550 Engine Removal

Ain't that the truth

 

Thank you Brian.

 

Ferraridriver,
Attached is picture of my gated cogs and timing cover, you can see the 2 welds if you enlarge the picture. Maybe year 200 onwards all had this as a factory modification or have you see year 2001 with no welds?
Thanks,
Ron

PS sorry for the delay, I was 100% focused on doing the cam timing this weekend
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Dear all,

WSM550 page B42 says belt may be re-adjusted once at 1500km check but then it says belts must not be retightened again.

I compared my new 575 style belt with my old 550, there was some stretch but not a lot.

Regards,
Ron

 

Following Pete (Moorfan)'s excellent description, timing is proceeding well. Pete did a great job to decipher the WSM and its weird phase/timing diagram and produce an easy to follow, step by step guide.

I used 2 dial gauges and a degree wheel. One dial gauge for TDC on cylinder 1 as cross-check on the degree wheel (also easier to see the transition to TDC), and one dial gauge on the inlet or exhaust valve bucket top surface.

Passenger side (RHS) needed some small tweeking on the intake and exhaust valve lift but the resulting assembly notches seemed to be spot on. I increased the intake and decreased the exhaust lift to meet the specs. of 0.70 and 0.69mm respectively. A lot of time was spent trying to get repeatable and accurate valve lift measurements as the dial gauge plunger tip wants to slip/slide off the valve bucket. I removed the standard wide plunger tip and made a DIY thin pointer tip by screwing 2" piece welding wire in . There is also slack and friction that needs to be eliminated or allowed for.

Returning to the driver side (LHS) , intake valve lift was in spec and exhaust valve needs to be lowered a tad. Assembly marks are 9mm out as noted before. I used the black pen marks I made prior to dis-assembly as a reference for re-assembly. I hope to finish tonight and get some pics.

I am using cylinder 12 (as per Moorfan) not cylinder 7 as mentioned in the WSM, I assume this is OK to do? Has anyone ever tried to measure cylinder 7 valve lift?

Regards,
Ron

 

Ron,
I had all of the same problems that you did, with reproducibility of measurements after the motor is turned over as well as pointer slip on the tappet. I found some difficulty keeping the timing in spec when I fired the impact gun to tighten the cam cog down for each cam. It just took time and time and time.

What I bought for my next major is a probe tip for the dial gauge that is curved, so that it can be brought in from the side of the cam lobe.

 

Ron,

I posted about my 550 tming as well somewhere here. It also is spot on the assembly marks as you noted but i don't have the 9mm off thing. I do not know how this is struck in the factory. Maybe they dial guage them and strike them which would explain a fairly large number that seem spot on. Many says they are never on. They look struck not cast into the cam. I can only believe what I have experienced and in my small sample size being not a real pro they are more on than off. I can't explain your 9mm off that's anyone's guess. I suspect a change somewhere past head job or cam replacement for some reason. Maybe spring pressure moved the cam a bit while lugi was looking instead into the bottom of his wine glass and just struck it. Weird anyway but if them's the numbers them the numbers. It is nice to know the PO mechanic at least timed it properly vs just assembled it. My car is a 2000 and my fences are some weird "staking on" not welded. I learned of welding thse fences after I did my last major. Next time I'll tig them and send them out to Dave at SRI to be replated.

 

Pete,
Yep, next time I will also invest more in dial gauges and accessories. I got 2 for $60 at Harbor Freight , includes a flexible clamping mechanism in a nice wooden box. With the the right technique, worked very well For a curved probe tip, the welding stick trick actually works quite well, it is soft enough to screw into the steel(?) threaded shaft after removing the probe tip. It cuts its own thread as you screw it in and it is bendable to get around the camshaft.
I found the most consistent readings if you turned the crankshaft clockwise (2 full revs) in between readings, then reset the dial gauges, making sure they are free and smooth after the turning. My biceps are bulging after all this cylinder head torquing and crank turning.
Anyway, re-did all 4 cams last , each one at least 3-6 times, until I was satisfied. That makes it about 50 revs in 150 mins i.e. 0.33 rpm hand turned!
Regards,
Ron

 

Photo 1:
One dial gauge on cylinder 1, on top of measuring rod touching piston crown
Degree wheel to aid in seeing when approaching TDC
One dial gauge on inlet or exhaust valve bucket to measure lift


Photo 2:
assembly marks, just happen to line up after having set valve lift, this is not always the case.
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At last, a nice simple job, place frequency meter sensor 1/2" from the belt, give the belt a firm pluck so you hear a twang and read the frequency. Do for both the long and short sides and sum the 2 readings.

Not being a harpist, my finger pads are too soft for plucking such a tight belt so it became quite painful, but finger plucking worked better than striking the belt with a small hammer. Short side is the hardest to get a reliable reading. Readings vary a bit so repeat a few times and take average.

Starting tension on long side was about 90Hz using just the natural spring tension.
Sideways flex on longest side was about 1/4" either way using old fashioned thumb push method. Loosened tensioner bolt, turned engine with crankshaft bolt 1/2 turn or less, re-tightened bolt and turned engine 1 or 2 revs. Do not turn engine backwards. The tensioner may stick in its old position so I found a gentle prod to move the pulley inwards helped.

Final sum of readings was about 310 Hz, long side 126-136Hz, short side 185-175Hz.
I stopped here since seemed a good compromise between 575 belt spec of 126Hz (longest side) and 575/612 spec. of 330-360Hz for both sides.
Sideways flex was less than 1/10" either way using old fashioned thumb push method.

