fixin to throw in the towel here....

[SuperHO]

So....replaced the crankshaft timing sprocket after a bout of crank cancer today. Whilst out putzing around and enjoying being back behind the wheel of my 95 after 2 1/2 weeks, she started sputtering and fell flat on her ass.

Pulled over, popped the hood, and sure as shit the timing belt is floppy. Dafuq? Probe a bit deeper and now I'm sittin here awaiting a tow truck....again....due to an AWOL timing belt tensioner. Doesn't seem like a giant issue since I got one at home.....but I think the stud's gone too. How big of a problem could this potentially be?

 

[zblackbeast]

IF the studs gone too, you need to drill and tap the block for a new stud.. Not the end of the world, just a massive pain in the ass.

 

[SHOmethewayhome]

you dont NEED to drill and tap the block, per say...

due to my stubborn-ness I managed to pull this bonehead move 3 times in the span of like 6 weeks with my 91 I don't have anymore.

get a nut about the right size that would thread onto the stud, a pair of vice grips to hold the nut, and a Mig Welder.

take as much out of your way on the front of the block as you can to get at the stud. probably have to take the fender liner out too if you try from the side, I did this from the top.

hold the nut up to the stud that's still in the block and weld the nut to it. you gotta get the weld pretty damn hot, and you'll probably not get it the first 4-5 times, let it cool down before you put a wrench on it and gently try to back the stud out of the block.

Tensioner Stud Cancer is what put SVOFANATIC's car on the side of the road 90 miles from the STLSHO BBQ last year. luckily for him James and Dave helped him out by towing his car in and performing the repair.

good luck either way you get at it, I didn't attempt the drill it out method because I didn't have room between the frame rail and the front of the block to get a drill and a bit in there without dropping the subframe and was too lazy to drop the subframe out with a perfectly good welder 10 ft away.

YMMV

 

[jimtash]

Been there done that. Do not try and drill it out. Either do the welding trick with a nut or find someone who can.

Did you follow the procedure to tighten the tensioner correctly? Curious to know.

 

[SuperHO]

I followed the.same procedure I've done countless times before. I noticed upon startin the car without the accessories attached that the belt was squealing despite proper tension. That shouldve alerted me right off that the pulley wasn't spinning right.

 

[jimtash]

Stud and replacement stud broke on me. Ended up putting a brand new tensioner on (even though the old one made no noise and seemed to spin freely) and a grade 12.9 bolt to hold it down with. I'm not using a stud there anymore.

 

[SuperHO]

That's probably what I'm gonna wind up doing. Happen to recall the thread pitch, size and length you used?

Guess I better start scouring around for a new spring, too...

 

[jimtash]

That's probably what I'm gonna wind up doing. Happen to recall the thread pitch, size and length you used?

Guess I better start scouring around for a new spring, too...

It's the exact same size and thread pitch as the head bolts. 10mm by 1.5 I'm thinking but double check the pitch. Can't remember the length but it should be about the same or slightly longer than the ATX tensioner stud.

 

[jayro]

Guess I better start scouring around for a new spring, too...

Are you sure that the spring is missing, or did it just come unwound? If the tensioner pully rotated backwards then it is quite possible that the sring is still there, just without tension. This happened to mine.

 

[SuperHO]

Well, the pulley ain't there, and feeling around on the side of the road told me the stud wasn't there either....I'm just putting 2 and 2 together.

 

[SHOmethewayhome]

PM me if you need the spring, I have a used tensioner pulley and spring that I found in a box when Moving stuff around in the garage about 3 weeks ago.

I wouldn't trust the tensioner pulley, but the spring is probably fine.

PM me if you want it, I don't want any money and I'll just send it USPS priority so it'll take a week, but wont cost hardly anything. I'm not worried about reimbursement, as I don't own a SHO and have no serious plans of getting one any time soon. **** if you want the pulley I'll throw that in too.

 

[SHO1]

that should be light enough, if you have a nice small box, to go 1st class (13oz. or under). Will cost less than priority and only take a 2-3 days.

 

[SuperHO]

Thanks. Got one inbound already though.

 

[bigblock]

this had happened to the 89 i bought, and thats why it was such a steal. i told the owner sho engines are non interference, but he still didnt believe me. his loss. anyways, i tried to drill it for a helicoil. that didnt work. whilst drilling i wasnt level with the block. so you can see where that went. i ended up unbolting all the motor/tranny mounts, jacking the engine up so i could go in straight , drilling and taping to 16mm. red locktiten' the shit out of a 16mm bolt, cutting the head, drilling and taping the bolt to stock stud size and putting in a replacement. after a bunch of 7k shift its still holding..

 

[SuperHO]

Okay, so the stud sheared off just under the surface of the hole....but upon investigating I found a tapped hole about 1" to the left....think it might be possible to use that hole?




The one on the right is where the stud sheared....the one on the left is the open hole. Despite the pic, It's directly left, not up or down at all.

 

[jimtash]

It's for the ATX tensioner stud. Your best bet now is to create a jig out of a piece of steel or aluminum and use the open hole to bolt it down while you drill out the stud. Make the hole size for the broken stud on the jig smaller and use a carbide drill bit. A small masonry bit will do. Under no circumstances attempt to drill it out free hand.

Center to center distance between both holes is 1 inch I believe. Measure from there and take into account the size of the stud which is 10mm.