Timing Chain: Service and Repair

TIMING CHAIN








Removal and Installation

NOTE:
^ This section describes procedures for removing/installing front timing chain case and timing chain related parts, and rear timing chain case, when oil pan (upper) needs to be removed/installed for engine overhaul, etc.
^ To remove/install front timing chain case, timing chain, and its related parts without removing oil pan (upper).

REMOVAL
1. Place vehicle onto lift.
2. Remove front tire.
3. Disconnect battery ground cable.
4. Remove engine cover with power tool.
5. Remove air cleaner case assembly.
6. Remove front and rear engine undercover with power tool.
7. Drain engine coolant from radiator.
8. Drain engine oil from oil pan.
9. Remove engine harnesses.
10. Remove intake manifold collector (upper) and (lower) with power tool.
11. Remove radiator cooling fan assembly.
12. Remove A/C compressor from bracket with piping connected, and temporarily secure it aside.
13. Remove power steering oil pump from bracket with piping connected, and temporarily secure it aside.
14. Remove power steering oil pump bracket.
15. Remove alternator.
16. Remove water bypass hose, water hose clamp and idler pulley bracket from front timing chain case.
17. Remove the oil pan (upper) and (lower).





18. Remove the RH and LH intake valve timing control covers with power tool.
^ Loosen bolts in reverse order as shown.
^ Use seal cutter [SST: KV10111100 (J37228)] or an equivalent tool to cut liquid gasket for removal.

CAUTION: Shaft is internally jointed with intake camshaft sprocket center hole. When removing, keep it horizontal until it is completely disconnected.

19. Remove RH and LH rocker covers.
20. Obtain compression TDC of No. 1 cylinder as follows:





a. Rotate crankshaft pulley clockwise to align timing mark (grooved line without color) with timing indicator.





b. Make sure intake and exhaust cam noses on No. 1 cylinder (engine front side of RH bank) are located as shown.
^ If not, turn the crankshaft one revolution (360°) and align as shown.





21. Remove rear cover plate (2WD) or starter motor (AWD) and set ring gear stopper (SST).





22. Remove crankshaft pulley
23. Remove front timing chain case.





a. Loosen mounting bolts with power tool in reverse order as shown.





b. Insert the appropriate size tool into the notch at the top of the front timing chain case as shown (1).
c. Pry off the case by moving the tool as shown (2).
^ Use seal cutter [SST: KV10111100 (J37228)] or an equivalent tool to cut liquid gasket for removal.

CAUTION:
^ Do not use screwdrivers or something similar.
^ After removal, handle it carefully so it does not tilt, cant, or warp under a load.

24. Remove water pump cover and chain tensioner cover from front timing chain case.
^ Use seal cutter [SST: KV10111100 (J37228)] or an equivalent tool to cut liquid gasket for removal.





25. Remove the front oil seal from the front timing chain case using a suitable tool.
^ Use screwdriver for removal.
^ Exercise care not to damage front timing chain case.





26. Remove internal chain guide, timing chain tensioner, tension guide and slack guide.





^ Remove timing chain tensioner as follows:

a. Pull lever down and release plunger stopper tab.
^ Plunger stopper tab can be pushed up to release (coaxial structure with lever).

b. Insert stopper pin into tensioner body hole to hold lever, and keep the tab released.

NOTE: An Allen wrench [2.5 mm (0.098 inch)] is used for a stopper pin as an example.





c. Insert plunger into tensioner body by pressing the slack guide.
d. Keep the slack guide pressed and hold it by pushing the stopper pin through the lever hole and body hole.
e. Remove the installation bolts and remove the timing chain tensioner.
27. Remove timing chain (primary) and crankshaft sprocket.

CAUTION: After removing timing chain, do not turn the crankshaft and camshaft separately, or the valves will strike the piston heads.





28. Attach a suitable stopper pin to the RH and LH camshaft chain tensioners (for secondary timing chains).

NOTE: For removal and installation of secondary chain tensioner, refer to "CAMSHAFT". (Removing No. 1 camshaft bracket is required.)





29. Remove intake and exhaust camshaft sprocket bolts.
^ Secure the hexagonal portion of the camshaft using a wrench to loosen the mounting bolts.





30. Remove secondary timing chain together with camshaft sprockets.
^ Turn camshaft slightly to secure slackness of timing chain on chain tensioner side.
^ Insert 0.5 mm (0.020 inch)-thick metal or resin plate between timing chain and chain tensioner plunger (guide). Remove secondary timing chain together with camshaft sprockets with timing chain loose from guide groove.

CAUTION: Be careful of plunger coming-off when removing timing chain. This is because plunger of chain tensioner moves during operation, leading to coming-off of fixed stopper pin.

