More of a RE-build Thread

[blindeyed]

Well it turns out my guess was correct. Balance shaft belt snapped off.. and the tensioner ended up completely separating off, from its base. Crazy stuff.

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Ordered a new balance shaft and timing belt, along with a new tensioner for both too. There goes $115 more dollars I didn't have to spend. I'm a little optimistic as far as the valves being okay though, I think this was the only problem.. at least, I'm really hoping so.

[DroppedMitsu]

That damn balance shaft belts/tensioners, hopefully no valves or anything are bent and that is it. When I bought the eclipse that I used for the 4g63, I had been driven in it by the guy that I bought it from and also drove a few people in it before I pulled the motor. Well turns out when I pull the motor I take off the timing cover there is a broken balance shaft belt. Luckily it somehow did not get caught on the timing belt or any of its components and broke it and bent my valves, I would have been one pissed off SOB lol. Well sorry for the rant anyways hope you can get it going without too many troubles

[blindeyed]

Luckily you got off easy man lol.

It explains why when I was driving it, it felt as if a load had suddenly been put on the engine, as if an a/c compressor kicked on. I'm guessing the balance shaft belt broke, getting caught up into the timing belt. Just not sure how the timing tensioner snapped off the way it did.. very weird. That's what I get for not doing preventative maintenance on it and taking care of these when I was replacing my water pump. The truck has 160k miles on it and odds are the belts have never been changed. Lesson learned.

[Stunner]

I also replaced both tensioners on mine when replacing the water pump and belts. The bearings in both tensioners sounded rough while spinning them, so I decided to nip that in the bud right then. Still had to take it all back off again, since my dumb ass had the balance shaft off half a turn.

Anyway, I hope this gets yours up and running again, with no hidden "surprises", such as any bent valves.

[crvtec90]

From the pics I can see it looks like the bolt that holds the balance shaft gear is beat up as well. Since you are already spending money....might as well get all the seals. Cam, Crank, and both balance shaft seals. All that oil down there came from somewhere.....most likely from the shaft seals which have never been replaced. If the seals continue leaking, they will ruin the new belts. Then again, might as well just install the belts for now and make sure you did not bend valves. The service info I have on this motor warns not to turn the cam or crank with the belt off, this would indicate that it is an interferance engine, yet I have seen quite a few instances where the valves went untouched. Various circumstances control this such as rpm at the time of failure or how far the belt jumped timing.

[blindeyed]

Good news! This motor is not an interference engine! I confirmed this by turning both the crank and camshaft, one at a time. The valves never touched the piston. Got the new belts and tensioners on, and she fired right up. Couple pics for your entertainment..

All put back together:
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Another pic of the timing tensioner for shits and giggles:
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Unfortunately, she shakes like a washing machine on spin cycle

I'm thinking it might be because of the oil pump sprocket.. am I correct in thinking that there's a balance shaft behind it too? I was pretty sure there was 2, but not sure. I spent alot of time on the other side that has the balance shaft belt. I aligned the oil pump sprocket with its timing mark.. But that was it. Didn't think I really needed to do the next step.

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I'm going to try to play with it more tomorrow, so in the mean time, can anyone tell me where exactly this bolt is? I looked on the drivers side of the engine and saw what I thought to be it back towards the starter. Just want to make sure that's it. A little confused about this part too.. I'm supposed to rotate the sprocket until I can fit the screw driver all the way in.. well, are the timing marks supposed to be aligned then too? What if they're not? Does the balance shaft only turn one full rotation when the sprocket is turned twice? That's the only logical thing I can think of..

Thanks for all the help so far guys!

From the pics I can see it looks like the bolt that holds the balance shaft gear is beat up as well.

Turns out that was just a random piece of silicone that was on the edge of the bolt. Probably from when I did the water pump. You can kind of see in the new pic, the head of the bolt looks fine.

[blindeyed]

Alright, well to answer my own question.. yes, there is a bolt back by the starter on the block. That is the access hole to the determine if the balance shaft is aligned properly. Skipping this step will only cause you headaches.

After doing that, I got everything aligned up properly, and started her up. She still ran like crap.. then I realized I had #2 and #3 spark plug wires crossed. Swapped those around, and all is well! She purrs once again. Next project is to swap out the front struts. Won't be getting around to that until next week probably, so if any of you have some tips or tricks for those I'd appreciate the advice.

[DroppedMitsu]

Yup, theres definitely a balance shaft back there. glad you got it figured out and running well again

[pennyman1]

Are you talking strut rods and bushings, or front shocks? Both should be easy unless really rusty

[blindeyed]

Sorry, was referring to the front shocks. All I can afford to do for now. Figure each week I'll try to tackle something new on the front end. I know it's all in bad shape.

[Stunner]

Glad you got it up and running.

This is the first I've heard about there being a hole on the block used to line up the balance shaft. It would have come in handy back when I did mine. At least I know now.

[pennyman1]

2.6 motors have the same procedure for checking the silent shaft.

[Stunner]

My dad knew about the procedure for lining up the balance shaft, yet forgot to let me in on this little kernel of knowledge. He just assumed I had everything lined up right, and I assumed the same thing. Heck, it looked right, but we should have known better than to just make assumptions, instead of actually checking to make sure everything was lined up properly. It won't happen again.

