? doing timing gears now on a 97 what is TDC.

[schiker]

Ok, I'm down to pulling the HB and front cover but am I at TDC or BDC?

I am trying to follow the directions written by Scott Boelman on THEDIESELPAGE - "Phaser Dual-Idler 6.5L Gear Drive Timing Set" . I was a member for a while and feel its ok and seems to be accessible from the open web.

Are these ok directions to be following? So far so good except when I removed my steering pump/ bracketry it takes away the timing tab. So I approximated and used a plumb line to get dots at center line of IP/Cam/Crank.

Seems to be going ok. I'm at this step now but I need to rotate the crank another turn to get IP gear at top (and should align the cam gear dot with crank gear dot).

11. Remove injection pump driven gear from IP. Prior to removal make sure the dot on the injector pump gear is at 12:00. If not rotate the harmonic balancer CW 1 full turn. This will place the dot on the IP driven gear at 12:00.

There seems to be a slight difference.

In his directions, there is a picture of his IP flange and there is an ink dot at 12 and the drive /align pin is at 6 O'clock while I think he is at TDC.

Rotating to get my IP gear dot to 12:00 I don't have a dot on my IP mounting flange (where the gear mounts). Did they move the pin to this dot location instead of the dot? If I follow his directions my drive pin will be at 12:00 for TDC and not at 6Oclock like his picture.

Is That ok and difference in years?

In my picture HS-IP-pin I am zoomed in to my cam gear/IP gear. It has the drive pin at 6:00 when I rotate it will be at 12:00.

 

[schiker]

@Twisted Steel Performance

Thanks, Chris. He must have seen this post and texted me he was off and offered to help me with this if I called him.

He suggested finding TDC by taking out #1 glow plug then when rotating up To TDC you will fill pressure build on your finger. Yes, that would work but at this point, I was disassembled pretty far and no timing tab. But I knew I was close

It is hard to get the timing gears off if you are at or very near TDC as the dots line up on the timing gears and being off a tooth is obvious. The crank and cam being keyed/pinned you can't screw it up. The gears being straight cut the timing marks and key all line-up. I had to rotate just a bit to get them on they are precise.

Well, I wasn't perfect at TDC after getting off HB and reinstalling new one and only started really close not dead nuts. So I used a plumb bob string to pass through the centerline of the engine (also checked with a straight edge) and got the timekeeper timing gear dots perfectly at 12:00 on crank gear and 6:00 on cam gear.

Being pinned the IP driving gear (one on cam) will only go on one way. Same with IP. Unfortunately, the marks are misaligned at TDC. The IP at 12:00 and Cam at 6:00.

All the gears only go on one way but IP gears being helical cut I can see maybe getting off a tooth if something moved a bit and the reference dots being 1 rotation out. So being a tad nervous my first time I ink marked both gears at 180 degrees from factory dots on the IP and Cam injection gears. Then when I slipped on the helical cut gears the marks lined up and was good to go. Its not that hard I just didn't have a whole lot of confidence my first time.

Lastly, I rotated the engine and double checked the factory dot marks on the IP driven gear (one on IP) and driving gear (one on cam) were lined up and they were.

Personally and don't think Chris likes it either that they want you to roatate the engine crank independant of the IP during assembly it just seems odd following the directions.

The truck cranked up and runs smoothly so it is done.

 

[WarWagon]

Nothing wrong with doing it that way. However I suggest KISS and do the chain replacement drive gears first. First you line up the chain timing marks before pulling the chain off. (For the backyard mechanic just the old chain timing marks lining up is close enough. If you are interested you can verify the IP was in time with the engine and this may save trouble later if you picked up a non-runner. It's just a min on the ratchet spinning the engine by hand to check.)

DO NOT TURN THE ENGINE CRANK WITHOUT THE CAM ALSO TURNING! You will hit a valve if both the crank and cam are not turning at the same time, in time.

Then, with the replacement gear drive in place, spin the engine over and time the IP gears. You are putting the engine together and should have the damper (and other parts) in place with crank bolt to spin the engine over.

The electronic IP's may need a TDC offset relearn. DB2's if they were timed as the chain stretched it will be advanced with a new timing set.

As you noted the crank/cam keys are in the same location for the gears to "time" as they are for the inadequate chain drive.

The real PAIN is checking the .005 to .060" clearance to the block from the idler axles. It's said axles always in contact with the front cover. DO NOT TRAP THEM!

The .005 to .070" up and down free movement of the reverse idler can be done with the front cover out of the way.