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Replacement of engine chains

J

Jon_G

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Location
Nr Ludlow, Shropshire
Car
2005 Tourer i-CTDi
I have a long-term noisy engine chain(s) problem that has recently become noticeably worse... in fact, I'm become more than a little worried!

Can anyone who has suffered worn engine chains tell me how bad the problem was (in terms of noise) before Honda took action. Alternatively, can anyone who was unlucky enough to experience actual chain breakage describe the symptoms leading up to the actual failure.

Ideally I'd also like to hear from anyone who has replaced their own chains, as their advice could be invaluable. I have on-line access to a workshop manual, but I'm not sure how complete it really is, nor what vital details may be missing!

There's no way it's worth me paying a garage £1100+ for this repair to my car (and it could be a lot more?), so I'm planning to have a go myself... Febi chains are only around £120 and I am fairly sure they supply Honda (absolute confirmation of this would be good), and I'm not sure it's really worth replacing sprockets, tensioners and guides on an old engine unless they look significantly worn... I am told it's almost always the chain itself that stretches and fails. I don't care too much if it's noisy afterwards, but I do need to rule out the possibility of breakage and the resulting engine destruction (eBay has many examples of Honda diesel cars and engines being sold for scrap because of chain failure).

Any constructive comments gratefully received. And no Eric, I'm not going to throw it away and buy a petrol Accord.
 
Jon if you can get the parts I can get our lads to work out a price for doing it.. But if you decide to take it on yourself I wish you the best of luck and please take plenty of pics!!
 
Hmm... it's very tempting to have you do this for me, as you can arrange for my manifold welded at the same time.

Please would you PM me with an estimate, ***uming that I will be getting both chains (which appear to be readily available on Amazon and elsewhere). Really not sure what other parts may be needed (gaskets, seals, etc) and obviously I accept that the tensioners and guides may turn out to be u/s.

But will it survive the drive up to West Yorkshire?
 
Depends how bad it is mate.. I need to head over to the garage later to tune an Audi so I'll have a chat with the lads then. You would need to arrange to be without it for a week most likely so bear that in mind as it might need extra time for injector soaking etc

I also believe it's possibly an engine out job..
 
Can be done in situ, worth changing the tensioner Imo. Getting injectors out that'll be fun.
 
Dropped you a PM with the price Jon. Spoke to the lads, the last one they did was a couple of years back and they said it was easier for them to remove the engine. Will also mean access to the manifold is much easier..
 
throw it away and buy another diesel and put up with more ball ache ? :blink: :ph34r:

on a lighter note i hope you get it done and keep us posted and yep no point taking it to a garage, if my car needed massive amounts of work i would not take it to a garage, its not a viable option given the age and value of the cars.

without being a mechanic i would be sure this job would not at all be easy, have you the right tools for this?
 
Good luck Jon with getting the chain replaced.TBO Jon if it cost over 1K where could you get a car for that amount of money.
So I think it's worth getting done IMO
 
I started heading down the route of replacing my own chain a few years ago until I found out about the extended warranty, I got as far as obtaining a print out from the maintenance manual.

As for the noise: it started out as a typical noisy chain rattle noticeable on a relatively quiet diesel. I got worried when it quickly developed into a metal on metal scraping / grinding when the engine speed fell to idle or blipping the throttle. I knew it was bad when even my Mrs noticed!

Lucky for me there were a couple of months left on the extended warranty for the chain but that was the start of my 'injector-mageddon'.
 
Well it took me far too long, but yesterday evening I finished throwing all the bits back into the engine and it seems to be working OK!

I replaced both chains, the oil pump chain tensioner and the timing chain tensioner arm. I bought Febi chains from eBay and the other parts from Holdcroft Honda, plus 4 new copper injector gaskets (seals)... total cost was £300 (the new tensioner accounted for half of this).

I'm fairly confident that the rubbing/chafing/rattling noise that had greatly worried me was coming from the timing chain, which was stretched a fair bit (about 8mm, when hung alongside) compared to the new one, plus the tensioner arm was deeply grooved and pitted. The tensioner itself looked fine (I inspected it very, very carefully) so I refitted it... not too much of a risk, as this tensioner can be replaced at any time very easily through an inspection port on the chain cover.

The oil pump drive chain/tensioner/tensioner arm all appeared to be reasonably OK. Unlike for the timing chain, the Honda eManual does give a wear limit on this chain... the service limit is reached when the piston of the tensioner has extended 8mm from the retracted position, and mine was actually at the 8mm limit (which I would ***ume to be a conservative limit). However, the new chain was noticeably shorter by a few mm when hung alongside and I had already decided to replace the tensioner as getting to this tensioner is very, very time-consuming indeed! However, I reckon I could have probably got away with reusing the original tensioner?

