So after finishing the swap and getting it running noticed coolant leaking from the weep hole in the timing cover. So I went ahead and followed the instuctions from alldata to replace the water pump after which it runs like awful. Anyway question is has anyone removed the the cover to do timing in the vehicle or would it just be easier to drop the motor out and do so. I work at a shop to I have access to a lift it just looks like it would be a pain to do it in the vehicle.

It will be. I've done it both ways and much prefer the engine out of the car. I can get the engine out in less than 2 hours if I have it on the lift. More room to work, less chance to miss something. BUT, I think it was actually faster to do it in the car. Easier it is...Faster? That's debateable. Thats my experience.

I dont get this. So you changed the waterpump right? I mean, shame on you for not spending the 60-80 bucks to get a new water pump during the 3.5 swap, but beside the point....You removed the motor mount, belt, tensioner, and even jacked the engine up slightly, took the timing chain tensioner off, and opened up the access panel for the water pump and slid two 12mm bolts into the threaded holes of the waterpump, it gets pushed out of its place and comes right out, but before that you put a 19mm on the crank and rotated it counterclockwise about 20 degrees, or ever so slightly, until the slack transfered from the left side, to the right side. Do the reverse to install the new one. In that process you put everything in, back together and forgot to rotate so the slack was on the other side?

im jsut curious for myself, ive done about 10+ water pump installs, and always wondered how one could jump timing on a job like that. Secondly, i really thought we had one shot timing and couldnt even be off a tooth or else the car wouldnt even run...oh well.

So with it IN the car, re doing timing would mean, belt off, crank pulley off, tensioner pulley off, pwer steering belt, pump off, motor mount off, lower oil pan off, (if ure gonnan do it correctly, crossmember and upper pan should come off to accommodate the front upper oil pan crescent seal). But anyway, alll that has to come off and you will have PLENTY of room to time the engine again. Especially if u jack the passenger side of the engine up a tad as well.

Ya im kicking myself in the *** for not doing it during the swap but when i went to release the tension back onto the water pump it moved and now runs like crap. I just work on diesels all the time so I never mess with timing chains. Oh well my fault but i guess ill go ahead with it in the vehicle. Thanks for the help

The engine will run with the timing chain off a tooth or two, but if it does it won't fire on cylinders 2 and 3 (IIRC), depending of course on how and where it skips timing.

I did it on my VQ30, but I was being an idiot at the time. Got it ~90 degrees out on the left bank.

If you've done it before and you're quick, you can probably have the timing cover off in under an hour. Cleaning and reassembly is the PITA, really.

Ya that will be the fun part cleaning and resealing the entire thing. At this point im just glad to have a second vehicle so i can take my time with it.

One other thing I just thought about though. The water pump I put in was a 3.0L replacement pump. Should I be using the 3.5 pump even though its the 3.0L timing cover?

If you're using a VQ30 timing chain, you can't use a VQ35 pump; the chains are different.

True I didnt think about it.

Can you take pics?

Ya once i get it apart i will its a matter of when i get a day at work thats slow enough to do so

I took apart this engine, well took off the timing cover, main chain is lined up properly, secondary chains are also lined up. I did also notice the main tensioner was loose, meaning the oil system was probably having low pressure due to the tensioner being loose (hopefully that didnt hurt any bearings or cams). Well i put everything back together, tighten tensioner. I attempted to crank it, then a loud POP/BAM, as if the combustion occurred while the intake valves were open.

Now, what can cause combustion to happen at the wrong time, yet the timing equipment is all lined up properly. Can it be something electrical?

had the same problem with mine from the crank pos sensor on the tranny. recheck , then double check its lined up with the flywheel teeth. if all the sensors are on correct and lined up (also cam sensors) i'd go back to the cover and check your teeth... the reason why your cover was leaking in the first place was you probably forgot the 2 Orings that go between the block and rear timing cover. I put that entire cover on and looked on my cluttered bench and noticed i had 2 un-opened O rings and had to take everything apart, clean it AGAIN then reseal it... not fun. keep us posted

we got it running, or Streetz got it running rather. (0: using the 5 th gen iacv on the pathy tb, perfect idle and startup. who runninn these these b%$ches aint running.... what ...lol issue was found and taken care of.

only in the souf..

