Index of Pictures / ..

  After finishing the timing belt job, I found out that I was supposed to rotate the tensioner clockwise to tension the belt, where I had rotated it counterclockwise. I loosened the nut on the tensioner thinking I could quickly finish it, however the tensioner arm came out of its slot and removed all tension on the belt. I did not take the precaution to set the engine at TDC before doing this, so when my injection pump rotated when the belt tension was released, I knew I had to do everything all over again. Welcome to timing belt, take two. First I removed all the cam bearing caps so the valves would all retract and allow me to rotate the crank to TDC without fear. I decided to take a closer look at the lifters and lobes while I was in here. Cam inspection continued Cam inspection continued Cam inspection continued  
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  After removing everything, I found this marked onto the head: B.G. / Automotive / 10-09. You wouldn't remove the timing belt back cover during a normal timing belt job, so I wonder what the story is here. Somebody neglect the belt, have it break, and then have to remove the head? One more look at what hides behind the timing belt back cover. This part I neglected to mention last time: I broke the metal insert in the back timing cover. This is one reason why the tensioner was able to spring out of its slot. How did it break? Well, the tensioner arm moved out of its slot sometime before I had completely tightened the nut to secure it down. When I did tighten the nut, the tensioner arm bent. I noticed this after I had put everything back together last time. Instead of doing it right, I tried to take a short cut and hammer it back into position. I suceeded, but it broke the back cover. This cover was cracked before I put my hands on it. That's another mystery from the previous owner. Here's what a back cover should look like. And here's how the tensioner arm should fit in it.  
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  After hammering on the old tensioner, this is how mine looked. Even if I hadn't lost time on the engine, I would have had to come back in and fix this issue, because the metal tensioner arm would have just ate into the back cover and I would have lost timing belt tension. ...I wasn't gentle. It worked for the moment, but taking this shortcut cost me time and money in the end. I thought it was neat seeing the thermostat right behind the water pump. This picture documents what the water pump o-ring surface condition should look like But the surface didn't look like that everywhere. Somebody used sealant on the o-ring, and it caused degradation. Thanks, previous owner.  
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  Got the belt reinstalled and tensioned in the proper direction. Made damn sure the arm was in its slot this time. The timing was nearly dead on when I first started the car. I made a slight adjustment to bring it down closer to 50 before doing the final torquing on the injection pump. The metal timing belt cover insert turned up in the coolant drain pan.  
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