New tensioners are of a slightly different design to the old ones, as the 2004/5 diesels were originally fitted with 'ratcheting' tensioners, rather than the later 'floating' types. The old design of tensioners are no longer available, but the new types are a direct replacement, use the same bolts and engage with the tensioner arms in the same way. Apparently the ratcheting parts on the old types can wear very badly, but both of mine looked absolutely fine. Both have internal springs, but also rely primarily upon oil pressure to exert pressure upon their respective hinged tensioner arms and finally the 'back side' of the respective chain. The tensioners are slightly different from each other and so not interchangeable.

Luckily, none of my chain sprockets had the slightest sign of wear.

The good news for me was getting out the injectors without any struggle at all. The low point was removing the crank pulley bolt (effectively caused me 2 weeks delay!!!)... I broke several 1/2" drive socket set extension rods and T-bars plus burnt out an impact wrench purchased to deal with the problem. Removing the aircon compressor also turned a bit nasty (it took me a lot of time to remove a bolt head that became rounded off) as there is really no room to deal with problems that arise.

It is very tricky to replace the sump and chain cover without accidentally wiping off the liquid gasket/sealant as you juggle these parts back into position... this isn't aided by only having 4 minutes to do it in! I enlisted my wife to help out with this, but still struggled a fair bit with the chain case. It's also a bit tricky getting the cylinder head/cam cover back on past the pipework and wiring looms, but at least that has a proper gasket and so doesn't need any messy liquid gasket/sealant (well, only a couple of small blobs).

The engine is now much, much quieter then before. However it does now suffer from the same high-pitched 'whine' reported by many others who have had their chains replaced... I don't know what causes this, but it isn't particularly annoying, just 'different'.

I have taken many photographs and will one day be able to post these, but currently I am unable to add links to my posts.

I would not recommend attempting this job without a Honda service manual... there are simply too many things to undo that aren't obvious, plus the refitting of quite a few items demands specific torque settings followed by a further 90 degrees of tightening. An engine hoist is also required, as engine mounts have to be removed resulting in the engine having to be supported, plus it is very useful to be able to raise/lower the engine to get access to the sump and other parts. The engine subframe also has to be undone and lowered to get the sump in/out. No special tools are actually necessary, but a locking tool for the crank pulley was useful when refitting (it has to be done up very tightly). It isn't a technically challenging job at all, but is very fiddly and does take a lot of time.
 
Jon that's a really big job you took on, do you have any pics of your job.

So how does the car drive now?
 
Jon - I would love to see the pics with this excellent write up, and hats off to you for pulling it off.

Can you possibly drop me an email with the write up and embedded pic links and i'll edit your post with them?
 
The car drives perfectly OK... not really much different to before - if I'm honest - but maybe slightly smoother? But it is very much quieter, despite the slight whine. I also did the shorter aux belt mod, which may have also made things quieter? And it's now got a genuine Honda air filter instead of the very old generic thing that was in there. It actually ran a bit rough for the first 10 minutes after initial starting up, very agricultural with a lot of diesel knock plus the EML came on. But I reset the EML and let it warm up and it soon settled down to an even idle... I think it was mis-fuelling due to trapped air in the rail and fuel lines? Or maybe the short-term fuel trims were off because the battery had been disconnected? Either way, it started instantly from cold yesterday morning and idled smoothly and quietly, so the problem was very temporary. I've now driven about 100 miles since.

Of course I will find a way to send you some pictures Fahad... I'll get them off my phone and into my Photobucket account in the next few days. If I can, I'll add the links to a PM (or an email, if necessary) plus a few notes so you can cut-and-paste them to this thread. Thanks.
 
Perfect. Removing the injectors will have caused some air lock in the fuel system and generally everything needs to settle down after replacing tensioners and chains..

So what's the whole job cost you vs what the dealer wanted?
 
Both chains (Febi 30699 & 31115) from eBay = £81
Oil pump drive chain tensioner + 4 copper injector gaskets + oil filter + sump drain washer from HH = £172 (bought upfront)
Timing chain tensioner arm + replacement tensioner bolts from HH = £50 (bought after ***essing worn items)
6 Litres of 0w30 TripleQX oil + tube of Loctite 5920 'instant gasket' from ECP = £33
So total = £336 (including the oil change)

As mentioned, I probably could have reused the original oil pump drive chain tensioner. Just like the timing chain tensioner, it looked absolutely fine, but - unusually for me when it comes to spending money on car repairs - I played it safe due to the serious consequences of this highly inaccessible part failing in the future. However, this part alone accounted for almost half the cost of the repairs... I didn't dismantle it, but I ***ume there must be lumps of gold inside it!