[blindeyed]

As you guys can tell, this has been a relatively slow rebuild process for me. Only have 2 days off a week that I can work on it, and sometimes I"m really just not up for it. Current operation: Replacing worn out suspension components. This includes the lower ball joints, lower control arm bushings, idler arm bushings, and strut rod bushings. Recently added to this list is the wheel bearings, and tie rod end boots. Will probably be adding more as more is discovered, or if there are any other things (not horribly expensive ) that you guys might recommend to go ahead and nip in the but while I'm at this.

Made some progress today though. Was able to finally get the lower control arm free, after much time spent beating the bejesus out of the lower ball joint. I ended up placing the jack underneath the lower control arm (which I should had had their to begin with anyway! duh!). That in turn relieved the stress being put on the ball joint by the spring, and a few taps the joint fell right out. Would have used a spring compressor for this, but no auto part store carried one that would work.. So I had to wing it.

So then I was able to get the lower control arm bushings replaced, after the old ones literally crumbled out. Then I got the lower ball joint replaced. After that I had to figure out how to get the spring back in its place. That turned out to be the easiest part surprisingly. I set it back on top of the LCA, and used my floor jack to lift it up. At this point the truck also started lifting with it. I've been told I'd probably need someone to sit on the hood to help weigh it down. Turns out I got lucky and didn't need to. I just kept lifting and eventually it compressed the spring enough and the top bolt of the ball joint slid right into the knuckle. Threw the nut on, and lowered her back down.. easy peazy.

All I have left to do on that side is the idler arm and strut rod bushings, then replace the wheel bearings as I discovered they are making a faint grinding sound. Then I get to do it all over again on the other side!! If anyone is interested in a write up of this process, along with some pictures, let me know. I'd have no problem at all doing that. I know the Haynes manuals only help so much before you need some first hand, non-generic guidance.

[blindeyed]

Just a slight update. Thanks to crvtec90's amazing alignment skills.. my truck is back on the road! Have been driving it for a couple weeks now. It's averaging 25 mpg right now, and that was with the check engine light on reporting a bad o2 sensor. Swapped that out, and got that fixed. Hoping to see a good increase in that. Also, not sure if I ever posted about it, but a while back I got the bright idea to stuff a small shop towel in the intake, just before the MAF sensor to help block some of the air going through the sides that the sensor doesn't read. At the time, the engine was barely idling, so this was my solution to richen it up. Surprisingly, it worked out quite well. Today, I took that towel out, after I fixed the o2 sensor, and it's running great! So that issue is no longer on the back of mind now.

So, as scared as I am to say this, and jinx myself. I think I have finally fully fixed my truck. The motor runs amazing, and it drives beautifully! I can finally move on to working on the cosmetics of this truck. Jo so as long as I didn't just jinx myself

[DroppedMitsu]

Glad to hear that and I hope that you did figure it all out, congrats!

[Rickdees]

So then I was able to get the lower control arm bushings replaced, after the old ones literally crumbled out.

Now your getting to know your truck. When I pulled mine a part I found on both sides 70% gone. Get yourself a Pickle fork from autozone
http://www.speedwaymotors.com/Tie-Ro...Fork,9376.html
They come in handy every now and then.

[blindeyed]

Slight update here..

A couple weeks ago, my water pump gasket decided to blow out.. Wasn't too difficult of a fix. Now the new one doesn't leak in the back like the old one did, where the heater line hooks up. So that's nice. It is however leaking/buring coolant somewhere. I practically have to top it off every 2 days of so, depending on how much I am driving. Plan on doing a leak down test on each cylinder as soon as I get a new air compressor, as our old one finally crapped out. Aside from that, my alignment is still rock solid, tires are still looking great. Motor is still running good and strong. Has been quite nice actually.

Today I decided to clean her up a bit. The truck itself will never look very good with the craptastic paint job it has, but man do the wheels shine now

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[camoit]

Use a radiator tester on it. It will show you where the leek is.
If you aren't going to make her pretty then camo it

[crvtec90]

hey bud. bring it on by my place and ill put a pressure tester on it.

[blindeyed]

Decided to try painting my door yesterday and today. I'm pretty good with a rattle can, and have done fantastic jobs on smaller parts. This is my first time trying to rattle can something on a "large scale." Came out really good I think, chose a semi-gloss black. Was paranoid to boot about getting tiger stripes showing through. I've seen some horrid rattle can jobs done out there, and did not want to be driving around looking like a fool.

Before (Previous owner, dont ask..):

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After:

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Now the rest of my truck looks super dull. At least it doesn't stand out too bad like it used to. Still gotta do the drivers side door too. Figure I'm gonna try to knock out one panel a week on my 2 days off. Sand and prime the first day, paint and enjoy it the next. At least, as long as she stays running for me that is

[camoit]

You do know you can go to harbor freight and pick up a spray gun for 12 bucks and it will do a fantastic job when new. Unless you don't have a compressor then your back to the rattle can.

[blindeyed]

We got our compressor back up and running, but the auto shutoff pressure switch is fubar'd. Eventually going to get a new, bigger one. Just gotta get the funds first. Want to eventually make a mock-up paint booth when we do.

[blindeyed]

Well, the truck is gone.. so ends this "re"build thread.

Traded her for a '12 Lancer.. very very nice car I must say

[pennyman1]

at least it's a mitsu - are you looking for another one?