kstokell

I have just re-fitted my cylinder head after replacing my shortblock and have run into a problem.

Living in the Netherlands I'm unable to find the bolt I need to compress the bottom of the timing chain auto tensioner.

I'm unable to find a bolt with the correct thread. Can anyone who has done this job, please put one of these bolts in an envelope and post it to me?

If you also have the SET PIN as well it would be really helpful. The parts I'm talking about are illustrated on page 6-24 of the Honda CDROM manual.

One other question, the torque setting for the head bolts is 22 lbf/ft, which does not seem much, however the manual then says tighten 2 xi 90 degrees.

Does this mean a further 180 degrees after reaching 22lbf/ft ?

If any one can help please let me know as I really need to get my car back on the road before the summer is over!

PM me for my postal address!

Thanks
Kevin

yogi

Kevin, I'm sure you guys have 5 x 0.8 mm bolts there. If you've looked around though, PM me your address, I'll send ya a few (hopefully shipping isn't insane). You need the bolt and a nut to hold the tensioner piston in place. For the set pin, just find some stiff solid core wire, strip the insulation, and bend a piece into shape, making sure that the wire will fit through the tiny hole in the tensioner. No point getting the actual 'tool' since it's nothing more than a bent stick of metal.

yogi

Did you get new head bolts, or are you using the same ones? From what I remember the manual says go two steps of 90 degrees @ 22 lbft. To me that means once you're at 22 lb ft, tighten half a turn more. That's what I did and everythings been fine so far. If you are using new head bolts, I believe it says three steps of 90 degrees at the same torque rating. Make sure you use a beam type torque wrench, as they are generally more accurate than the click types. Don't forget to oil the threads too. If they make any noise going in, back 'em out a bit, and then retighten. Good luck.

kstokell

Yogi,

Thanks for the help. I really have looked around and cannot get hold of this bolt.

I'll PM you my address.

The head bolts are used, so I think as you say the 180 degrees is extra once you've reached the torque recommendations so I'll go with that. Unfortunately I only have the click type wrench so it will have to do.

I thought I could use a paper clip or something similar for the retaining pin.

Thanks again.

Kevin

yogi

Yea, paper clip should work fine, use the jumbo kind. Make sure it's in there good and doesn't break off inside.

I only had a click type as well, but was kinda scared to use that for my head bolts. I use the clickers everywhere else except when it comes to putting things into aluminum. If you can, grab a beam type, even the cheap ones are more accurate than most of the clickers. Of course, if your clicker is pretty new, I wouldn't worry about it since it's probably still within spec.

kstokell

It's only a few months old and hasn't seen to much action yet so I reckon it'll be OK.

One other thing I did not quite understand from the manual that you might know is, why is it necessary to lign-up the colored parts of the timing chain with the mark on the cam shaft driver wheel?

I mean it's a continuos chain why should it matter how far round the wheel it sits as long as the cam shaft marks align correctly at TDC on the crankshaft?

Is it possible its got something to do with the position of the oil pump chain? That's the only thing I can think of.

Kevin

yogi

You're exactly right, it doesn't matter. In fact mine was perfectly upside down, the marker that's supposed to be on the lower end was on top. Just make sure you pull the tension out of the chain before you put it on, the loose side should be the exhaust side. Let me know if you have any other questions.

Turtle

It's important to line up the marked sections of the timing chain with the pulleys in order to set the timing. IIRC, it's two black links straddling the idler pulley mark, plus one black link for the crank.

You've then got the right number of links between the idler pulley and the crank pulley on the tense side of the chain. If you don't match the link marks, you could have slop in the chain. So it's doable without using the marks, but worthwhile using them.

To line up the black link at the crank end, I used a mirror to see while looking down from the front of the car.

-Brian.

honda9krpm

and put the crank shaft in TDC position

just jam a bolt in there kevin, my friend did it for me without the correct bolt

fperra

Heres how to bolt down the head. First you torque all the bolts to 22 ft-lbs in the sequence specified in the manual. Then you turn each bolt 90 degrees in the same sequence as before. Then you turn them another 90 degrees in the same sequence. Thats it for used bolts. With new bolts, you do one more 90 degree turn.