The best quote I had for the complete job (including parts) was £1100, but I have no idea what parts would actually be replaced for that price... once I realised how much it would cost I knew I wouldn't be paying for it to be done, as I doubt the car is worth much more than that. You (Fahad) gave me an excellent quote for labour only, but you are just too far away, unfortunately. I believe Honda can charge up to £3000 for the job, but this would also include new injectors and many, many other parts (e.g. high pressure fuel pipes and quite a few bolts) which Honda do say should not be re-used.

I suggest that it could possibly be a mistake to have the work done by the cheapest garage, as there are many corners that can be cut to keep costs down (such as re-using the old tensioners, or even a chain) and the temptation to hurry could easily lead to the sump and/or chain cover being inadequately sealed and therefore leak oil afterwards, which I have heard does sometimes happen. It's also quite tricky and time-consuming to get all the ancilliary bolts back in... even I was tempted to leave some out to save time during re-***embly, so it probably does happen.

I should haven given credit to TA member rmachines (Ross) who is a Honda technician at a dealership in Cornwall. He doesn't post very often, but has a lot of experience in replacing i-CTDi chains (including his own car) and gave me a lot of advice on what parts really must be replaced as a minimum and how to decide on what can be reused. He has also spent a great deal of time trying to discover why the high-pitched whine is often present afterwards!
 
Fantastic, just goes to show that nothing is impossible!!

Huge respect for pulling it off.

Special thanks also to Ross.

Get those pics and detail over to me when you can.
 
Engine with injectors removed, see more detail about this fortunately quite straightforward task here...http://typeaccord.co.uk/forum/topic/17379-diesel-injector-removal/#entry190988 plus all wiring and pipework moved to one side to allow the cylinder head cover to be removed...
[SIZE=11pt]
IMAG0224_zps82a9592e.jpg
[/SIZE]


Febi chains (30699 & 31115), bought from eBay...
http://i1303.photobucket.com/albums/ag154/jon_g/Accord%20Engine%20Chains%20Replacement%20-%20Aug%202014/IMAG0244_zpsd9b4bfe8.jpg
http://i1303.photobucket.com/albums/ag154/jon_g/Accord%20Engine%20Chains%20Replacement%20-%20Aug%202014/IMAG0245_zps4d2d87ef.jpg

Failed attempt at undoing the crankshaft pulley, more of this rather sorry tale here... http://typeaccord.co.uk/forum/topic/17509-crankshaft-pulley-removal/?hl=injector The Laser Tools 3760 crankshaft pulley locking tool (50mm) can be seen here in action, with the 19mm socket on extension rods running through it onto the pulley bolt. Retightening of this bolt is best done using this locking tool, as requires a lot of force to achieve the necessary additional 90 degrees rotation after an initial torque setting...
http://i1303.photobucket.com/albums/ag154/jon_g/Accord%20Engine%20Chains%20Replacement%20-%20Aug%202014/IMAG0300_zpsbce1f94d.jpg

The mounting arrangements for the engine hoist can be seen here after unbolting the steering pump and moving it to one side, then fitting a bolt into the previously unused thread to clamp on whatever hanging arrangement you need. The engine has to be suspended because the drivers side and rear engine mountings have to be removed to allow the chain cover and sump to be removed (the mounts are bolted to these parts, unfortunately)....
http://i1303.photobucket.com/albums/ag154/jon_g/Accord%20Engine%20Chains%20Replacement%20-%20Aug%202014/IMAG0315_zps279741ef.jpg

Chain cover removed, revealing the old chains (sump still partially obscuring the lower/oil pump drive chain)...
http://i1303.photobucket.com/albums/ag154/jon_g/Accord%20Engine%20Chains%20Replacement%20-%20Aug%202014/IMAG0307_zps62480926.jpg

Timing chain tensioner removed, after careful inspection I decided it could be refitted. In any case, this tensioner can readily be accessed, if necessary, for replacement at a later date via an inspection cover in the chain case. Note the M3 screw being used as a simple pin to hold the tensioner compressed to aid removal, instead of using the 'special tool' called up by the Honda eManual ...
http://i1303.photobucket.com/albums/ag154/jon_g/Accord%20Engine%20Chains%20Replacement%20-%20Aug%202014/IMAG0324_zpsc01d4d84.jpg