Regards,
Ron

PS see Moorfan's thread for further discussion
http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/456-550-575/334008-1998-550-maranello-sorting-thread-diy-20.html

 

Ron- Sounds about right. The 575M frequency came from the old belts and the 612 came from the new belts. Theory says there should not be much difference in frequency between the new and old belts, but who knows?

 

Moving on to fitting the headers, there are two headers per bank, one header for each 3 exhaust ports. Lots of cursing and bleeding knuckles, here are some tips:

Remove wheel and liner to gain access to the rear header studs and to fit nuts
Block the exhaust pipe (entrance to cat conv.) that you are not working on with a rag - you dont want nuts or sockets falling down it !!!
Buy every 13mm wrench you can find - short stubby open ended/box, thin walled socket 1/4, 1/4" extension 6", universal head etc - you will need all types. The Ferrari toolkit 13mm is useful for final tightening.
Copper spray the 4 surfaces - exhaust port, gasket, header.
Pre-test all studs with the nuts to make sure they dont bind anywhere - this will be a lifesaver, easy to do before you fit the header, a pain afterwards.
The bottom 2 bolts are a real pain - especially if you dont have a lift. Only the back nut moves and only way in is a universal head socket+extension from the back.
Make sure there is clearance between the chassis and the bottom pipes e.g. screwdriver lever while tightening studs.
Ensure all leads like O2 sensor are not trapped or touching the pipes.

Good - driver side 2 headers are almost done, just bottom bolts to tighten further.
Regards,
Ron

 

Ron,

LMAO. Is lots of cursing and bleeding knuckles under one of the tips?

 

FBB,

Yep cursing definitely helps to relieve the stress. Even after pre-testing all nuts on threads and lubricating, I still had some nuts sticking on the thread start - since as you fit the header over the studs and figgle it into position the thread gets damaged again. Murphy's law says it will damage the one in the hardest to reach position.
To mitigate 1/6 of a turn times 30 turns - I added some spacing washers.

Lowes have a very nice stubby 13mm open ended/box wrench (aka ring/combination spanner) for $4, its about 3" long. The Ferrari toolset 13mm open ended/box wrench was also used a lot.

The bottom of the header is very tight on the cat. converter inlet pipe(s) and needs to be levered into position.

Moved on to steering rack and sway bar, replacement - not too bad just used more cursing and figgling. If you are doing the rack single handed, prop it up on some support stands near to its final position then tie a loop of cord through one mounting hole and bracket hole on the steering pump side. Pull the chord tight and you have the heavy side roughly in position, then loosely bolt up the other side to hold it.

My sway bar mod. - add a couple of washers under the big spacer (black 3 by 4" thingy) so sway bar is a bit lower - prevents sway bar from touching oil sensor as mounts wear.

Regards,
Ron


PS I learnt the word figgle from Dan at Ricambi today, I presume it is a mixture of fiddle and wiggle, very relevant to headers and cat converter fitting. Next time someone asks you "what's up" just tell them you have been figgling your Ferrari.

 

Might just be a leftover bit of my midwestern upbringing. People give me trouble for using the word caddywompus too.

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Dan,
That's just the word I was looking for to describe how the headers do not align with the inlet of the cats, sort of higgledy-piggledly?
Thanks,
Ron

 

Can anyone confirm the belt tension frequencies for
1. water/steerimg pump
2. a/c and alternator

Do you measure sum of short and long sides or just the longest side??
Thanks,
Ron

 

In the WSM 575 p.52 it says measure longest side and

1. water/steering pump = 120-130Hz
2. a/c-alternator = 160-170Hz.

So is 550 the same?

It also says retension only twice !!! Yet I would think this should be done yearly and belts replaced every 5 years? That makes 4 retensions at least.

Thanks,
Ron

 

Ron,
Those were the numbers I used as well. The 575 numbers. Best you can extrapolate I guess unless you can translate "Staeger" to English.
Regards,
Pete

 

Ron- 550 uses all the same parts for the cam drives. There may be an early one or two that did not have the late pulley bracket, but most of them use the same one found on the 456M and 575M.

 

Pete,

Yes I saw the Staeger number of 120-124 in the WSM 550 for the alternator/compressor, I will try and find out what this means. My first guess is that it is a dimensionless measure of deflection, which is proportional to tension and, we know frequency is square root of tension.

The 575 values of 160-170Hz seem high to the "thumb feel" test and I dont want to ruin any bearings. I will probably be more conservative.

I have to query 170 Hertz on the long side for the alternator belt ? We only had 125Hz for the long side of shorter, stiffer timing belt. Doesnt seem right, alternator belt is longer and less stiff so frequency would be lower.
Thus I would expect a value of 100Hz for the alternator. And a bit lower for the steering/water pump.

Thanks,
Ron

PS some discussion here
http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/456-550-575/299377-staeger-tensiometer-rifledriver-2.html

 

Ron, I get 130 Hz on my 550 alternator.

 

Thanks Desark,
I will try that setting with my frequency meter and see how it feels,
Ron

 

Yep, 130Hz seems tight enough for the alternator belt, not sure I would want to go higher. Water pump belt say 110Hz would seem upper limit.

For consistent and repeatable readings:

Tip 1 - piece of shiny foil taped to middle of belt helps meter get a reading
Tip 2 - pluck fast and hard exactly in the middle
Tip 2 - turn engine over a few revs. to see if the tension changes after setting, it does, so it takes a few iterations to get consistent reading.

Safety - if your meter has a red laser output avoid eye contact, so switch off meter while adjusting belt.
Thanks,
Ron

 

Ron, what kind of meter are you using, a laser tach with a built in frequency counter?