subyrally Posted August 3, 2005 Share Posted August 3, 2005 i am trying to finish my head gasket job on my rx, the tear down asn head gasket replacement went by with out any real issues, but now that i am trying to reassemble the engine, i am hitting walls left and right. i am doing the job in the car as i dont have a garage or an engine hoist. i cant keep the rockers on the lifters. everytime i go toget the cam carrier on, one or two rockers fall off, then when i get those back on, the others fall off. im getting rather frustrated with this cause i really want to get it running before next weekend. i know there is a way to get this together in the car as a few poeple have already done it before. if i had an engine hoist and a garage this would have been done the other week. are there any tricks to getting the cam carriers in without the rockers falling out? thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calebz Posted August 3, 2005 Share Posted August 3, 2005 a little dab of grease will help stick the rockers in place while you assemble everything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wes200x Posted August 3, 2005 Share Posted August 3, 2005 try a real heavy grease in the cup part that goes against the lifter and the area that goes to the valve stem this will make them stick on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subyrally Posted August 3, 2005 Author Share Posted August 3, 2005 grease didnt work for me. when in doubt, duck it. i used a bit of duct tape over the rockers and that held em. i managed to get teh carrier back in after a bit of though and couple cigarettes. after i cooled off a bit and started thinking rationally, i finally got it on. granted, i noticed that i cracked the back side of the timing belt cover, not that i usually run them on the car. are the back side covers at the cam gears neccisary? i know that the one by the oil pump is needed to keep a gear at the right position, but what about the one thats cracked? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subi81 Posted August 3, 2005 Share Posted August 3, 2005 Last time I did it I used assembly lube, but yea it is a PITA. Even with grease it will take a few tries. Just make sure that the followers don't get on croaked then you will gouge the cam. Did that once and it was enough for me. Good luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hooziewhatsit Posted August 3, 2005 Share Posted August 3, 2005 I had luck using 90w oil and having the engine on a slight angle to help keep the rockers in place. This was with the engine out of the car though :-) With that thought though... depending on how the car is on the ground, (jackstands or not), you should be able to jack up one side of the car slightly. That *should* give enough angle to make it easier to keep the rockers in place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calebz Posted August 3, 2005 Share Posted August 3, 2005 grease didnt work for me. when in doubt, duck it. i used a bit of duct tape over the rockers and that held em. i managed to get teh carrier back in after a bit of though and couple cigarettes. after i cooled off a bit and started thinking rationally, i finally got it on. granted, i noticed that i cracked the back side of the timing belt cover, not that i usually run them on the car. are the back side covers at the cam gears neccisary? i know that the one by the oil pump is needed to keep a gear at the right position, but what about the one thats cracked? I have none of the timing belt cover pieces on my wagon. not even the rears behind the cam sprockets. I just used the seam between on the cam case to line up on., Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
electryc_monk Posted August 7, 2005 Share Posted August 7, 2005 i am trying to finish my head gasket job on my rx, the tear down asn head gasket replacement went by with out any real issues, but now that i am trying to reassemble the engine, i am hitting walls left and right. i am doing the job in the car as i dont have a garage or an engine hoist. i cant keep the rockers on the lifters. everytime i go toget the cam carrier on, one or two rockers fall off, then when i get those back on, the others fall off. im getting rather frustrated with this cause i really want to get it running before next weekend. i know there is a way to get this together in the car as a few poeple have already done it before. if i had an engine hoist and a garage this would have been done the other week. are there any tricks to getting the cam carriers in without the rockers falling out? thanks Geee on the bluw wagon engine revamping... i used Moly-B grease applied with an acid brush to the top of the HLA and the under side of the Rocker Arms.... then i easily put the cam tower on and had a easy go at it. oh and i even had a thin film of Moly-B on the top machined surface of the rockers and the cam lob's too. just for good measure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
electryc_monk Posted August 7, 2005 Share Posted August 7, 2005 {edited} i hit send twice ...oops. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted August 7, 2005 Share Posted August 7, 2005 grease and lots of it works everytime for me. i do it first try with the XT6...more of em and less room to work with and rarely drop any. LOTS of grease. engine tilt with the jackstand doesn't work that well. doesn't really work at all as you typically can't get enough angle to make any difference in my oppinion. i tried it the first time and it wasn't worth the effort considering grease is garaunteed to work every time. what makes it worse is that the car is usually off the ground quite a bit for me...XT6 being a little higher probably and even on jackstands sometimes to facilitate pulling the headers. so unless you keep the car right on the ground and make the headers a serious PITA to remove then using a jack isn't going to give you much angle. the short answer...grease 'em every time and don't look back. if it doesn't work then the grease is the wrong kind or not thick enough or not using enough of it. they stick very well the dozens of times i've done it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NorthWet Posted August 7, 2005 Share Posted August 7, 2005 Man! Am I glad that I have mine on an engine stand!!! After doing it outside of the car (after trying disassembly in situ), I can't imagine doing an adequate job of prep with the engine not right in front of me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subyrally Posted August 7, 2005 Author Share Posted August 7, 2005 the prep work ws easy. hte only hard part sofar was getting the cam carriers i and i accomplished that already, not i just need to get the engine mount into their holes in the crosss members, sofar thats getting to be annoying cause the power steering resivior is in contact with the hood. is there any trick to getting the mounts into their holes without unbolting the tranny and using an engine hoist? cause i really dont want to undo the tranny and i dont have a hoist. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NorthWet Posted August 7, 2005 Share Posted August 7, 2005 the prep work ws easy... I spent over 30 minutes cleaning each block surface and chasing the bolt holes. ... is there any trick to getting the mounts into their holes without unbolting the tranny and using an engine hoist?. Should I ask why the engine mounts are out of their holes? I do not know a good way to get the mounts back in without a hoist or two good friends. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
electryc_monk Posted August 7, 2005 Share Posted August 7, 2005 geee i have this wonderfully "just right sized" piece of 6X6 timber that sits on the jack for tilting the block and lifting it *just so* for alignment onto and sending the two bellhousing bolts thru the tranny; sure enough the engine mounts also usually just slide right into their holes... with little "persuasion*...but that is not the typical history for me.... Craven can atest to that last year and folks like Okami and Calebz can also atest to the fun in Texas.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subyrally Posted August 7, 2005 Author Share Posted August 7, 2005 the engine was lifted up by means of a jack under the tranny, i had to lift it up a few inches to get the oil pan out to change the gasket on it. now when i lower it back down, it doesnt line up. the mounts are at the outside fronts of the holes and i cant get the engine to slide back about 1/4" to get the mounts in place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted August 7, 2005 Share Posted August 7, 2005 i'd loosen some of the trans mount bolts in the rear so the trans/engine combo can get a better angle at the holes. loosen the trans mounting bolts and make sure the pitch stopper and front engine mounts aren't installed or are nice and loose. now with a jack...maybe even two (one for the engine/one for trans). one on the engine should work, i'd try to get it behind the crossmember if there's room otherwise it will want to tilt the assembly instead of just lifting it up. then it'll be center and should wiggle around enough to fall in place. basically once the weight is off of it, it should wiggle around easy enough and fall into place. this is pretty common in my experience, in case you were wondering why it did that. mine catch at times as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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