2010 DIY head gasket repair help in Madison, WI

Good question; I've thought that myself. Maybe besides driving belts it's mass is needed?

How about this: considering the lack of belts, could the torque spec for the bolt be drastically lower?

I get the feeling part of the answer is: the less you change, the less you need to chase down the possible ramifications.

 

I'm very green at this, but I believe you should crank the engine over (socket and wrench on the bolt at end of crank shaft, until you do get the alignment right. It can take 2 or 3 go 'rounds of the chain. Then, lock the cams, with bits of shop towel pinched in the cam journals. For more info watch the videos:

New head gasket replacement video from Gasket Masters | PriusChat

 

The links/chain don't always line up after the engine have been turning.
It looks like the one on the right in the photo, is off one tooth.
When you put it back together, just make sure all the marks and chain line up correctly.
Then turn the engine over by hand twice(720 degrees) The timing marks SHOULD like up
when it is at tdc. Don't worry about the chain.
Are the timing marks on the sprockets and crank where they are suppose to be?

 

The fuel rail is under high pressure. If you release it at the connection, wrap a rag around
it so it doesn't spray in your face.

Those colored links are used for ease of alignment when installing. As you rotate the engine, they will be
in different spots when you line up the marks. It doesn't mean the chain has slipped, or stretched.

The important thing is to make sure the crank is at tdc, and the camshafts are on their marks when you install
the chain. Then you place the colored links on the marks. The cams will rotate because of the lobs on
the valves. So you have to rotate them to get the chain on. That's what the colored links are for.
So when you have it on correctly, and put the tension in and release it. Everything should be in the correct position.
Then you turn the crank clockwise as you are looking at it twice, 720 degrees. All the timing marks SHOULD
be in the correct position. The colored links may or may not be. But it doesn't matter.

 

I pretty much use brake clean for everything when I replaced head gasket on my fix upper, but I also used throttle body and intake cleaner after I have ran out of brake clean and it seems to do a much better job cleaning the gunk off...

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I use an empty spray bottle, one part liquid Mr. Clean, 2 parts water. Spray, and rinse. I do that only when I encounter a car who's engine has never been cleaned. Afterwards, every 2 months, Mist spray (gently cycle) at the local do it yourself car wash.

 

Cover the pistons. Then spray gunk, the flammable version, scrub any built up grease or grim.
Let it soak 5-10 minutes, then hose off.

 

Because the valves/springs will push on the lobs, it rotates the camshaft.
So you have to rotate the camshaft into the correct position, hold it there, then install the chain.
3 hands usually works. 4 is better. But you can do it by yourself. Just go slow, and be patient.
You'll probably have to do it for both of them.
When you get the chain lined up with the sprockets, check the crank sprocket.
Make sure everything is lined up, then press the chain in where the tensioner goes.
Then make sure everything is where it is suppose to be.
Then install the tensioner. Then rotate the engine 720 degrees, two complete rotations.
Everything should line up, again. If I am understanding others that have done it.

You should not have much resistance (no spark plugs yet).

 

No; they were on the marks when installed. Because the tooth count of the sprockets does not divide exactly into the link count of the chain, they won't always be on the marks every time you look. If you crank the engine around to see those marks come back around the right number of times, they will be on the marks again.

We did the math for the 1NZ engine a year ago (used in Gen 1 and Gen 2 cars, and the c) and in that engine, it works out that the colored links will be on the marks every ninth time you see them. (So if the engine just turned off in some random position, on average you won't have to bring them around again quite five times to see them aligned.)

I haven't seen anybody work it out for real for the 2ZR engine yet, but you could, either by counting the chain links so we can do the math, or just by cranking the engine around enough times to see the colored links line up once, and then count how many times you see them again before the next time they line up.

When assembling, you must be precise. ASRDogman gave a good procedure in #26.

 

The gasket masters trick, at the outset is to rotate the crankshaft until the marks and painted links do match up, then remove one of the cam journals, lay a 3 layer strip of shop towel atop the cam bearing, and reinstall the journal, torqued down enough to firmly lock the cam shafts from rotating.

At this juncture I'm not sure how you reverse engineer that, not enough brain cells. But it must be doable.

The attachment might help:

 

I did mean the timing marks, not the colored links. I should have explained better.
Which I did earlier.

 

I think they're removing a cam bearing. Removing a cam journal sounds fatal (not to you, but to the cam)....

 

Probably the "camshaft bearing cap." Sounds like it should work. When I need to keep a chain in the right spot on a sprocket, I try to use zip ties if there is a hole in the sprocket. Also liberal use of white-out to mark alignment of everything before disassembly helps. I might use all 3 of these methods, in addition to cycling enough times to get the colored links in place, when I eventually need to do this job.

 

The gasket master videos explain?

New head gasket replacement video from Gasket Masters | PriusChat