NOTE: Camshaft sprocket (INT) is two-for-one structure of primary and secondary sprockets.





^ When handling camshaft sprocket (INT), be careful of the following:

CAUTION:
^ Handle carefully to avoid any shock to camshaft sprocket.
^ Do not disassemble. (Never loosen bolts "A" and "B" as shown).

31. Remove chain tension guide.
32. Remove rear timing chain case as follows:





a. Loosen and remove mounting bolts in reverse order as shown.
b. Cut the sealant using a seal cutter [SST: KV10111100 (J37228)] or an equivalent tool and remove rear timing chain case.





CAUTION:
^ Do not remove plate metal cover of engine oil passage.
6 After removing chain case, do not apply any load which affects flatness.

33. Remove RH and LH camshaft chain tensioners from cylinder head as follows if necessary.
a. Remove No. 1 camshaft brackets.
b. Remove chain tensioners with stopper pin attached.





34. Use a scraper to remove all traces of liquid gasket from front and rear timing chain cases, and opposite mating surfaces.





^ Remove old liquid gasket from the bolt hole and thread.





35. Use a scraper to remove all traces of liquid gasket from water pump cover, chain tensioner cover and intake valve timing control covers.

INSPECTION AFTER REMOVAL





Check for cracks and any excessive wear at the roller links of the timing chain. Replace the timing chain as necessary.

INSTALLATION





NOTE: The below figure shows the relationship between the mating mark on each timing chain and that on the corresponding sprocket, with the components installed.

1. Install RH and LH camshaft chain tensioners to cylinder head as follows if removed.





a. Install chain tensioners with stopper pin attached and new O-rings.
b. Install No. 1 camshaft brackets.
2. Install new O-rings onto cylinder block.





3. Install new O-rings to cylinder head.





4. Apply liquid gasket to rear timing chain case back side as shown with tube presser [SST: WS39930000 (-)]
Use Genuine RTV Silicone Sealant or equivalent.
5. Align the rear timing chain case and water pump assembly with the dowel pins (RH and LH) on the cylinder block and install the case.
^ Make sure the O-rings stay in place during installation to cylinder block and cylinder head.





a. Tighten the mounting bolts in the numerical order as shown.
^ There are two bolt lengths used. Follow the below for proper bolt length specifications.
Bolt length: Bolt position
20 mm (0.79 inch):1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 9,10
16 mm (0.63 inch): Except the above
12.7 Nm (1.3 kg-m, 9 ft. lbs.)
b. After all bolts are temporarily tightened, retighten them to the specification in the numerical order as shown.
^ If the RTV Silicone Sealant protrudes, wipe it off immediately.





6. After installing rear timing chain case, check surface height difference between following parts on oil pan mounting surface.
Standard (Rear timing chain case to cylinder block): -0.24 to 0.14 mm (-0.0094 to 0.0055 inch)
^ If not within standard, repeat above installation procedure.





7. Position the crankshaft so No. 1 piston is set at TDC on the compression stroke.
^ Make sure that the dowel pin hole, dowel pin and crankshaft key are located as shown.
Camshaft dowel pin hole (intake side): At cylinder head upper face side in each bank.
Camshaft dowel pin (exhaust side): At cylinder head upper face side in each bank.
Crankshaft key: At cylinder head side of RH bank.

CAUTION: Hole on small diameter side must be used for intake side dowel pin hole. Do not misidentify (ignore bin diameter side).

8. Install the timing chains (secondary) and camshaft sprockets.

CAUTION: Matching marks between the timing chain and sprockets slip easily. Confirm all matching mark positions repeatedly during the installation process.





a. Push the plunger of the secondary chain tensioner and keep it pressed in with a stopper pin.





b. Install secondary timing chains and camshaft sprockets.
^ Align the mating marks on the secondary timing chain (gold link) with the ones on the intake and exhaust sprockets (stamped), and install them.

NOTE:
^ Mating marks for the intake sprocket are on the back side of the secondary camshaft sprocket.
^ There are two types of mating marks, circle and oval types. They should be used for the RH and LH banks, respectively.
RH bank: use circle type.
LH bank: use oval type.

^ Align the dowel pin and pin hole on the camshaft with the groove and dowel pin on the sprocket, and install them.
^ On the intake side, align the pin hole on the small diameter side of the camshaft front end with the dowel pin on the back side of the camshaft sprocket, and install them.
^ On the exhaust side, align the dowel pin on the camshaft front end with the pin groove on the camshaft sprocket, and install them.
^ Mounting bolts for the camshaft sprockets must be tightened in the next step. Tightening them by hand is enough to prevent the dislocation of the dowel pins.





