87 Max timing belt successful
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Senior Member
Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 548
87 Max timing belt successful
well today turboast and I got together to hammer out some work on the 87. We started delightfully on the timing belt, dismantling things left and right and then I remembered how much stuff needed to be moved out of the way. I made the mistake of tellin him it was "relatively easy". but we managed to bang the complete timing belt job out in about 3 1/2 to 4 hours, and that includes a new water pump. doesn't that beat any records? subtract about 20 minutes from that if you wanna throw in the time when I couldn't find one of the water pump bolts. but we got a new timing belt, water pump, and drivebelts on there and she's running great. so if anyone needs a timing belt done, let me know and we can time ourselves to achieve a personal best 
anyway we also replaced the front calipers... twice, since I managed to drop both inner copper washers
. everything went ok until we couldn't get the bleeder bolt from the back RH side out cos it was rusted in place. and seeing as how he was 2 hours from home, the lesser of 2 evils was to leave it as is instead of snap it off. then when we tried to bleed the front LH side, we got nothing but air for about 20 minutes. probably a bad brake hose? I've done brakes and calipers before, but I'm certainly not an expert.
but I guess all we have left is the AAV and the rack. engine-wise though, it's good for another 60,000 miles.
and oh yeah, are we the only ones who had trouble getting the upper timing cover off because there's so much stuff in the way? and how do you get to the CHTS? it looked like it was in there pretty good.
anyway, time to get under soap and warm water to wash the various automotive chemicals off my skin.
Dan
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I'm too lazy to type a quote.
anyway we also replaced the front calipers... twice, since I managed to drop both inner copper washers
. everything went ok until we couldn't get the bleeder bolt from the back RH side out cos it was rusted in place. and seeing as how he was 2 hours from home, the lesser of 2 evils was to leave it as is instead of snap it off. then when we tried to bleed the front LH side, we got nothing but air for about 20 minutes. probably a bad brake hose? I've done brakes and calipers before, but I'm certainly not an expert.but I guess all we have left is the AAV and the rack. engine-wise though, it's good for another 60,000 miles.
and oh yeah, are we the only ones who had trouble getting the upper timing cover off because there's so much stuff in the way? and how do you get to the CHTS? it looked like it was in there pretty good.
anyway, time to get under soap and warm water to wash the various automotive chemicals off my skin.
Dan
---------------
I'm too lazy to type a quote.
You guys have problems with the belt being too tight? Mine won't go on right at all. For the CHTS, you have to remove the harness. There is a clip holding it on. Then use a deep socket 19mm to get it out.
S
S
Thread Starter
Senior Member
Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 548
nah. I mean when we were matching up the lines with the timing marks we had to fight the tensioner. we had a few unsuccessful tries cos the belt didn't line up, the teeth didn't go into the notches. but once we double checked the timing marks everything was ok. the biggest PITA was the rear cam sprocket cos it was damn near impossible to get to, and even harder to see the timing mark. when I did mine, I took each cam sprocket off and painted a white line on the timing dot to make it easier to line up. we didn't do that here though.
unless someone gave you the wrong belt, I can't see how it can be too tight.
Dan
unless someone gave you the wrong belt, I can't see how it can be too tight.
Dan
Senior Member
Joined: Mar 2004
Posts: 367
*****First I'd like to say SPECIAL THANKS TO BLACKMAXIMA88*****
The timing belt I got was a Goodyear belt, cost ~20 from http://www.importpartsbin.com/ It fit pretty well, without any real trouble fitting it on. It looked like getting the CHTS out would be nearly impossible without first removing the cam gear and rear belt cover. Thus it remained unchanged. I have the unit I bought if anyone's interested.....?
So the real problems remain the brakes and rack.
The brakes present somewhat of a mystery. As Dan said, we had problems bleeding the left front. It should be noted, that the reason I changed calipers was because the left front was intermittently sticking. The pedal is VERY squishy, with all the stopping power confined to the last inch or so of pedal travel. If I pump the pedal once or twice, it'll firm up nicely until I let off the brakes again. When applied heavily, the right front will lock up. So possibly a brake line? Master cylinder? Does the fact that we couldn't bleed the right rear have an impact (these are a diagonally linked right?)? What about a proportioning valve, if these cars even have one?????
