98SW2 Re-Ring project

[macbox]

OldNuc that is the sneakiest trick I have ever heard for putting on rings, I'll have to try that the next time I rebuild an engine.

Can you describe what you mean by "springing the rings"? Does this mean that a ring is sprung too big in some way? If so, shouldn't the bore take care of that and compress the ring inward? I'm asking because I have one that is just a tad bigger than the other when they are stacked up, but fits nicely in the bore.

The bolt holes in the block were very clean and I didn't get anything out of them except for one, which was a smidgen of aluminum dust that came out with the brake cleaner. The shop chases every bolt hole with some tool so they were very clean in the first place.

This afternoon/evening:
* Steering rack installed onto subframe.
* Took the intake studs and nuts that I got from my last JY trip out of the chem-dip, hosed them off, bagged them and blasted with WD-40.
* Timing cover bolts are now soaking in chem-dip.
* Dumped old power steering fluid out of power steering pump reservoir and poured new power steering fluid in.
* Straightened the bent battery hold-down that was bent from the handle still being on the battery and the hold-down installed over it.

[OldNuc]

The idea is to install the ring with the minimum distortion. So the shim stock trick does that without the risk of scratching the piston.

[macbox]

It looks like assembly day for the engine will be this coming Tuesday. I have a printout of the torque specs, the work area rearranged, and the following types of sealants for the engine.

In the picture below is Hylomar 100 for the oil pan, Locktite/Permatex 518 for the rear seal carrier and timing cover, and Hylomar M to dress the valve cover gasket. Hylomar M is formerly known as Universal Racing Blue.

[OldNuc]

The 518 is good stuff but be sure the mating surfaces and cleaned with acetone and there are no ugly gaps. The 518 is not a gap filler product. Take your time with assembly, use assembly lube, permatex ultra slick 81950. You can find it in the parts store. Do not get oil or lubes on the back of the bearing shells. Once installed assembly lube on the bearing surface. Anything that moves gets assembly lube. If you use assembly lube on the oil pump and follow the prime procedure you will not have to pack it full of Vaseline. Be very careful of the rod nut torque. They will break and replacements are only sourced from the scrap yard. Before torquing a critical fastener set the wrench and test pop it with a bolt clamped in your vice. Any size works that you have a socket to fit just pop the wrench a couple of times to get its attention. When not in use back the adjustment off to the minimum setting.

[Thor4SL2]

Take a look at your oil pump cover. Newer ones have a very small jet drilled into them near the pressure valve. This jet squirts oil onto the timing chain and is a major improvement over older stile ones. I’m not sure when Saturn made the change. If you don’t see a tiny hole on the outside of the cover, get a new one from a Saturn dealer.

[OldNuc]

The cover part number for the 91-98 cover is 21008357 and GM Parts Direct thinks they have them for $45.00

[Thor4SL2]

Originally Posted by OldNuc

The cover part number for the 91-98 cover is 21008357 and GM Parts Direct thinks they have them for $45.00

That's the correct part number according to my old invoice. The price sounds good too. I paid more.

[1996SL11.9L]

Originally Posted by Thor4SL2

Take a look at your oil pump cover. Newer ones have a very small jet drilled into them near the pressure valve. This jet squirts oil onto the timing chain and is a major improvement over older stile ones. I’m not sure when Saturn made the change. If you don’t see a tiny hole on the outside of the cover, get a new one from a Saturn dealer.

I actually did some improvements similar to that on the 4.2L in the old CJ7 for the timing chain oiling..........

[macbox]

Originally Posted by OldNuc

The 518 is good stuff but be sure the mating surfaces and cleaned with acetone and there are no ugly gaps. The 518 is not a gap filler product. Take your time with assembly, use assembly lube, permatex ultra slick 81950. You can find it in the parts store. Do not get oil or lubes on the back of the bearing shells. Once installed assembly lube on the bearing surface. Anything that moves gets assembly lube. If you use assembly lube on the oil pump and follow the prime procedure you will not have to pack it full of Vaseline. Be very careful of the rod nut torque. They will break and replacements are only sourced from the scrap yard. Before torquing a critical fastener set the wrench and test pop it with a bolt clamped in your vice. Any size works that you have a socket to fit just pop the wrench a couple of times to get its attention. When not in use back the adjustment off to the minimum setting.

I have about half a quart of acetone left, should be plenty.

Assembly lube is sitting on the bench, I can't recall what brand it is but it wasn't cheap, and I have two kinds, a thinner one for the bearings and a thicker on for the cams.

Torque wrench for the medium range is a craftsman beam type, which I like better for the critical applications such as rod and head bolts.

[OldNuc]

Properly operated bending beam wrench blows the doors off of clicker wrenches in regards to repeatability and accuracy.

The enclosed bending beam wrenches with the indicator dial are usually available for cheap on eBay. Some of these are from the aircraft industry and are of very high quality.

