2009 mini cooper clubman, timing chain and valve seals

[GoceKU]

I was thinking of this, for the the variable valve sprocket.

 

[great white]

I was thinking of this, for the the variable valve sprocket.
View attachment 449166

Ah, sprocket, not pulley.

 

[great white]

Needed a couple special tools, but I'm not in the mood to spend more money on this thing for something I'll use once and never again.

First up I needed a seal driver for the main crank seal. I had nothing the right size, so some scraps, the lathe and the mig got me this:





Worked great. Seal went home nice a square, no muss no fuss. I'll chuck it in the drawer of "DIY tools" and maybe find another use for it somewhere down the line.

Next I needed the crank locking tool. Some guys rely on the locking dowel pin in the flywheel, but I wasn't comfortable putting that amount of force on it. Life would really suck if that little pin bends while in the engine.

You can buy the locking bar for anywhere between 50-100 bucks, but I didn't see a need to spend that much on this thing (that would get used once and then gather dust in a drawer somewhere):



When I have a shop full of metal working machines. So back to the scrap bin, a little work on the lathe again and a shot with the mig and:



How does it work?



Just fine thank you very much!

Gotta say, I really don't like torque to yield bolts. Something about putting that angle on the bolt right up to it's yield point just doesn't feel right at all.....

Time to pack it up for today. tomorrow it's reinstall the came gears and maybe actually get it buttoned up to the point where I can start it. we'll see how that goes, I'm in no rush to get this done and have no impetus to push myself at all....

 

[great white]

Well crap on a cracker.

tried to install the cam gears and no go. I was just trying to put them in place, not torque them down.

Seems the chain (as it sits) is too short. It seems to be one or two teeth short.

I’m pretty sure I know whats happened.
I think the lower crank gear has allowed two teeth to come out of mesh and now the chain guides won’t allow me to pull the chain around because the crank gear is now torqued and the crank is still locked by the locating dowel.

Were this a “normal” engine, I’d just back off the crank bolt and fix the chain. But of course, this thing is TTY, which means backing it off ruins the bolt.

Tried removing the chain guide pivots to see if I could get enough slack to pull the chain around but no joy.

So tomorrow, I’ll pull the crank locking dowel out and try turning the crank a small amount to see If I can walk the chain around enough to free it up. If it works, I’ll just move the crank back and insert the locking dowel again.


Hopefully it works, or I’ll have to order a new TTY crank bolt. Not a big deal cost wise, but it will mean weeks of waiting….

In hindsight, what I should have done was insert the timing chain “cassette”, then hung the can gears to position the chain properly, then inserted the crank adapter and crank bolt. Then once all in place, tighten the TTY crank an cam gear bolts. None of the manuals say to do it this way, but it would guarantee you wouldn’t have the issue of the chain going slack and dropping a tooth while installing it, thus ending up where I am now..

I’m going to calk the mini desler in town in the am and see if they have any crank bokts in stock, just in case. Wife is going in to town tomorrow, so she can bring one or two hone when she comes. Assuming they have any on the shelf that is…

 

[mattthemuppet2]

That's a bummer. What a fiddle fart

 

[GoceKU]

Gotta say, I really don't like torque to yield bolts. Something about putting that angle on the bolt right up to it's yield point just doesn't feel right at all....

Those bolts are terrible, very little margin for error, to tight they break like glass if loose then you need a new engine, pistons hit the valves.

 

[great white]

So talked to the mini dealership. There's only one in the entire province. They have ONE crank bolt in stock. Luckily, the missus is heading into town today for a girls shopping trip and can pick it up on her way.

I'm still going to try and free up the chain by slightly rocking the crank back and forth, but at least I'll have a new TTY crank bolt as a backup in case it doesn't work....

 

[great white]

Those bolts are terrible, very little margin for error, to tight they break like glass if loose then you need a new engine, pistons hit the valves.

Well. I went with the Mini manual (I have an electronic copy of the BMW maint manual). Torque to 50 nm and then 180 degree turn. Turn was done with a torque angle gauge.

 

[GoceKU]

Well crap on a cracker.

tried to install the cam gears and no go. I was just trying to put them in place, not torque them down.

Seems the chain (as it sits) is too short. It seems to be one or two teeth short.

I’m pretty sure I know whats happened.
I think the lower crank gear has allowed two teeth to come out of mesh and now the chain guides won’t allow me to pull the chain around because the crank gear is now torqued and the crank is still locked by the locating dowel.

Were this a “normal” engine, I’d just back off the crank bolt and fix the chain. But of course, this thing is TTY, which means backing it off ruins the bolt.

Tried removing the chain guide pivots to see if I could get enough slack to pull the chain around but no joy.

So tomorrow, I’ll pull the crank locking dowel out and try turning the crank a small amount to see If I can walk the chain around enough to free it up. If it works, I’ll just move the crank back and insert the locking dowel again.


Hopefully it works, or I’ll have to order a new TTY crank bolt. Not a big deal cost wise, but it will mean weeks of waiting….

In hindsight, what I should have done was insert the timing chain “cassette”, then hung the can gears to position the chain properly, then inserted the crank adapter and crank bolt. Then once all in place, tighten the TTY crank an cam gear bolts. None of the manuals say to do it this way, but it would guarantee you wouldn’t have the issue of the chain going slack and dropping a tooth while installing it, thus ending up where I am now..

I’m going to calk the mini desler in town in the am and see if they have any crank bokts in stock, just in case. Wife is going in to town tomorrow, so she can bring one or two hone when she comes. Assuming they have any on the shelf that is…

I've been there, you need to put the engine in timing then torqe the bolt. I had it be half a tooth off, many ford engines are like that, horrible design. You may as well remove that bolt, install the cam sprockets torque them, set the timing tighten the bolt by hand then unlock the crank and cams rotate it two circles by hand and check the timing marks, if right torqe the bolt and re check.

 

[GoceKU]

Well. I went with the Mini manual (I have an electronic copy of the BMW maint manaul). Torque to 50 nm and then 180 degree turn.

i'm not sure if peugeot uses the same bolt i've worked on N14 engine i think it was 50 Nm than 90 degrees, wait 5 min then another 90 degrees. it feels like the bolt is snaping on the last stage.