Timing Chain P0018 P0302,304,306

@craigs1 and the rest of the forum...it seems I may have actually completed the job correctly, for now anyways. I just took her for a test run about 4 miles and it shut off at low rpms at the stop sign twice. It had low idle at around 400 rpm and once I got home I let it run for about 5 minutes and the idle went back up to about 7-800 rpm. I did not get and codes and it’s currently not misfiring I’m any cylinders. There may be a few small minor leaks here and there but the timing has been corrected through the help of craigs1 and others input. Is there anything else I should do before driving it like normal again?

 

Clean the throttle body

 

Check for vacuum leaks, e.g. that little vacuum hose at the back of the air filter housing, the PCV hose.

And CONGRATS!!

 

And keep checking your coolant reservoir, topping off as needed. It takes a few heat cycles to burp all the air out of the cooling system and draw in coolant from the reservoir. But once it's done, the level should stay rock steady at the HOT level when the engine's up to temp.

What leaks are you seeing? And what was the outcome w/ the broken bolt?

 

Definitely, but after having power disconnected for a long time the ECM has to re-learn the idle during the first re-start. A low idle for the first few seconds would be considered normal, but after that the ECM should be able to regulate idle speed without issue. About 1300 RPM on cold start, 700 RPM at hot idle. Continued low idle is usually an indication of major vacuum leak.

If he's still having low idle, dying at stops, he's likely got a vacuum leak. No modern vehicle I've worked on needs more than a few seconds to re-learn idle speed.

 

Looks like it’s doing quite well at this point. Idle is steady about 750 rpms and cooling system is refreshed as well. And next week I’m gonna have someone extract that bolt for me cause I failed. Now there is one thing you might find interesting @craigs1 i have a single bolt left over that I found and I can’t for the life of me figure out where it goes. I had it labeled as “timing cover top right” and for some reason it was separate from all my timing cover bolts. I know this is a big mechanics fail lol rookie mistake right there for y’all.

 

Wouldn't extra air flow (thru a vacuum leak) raise the idle?

I mentioned cleaning the throttle body because when the power is reconnected, the plate will go back to its base/starting out position. If the throttle bore is "muddy" the plate will be buried in the "mud" and it won't be able to flow enough air around the plate to sustain an idle. Yes it will adjust over time but it can stall often on the first road test. I like to cycle the a/c on and off and turn the steering wheel to force the idle strategy to respond.

Looks like he got it sorted though..

 

Good advice about starting it and letting the rpms settle before driving, should do that anyway. Also good advice on breaking up sludge. Also great point on loosening tensioners. On one engine with same issue I actually ran 0w20 for like 100 miles to get pressure up, then 0w40 that had alot of detergents for like 100 miles, then 0w30 for about 100 miles, then back to 5w30. Changed the 5w30 a couple times at 100 Mile increments. Tensioners started moving better, less slack in Cam chain.

 

Craig, to be honest, also addressing the question from the other member about the hardest part...

If your going to pull the timing cover, just pull the engine out. That's my route now. Sounds alot harder than it is, but fighting working in cramped space, even with the radiator and all removed really sucks and you can make mistakes. Pulling the engine saves time, headache and cost you nothing if you buy the gasket kit. The rear main seal is included along with exhaust seals etc. Just my 2 pennies worth.

 

If it's been sitting a while opened up, I over fill the oil by about 2 quarts, so the crank and bearings and everything is exposed to oil, if it's been sitting and draining and drying out open... Then do the same procedure, even if o ring is off center, oil still gets pulled in, And bearings are oiled, once started run for few minutes before aeration starts, drain the oil, put correct amount in. Then check oil pressure. Probably over kill, but...

 

Short answer, No, vacuum leak affects fuel/air mixture and in some cases timing which equals rough idle and bogging it down usually.

OP, most likely you had rpm issues and engine kill at first because of air or lack of pressure in fuel line.

Also the ECU takes a while to reset, there is actually a procedure to it in the FSG. But, my experience, baby it until you know she is broken in, all is well, etc... Then reset ECU, and drive it like you normally did before you started the work. A Toyota engineer once gave me some great advice after I replaced a head gasket on a 1GR-FE..

Metal has a memory, if you drove it like you stole it from day one, after you put it back together drive it like you stole it. If you drove it like a grandmother from day one, after you put it back together, drive like a grandmother or your in for problems. Lol, he asked me how do I drive my vehicles? I said, like I stole them, from day one! He said he does to, metal has a memory. Take that for what it's worth.

OP, great job!!!! Please keep us posted!!!!

 

Print the attached pic and verify all the bolts one at a time...you'll find an empty hole eventually.

A is short bolt, B is long bolt.

 

The air drawn into the induction tract not being metered by the MAF, combined with the net drop in manifold vacuum, results in a low & rough idle. I'm betting it's the big PCV line on the driver side of the intake as it's an easy miss.

 

So I turned my truck on in the driveway and pulled the pcv line off the intake LOL! The idle got crappy but didn't really go up or down.. I swear I've seen high idle symptoms from smaller vacuum lines left unplugged, maybe on different EFI systems like map vs maf based..

 

+1 . Great job @Hdiscus7! Good luck w the extraction, extra bolt, and miscellaneous leaks!! Hope those aren’t too bad or expensive to button up. Thanks for the updates.

 

Good experiment, and your prior observation is true about small vacuum leaks. What's different about your test versus hdiscus7's is that your truck wasn't learning from scratch as his was. His ECM had been unpowered for several days, and all the learned parameters such as Long Term Fuel Trim had been erased. Whereas yours was running optimized before the vacuum leak was created, his had amnesia.

On a fly-by-wire engine control system, and many older cable throttles with Idle Air Control stepper motors, the ECM can dial down the idle to compensate for s small vacuum leak either completely or partially. You also eventually see a Check Engine light with a P-code associated w/ the MAF sensor, as the ECM assumes the MAF is not reporting accurately.

Big vacuum leaks on these systems usually drop the vacuum and cause rough & low idle, and can be bad enough to stall the engine. Whether fly-by-wire or IAC, the ECM can only try to correct by adding more air...which doesn't solve the problem.

I usually put 2-3 temp cycles on a fresh engine before driving, just to burp air from the cooling system and check for leaks. By the time I'm on the road, the ECM has had closed loop runtime and learned idle fuel trims and throttle blade setting for desired idle speed.

Interested to see what hdiscus7 found on his. He may have missed the big PCV hose, he may have re-used the intake manifold gaskets, he may have incorrectly torqued the intake manifold bolts, etc.

 

Very nice rig, and great use of the wooden board to protect the AC condenser. No problems pulling engines here, done it on my Z28 three times over the past 18 years. For the timing chain job it just didn't add up in my judgment. For a cylinder head job...absolutely that engine would come out. In my case, I wasn't sure I could get the hoist high enough without removing the front wheels and lowering the entire front of the truck given my garage ceiling height...see pic below with the Camaro getting an LS1 swap.

 

N

Nice setup! Yah, I had to put stock tires/wheels back on it and pull the engine with the truck outside, with host maxed out the engine just barely cleared radiator support.

 

There is a ton of invaluable advice in this thread. Thanks all, especially Craigs1. I've been reading everything I can find on head gasket issues lately. Many Thanks to the many who posted that info too. Certainly to jboudreaux1965 for sharing your grief.
Not finished yet getting the Mac,s pivot plate engine leveler, fine tuned. It's for a Chevy big block. I've modified to fit. I wanted to try this kit after handling MY50cal's old engine with the intake box still on. Also like to figure if the engine /transmission can be pulled out together.