Timing chain tensioner arm removed. Note the grooves and pitting that resulted in this part requiring replacement ...
http://i1303.photobucket.com/albums/ag154/jon_g/Accord%20Engine%20Chains%20Replacement%20-%20Aug%202014/IMAG0327_zpscd29b206.jpg

Timing chain removed with new timing chain on left. Old one noticeably longer....
http://i1303.photobucket.com/albums/ag154/jon_g/Accord%20Engine%20Chains%20Replacement%20-%20Aug%202014/IMAG0329_zpse241f802.jpg

Sump removed and draining into box full of rags and paper towels. Despite draining out the oil via the drain plug in the usual manner, a fair volume remains 'trapped' in the sump casting. This helps to explain why 6.5L of oil is required after major engine work, rather than the normal 5.9L...
http://i1303.photobucket.com/albums/ag154/jon_g/Accord%20Engine%20Chains%20Replacement%20-%20Aug%202014/IMAG0337_zps873fe87a.jpg

Removal of the sump fully reveals oil pump drive chain, sprockets, tensioner and tensioner arm. Note the coloured chain links to aid correct setting up of oil pump drive, necessary as the oil pump ***embly also features a pair of balance shafts...
http://i1303.photobucket.com/albums/ag154/jon_g/Accord%20Engine%20Chains%20Replacement%20-%20Aug%202014/IMAG0338_zps1edbb300.jpg

Removal of the sump also reveals the combined oil pump/balance shaft ***embly (looking at underside of engine from the rear) and the oil pick-up strainer visible on this ***embly. Note the screwdriver (as a substitute for the 'special tool' that was called up) inserted through housing to lock rear balance shaft (and hence the ***embly), this allows the chain to be manipulated to aid tensioner compression prior to removal plus also allows the lower sprocket to be undone so the chain can be slid off with both sprockets...
http://i1303.photobucket.com/albums/ag154/jon_g/Accord%20Engine%20Chains%20Replacement%20-%20Aug%202014/IMAG0349_zps5c4572ed.jpg

Purely for interest, a picture of the balancer shafts from the opposite end to the sprocket (so through the passenger side wheel arch)...
http://i1303.photobucket.com/albums/ag154/jon_g/Accord%20Engine%20Chains%20Replacement%20-%20Aug%202014/IMAG0363_zps9f809682.jpg

At the point, I was very relieved to have a tourer to store the growing collection of parts in!...
http://i1303.photobucket.com/albums/ag154/jon_g/Accord%20Engine%20Chains%20Replacement%20-%20Aug%202014/IMAG0344_zps8eb951a0.jpg

The oil pump drive chain tensioner removed, note the ratcheting mechanism present on these very early i-CTDi tensioners (the replacement tensioner is the later, simpler 'floating' design). Despite this part appearing to be perfectly serviceable, it is fairly complex so I decided to nevertheless replace it, mainly because it is extremely inaccessible if it later fails. However, this part alone accounted for almost half the cost of the job!...
http://i1303.photobucket.com/albums/ag154/jon_g/Accord%20Engine%20Chains%20Replacement%20-%20Aug%202014/IMAG0351_zpsf1ee7dcd.jpg

New (on right) and old oil pump drive tensioners for comparison. As with other tensioner, note M3 screw used to hold tensioner in compression (although shown extended here). The green pin comes fitted in the new Honda tensioner to serve this same purpose...
http://i1303.photobucket.com/albums/ag154/jon_g/Accord%20Engine%20Chains%20Replacement%20-%20Aug%202014/IMAG0375_zps4fd196bc.jpg

The oil pump drive chain tensioner arm removed. It is a simple part to ***ess for wear and after careful inspection I decided it could be refitted...
http://i1303.photobucket.com/albums/ag154/jon_g/Accord%20Engine%20Chains%20Replacement%20-%20Aug%202014/IMAG0350_zpsf4e21597.jpg

New oil pump drive chain on left. Only a very small difference in length...
http://i1303.photobucket.com/albums/ag154/jon_g/Accord%20Engine%20Chains%20Replacement%20-%20Aug%202014/IMAG0360_zps224ee5a5.jpg

Oil pump/balancer sprocket plus the dual crankshaft sprocket (I did not need to remove the top/cam shaft sprocket). Practically no sign of wear, which is impressive when considering nearly 160k miles of use!...
http://i1303.photobucket.com/albums/ag154/jon_g/Accord%20Engine%20Chains%20Replacement%20-%20Aug%202014/IMAG0361_zps9d6ed781.jpg

