If you turn the wheels one way really far you can get to the shock shaft. Put the zip ties on before driving, then reach in there and slide them down.

 

ok, well now I gotta find a road thats smooth... hmmm

 

Quick question, are you supposed to lube the front crank seal with oil on the mating surfaces? Or just stick it in there dry?

 

Never go in dry

 

I take it you managed to get the crank pulley off then?

--Ian

 

Yes. Il make a post about everything once the car is back together.

 

This sounds ...entertaining.

 

ok peeps. Who has delt with the stupid *** torx screws that cover the intake came gear bolt? I feel like I'm about the strip them. And I don't really know what to do. Is there a secret to this or do I just have to go for it and see what happens?

Edit: yes I did search, but I just want to see if any of you guys have tips before I strip them.

 

1/4" impact took care of mine. Try whacking it with a hammer. And tighten it a bit before loosening it.

 

Aidan speaks truth.

 

I will try the mini impact tomorrow. Im done for today. Ive been working sence 10am. `

So here is the deal. While I was under my car working on something a while back aI noticed oil at the front of the oil pan directly under the crank. It wasn't bad to the point of leaving oil spots on the ground when parked but I wanted it fixed none the less. Especially considering how hard the car is driven.

So yesterday I got to work pulling the car apart to get to the crank seal.

Started with removing the valve cover and radiator.



the trouble started when I got down to the crank gear and I couldnt get this plate off


I tried for hours to get this stupid thing off. Eventually I asked Ian for any pointers and he properly scared me by saying how the rust may be an indicator of a worn keyway. He suggested I try a harmonic dampener puller. So I this morning I went to auto zone and rented one. Turns out the bolts were too big to fit in the treaded holes in the metal plate thing. So I baisically said **** it and stuck a MASSIVE pry bar down there and popped it off. yay me.

At this point I was fully expecting the crank gear itself to be completely frozen on there and I would have to get a MAP torch or cut the thing off. Nope. The thing just slid right off.

To my great relief the woodruff key and crank were both in good condition.



Hurdle number 2 was getting the seal itself out. Long story short, I used a tiny drill bit to make a little hole in the seal, then took a dental pick and pried it out. That probably took at least 2 hours to figure out.


Vwala!


New seal going in. Thanks again Ian for letting me borrow your FM tools!



Ok. Next up was the cam seals. It'll be easy they said, just do it they said. ya right.

I chose the cam cap removal meathod for the exhaust cam seal. Old seal came out, new seal went in. The torque spec for the cam caps is 118-125 in-lbs. I don't have a torque wrench that does in-lbs so I went back to out zone to return the harmonic dampener puller and rent a torque wrench. I came home, and attempted to tighten the cam cap down expecting the torque wrench to click. Didn't happen. So I stopped before I snapped the bolt. I then went back to auto zone and exchanged the faulty torque wrench with a new one. Drove home once again and attempted a second time. I set the wrench to its lowest setting (20in-lbs) and again, felt no click. So I went back to auto zone for the fourth time to return it. They inspected it and felt it click. I told them its not clicking when I used it so I'm not sure what is going on with it. They said to try it again. So I did.

This is where **** hit the fan. I set the wrench to its lowest setting, and tried again. POP! Nope, not the torque wrench. The bolt had snapped. After expressing my frustration and anger I proceeded to pull what I thought was just the bolt head out. The bolt didn't want to come out. So I slowly unscrewed what I thought was just a piece of the bolt. Now I must be the luckiest man (kid) in the world because out came this:


Seriously. I should go buy a lottery ticket. Ill probably win.

So I went to the dealer to get a new set of bolts for the cam cap. Get a load of this. $18.05 for 2 bolts. 2 tiny bolts. They had to special order them so I was told they would arrive thursday morning. I went to get lunch at about 4:00 and went home. I cried for a little then got mad at the whole situation and I said to myself, "Im not paying nearly $20 for two tiny bolts". So I went back to the dealer and they were going to charge me a restocking fee but because I ordered the parts after 3:00 they hadn't processed yet so I got a full refund. I then went back to auto zone for the fifth time to return the stupid *** torque wrench for good. Next I went to my good friends shop who is a mechanic and asked him if I could borrow his Snap On torque wrench.

At this point I still need new bolts so I drive 30 miles to the location of my spare motor (surprise!) in San Martin to take the bolts as well as a few other things as spares. Finally I come home, put the new bolts in and torque them down.

Now, onto the intake cam! I take a look at the VVT actuator, realize there are 3 torx screws holing on a cover to the cam gear bolt. And then realize I don't have torx bits. So I go BACK t o auto zone for the 6th time to get a set of torx bits. I try to loosen them but I felt like they were going to strip I I quit for today.

Tomorrow we will resume frustration and spite for my car.

 

Bolts coming out easily after snapping them while tightening is pretty standard. The bolt is being stretched and then when it snaps it can liked of pop back out. Also there is nothing really holding it in at that point so it's easy to remove. Kind of like your brake rotors

 

I was just surprised that the bolt came out in one piece. I was expecting 2 pieces.

 

ok, I stripped them. and easy out aint working. Ideas?

 

Build a time machine

Easy out would have helped with the broken cam cap bolt. I would try a bit of heat. And then dremmel a slit into the bolt, and try to use a chisel or punch to get it to rotate.

 

I cannot do these things...

 

Something like this

 

Thanks, Ill try that.

 

Patience is a virtue, don't get crazy.

 

yessss. I got them out. Ended up using a t27 bit instead of t25 and hammering it on the screw then using a ratchet to crack em loose. There was one that wouldn't come out using that method, so I took a flathead screwdriver and whacked the plate to get it to rotate which broke the screen free.