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Hey guys I have a 1988 2wd Ram 50 with a 2.0L 4 cylinder. I inherited it from my father, well the camshaft and crankshaft turn independently. I have seen people discuss a head swap to save future headaches and gain a little bit of power by doing so? Any advice before I tear into it to find the break?
[QUOTE=88dodgeram50;74834]Hey guys I have a 1988 2wd Ram 50 with a 2.0L 4 cylinder. I inherited it from my father, well the camshaft and crankshaft turn independently. I have seen people discuss a head swap to save future headaches and gain a little bit of power by doing so? Any advice before I tear into it to find the break?[/QUOTE
I have began to go through the truck to get it running a few months ago. My dad let it sit since 2008, Whilst changing plugs, wires, and other things that it would need after sitting I noticed the distributor wasn’t turning, so while I was replacing that I noticed the camshaft wouldn’t rotate completely while turning the crank shaft. It would partially engage and then disengage. I don’t want to chase parts due to it sitting so long. 2.0 cylinder heads are hard to find rebuilt, I have seen info on the 2.4 cylinder swap. Any advice would be great.
Check the timing belt - watch what the cam gear and valve train are doing while trying to rotate it over. The worse thing that should happen to these heads are a blown belt - they are a non interference engine which means the valves are safe if the belt blows (they can strip teeth and appear to be functioning normally at first glance) A belt swap on these engines is something a noob mechanic can tackle with some online guidance/reference. If you have catastrophic damage to the head I'd swap a 4G64 head onto it and add an electric fuel pump. This will eliminate the jet valves. New heads are available for the G63B engine and they're pretty much all from one or 2 sources. Any other head swap will take a lot of thought. 4G63 twin cam is designed for EFI and has a CAS on the head to run the ignition system. The intakes and exhaust manifolds are completely different to the single cam head and will need to be added to the retrofit. Not a straight forward job but can be done. Beyond that, you have 4G63 engine swaps and you will need all ancillaries and engine management to run it (not a job for the uninitiated...)
*addendum - the 4G64 engine will not mount to the G63B optioned transmission. The 4G64 is a wide block, G63B is narrow.
Quote:
Originally Posted by geezer101
Thank you Weezer, you are correct in that the timing belt will look fine at first glance. It was stripped around the crankshaft, when I was able to get the belt turning the camshaft and rotor were turning until the belt made its way around to the crankshaft again. I will order the belt and keep you posted. I am so relieved to find out this can be an inexpensive fix.
Also should I change the tensioner pulley and water pump to be safe? I’m considering replacing the water pump since it sat so long.
Weezer lol - I'm asthmatic now as well as older-ish :lmao:If you're doing a timing belt, use a complete kit. There will be the main timing belt, the secondary balance shaft belt and the timing belt tensioner. If it's apart, I'd definitely do a water pump replacement as well. The hardest part of the belt install is cracking the main pulley bolt - everything else is pretty much a cake walk.
*The cheats way of undoing it is putting a socket on the main pulley bolt with a breaker bar, getting a piece of hollow steel pipe and slipping it over the breaker bar handle and resting it on a frame rail (remember this thing has to rotate CLOCKWISE, so it either has to rest on the top of the drivers side of the frame rail or the underside of the passenger side of the frame rail or this will end badly) Take off the main coil lead and give the ignition switch a quick crank and it'll undo itself. Otherwise this can be a long and frustrating process to get this biatch off...
