Rebuilding suggustions? /links ?

[Eric VerValin]

Hey there everyone. The SHO I own now is a black 92 with 181K miles on it. Been maintained well, by most standards, its about time for the third valve job, other than that the car is fine. Nearly 30 mpg and passes an e check no problem. My problem is a ticking i cannot find. I've taken the top completely apart down to the motor and found nothing. I recently had a SHO shop clutch kit installed so i know its not the TOB, Rod Bearing is what i'm "getting down to". now in doing this i hear is a pain the a**. Is it really easiest to do under the car? or would pulling the motor out be that difficult? Any idea's and opinions would be helpful, most places wont touch it around here, or if they do they want it all the way out anyway, so i'd just go ahead and do it myself if it went that far.. lol anyway ideas sugguestions? maybe a helpful link or two? I miss my baby and the weather has been beautiful latley!!! its driving me nutz

thanks again..
Eric

 

[Electricat]

Timing chain tensioners are a common top end "ticker". The tensioner either wears or sticks, letting the chain between the two cams slap on the valve cover. If you can isolate the noise to the bulge at the end of the valve covers, it is almost certainly the tensioner.

Do a search for "timing chain tensioner", you will find plenty of info.

 

[40BelowSummer]

Heavily consider addressing this issue. Mine was making a similar ticking noise that I couldnt diagnose, I assumed it was the TOB and put it off to the side. Wrong! It got louder and louder, then I started getting worried. Then it spun a bearing! So I would say this is good idea to change them.

The bearings can be had for $40 and I believe the kit w/ oil pan seals and what not can be had for $60 from RCM Automotive.

It is way easier to do the rod bearings from underneath with the motor in the car. WAY easier.

In a nutshell:

- Jack the car up


- Remove the Y pipe, starter and drain the oil.


- Remove the oil pan


- Remove the oil pump pickup tube

 

[40BelowSummer]

- Remove the "windage tray"


-Remove the "crankshaft girdle"


-Here is what you'll see. You can see the rod caps with the two nuts on each one. When you remove the two nuts the rod cap can be removed and you can replace the rod bearings one set at a time.




-Heres what the new bearing will look like installed (gives you an idea)


-Here are the worn bearings (in my case)


Then just reinstall everything.

Of course, I left the details out but this was just meant to give you an idea. The hardest parts of the job IMO were removing and reinstalling the oil pan because its a tight fit. The Y pipe might not be so fun if youre in the rust belt.

Tips: Check all torque values and follow them, including the two step torquing for the rod caps. Do not over torque the oil pump pickup nuts, they WILL easily break. Coat the new rod bearings with oil or assembly ****, so they are lubricated. USE PLASTIGAGE to check clearances

Hope this helps and good luck!

 

[Eric VerValin]

Timing chain tensioners are a common top end "ticker". The tensioner either wears or sticks, letting the chain between the two cams slap on the valve cover. If you can isolate the noise to the bulge at the end of the valve covers, it is almost certainly the tensioner.

Do a search for "timing chain tensioner", you will find plenty of info.

Well actually.. i replaced the front tensioner because that is what i origionally thought it was. put her back together and it still ticks..

 

[Eric VerValin]

Well I can say this. I've been told a lot of things by a lot of places. Many seem to think that if i spun a bearing I'll need the crank turned. How common is that, and how much of a pain is it to get the crank out completely to do this? Also someone was trying to tell me that the caps would need replaced, but that guy sounded like a salesman instead of a mechanic. My biggest thing is that I will need to borrow someone's garage to do this, and I need to save as much time as i can doing this. Dont want my ride taking up his garage forever. Additionally someone told me that i would have to remove the subframe to get the ypipe off and the pan? is this true? any sugguestions would be helpful. thanks!

 

[40BelowSummer]

To get the Y pipe and oil pan off you do not need to remove the subframe.

 

[Eric VerValin]

To get the Y pipe and oil pan off you do not need to remove the subframe.

Sweet! lol i have ASFB's and dont know how that would work taking that off with jacks and stands.. lol now what if i need the crank turned? and do the mains 10/20 and get a maching set? Napa will do the work, and i'm just curious how much more work is involved with taking the crank out. Sounds like a lot to me but I dont know. The bearing job seems easy, so I am thinkin about doing it soon. Thanks again!