Yup, the problem has been fixed, along with all the things that were not correct. Car runs hard, a pretty healthy 3.5. The egr plug was not plugged, so the loud popping was coming from there, not intake popping, cylinder 3 was basically running on open header lol.

Here ya go. some vid footage http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3TQeLPvCTsQ

LOL, still cant drive the 5spd.. bring it over ill drive

Negative, these last two days, iv mastered it.

I will vouch for streetz, he has officially turned into a 5-spd driver. Still needs to smooth out his timing when shifting, bogs sometimes. But doesnt stall it and drives it smooth. Bout time streetz! Clutch is a good thing

I drove this car too Alvaro! For an untuned 3.5 it runs pretty nice. Streetz and I estimate it to be in the 220s whp range. Clutch feels good but I didnt go that hard on it since I know its a new clutch. The interior could use a hell of a scrubbing! It's like a tornado went through there LOL. But overall its got great potential and the cleaning is the least of the worries.

Oh yea also, it needs a new shifter bushings badly. That **** has play from hell.

whoa did I miss something here? Streetz went 5spd ?

lol nah man he just resurrected a 5-spd max for a fellow SW member. Streetz actually owning a 5spd? Pff, what would be next? an african-american president? HA! THAT would be the day lolz (btw, yes I did vote for Obama so I can joke on it lol)

LOL, although learning how to drive this 5sp and playing around with it has been rather interesting. I still love my auto. So no, I have not lowered myself to a level that I would get a 5sp jk jk

tell me about it, the inerior needs help, big.. but im working on finding a tan leather interior , probably be faster than trying to clean that one up.lol.

do you know where i can get those poly shifter bushing? maybe i can have streetz put them in before picking up the whip.

Ehh, i woudlnt *** with the shifter bushing, never done that. You also NEED to change the motor mounts as well. the engine is basically floating around in the engine bay. the shifter to me is not as bad as eddy mentioned, it has play. but its very drivable, this coming from me (5sp newb)

yeah, did you see if the mounts were broken? if not, then its probably the torque or your driving , lol lol but yeah, i want to do the energy inserts soon. dale man, see what you can do on the piping bangin aroung, im more than likely flying in on the 29th. holla

When I get my car working tomorrow or Wed. after that ill see about the piping on ur car. As for the mounts, no its not my driving, i drive the 5sp very smoothly thank you very much!!! lol, they are broken, at least the front one is completely cracked all the way.

ur GN looks amazing bro

Well I officially feel retarded that i got lazy on the car. Glad to see it runs though.

Yo BTW. This clutch feels just fine right now for regular driving, but Im telling you from now, do NOT ***** it on your long drive back home. 5th gens clutches CANNOT stand repeated WOT shifts from a 3.5, they will slip and glaze over the flywheel, good luck getting them to grip then.

Like I said, for normal driving and spirited driving, they work. But they will NOT hold up to WOT runs LOL. This guy Dan (he was there when you ran the 12.4 at Moroso, he had a silver Suby and a green 3.5 swapped Max) had a 5th gen clutch and after the 1st run down the track the clutch was slipping. So just so you are aware lol

I highly recommend an ACT clutch. Street disc and HD pressure plate should be more than plenty for it. I had the HD PP and a 6puck sprung disc for my turbo setup (and NA there after) and it was an awesome setup. Good enough for 468TQ according to ACT.

**** man, youre kidding, according to owner he put in a clutch masters unit, those are great. well just have to find out. how come Dan didnt say hi that night, i know the dude.lol

if mounts are broken, then i will order the inserts now. wish i knew before when the cross member was off niggg. dale