Timing chain and cover install questions

Gor my new timing chain on. Rotated the old timing chain until the cam and crank sprocket alignment marks were inside and pointing at each other like FSM shows. I removed the timing chain as an assembly, then realigned the new timing chain assembly in the same way and put back on to the crank/cam shafts. Once I had the camshaft bolt and washer torqued down to 50ft-lbs, I verified timing by rotating the crankshaft twice until the timing marks align again and confirmed it was at TDC of plug #1. I also set crankshaft to 3'oclock and resulting cam at 1'oclock and counted 20 chains pins between timing marks.

That should confirm it, right? I don't need to verify distributor rotor is pointing at post 1 when timing chain marks are aligned?

Now, when I'm putting the timing cover back on... The crank key is facing 12'oclock, but the keyway in the timing cover is at 6'oclock. I'm assuming I need to rotate the timing chain to where the crankkey on the crankshaft is facing 6'oclock and the timing cover can slide over? Just want to make sure this doesnt throw timing off.

Finally, I'm not replacing the front oil pan seal (strip at bottom). The felpro kit talked about slicing this gasket flush with the block then installing the new one and trimming some tabs off. Looks confusing and my old gasket doesn't look like its in bad shape, just gonna run some ultra black rtv on the bottom of timing cover and in the corners between the pieces. Sound good or should i replace that front oil seal?

Appreciate the help.


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Don't bother counting pins. They changed the chain over the years from 48 to 64 link. If the marks on the cam & crank pulley line up then you're good. The only way to screw it up is if you turned either while the chain was off because the crank turns once for every two rotations of the cam. Then you really need to make sure TDC is where its supposed to, and then that the marks line up. The cover goes on any which way. Don't forget to put the snubber back in. I'm not sure if its needed, but I'm guessing they put it there for a reason. I've always done the chain with the oil pan gasket so I started off with a fresh gasket. I would make sure the oil pan gasket is real clean if you don't cut and splice... Biggest issue I've had is with the timing cover bolts backing out and I fixed that with some thread sealer type stuff to hold them from backing off.

I don't think that's a keyway in the timing cover, I think it's a drain. The hole in the cover as well as the seal should clear the key.

Like md21722 said, as long as nothing moved while the chain was off, you'll be good.

Thanks guys.

I think I'll go ahead and trim the front oil pan gasket and install the new felpro one.

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If I recall correctly, the front oil pan replacement seal had 4 or so little teepee shaped nipple like things protruding out of the bottom to keep the seal in place when installing the timing chain cover. But my pan didn't have any holes to receive them. It didn't matter to me though as I replaced the entire gasket.

Yeah I looked around for the receiving holes and didnt see them. I found other posts online where people didnt have them either. I guess if they arent there i will either trim them or just skip it. So indecisive lol

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Well that didnt go well. I put RTV on the block surface and on the timing cover, then stuck my timing cover gasket to the cover. Let it tack up a bit then tried to push the cover onto the block.

The gasket got pulled into the timing cover area and stuck to the chain. I was able to pull the cover back out enough to stick my finger in and pull the gasket back out and realign, then bolt back down.

This is probably a stupid question, but is it bad news that I got Super Black RTV on the timing chain? Will it mess the chain up, or will it just crumble once I start the engine? Do I need to pull the timing cover again, and clean everything up then buy a new gasket and try again?

Sincerely, FML

Excessive RTV is evil. There was no reason to put it on the block surface as that would be sealed by the gasket. The gasket is all that is needed. The only place RTV is needed is where the cover meets the block where the oil pan gasket is, 1" on each side.

Im gonna take it apart and clean it all back up before reinstall. Might as well while im here...

Any recommendation on how to clean the rtv off the existing rubber front oil pan gaaket, and more importantly, the timing chain?

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Yeah, not necessary to put sealant on the block. And I don't use RTV, I use Permatex #2. Just a dab here and there. Just enough to hold the gasket in place during assembly. The gasket makes the seal, not the sealant.

I guess ill pick at the rtv on the chain with a small metal pick them give it a few rotations and see how it acts. Im worried about using any abrasives like brake kleen on the chain and doubt it will even help to remove the rtv

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Brake kleen and Purple Power will not hurt the chain. Don't use abrasives like sanding wheels. I usually dip the chain in a quart of motor oil to lube it up prior to installing. Assembly lube on the sprockets is another approach.

alright, got it all cleaned up and reinstalled. When I was torqueing down the cover-to-block bolts, the bottom right one facing front of car (not the underneath one) snapped in half. My torque wrench wasn't clicking and I wasn't thinking much about it so I kept tightening.

It was literally the last one I was torqueing, so I said **** it and put the HB on. I probably should've taken the cover off and tried to remove it, but frankly I don't care lol. I feel that it shouldn't cause a huge problem, especially given that I put that Permatex 2.0 in that area.

I guess I will just watch for oil leaks unless anyone on here feels I made a big mistake and should pull the cover and buy a new screw. What are the chances of this one screw causing an oil leak?

md21722 said:

the crank turns once for every two rotations of the cam.

Click to expand...

Scratch that, reverse it.

Two to one, crank to cam.

Moving back to top.

I think I'm gonna reassemble everything and see if it runs/check for leaks before tearing it back down and replacing everything else I ordered.

Still curious what people's thoughts are on the broken timing cover bolt. I know its kind of an unanswerable question (like "should I see a doctor?") but curious if people have had this happen before and were fine leaving it?

Loose bolts cause leaks. Especially ones that are low where fluids tend to pool. I wouldn't think twice about pulling the cover and replacing the bolt. My biggest concern now is once you have the broken bolt out, what damage was done to the threads? If you broke it because you used the wrong length and bottomed it out, you will be fine, but if you broke it because you cross threaded it, you will need to tap those threads and hope to clean them up enough to reuse the same bolt size.

^^^ This...

Pull the cover, replace the bolt. Are you sure you put the right bolt in that hole? As I recall there are like 3 different length bolts...

I think I bottomed the bolt out and then torqued it too high. I was torqueing that one at 192in-lbs, maybe it should've been one of the 60 in-lbs? I am pretty confident I kept them in order, but it is possible I mixed 2 up or something.

The FSM gives zero info about which of the cover-to-block bolts go where. All I know is there are 1/4" bolts torqued to 60 in-lbs and 5/16" torqued to 192in-lbs. Does anyone know how many of each and (mainly) in what order/location? I haven't been able to find this info online.

Found this nifty page:
http://www.moparpartsoverstock.com/...ake=1097&ukey_model=15916&ukey_category=24020

This seems to show what bolt sizes go where.

This leads me to another question, what the heck is that camshaft thrust screw and spring (Item #11)?

I don't remember seeing anything like that on mine. I'm assuming on my 99 XJ this would be the oval-shaped plate with 2 screws on each side that was behind the camshaft sprocket? It was not removed if just removing the sprocket.

This doesn't help now, but in the future (like the oil pan), when removing bolts, it's a good idea to lay them out in their respective positions so you can put them back in where they came from.