I took some time this afternoon to try to finish this project up. I pulled the old water pump,cleaned up the front of the engine, and installed the new one. I then installed the new timing belt. Pretty straight-forward job. Then it is a matter of...... installation is the reverse of removal. Just backtrack through the removal steps. This is exactly the kind of job that my dad would comment: "Tom, it is only nuts and bolts." Just put back what you took off, and try not to have any 'spare parts' left over when you are done. :)
Here you can see the new timing belt has been installed.
Getting everything buttoned up again.
Both upper and lower timing covers are re-installed, along with the vibration damper and fan pulley. Always make sure your timing marks are still properly aligned before you button it up, just in case something moved. Turn the crank around two full turns to check that the marks are still aligned. If they are not aligned, pull off the belt, re-align the marks and re-install the belt.
Timing belt, fan belt, fan, coolant hoses and radiator are all installed, so I needed to replace the coolant, and start it up. I added a 50/50 blend of coolant. After running it for a few minutes, the engine temp was sidling over toward 'hot', while the windshield defroster began to blow cold air..... telling me I have air in the system. I shut it down, and let it sit for a few minutes while I began to get the hood re-installed. I then topped off the coolant reservoir again, started it up, and it is running fine, if a little cool. Good heat in the cabin, though.
At the end of the day, the biggest hassle was getting the E21 hood back on properly. Although I am glad I removed to do this job, it is a PITA to get back on by yourself. I took me about an hour of fiddling with it, until I came up with a way to zip tie the spring-loaded attachment bar back so that I could insert the mounting screws to hold the hood. Once you get a couple of screws in, it is a piece of cake.
I have the day off tomorrow (Monday), so I may take it out for a little shakedown cruise to make sure all is well, before I take it to work on Tuesday. Pending a successful 'shakedown cruise' tomorrow, I think I am done!
;)
Stay tuned!
Getting everything buttoned up again.
Both upper and lower timing covers are re-installed, along with the vibration damper and fan pulley. Always make sure your timing marks are still properly aligned before you button it up, just in case something moved. Turn the crank around two full turns to check that the marks are still aligned. If they are not aligned, pull off the belt, re-align the marks and re-install the belt.
Timing belt, fan belt, fan, coolant hoses and radiator are all installed, so I needed to replace the coolant, and start it up. I added a 50/50 blend of coolant. After running it for a few minutes, the engine temp was sidling over toward 'hot', while the windshield defroster began to blow cold air..... telling me I have air in the system. I shut it down, and let it sit for a few minutes while I began to get the hood re-installed. I then topped off the coolant reservoir again, started it up, and it is running fine, if a little cool. Good heat in the cabin, though.
At the end of the day, the biggest hassle was getting the E21 hood back on properly. Although I am glad I removed to do this job, it is a PITA to get back on by yourself. I took me about an hour of fiddling with it, until I came up with a way to zip tie the spring-loaded attachment bar back so that I could insert the mounting screws to hold the hood. Once you get a couple of screws in, it is a piece of cake.
I have the day off tomorrow (Monday), so I may take it out for a little shakedown cruise to make sure all is well, before I take it to work on Tuesday. Pending a successful 'shakedown cruise' tomorrow, I think I am done!
;)
Stay tuned!
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