^ It may be difficult to visually check the dislocation of mating marks during and after installation. To make the matching easier, make a mating mark on the top of sprocket teeth and its extended line in advance with paint.





9. After confirming the mating marks are aligned, tighten the camshaft sprocket mounting bolts.
^ Secure the camshaft using a wrench at the hexagonal portion to tighten the mounting bolts.





10. Pull the stopper pins out from the secondary timing chain tensioners.
11. Install the primary timing chain as follows:





a. Install the crankshaft sprocket.





^ Make sure the mating marks on the crankshaft sprocket face the front of the engine.

b. Install the primary timing chain.
^ Install primary timing chain so the mating mark (punched) on camshaft sprocket is aligned with the yellow link on the timing chain, while the mating mark (notched) on the crankshaft sprocket is aligned with the orange one on the timing chain, as shown.
^ When it is difficult to align mating marks of the primary timing chain with each sprocket, gradually turn the camshaft using a wrench on the hexagonal portion to align it with the mating marks.
^ During alignment, be careful to prevent dislocation of mating mark alignments of the secondary timing chains.





12. Install the internal chain guide and tension guide.
13. Install slack guide.





^ Do not overtighten the slack guide mounting bolts. It is normal for a gap to exist under the bolt seats when the mounting bolts are tightened to specification.





14. Install chain tensioner for slack guide.
^ When installing the chain tensioner, push in the sleeve and keep it pressed in with the stopper pin.
^ Remove any dirt and foreign materials completely from the back and the mounting surfaces of the chain tensioner.
^ After installation, pull out the stopper pin by pressing the slack guide.

15. Reconfirm that the mating marks on the sprockets and the timing chain have not slipped out of alignment.





16. Install new O-rings on the rear timing chain case.
17. Install the front oil seal on the front timing chain case. Apply new engine oil to the oil seal edges.





^ Install it so that each seal lip is oriented as shown in figure.





^ Using a suitable drift, press-fit oil seal until it becomes flush with front timing chain case end face.
^ Make sure the garter spring is in position and seal lip is not inverted.





18. Install the water pump cover and the chain tensioner cover to front timing chain case.
^ Apply liquid gasket to front timing chain case front side as shown with tube presser [SST: WS39930000 ( -)].
Use Genuine RTV Silicone Sealant or equivalent.

19. Install front timing chain case as follows:





a. Apply liquid gasket to front timing chain case back side as shown with tube presser [SST: WS39930000 (-)].
Use Genuine RTV Silicone Sealant or equivalent.
b. Install dowel pin on the rear timing chain case into dowel pin hole on front timing chain case.





c. Tighten bolts to the specified torque in order shown in the figure.
8 mm (0.31 inch) diameter bolts: 1, 2
28.4 Nm (2.9 kg-m, 21 ft. lbs.)
6 mm (0.24 inch) diameter bolts: Except the above
12.7 Nm (1.3 kg-m, 9 ft. lbs.)
d. After tightening, retighten them to specified torque in numerical order shown in figure.





20. After installing the front timing chain case, check the surface height difference between the following parts on the oil pan mounting surface.
Standard
Front timing chain case to rear timing chain case: -0.14 to 0.14 mm (-0.005 to 0.0055 inch)
^ If not within specification, repeat the installation procedure.

21. Install RH and LH intake valve timing control covers as follows:





a. Install seal rings in shaft grooves.
b. Apply liquid gasket to the intake valve timing control covers with tube presser [SST: WS39930000 (-)].
Use Genuine RTV Silicone Sealant or equivalent.





c. Install collared O-ring in front cover engine oil hole (LH and RH sides).





d. Being careful not to move the seal ring from the installation groove, align the dowel pins on the chain case with the holes to install the intake valve timing control covers.
e. Tighten bolts in the numerical order as shown.
22. Install crankshaft pulley as follows:
a. Fix crankshaft using a hammer shaft or an equivalent tool.
b. Install crankshaft pulley, taking care not to damage front oil seal.
^ When press-fitting crankshaft pulley with a plastic hammer, tap on its center portion (not circumference).

c. Tighten bolt.
44.1 Nm (4.5 kg-m. 33 ft. lbs.)





d. Put a paint mark on crankshaft pulley aligning with angle mark on crankshaft pulley bolt. Then, further retighten bolt by "60" degrees (equivalent to one graduation).
23. Rotate crankshaft pulley in normal direction (clockwise when viewed from front) to confirm it turns smoothly.
24. For the following operations, perform steps in the reverse order of removal.

NOTE: If hydraulic pressure inside chain tensioner drops after removal/installation, slack in the guide may generate a pounding noise during and just after engine start. However, this does not indicate an unusualness. Noise will stop after hydraulic pressure rises.