I'll probably change the rear calipers for poops and giggles, and cuz they're 18 years old now.
All in all, the operation was a success. Not bad for a day's work.
Other than the brakes, we ran into no serious problems.
The timing belt I got was a Goodyear belt, cost ~20 from http://www.importpartsbin.com/ It fit pretty well, without any real trouble fitting it on. It looked like getting the CHTS out would be nearly impossible without first removing the cam gear and rear belt cover. Thus it remained unchanged. I have the unit I bought if anyone's interested.....?
So the real problems remain the brakes and rack.
The brakes present somewhat of a mystery. As Dan said, we had problems bleeding the left front. It should be noted, that the reason I changed calipers was because the left front was intermittently sticking. The pedal is VERY squishy, with all the stopping power confined to the last inch or so of pedal travel. If I pump the pedal once or twice, it'll firm up nicely until I let off the brakes again. When applied heavily, the right front will lock up. So possibly a brake line? Master cylinder? Does the fact that we couldn't bleed the right rear have an impact (these are a diagonally linked right?)? What about a proportioning valve, if these cars even have one?????
I'll probably change the rear calipers for poops and giggles, and cuz they're 18 years old now.All in all, the operation was a success. Not bad for a day's work.
Other than the brakes, we ran into no serious problems.
Originally Posted by blackmaxima88
nah. I mean when we were matching up the lines with the timing marks we had to fight the tensioner. we had a few unsuccessful tries cos the belt didn't line up, the teeth didn't go into the notches. but once we double checked the timing marks everything was ok. the biggest PITA was the rear cam sprocket cos it was damn near impossible to get to, and even harder to see the timing mark. when I did mine, I took each cam sprocket off and painted a white line on the timing dot to make it easier to line up. we didn't do that here though.
unless someone gave you the wrong belt, I can't see how it can be too tight.
Dan
unless someone gave you the wrong belt, I can't see how it can be too tight.
Dan
S
Thread Starter
Senior Member
Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 548
gee sarin, I'm surprised you haven't managed to convert it to a chain-driven cam yet. but now that I gave you the idea....
yeah we got the belt on. it was three guys in a garage, all in our early 20s, so it was a lot of cursing and sexually explicit language... ya know, garage bonding. thw two of us managed to do the complete water pump/timing belt job in less time than it took my friend tom to do the timing chain in his '84 K-series blazer with a 305... go figure....
off the subject, anyone know how hard it'd be to do a conversion from a GA16DE to an SR20DE? unfortunately the idea slithered its way into my head and now it's embedded in there...
Dan
------------------
1994 Nissan Sentra XE
1994 Nissan Sentra Limited Edition
1986 Chevy S-10 Blazer 4x4
but now that I gave you the idea....yeah we got the belt on. it was three guys in a garage, all in our early 20s, so it was a lot of cursing and sexually explicit language... ya know, garage bonding. thw two of us managed to do the complete water pump/timing belt job in less time than it took my friend tom to do the timing chain in his '84 K-series blazer with a 305... go figure....
off the subject, anyone know how hard it'd be to do a conversion from a GA16DE to an SR20DE? unfortunately the idea slithered its way into my head and now it's embedded in there...
Dan
------------------
1994 Nissan Sentra XE
1994 Nissan Sentra Limited Edition
1986 Chevy S-10 Blazer 4x4
lol, I'm pretty surprise that I'm having this much trouble....but I guess it's good to have a nice challenge sometimes.
As for converting....I don't think it'd be too hard. The actual getting the motor in is pretty easy. It's the wiring harness that will probably give you the most headache.
S
As for converting....I don't think it'd be too hard. The actual getting the motor in is pretty easy. It's the wiring harness that will probably give you the most headache.
S
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