Timing Cover Gasket

[Steve 00RT/10]

Has anyone changed one of these animals?

I may have the very slightest leak coming from this cover on the right side. ....Could be the water pump. I'll know more when we put the billet PS pump pulley on this coming Wednesday. The manual makes it sound a little iffy for the homeowner garage. The bottom of the cover appears to bolt to the top of the oil pan, although it does not mention having to remove the oil pan. How difficult is it to line up the oil pump? My dampener is pinned. I would assume new pins would be in order. How 'special' is the tool for reinstalling the crank oil seal?

Thanks--Steve

 

[Joseph Dell]

Unfortunately, the dealer 'buy' price on the cover itself (not the gasket) is about 800. these puppies aren't cheap! and the oil pump is integrated in this bad-boy. that means that although the cover removal isn't that difficult once you make the space, there are a few things that all need to be perfect.

I don't recall whether you need to drop the pan or not to install. but i always had my pan off anyway when i was working on this part.

Good luck!

JD

 

[grcforce327]

I don't recall whether you need to drop the pan or not to install. but i always had my pan off anyway when i was working on this part.
JD

Don't think you have to on a Gen 2(not positive),but Gen 1's you do!!!

 

[Steve 00RT/10]

Unfortunately, the dealer 'buy' price on the cover itself (not the gasket) is about 800. these puppies aren't cheap! and the oil pump is integrated in this bad-boy. that means that although the cover removal isn't that difficult once you make the space, there are a few things that all need to be perfect.

I don't recall whether you need to drop the pan or not to install. but i always had my pan off anyway when i was working on this part.

Good luck!

JD

Joseph,

I was hoping to be able to replace just the timing cover and water pump gaskets. Is this a bad assumption on my part.

Thanks--Steve

 

[Joseph Dell]

Joseph,

I was hoping to be able to replace just the timing cover and water pump gaskets. Is this a bad assumption on my part.

Thanks--Steve

you are probably good. no problem. as long as you didn't break anything on the cover...

JD

 

[Steve 00RT/10]

From what can be seen with everything in the way, it's tracking slightly down the side of the cover where it mates up.......not even enough to put a drop on the floor. In over 2000 miles since noticed, I added a pint of of coolant this week. I'm going to change the oil in a week or so and send it in to see if there is any antifreeze in the oil. If not, and I can gain some pressure by re torqueing some bolts in the area--I may add a little coolant for a while till it gets worse. That would seem a much simpler solution

Steve

 

[opnwide]

This is a common problem with gen IIs. I've had archer racing do this at the track once and I've done it myself in my garage. The hardest part is the darn AC compressor and the crankshaft bolt (like 200 ftlbs or somethings like that!). Get a friend to step tight on the brakes with car in 6th gear.

check your oil. When these things go bad, they have a 50/50 chance of blowing into the engine and not out of it!
Gaskets from woodhouse ran $100 or so, I think.

 

[kcobean]

The crank bolt: 250 ft-lbs. You could re-use the pins without removing them from the balancer as long as you can align them with the existing grooves in the crankshaft. I don't think I'd want to drill into the shaft again, though with as hard as it is, I doubt it would hurt anything.

 

[cayman]

I've got the same issue only worse. Never had an oil leak until after I put the SC on. Don't no if it was extra internal pressure that did it but I'm now getting a few drips on the garage floor. I took my pinned balancer off to replace the crankshaft seal thinking that was the culprit. I was lucky in that I was able to reinstall the balancer while aligning the pins. I don't no if I would be so lucky the second time around. Anyways, as it turned out, it wasn't the crankshaft seal. I've cleaned the oil off the front of the motor a number of times and I still can't seem to trace where exactly the oil is coming from. After reading about how the '98 models had a problem with the timing chain cover leaking, I'm beginning to suspect this even more now. So, I too am interested in knowing just how big of a hassle is it to pull the cover off and replace the gasket. The service manual indicates you shouldn't have to drop the oil pan. Just remove those bolts directly underneath the cover.

Has anyone changed one of these animals?

I may have the very slightest leak coming from this cover on the right side. ....Could be the water pump. I'll know more when we put the billet PS pump pulley on this coming Wednesday. The manual makes it sound a little iffy for the homeowner garage. The bottom of the cover appears to bolt to the top of the oil pan, although it does not mention having to remove the oil pan. How difficult is it to line up the oil pump? My dampener is pinned. I would assume new pins would be in order. How 'special' is the tool for reinstalling the crank oil seal?

Thanks--Steve

 

[Whoaa]

i just recently did the whole procedure on my 98. The gaskets from tator totalled about 60 dollars or so.

 

[Brian GTS]

Hi Steve,

I changed the timing cover gasket on a 1994 about 7 years ago so I can't remember all the details. I bought the parts from Tator (about $120). The only items I can remember is that I needed to rent a 250ft lb torque wrench and a pulley puller. Removing the crankshaft pulley was the most challenging part that I can remember. Everything else went without a hitch.

I am no mechanical wiz, so I'm sure you can handle it based on our conversations about the supercharger installation.

Brian