Please Help - I Can"t Take Any More Of This!!

[Danspeed1]

Its been a year,... yes a year. Partially because I haven't been motivated to do this job, but the car has been laid up for a year and I need it more than ever to run NOW.

A year ago I started a timing belt job on my 1995 3.4L DOHC V6 Chevy Monte Carlo. Its been a huge pain in the a**. I pulled the belt off, pulled the intake manifold off, Using a flat piece of metal I made sure the cam flats were lined up on both banks. I also made sure that the crank pulley was lined up with the mark on the engine case, and that the pully above it was also lined up with its mark. I get the engine back together... turn it over. It turns over very hard. Finally I got it to kick over and run but only for about 5 seconds, and it sounds like all the plug wires are in the wrong cylinders. Runs very rough... and that just might be because i am not sure I have the firing order just right. But even when all the plug wires are off the plug, it just Barely turns over. Today I replaced the battery with a 760CA and still it turns over as if it was almost a dead battery.

Any advice or suggestions you could give me would be greatly appreciated.

Dan

[Danspeed1]

I was doing alot of reading on the subject,... I am totally confused.... hopefully I didn't damage anything if I didn't do this properly. This is a 1995 Monte, I see you need to remember the cam gears, but thats on the 91-93 models. Do all the cam flats get lined up facing the hood, or does the front bank closest to the bumper get set up top, and the other two cams in the back get set facing downwards??? I am really lost? If I did this wrong, whats the chances i bent valves?

DG

[Danspeed1]

Ok, I am pretty sure i need to rotate the cams 180 degrees... if anyone could answer the questions below, that would be a great help.

First off, did I bend the valves by trying to start the engine with both sets of cam flats facing up?

Why do I have to loosen the cam gears in order to make set the cams 180 degrees apart - I read the installation guide over and over again and I can't seem understand it?

Is it possible to correct this little error without removing the intake, powersteering, and rear valve cover?

If I just loosened the pulley, would I be able to turn the engine over with the belt on effectively spinning the cam gears but not turning the cams themselves? If this is possible i should be able to loosen one set of pullys, turn the engine over, somehow make sure the flats are lined up on the other side, and then tighten the bolts down again correct?

I can make the tools required but I don't have the time or $$ to order anything right now.

Hopefully someone can help me correct this mess!!!

[1988GTU]

Ok, I am pretty sure i need to rotate the cams 180 degrees... if anyone could answer the questions below, that would be a great help.

First off, did I bend the valves by trying to start the engine with both sets of cam flats facing up?

I do believe older ones are non-interference so you SHOULD be safe.

Why do I have to loosen the cam gears in order to make set the cams 180 degrees apart - I read the installation guide over and over again and I can't seem understand it?

Is it possible to correct this little error without removing the intake, powersteering, and rear valve cover?

So the belt doesn't loose tension and to keep belt aligned. It's a good idea GM did if I say so myself. I am going to say you're going to need to take off the power steering pump (Just unbolt it & swing it off to one side) and the UIM blocks it from coming up so that too will probably have to come off. I am unsure about the rear cam/valve cover.

If I just loosened the pulley, would I be able to turn the engine over with the belt on effectively spinning the cam gears but not turning the cams themselves? If this is possible i should be able to loosen one set of pullys, turn the engine over, somehow make sure the flats are lined up on the other side, and then tighten the bolts down again correct?

You probably could loosen all the cam cogs & then make a tool to hold all the cogs at one time and turn the harmonic balancer pulley, but by the time you made that tool you probably would be done doing it the proper way.

I can make the tools required but I don't have the time or $$ to order anything right now.

Hopefully someone can help me correct this mess!!!

[SappySE107]

You won't bend valves if both banks for flat up.

[Danspeed1]

As long as the vavles are not bent I will continue. I don't want to waste my time if the car is going to need a new motor.

As for the 180 degree spread amoung banks,.. I undertand that change will need to be made. What I don't understand is how to go about doing it. If someone could explain it in a little detail it would make it alot easier... explain it as if I was a child.

Currently... I will strip the engine back down,... get the intake manifold off, remove the valve covers, the timing belt covers, powersteering pump,... so the timing belt will be exposed. I will turn the engine over so all four cam flats are facing me (the hood) and the mark on the crank pulley will be aligned with the crank case, along with the pulley above (I think its called the balancer pulley, correct?) will all be lined up with its respective mark on the case.

Now what do I need to do to make these changes and get this thing running......

Dan

[SappySE107]

Remove the cam bolts and lock rings from the front bank. Put the bolts back in place without the lock rings and put a cam flat tool on the front bank. Rotate the crank 360 degrees. Reinstall the lock rings to the front cams. Reinstall everything else.

[Danspeed1]

Remove the cam bolts and lock rings from the front bank. Put the bolts back in place without the lock rings and put a cam flat tool on the front bank. Rotate the crank 360 degrees. Reinstall the lock rings to the front cams. Reinstall everything else.

So both the rear cylinder heads cam flats should be facing down, and the front cylinder heads cam flats should be facing up, Correct? The indicator on the balancer suggests the number one pistion is top dead center on the exhaust stroke. So it still calls for the front bank up and the rear bank down? I know I am asking what appears to be a repetative question but at this point I just want to make sure I am 100% correct.



DG

[SappySE107]

yes, that is correct.

[Danspeed1]

So today it appeared as though I was making some progress. Got everything perfectly lined up after a few hours of fighting with the belt. I put the tensioner back in and tighetned the two bolts down only to hear,... snap. The sould of cast metal cracking. So I pulled the tensioner back out and found that the cast piece that bolts to the block that holds the tensioner in had broke. Now I need one of those.... anyone got one or know where I could get one?

DG

[1988GTU]

PM BVE32K he recently did a 96 top end swap so all his 95 parts might be laying around.

[Danspeed1]

PM BVE32K he recently did a 96 top end swap so all his 95 parts might be laying around.

Thanks, I PM'd him,

Anybody else?

DG