shortskoolbus

+1 OEM. I've always gone with OEM wires on all my cars.

Alignment guy said he couldnt get my RH front into spec because my suspension is old... true story or not?

i've used import replacement parts online with pretty good success. i dont know your budget, but you can metal masters and brembo brakes for a really fair price.

i had that problem before too... my woodruf key was destroyed. only way to find out is to take off the pulley and check

Item #4 is what i got.. part numbers are not even the same... Also, while i was at the dealership i picked up another oil pump o-ring because the one in your photo didn't look like the one i had... and indeed, the one this dealership gave me isn't even the same. I'm gonna have to redo the oil pump again, damn it. This will be the 8th time i've taken off the timing belt since Friday.

your pictures are awesome. things like that are such a big help.

i think the grip tite ones take a 3/8" drive http://www.bt-andf.com/index.php but definately they will break. the little piece inside that grips the flat face of the bolt is actually made of plastic... which i dont really understand why

well i think you run the risk over having to over torque it to prevent leaking potentially damaging the threads. but in general it should be OK. you can order them online from the dealership, though you'll pay more in shipping than you do for the washers. what's your location? no dealership near by?

I think they are called grip tite sockets. Can be found at sears. Supposedly they work very well on rounded bolts.

i went to a different dealer, ordered the same part, instantly i could tell the o-ring was different.. no issues with the new oring. voila.

hmm i wonder if my o-ring is in there properly!

the o-ring seems to be the correct size, other than the thickness of it. on the drivers side i can literally see the o-ring squish out between the two surfaces. I removed it yesterday and it was all chewed up. That's probably the 7th time i've taken the timing belt off to try to do this...

Well, i'm doing it right.. if that's a picture of the new o-ring installed, my o-ring looks fatter than that when installed on the support for some reason.

that o-ring, do you just rest it inside the little recess on the block and then put the pump over it? is there a better way to do that?

i made the mistake of taking mine off without marking it.. so i just had to idle the car and move it back and forth until the idle sounded right

yeah i guess its just an issue of getting that o-ring to compress into the chamfer on the head side.. it just kind of squishes inbetween the flat sections on the flange/head

It’s under that wireloom. It’s hard to find, you really have to look for it. It helps to take off the TPS, and you’ll need a offset 12mm box wrench to get to it. It needs to have a pretty big offset, probably close to 1 inch. Make sure to mark your TPS position in relation to the screws before removing it. Otherwise if you try to get a socket in there you’ll have to take off the IACSV too (at least I did). it's a PITA to get on or off, all those wirelooms are in the way.

which part is a tight fit? the support going into the bore? or do you mean with the o-ring?

Yes, they are OEM o-rings. I can take a photo when i get back home later, but basically the support piece wont sit flush anymore with the head the o-ring is suppose to compress into the chamfer if i'm not mistaken, but it's not, it's just compressing between the head and the support, not allowing the two metal surfaces to sit flush. I'm aware of where both of them are sounds like i just need to press it in harder? on the drivers side, i can actually see the o-ring squished out almost looks like a silicon sealant squishing out. These didn't seem that thin though..

Okay, i need to know if i'm doing this right. On the camshaft support, there is castle like thing and then flanges where it bolts up to the head. The o-ring goes on and around this, correct? As in it's meant to be installed onto the support and it sits up against the flanges that are supposed to sit flush to the head? I can see there's a chamfer on the head side, where it looks like the o-ring is suposed to compress into. The old o-rings were stuck in that chamfer and had formed into a triangular. The problem i have is that once i put the new o-rings on, the thing wont sit flush anymore. And as a matter of fact on the LH side it looks like the o-ring actually got squished out so instead of compressing into the little gap for the chamfer, it's compressing between the head and flanges. Am i doing something wrong?

do you think it'll be okay to keep driving like this for awhile? If the cap isn't worn, i don't know what else would allow it to have longitudinal play...

Mine is a 97, they cut over to the new tensioner in 97 if I am not istaken. Mine was before the cut-off.

well it doesn't really look like the factory underbody coating, but it's definately a possibility that it was sprayed after.. possibly some repair work. it's so heavy on there there were drops that solidified. it's all over that side of the car, on the handbrake cables, fuel tank, ugh..

well, actually, i'm pretty sure he ran over something you can see that whole side is covered in some type of tar or something and also there's a pretty massive dent in the fuel tank on that side as well. In any case, when that outrigger gets any play in it from the differential engaging, it bumps up against the bracket since it's all smashed together.

i have to try breaking that bolt out tomorrow, but looking at the FSM that bolt has a pretty long shoulder and the threads are only at the end which i assume bolts into the body of the car. It looks like the bolt got pushed straight up with the bracket too though, right?