I am going to start off by apologizing for the name mixup. I don’t know how I saw Weezer. Thank you Geezer for all the advice. I see you have been active on a lot of the threads here, I will be ordering parts and keeping you guys updated. I will keep that trick in mind when I begin the tear down. The biggest issue i am seeing is how can I be assured that I’m at TDC now since my belt is stripped? Will making sure the first rockers are free be enough? I’m going to see what I can find in the repair manual.Quote:
Originally Posted by geezer101
LOL all good :thumbup: There is a alignment marker on the cam gear (a small arrow/dimple) and a TDC marker on the left side of the head casting @ approx 9 o'clock of the cam gear (it's a lump/ridge deliberately cast into the inside face of the cam gear housing - that is the timing alignment mark you're aiming for) If you haven't removed the distributor - DON'T. Getting the distributor back in #1 firing order for the uninitiated is tricky. There is a thread for setting up belt timing (G63B/4G64) and it's pretty easy to follow. The head you have is hydraulic so at least you won't have to adjust the valve lash manually. Good luck. If you get stuck and you're lost on the manual, ask questions and take pics (pics always help)
Here is the most recent post showing the timing alignment marks on the G63B cam -
http://www.mightyram50.net/vbulletin...ll=1#post74707
Courtesy of 85Ram50 :hi:
I've got a 90 with the 2.4. I have had to do and redo mine like 5 times in the past 2 months cause I'm an idiot lol. Long story short it was running great till I noticed oil leak and dropped my oil pan. But I learned something. Don't put long bolts in the front of the oil pan. Cause you will be like me and be replacing the timing belt cause you cut it with a bolt. But the balance shaft has the normal timing marks at like 9 o'clock I think. I've only done that one once. The big belt for the cam. Cam mark is at 9 o'clock. But It's not a mark. It's the seam where 2 parts bolt together. You can't miss it. The oil pump has a v in the gear and a v or a notch behind it at about 10-11 o'clock. The crank has a v in the gear and a notch behind it at about 10-11 o'clock also. The disy if you do pull it, after you have the #1 at TDC, mark the disy where #1 is on the cap, and turn the rotor to about the #4 and put it in. If the rotor dont line up exactly try again. It don't have to be perfect but close that way you still have all your travel when setting the time. And make sure you ground the plug in the engine bay so it's not trying to advance or retard itself when you are trying to time it. Also I have a extra disy and ign coil and a 2.4 head. But if it's not spinning when disconnected from the crank, take it completely out and look at the head under it. Mine was chewed all to hell. Like something got in it or on the cam and ate chunks out of it. Luckily I had an extra cam that came with my head. But they make a bearing kit for em for like $80 but I think you have to have the head machined to gain clearance for it. But I'm not positive.
And to get #1 TDC it don't matter. Pull the #1 plug and get a flash light and start rotating the crank. When it comes up to the top. Watch close. Very close. When it starts to go back down, back up a little. At the top is TDC. Now you gotta worry about the balance shaft. Check the distributor if you haven't messed with it yet. Is it at the #1 firing position or #3? If 3 then you have it 180 out. Rotate the crank and watch the piston once more. Or watch the valves. After both valves close on #1 and the cylinder is coming up that's the stroke you need to be on.
Thank you for all the support guys. I’m working on it today, I got all parts in minus the water pump ( it’s on a delay). I’m going to cross my fingers that it at least starts after all this. If I need to change the pump, I’ll have it and extra practice couldn’t hurt. It mostly boils down to me not wanting to wait another week for the pump. Impatience may be my downfall.
Good luck, be patient and check everything once you feel like you have got it set up right :thumbup:
Okay so after the water pump came and was the wrong one I got it all figured out she got buttoned up and started up and idled for the first time in 12 years. I am excited to get her on the road. Thank you Geezer for your advice. I will keep posting as I begin my Ram journey.
Nice :thumbup:
I was getting some decent fun out of her until I couldn’t figure out why I was only able to drive her for a few miles before she would act like she was losing power and die. The fuel tank had a nice lining of rust that started to get broken down by the fuel. I removed it cleaned the ever living hell out of it and I was directed to a product called red kote to use to seal the tank after I was able to get 95% of the rust out. It’s curing as we speak. It’s a shame these tanks are so hard to find. I hope this stuff works I’ve seen good reviews on it.
Be sure to change the filter while you’re there. The 88 should not be hard to find a tank for. Many times a radiator shop can fix them
I buttoned her up after treating the tank with Red Kote she had a hard time staying going, I had a mechanic come over and he determined I was just off on my distributor timing. She seems to be doing really good now. We took her around the block, and she did great. I really hope this does it. In excited to finally get this girl on the road, my dad let this poor truck sit for a decade. It’s nice to see her running again.
I’ve changed the filter again I have a half a dozen of them, I searched only for a fuel tank I was only able to find them for the pre-85’s, I kept being directed to junk yards and I get I was take the same chance there as far as tank condition. I am just excited this truck is able to enjoy the road again. She was such a workhorse back in the day.Quote:
Originally Posted by camoit