Talk about an OH SH*T moment...

SHAUN_IRE

Put the cams back in yesterday. Had all the caps torqued, sproket bolts torqued and the tensioner back in.... then...

When removing the cam locking tool I made I forgot I used 8mm washers and when I pulled one bolt out the washer dropped down to the bottom of the timing chain :o :o Talk about gettin out the pram :lol: :lol: But I suppose now I get a chance to fix the leaking crank seal :think: :think:

vocky

that is a oh sh*t moment, I hope you found the washer, but it may have slipped into the sump

sdbutler10

oh sh*t i would be pissed off with that. but as neil said it could have fallen in to the sump :S

SHAUN_IRE

Yeah was thinking that but I might as well take the timing cover off and get it out just for that piece of mind 😃

Got pissed of taking the crank bolt out with the pull bar so out came the air gun! showo.. Then the hangover kicked in and decided to walk away :lol:

SHAUN_IRE

UPDATE:

Turned out to be a good job that the washer dropped down there... When I took it out I noticed that the timing was out by two links! :wtf: I didn't turn the engine at all and kept tension on the chain at all times so I'm wondering if it was always out by this much?? Would it even run if out by that much?? :problem:

r34p3r1978

i had a very similar oh sh*t moment the other day took timing chain cover of to find that my timing chain tensioner bolt was holding on by its last thread :shock: how lucky i was god knows how long it was like that for now put a new timing chain kit on :clap:

Ashep22

I know this is an old post, but i just had an OH SH*T moment...
I undone the cover to check the chain to see if theres was any slack, to my relief the chain was pretty tight with minimal movement. For some reason i had my ratchet in my hand, and as i leaned over to put it on the black plastic, (where the window washers are on an Astra), the piece on the end of it just fell off, i dont even think it bounced, it just went straight down the gap, where the cam chain is...Oh Sh**t.. 🙁 i heard it hit a few things on the way down, and when i looked with a touch, i couldnt see it.
Now im faced with having to take the cam cover off to getting it out, but from what ive read it could be in the sump?? if thats the case, is that a hard job?
Ive gotten to the point were i have the take the bolt from the crank pulley but im finding it very hard to undo, with the handbrake on, the car in gear, and the front left wheel off, i tried to undo the bolt with a breaker bar but the wheel hub/disc brake just turned as i turned the bolt, (anti clockwise i assume), i looked at the chain and it to was moving, i tried using an air gun and it did nothing.
I then put the wheel on and chocked it, (as it was on a car stand) tried with the breaker bar and it looked like the whole car wanted to move, (the front left wheel was on the ground) again with the air gun and it did nothing.
I really dont know what to do, i dont want to drive the car to a mechanic as the ratchet piece could do some major damage.
Any advice on getting to bolt off would be great

vocky

the sump is easy to remove, just undo the bolts and it drops off :thumbup:

the crank bolt is damn tight, get someone to put their foot on the brake, if you have the wheel off fit some wheel bolts into the disc or it could shear off the locating bolt

Ashep22

Thanks for the advice vocky, but what did you mean by locating bolt?

rik1083

the brake disk is usually held in place by the wheel bolts
There's 1 allen key head bolt holding it on just so it doesn't fall off, so if you're using the brakes with the wheel off the usual 4 or 5 wheel bolts aren't there to hold the disk, only 1 little locating bolt

Ashep22

Thanks for clarifying, will let you know how i go as im trying to find out what the rattling noise is, i think its the other chain just under the cam chain (not too sure what its called?)
Does the kit from autovaux include this chain? or is it just the cam chain with all the guides and tensioner?
Thanks, Ash

Ashep22

Well, after a long afternoon, i finally got the crank pulley off after wedging a screw driver between one of the three inside spokes of the pulley and the cam case, (theres little notches/mouldings where it can wedge in). After that, it then took me and hour or so just to separate the cam case from the block, but eventually it came apart, here are some photos of the ratchet piece i dropped and where it landed.
Engine bay top view
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Is this what i can here when driving?? Would it be a good idea to get a balancer kit and replace the lot?? or get both kits one for the balancer chain and one for the cam chain??
My cam chain was replaced back in November 2005, it had 87000km on the clock, i have receipts for it on this post viewtopic.php?f=22&t=14103]([media=youtube)
The cam chain still feels tight and firm, there are some markings on the on the sprokets, (little crosses) and i think on the chain, ill take a picture tomorrow to clarify.

Im going to a Holden dealership tomorrow to get some prices on the parts, i know they will be ridiculous but ill have a base price to work from, i know ordering from the uk will probably be the cheapest, but its the p&h that will cost.

Thanks for any replys and advice people have given me, ill keep you posted.
Ash.

delboy2028

holy crap that was a fill ya pants moment glad you got it

misterY

I had an OH SH*T moment as well last saturday. A friend of mine came by with his Y26SE Vectra B and had some problems. We located some of them out and also checked the compression of the cylinders. 5 had 12-13 bar, but cylinder 3 just 9. So I used my endoscope to have a look at the valves. Therefore there is litte a 45° mirror at the top of it. When i wanted to pull it out, the mirror fell all of a sudden into the cylinder.... :o
We needed about 3 hours to bring it back out. I put some glue on the top of a pieces of wire and I managed to get it out.
You should have seen my friend's face as I told him, "Houston, we have a problem". cheers..

Ashep22

Just a quick update, contacted AutoVaux for a price on both cam chain and balance chain kit, worked out to be £246.10 including £50 postage which works out to be around $450 AUD.
Contacted Holden here in oz, and ill cut and paste the email with the prices i got back from them

Hi Ashley,
Timing chain is $393.80, a timing chain kit is $680.75 which includes timing chain,tensioner,guides,oil jet and bolts.
A balance shaft chain is $224.40 and the kit for that is $721.24 which includes balance shaft chain,tensioner and guides.
Holden does not sell a kit that does both timing chain and balance shaft chain.

Thanks for your enquiry

:o :wtf: :eh: thumbd
Ehh, no thanks... I couldnt believe to difference...
Ordered the two kits today, hoping to get them within a week or two as i cant us my car till i get them, just lucky i live close enough to work to ride the pushy, in 35°to 40° heat 😐

kmbrad

My chain failed and made a right mess of the guide rails. Snapped bolts everywhere and teeth missing from sprockets.

Decided to take the sump off and check in there. It was full of plastic and swarf.

Refitted the sump. Job done.

Went to fit the balance chain sprocket onto the crankshaft. The wodruff key slipped out, straight into the sump. :oops:

Luckily enough my magnetic screwdriver fished it out. I would have thrashed the car with a stick like Basil Fawlty otherwise.

Ashep22

What did you mean by wodruff key? or should i say what is the wodruff key?

daaaaavek

Hey Ashep22 .. where abouts are you located?

kmbrad

Ashep22 said:
What did you mean by wodruff key? or should i say what is the wodruff key?

The little half moon piece of metal that slots into the crank. It's the notch the sprockets and pulley locates on.

Ashep22

daaaaavek said:
Hey Ashep22 .. where abouts are you located?

In balcktown, i used to live up the blue mountains about a year and a half ago though, what about you?
I have yet to go on any cruzies, but once to cars fixed ill try too.

kmbrad said:

Ashep22 said:
What did you mean by wodruff key? or should i say what is the wodruff key?

The little half moon piece of metal that slots into the crank. It's the notch the sprockets and pulley locates on.

I thought thats what it was, just confirming, thanks

Still waiting for the kits to be sent from auto vaux, hopefully in the next week or two. How long did it take you to get your kits dave?