[macbox]

I do like the bending beams, I trust the Craftsman more than the HF clickers. The clickers do OK for the high and low ends of the S-Series torque range, but I like to see that needle for the 15-50 Lb range.

I remembered the kind of assembly lube I have, it's from Torco.
http://www.torcousa.com/torco_product/mpz_engine.html
The thicker stuff will mix with the thinner stuff in the oil pump so it will stick inside and not run out. Of course, I will follow priming procedures prior to first start.

[macbox]

Originally Posted by Thor4SL2

Take a look at your oil pump cover. Newer ones have a very small jet drilled into them near the pressure valve. This jet squirts oil onto the timing chain and is a major improvement over older stile ones. I’m not sure when Saturn made the change. If you don’t see a tiny hole on the outside of the cover, get a new one from a Saturn dealer.

Is it possible to drill that hole? I think I see that little hole on the protrusion that mounts to the oil seal on the block. I don't particularly feel like waiting for another part or spending more $ as I am this far along. This car is an early serial number "98 model year, and this engine will not burn oil once it is done if all goes well.

[OldNuc]

Just remember this. You start the engine and look for leaks as it warms up. Once the fan cycles on and off a couple of times you shut it off and let it cool. Now change the oil and filter. Refill with your choice of permanent oil. Now you can drive the car. Keep the rpm in the reasonable range and avoid steady speed driving for long periods. At ~750 moles pull an oil simple and send it off. Change the oil and filter and run the new batch for the mileage you are planning for change interval. For the first 1000 miles watch the level very closely and keep it toped off.

Very carefully check for hoses and wires of before the first start. You do not want a new motor whipping up to the rev limiter and sitting there while you ponder.

[macbox]

Task list:

* Take a look at oil pump cover to see if it is the old or new design.
* Flywheel goes to the machine shop, it was attacked by rust while everything was apart.
* Clean old sealant off timing cover bolts.
* Rearrange workbench.
* Take pictures of all internal parts for documentation purposes.
* Go over piston install process to gain absolute clarity on which way pistons are facing for install. Validate against second info source and teardown pics.
* Double check second oil control rings to validate the pips are facing up.
* Gather clean towels for acetone cleaning process.
* Clean remaining gunk off of JY aluminum timing cover.

[Thor4SL2]

Originally Posted by macbox

Is it possible to drill that hole? I think I see that little hole on the protrusion that mounts to the oil seal on the block. I don't particularly feel like waiting for another part or spending more $ as I am this far along. This car is an early serial number "98 model year, and this engine will not burn oil once it is done if all goes well.

No, you can't. The shape of the cover is different to "aim" the jet directly at the chain. The smallest drill bit I have at the shop is 1/78th. and the hole is smaller.

It has nothing to do with oil burning. The change was made to prevent early chain failure from inadequate lubrication.

Weather you change it or not is up to you and your budget. As long as there is no wear on the inside of the pump cover you can reuse your old one (you did check the pump cover for wear didn’t you?) It’s just a lot easier to do it now than later.

[OldNuc]

Both the front cover and the inside of the timing cover must be inspected for wear. Excessive side clearance will result in low hot oil pressure which is not something you really want.

[macbox]

The oil pump cover and the inside of the timing cover had minimal wear and looked good on the teardown, so I just threw a new oil pump into it.
I've got pix here from the teardown so you can take a look and confirm or deny my opinion.

It turns out I do have the new oil pump cover with the jet for the timing chain on the intake side of the engine, so no worries there. The pump itself is filled with a couple kinds of assembly lube, the thicker stuff is filling the gaps and is keeping the thinner stuff from leaking out through the gaps. I'm quite sure it will stay there until I get the block assembled.

Other things took up way too much time today, but I was able to get more things organized and cleaned, and I also got the oil pump installed into the timing cover with everything torqued to spec and sealed with loctite.

[RobertGary1]

Originally Posted by Thor4SL2

Take a look at your oil pump cover. Newer ones have a very small jet drilled into them near the pressure valve. This jet squirts oil onto the timing chain and is a major improvement over older stile ones. I’m not sure when Saturn made the change. If you don’t see a tiny hole on the outside of the cover, get a new one from a Saturn dealer.

Is that a solution looking for a problem? The Saturn timing system outlasts the engine with the original cover.

-Robert

[macbox]

Originally Posted by RobertGary1

Is that a solution looking for a problem? The Saturn timing system outlasts the engine with the original cover.

-Robert

At least they fixed that. It is however, only treating the symptom and not the cause. The real cause is there are no oil drainback holes in the pistons causing the rings to get stuck, and as a result the engine burns oil, which leads to timing chain failure. At least this way you can have an oil burner with a quieter timing chain.

[OldNuc]

Your pump cavity and cover look fine. The extra oil for the chain corrected a design defect. Roller chain was originally designed to run in an oil bath. They fail rapidly when run dry. When the engine runs low on oil the engine runs hotter and this does not help the chain at all. The small hole was added for chain cooling as the oil in the pan is cooler than the oil draining down from the head area.