then isopropanol. Let completely dry in-between. Now re-assemble.

After it's all back together, run it in long enough to heat the oil and then change oil/filter. With the next oil/filter change in ten hours.

A clean engine is a happy engine.
 
#49 · (Edited)
Ok. I have everything clean and ready to go back together. I put my new Kelford cams in at the same time I am installing the new timing chain. I also replaced both the guides and the tensioner. Well here is my problem...I put the old chain on and everything lines up perfect with the timing marks. I put the new chain on and its like I am 1/2 tooth off with the chain mark on the crank. Also the new chain is tight as hell going back toghether. How do you get the chain back on all the pulleys if it is this tight without the tension on it? Am I missing something? Comparing my 36000 mile chain to the new updated chain there doesn't seem to be that much stretch. I double checked the part number on the chain with the other thread that showed the updated part numbers.

 
#50 ·
I must have been somehow hanging up on that black left side chain guide where the new chain is thicker. I took that guide off then the chain dropped right back into place, reinstalled the guide, and everything is back in time. Now I just need some valve buckets for the intake side. All of the exhaust side looked good. Man I hate these shimless buckets!
 
#51 ·
So are you left with a warm fuzzy feeling after having completed the timing chain portion, or would you rather take a kick to the nards than have to do it again?

Also after inspecting the originals, do you feel that replacing the guides was needed?
 
#52 ·
I will have a warm fuzzy feeling once I get my buckets in and get my intake valves adjusted properly since I did cams at the same time. It was a huge relief to know it in time again. My chain wasnt stretched that bad, I was told by my tuner that they always replace the guides and tensioner when they do the updated chain so that is why I did.
 
#53 ·
Well poop. I have been wondering what the timing belt/chain replacement was recommended and after hearing it was a chain i thought oh good then perhaps the recommended replacement schedule is longer. I just bought a 2010 with 50K miles. Looks like this needs to be on my short list, or even immediate list to look at along with the 60K fluid changes etc.
Thanks OP for posting this up. Will be very valuable if i think i'm going to make a go of it.

Side note, i called the local mitsu dealership and they had no clue what the recommended replacement mileage was. If i don't feel confident doing solo, looks like i'll be scouting around for a known good evo shop in CO

Luke
 
#55 · (Edited)
I fnially got my valve lash set properly so I am now finished with my cam and timing chain install. I also did injectors and an FP Green at the same time. I started the car today with a base map tune and it sounds fine but I am getting P0016 code for crank cam position correlation. I triple checked my timing marks and every thing looks good. Is it possible there is air in the Mivec solenoids causing this problem? If so, how long should it take to clear it out? Any other possible causes? Also did you guys reinstall that upper guide with the new updated timing chain? I put mine back in but I am wondering now if I should have just left it off.
 
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