All,

I installed a remanufactured 2.6l engine in my truck last December. It developed a noisy lifter shortly after install so I called and received the necessary parts. Tonight, I took off the valve cover to look at how hard it is to change a lifter..and found a few problems. I know HTML is disabled but I think you can cut/paste the following link to see the pictures:

http://digitalpics00.no-ip.org/~halatos/Engine%20photos/

The bolt backing out I can deal with. But the cracked bearing cap has me concerned. What is the opinion of some of the other folks here? Is this going to turn into a pull/replace head job?

Chris

The correct fix is a new head...

The cap cannot be replaced.

Kevin

That's what I figured. Have you done a R&R cylinder head on the 2.6? After reading the Haynes book it doesn't look like it would be too bad, pulling the exhaust is easy, getting the intake off is probably a bit more work. But dealing with the timing chain is what concerns me most. I don't want to pull the front cover if I don't have to. Any tips/tricks?

As an aside, I found three cam bolts loose. The one that was backed off and the same one on that cap; both not torqued correctly, and I found another one improperly torqued on the rear-most cap. Someone wasn't paying attention during the build-up of this engine. I reassembled it for now, if it throws the cracked cap off before I can get a new head for it so be it. The head is junk anyway now and possibly the cam too.

Chris

You don't have to pull the timing cover. I leave the manifolds on until the head is off. Make sure you have a little metal bracket/shelf under the cam sprocket, and that it's not bent down, before you take off the cam sprocket bolt, or the tensioner will pull the chain too far down to get the sprocket back on the cam. There's a fix, but not real easy. The head will lift off over the sprocket, gingerly. You have to be real careful with the head gasket sealing. I spend at least an hour scraping the block free of gasket and gunk. Put a smear of rtv on the timing cover/block joint over the timing cover gasket end, or you'll have a leaker there. Clean the block and head religiously with acetone to get an oil free surface. I put the mani's back on before I set the head on, and I really like to have two sets of hands setting the head back on the block. Make sure you put a smear of rtv on the upper/lower rear cam bearing mating surfaces. No gasket, and open to leak territory, and it will leak if you don't seal it. Same for the cup that seals the rear of the cam bore, and the semicircular rubber filler in the front half hole in the head. Torque it in three stages to 79ftlbs. Use the Starion turbo head gasket from an 88-89 model. Felpro has it. Number is like PT9312, or close to that. The 8000 series number is the n/a gasket. Ok, but not as good as the turbo gasket.

Follow this and you'll be fine, Felpro part # is 9116PT and I think the N/A gasket is 8116PT.

Okay, I need a little clarification. I have seen pictures of a wedge-shaped tool that looks like it would slide down between the chain guides and keep the chain from jumping. Is what you are referring to here a home-made version of that tool? Do you have a picture?

Also, I got my 'new' cylinder head from the remanufacturer tonight. To be honest, I'm not sure it is worth installing. It came with a 20 thou copper gasket to make up for the excessive deck cut done to the casting. Two lifters have the jet valve lever cut off, the other two do not. I have two kinds of intake valves. The inside of the cam is rusty. But the clincher is the crack between the jet valve and the valve seat. See the pics below:

http://digitalpics00.no-ip.org/~halatos/NewCylHead

I guess my question at this point is, is it even worth installing this...apparent piece of crap on my engine? My initial reaction after seeing the crack is to send it back and get another.

Chris

i dont know where you got that but i would not install that.

I've made two of them. The first was a 1/2" dowel with the end sawed to a chisel point. The second was a 5/8" steel rod with a chisel point ground on the end. You go between the two sides of the chain, and get between the two chain sides at the tensioner, and drive the tool down to force the tensioner back in and get the needed chain slack. Use a long taper on the chisel point. Mine was about 1.5" long. The wooden tool was better for peace of mind about the chain integrity after you drive it home. Both worked ok. You need a smooth finish on the chisel point or it tends to catch on the chain.

Send that motor back. Fools have worked on it, and cursed it for all time...

Does anyone find it funny that he asked Kevin C if he has done a R&R on a 2.6 head <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/lol.gif" alt="" />

No way i would intall that head, it's just asking for trouble. If you think your bottom end is ok order a new casting non-jet valve head from Clearwater Heads, in Clearwater Florida.

Use a zip tie to keep the chain tight on the sproket. Looks like this