Part 1. Preparation and safety
Objective
- Install engine external components.
Personal safety
Whenever you perform a task in the workshop you must use personal protective clothing and equipment that is appropriate for the task and which conforms to your local safety regulations and policies. Among other items, this may include:
- Work clothing - such as coveralls and steel-capped footwear
- Eye protection - such as safety glasses and face masks
- Ear protection - such as earmuffs and earplugs
- Hand protection - such as rubber gloves and barrier cream
- Respiratory equipment - such as face masks and valved respirators
If you are not certain what is appropriate or required, ask your supervisor.
Safety check
- Make sure that you understand and observe all legislative and personal safety procedures when carrying out the following tasks. If you are unsure of what these are, ask your supervisor.
Points to note
- Prepare the threads of the exhaust manifold bolts with plenty of anti-seize lubricant.
- Ensure all pulleys are correctly aligned.
Part 2: Step-by-step instruction
- Install harmonic balancer
If the balancer has scratches on the sealing surface, fix it with a repair sleeve. Also, if this engine rebuild will not be completed for a while, you should coat the sealing surface and the inner diameter with a white lithium grease. Use regular grease if that's all you have.
Fit the balancer onto the nose of the crank and line it up with its keyway. For a press-on style balancer, don't simply hammer it onto the crank.
Use a good quality harmonic balancer installing tool and thread it into the same threads as the center bolt of the crank. Draw up the installer nut and start turning. If it seems to bind up as it's going in, check it or pull it off and start again.
If it starts to get crooked you could end up snapping off the nose of the tool in the end of the crankshaft. When it gets close or is all the way in, the crank will start to spin.
If it is not fully seated, install the flexplate and disable the rotation of the crank to press it on the last few millimeters.
This is what can happen if you put too much pressure on a cheap tool.
If you are not sure if the balancer is in all the way, you'll know for sure when you line up and install the pulleys and belts.
- Install fuel pump
Clean the fuel pump mounting surface. If you have one, lubricate the fuel pump pushrod and slide it up into the block. Be aware that if you let go of it, it will slide out again. If you have a cover plate, gasket sealer goes on both sides of the plate gasket. Then the plate goes on with its holding bolts. More gasket sealer goes on both sides of the fuel pump gasket and some on it's mounting point on the block.
For most engines, when the balancer is set to Top Dead Center for the number one cylinder, it's easier to install the fuel pump. Make sure if you have a pushrod the it is up inside the block, then install the bolts and torque them to specification.
- Install water pump
On the front of the engine, where the water pump fits, put plenty of gasket sealer on all the metal and gasket surfaces. When it dries tacky, the gaskets will stick in place. Treat the water pump bolts with some thread sealer. This will keep the coolant from leaking by the threads. If your water pump bolts thread into the water jacket area of the block it is essential to seal the threads. Then tighten all four of these treated bolts to the pump and torque them to spec.
- Install thermostat
If the thermostat mounting surface is pitted from rust damage, smooth the surface with some silicone sealer. Then put gasket sealer along both sides of the water neck gasket. Make sure your thermostat is installed facing the right way before you torque the water neck down.
- Check notes for miscellaneous externals
If the heater hose nipple is corroded, replace it.
Check your notes and storage bins carefully to make sure that all of the miscellaneous engine externals are reinstalled where they belong.
- Install exhaust manifold
Prepare the threads of the exhaust manifold bolts with plenty of anti-seize lubricant. It is messy but it's absolutely necessary to keep these bolts from seizing up, given the constant amount of heat stress they have to endure. Manifolds with air injector tubes need to have the bolts and the gaskets in place before installing them. Sometimes you can thread the bolts in a few turns and then slip the gaskets in between the manifold and head, but not if the manifold has exhaust emissions tubes like this one.
Exhaust gaskets usually don't need any sealant and any metallic finishes will face towards the manifolds.
On this engine, the water temperature sending unit was the last part of the water system to be sealed up.
- Check pulley alignment
Check whether the pulleys are aligned correctly. Put the main pulley on the balancer and then hold the water pump pulley and a belt in place to make sure that the pulleys all line up. If they don't, check that you have the right type of water pump, if it's a new one, or check whether the balancer is seated properly on the crankshaft.
