348 engine out major

Now if you remember my first post I mentioned the second reason I HAD to remove the engine was because the water pump failed.

What happened was I was driving on the freeway and the coolant temp started acting weird. It would go over 200ºF then drop back down to 180ºF, the run fine at 190ºF. Up, down, up, down then all of a sudden it got to 200º, 210º 220º, 230º and KEPT CLIMING 240º!!! So I shut it down, coasted off the freeway, and called for the flat bed town truck.

So what was the cause?

 

Open up the two halves of the pump and, AAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!

The impeller had DESTROYED ITSELF!!!!!
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The impeller was DESTROYED!

Just look at it!

It busted in half, and a fingernail's width from breaking into three pieces.
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It even burned up the mounting hole in the center of the impeller, and bent up the "retaining" washer on the shaft.
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Leave it to Ferrari to use a plastic impeller in a part that will see many, Many, MANY heat cycles.

I have no doubt that this was the original water pump that left the factory. I didn't change it the last time I did the major because it still felt fine, and I have no evidence that it had ever been changed by the previous owner. So even though the bearing felt ok last time, the material the impeller is made out of was NOT up to the task of running for…….. 24 YEARS. .

One more reason I will NOT be pushing the belt change to 9.5 years again. I DO NOT trust the plastic impeller.

Oh and for those of you think "well shhyeaha, it was 24 years old", couple of years ago my son and I rebuild the engine in my old 1990 Integra, and guess what the water pump did NOT look as bad as this one did, AND it had over 320,000+ miles on it, miles not kilometers, MILES on it, and also used a timing belt. My Expedition has 356,000+ mile on it and STILL on the OG water pump, and it is 17 years old.

 

Let me try and take this pump apart.

First I'll bend down the washer tab against the retaining nut.
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For a bit of leverage I stuck an allen wrench inside one of the holes on in the pulley. With the pulley held still I was able to put a wrench on the nut and get it loose for removal.
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here is a shot of the adapter, washer, and retaining washer off of the impeller shaft.
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To get the pulley off the pump you will need to remove the retaining screw located under neither the pulley, on the shaft housing.
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So easy, stick a big old flat screw into the hole and unscrew it, right?

WRONG!

The screw is made out of brass. It wasn't budging and I started to put a lot of force on it, when SNAP, one of the ears broke off.

SON OF A BISCUIT!
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Well rats. I'll just remove the o-ring from the back of the pump, and move on to other things.

I used a pick to get the old o-ring out, being careful not to scratch the o-ring groove.

It was pretty hard, and flat from the years of being in there.
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Ok now what can I do?

I'll bust loose the oil filter.

I needed an oil wrench for this one. Didn't realize I screwed it on so tight last oil, change.
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Problem for me is Dick is retired, and why I had to buy a new pump.

 

Think it's time to check the valve lash, and adjust any that are out of spec.

Now That I think of it, it would be better to check the valve lash before the old timing belt gets removed. It was just in a hurry to get that belt off and have a look at the water pump. Oh well, live and learn. I'll check the gaps before I remove the belt next time.

First thing I did was to turn the lobes, of the valve I was checking, 180º away from the cam follower/shim. I don't want any interference from the lobe ramps giving me an inaccurate reading. Used a ratted on the pulley bolt to turn the cam.

Oh yeah, and before I did this I had to turn the crank 90º so that there would be no piston to valve contact. So much for finding top dead center easier. One more reason to do this before the old belt gets removed.
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I like to use feeler gauges that are curved. I makes it easier for checking the valve lash.
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The specs I followed are:

.20mm - .25mm gap for the intake,
.30mm - .35mm for the exhaust cams.

It these pics I will be checking the intake cam gaps.

What I like to do is get a feeler gauge that is just out side the upper spec and see if I can slide it between the cam and the shim.

For example, I would pick a feeler that is .27mm and see if it will fit. If it doesn't fit, which is a good thing because that would mean the valve lash is too loose, but if it doesn't fit I move to the next smallest feeler gauge. I do this until I get to the feeler that will slide in-between the cam and the follower with just a LITTLE BIT of drag to it. I do not want the feeler sliding way easy, I want to feel some drag to it.

I like to place the feeler in between the lobes, and then slide it sideways under the cam. I don't force the feeler in. It either slides in with some drag, or it doesn't. No forcing needed.

Here you can see the valve lash is .229mm right smack in the middle of the specs (.20 - .25mm). So that valve is good to go. Now all I have are 31 more valves to check, double check, and triple check.
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I made a chart so I could record the the specs of each valve I measured. I made three boxes for each valve, and organized the chart to sort of represent the engine. Inside rows for the intake, outside rows for the exhaust, and numbered to represent the cylinder order.

The first box is for the initial lash reading.
The next box I use when I measure the shim/follower with a micrometer.
The last box is for the final measurement once I have made the any adjustments.

I also wrote down the specs on the chatter, for easy reference.

After measuring all the valve lashes, I found that all my intake valves were within spec. YIPPY! (I did a pretty good job the last time I had the engine out. Pats himself on the back. thank you, thank you, thank you very much. ) But I had 4 exhaust valves on the 1/4 bank that were just a hair too tight. (D'oh! looks for the tinfoil hat. LOL )
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I'm gonna get these cams off so I can mic the shims.

First up, remove all the nuts holding the cam caps to the head.

Pay careful attention to how the caps are positioned on the head. They are sequentially numbered, and some are positioned right side up, while others are positioned upside down. They will need to be placed back on the same way they came off, because that is how they got machined when the engine was originally built. If they get put on incorrectly you will run the risk of causing the cam/s to seize while the engine is running = a ruined engine.
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To get them cam caps to pop off all I do is, rotate the cam to get the lobs to press on the shims. I have found this is an easy way to get the caps off.
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Will all the cam caps removed, set aside in order, AND how they came off the head , I removed the cams.

Once I have them off I side the front cam seals off the cam, and set them aside. Then I sat the cam on the pulley standing straight up.

OH, OH, OH, before I forget!

Be SURE to write down the numbers on the cams and where they came from. The 1/4 intake cam is pretty easy to remember because it has the phonic wheel for the faze sensor, and is longer that the 5/8 intake cam. But the exhaust cams are not so easy to tell the difference. So MAKE SURE you record what bank the intake, and exhaust cams came off.
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Before I check the valve shims I decided to change the cam seals.

Using a pick, and being CAREFUL NOT to scratch the aluminum, I removed the o-ring from the cam seal housings.
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Here is where I totally Stooge removing the cam seals.

I use a pair of vice grips, grad a hold of the inner race of the seal, and tear it out of the housing, using the outer lip as a fulcrum point. I know, it is a bit caveman of me, and I'm sure there is a better way of doing it. But this I how I did it.
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I couldn't find the name of the manufacture on the new seals, so here is what is on them.

50 x 65 x 8
gg
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