Timing belt replacement issue

[avguy]

... I keep hearing about people saying that torque wrenches are not accurate. ...

A torque wrench that's out of adjustment is not accurate. To claim that torque wrenches in general are not accurate is a ridiculous and incredibly ignorant statement for someone to make. I use them all the time, and would not even consider working without them. However, you have bigger problems at this point than getting that torque correct, so for now just leaning hard on a breaker bar is ok. Once you fix everything that's wrong, you can go back and get that torque right.

... I would choose to remove a whole head from a junkyard vehicle. Would that not be appropriate? ...

The problem with that is you don't know how, or even if the engine was running. Unless the yard is willing to guarantee the head is good, and willing to take it back if it's not.

.... Specifically, one coolant thermostat screw, one hex water pump retention screw, one engine mount screw. ....

Those bolts being stripped is a REALLY bad situation. They're all very important, and there will be virtually no chance of keeping this vehicle on the road with any of them not able to be tightened (especially the first 2). And getting them repaired with helicoils or drilling/tapping oversized bolts is not a simple DIY job. Unless you've done something like this previously, you might want to consider taking it to a shop for those repairs. Yes, you can learn how to do it yourself, but it's not work that's likely to go well the first time you try it. And you don't want to mess up the real thing, because it will just make the problem much worse.

And just an aside that in most cases bolts get stripped by people who think they don't need to use a torque wrench, or perhaps are not even aware those tools exist.

... Aren't I supposed to run the engine before doing the compression test? ....

An engine does not have to be run before doing a compression test.

[rgansaldi]

So I've corrected the timing and the car is put all back together again. Same as before, the car won't run but the battery gave up on my second attempt to start the engine.

What is my next step? To complete the compression test?

Is that a tool I rent? Through the spark plugs?

[avguy]

.... What is my next step? ...

I've never seen a situation like you have now, so all I can do at this point is give you my best guess opinion. It's vital that the water pump be locked in place by those three Allen bolts, because the timing belt is constantly working against it as it spins. There have been reports from other threads where timing belt loop failures were very likely caused by one or more of those bolts not being properly torqued.

However, these bolts are small, and the torque spec is very low. So there is no way to make up for one being loose by tightening the other two over spec. What I'm getting at is that I don't think a water pump held by just two bolts will be able to stay properly timed very long. And coolant leaking from the pump seal will be the second issue, and is a showstopper in it's own right.

So my opinion and suggestion to you is to get the stripped bolts fixed, before doing anything else. You also might have bent valves but I don't think you can positively figure that out with that water pump bolt loose, unless you can do a compression test and then go back in again and confirm that the timing is still good after the test is done. Basically, you've got a big, nasty tiger by the tail.

[rgansaldi]

stripped bolts

to be clear, the heads are stripped. except for the coolant thermostat bolt, the block thread is stripped, it will be a shop job.

[roberco]

Hi, everyone

I come in search of good news, I come with what may be bad news. Tonight I began working on replacing my timing belt and water pump but was faced with an impassable challenge. I followed my technical guide and informational videos best I could.

-Raised car
-Removed wheel and splash shield
-Remove air filter
-Removed serpentine belt

When it came to remove the crankshaft pulley, the darn crankshaft pulley bolt would not come off. It would only rotate the whole belt and camshafts; so I did the only thing I could do at the moment, with the car in park I put the lock on the camshaft cranks and went bellow to try to remove the crankshaft pulley bellow. As I pulled the wrench clockwise the crankshaft pulley jumped five times. I tried to reverse the direction out of fear that timing belt jumped on the crankshaft but I could not get it to jump in that direction. I decided to stop and seek guidance here.

What exactly did I just do? Did the pulley jump, or did the belt jump position? Why was I not able to remove the crankshaft pulley bolt?

Sweating bullets here, best regards.

What I did was that I grabbed a coat hanger wire, straightened it out, and tied the crankshaft pulley against the CV joint. I then used a breaker bar and an iron tube for more leverage and torque the bolt out. I did the same way when I re-installed it. I did use a torque wrench when I re-installed the pulley. Before you remove the belt, make marks on the cam gears. When you put the new belt on, make sure that you offset the marks on cam gears by one tooth so that they will line up after you tighten up the belt.
Good luck!