New oil pump drive chain and tensioner fitted, along with the refitted original tensioner arm and sprockets. Note the green pin still awaiting removal to allow the tensioner to extend...
http://i1303.photobucket.com/albums/ag154/jon_g/Accord%20Engine%20Chains%20Replacement%20-%20Aug%202014/IMAG0372_zpsff7305b4.jpg

Old and new timing chain tensioner arms. The old one looked worse in the flesh, hence needing replacement...
http://i1303.photobucket.com/albums/ag154/jon_g/Accord%20Engine%20Chains%20Replacement%20-%20Aug%202014/IMAG0378_zpsfa6bedb3.jpg

New cam/timing chain fitted... note blue coloured links. Unlike the original chain (or the oil pump drive chain) this Febi chain did not have the coloured links present on the original, so I coloured them in myself with a permanent marker to match those on the original. Not actually necessary, as TDC on the crank sprocket pretty obvious plus the cam shafts have a setting position which is also clearly marked, but this belt-and-braces approach makes things a little clearer (coloured links line up with punch marks on the relevant sprockets)...
http://i1303.photobucket.com/albums/ag154/jon_g/Accord%20Engine%20Chains%20Replacement%20-%20Aug%202014/IMAG0383_zps31ad82f6.jpg

New cam chain tensioner arm and refitted original tensioner in position...
http://i1303.photobucket.com/albums/ag154/jon_g/Accord%20Engine%20Chains%20Replacement%20-%20Aug%202014/IMAG0385_zps1a1bbad7.jpg

Sump cleaned and ready to have instant gasket/sealant applied to it prior to refitting. You have only 4 minutes from putting the sealant on to getting the sump into position and it's quite tricky getting the sump between the bottom of the engine block and the engine subframe... I hoisted up the engine as high as I thought safe and levered the drivers side of the engine subframe down as far as I could with the front and mid-position mounts removed...
http://i1303.photobucket.com/albums/ag154/jon_g/Accord%20Engine%20Chains%20Replacement%20-%20Aug%202014/IMAG0389_zps41ef8f1d.jpg

The Loctite 5920 instant gasket/sealant I used for the sump and chain cover (plus two points on the cylinder head cover). Despite buying 3 tubes (!), I actually used less than half of one 80g tube...
http://i1303.photobucket.com/albums/ag154/jon_g/Accord%20Engine%20Chains%20Replacement%20-%20Aug%202014/IMAG0226_zps1c828051.jpg

Sump refitted. Note orangey-brown excess sealant...
http://i1303.photobucket.com/albums/ag154/jon_g/Accord%20Engine%20Chains%20Replacement%20-%20Aug%202014/IMAG0390_zpsfeb58843.jpg

I took no pictures of the chain case re-fitting, but this was a tough job to get on without wiping too much of the sealant onto the sprockets and chains (in fact I did have to rotate the engine to clean up the timing chain afterwards!). There is really insufficient clearance between the chains and the vehicle bodywork (would be simple with engine removed). I had to perform a few dry runs and experiment with raising/lowering the engine to find the 'least worst' position. Refitting the cylinder head cover was also a little fiddly, but at least this has a gasket so needs no instant gasket to make things messy.

Refitting the injectors was actually fairly straightforward. Details of how I did this at post #67... http://typeaccord.co.uk/forum/topic/4542-injector-issues/page-4
 
Jon just send me the whole thread copy paste via Email and I'll paste it, not difficult
 
I'm just sorting the pictures out for Jon on this (as his browser conflicts with the forum software and it prevents him from inserting images). It's hitting the picture limit for posts, so I'm reposting the content across a few posts so that embedded pictures are visible. I.e. what follows is Jon_G's content, I'm just reposting it with embedded images:


Engine with injectors removed, see more detail about this fortunately quite straightforward task here...http://typeaccord.co.uk/forum/topic/17379-diesel-injector-removal/#entry190988 plus all wiring and pipework moved to one side to allow the cylinder head cover to be removed...
[SIZE=11pt]
IMAG0224_zps82a9592e.jpg
[/SIZE]


Febi chains (30699 & 31115), bought from eBay...



Failed attempt at undoing the crankshaft pulley, more of this rather sorry tale here... http://typeaccord.co.uk/forum/topic/17509-crankshaft-pulley-removal/?hl=injector The Laser Tools 3760 crankshaft pulley locking tool (50mm) can be seen here in action, with the 19mm socket on extension rods running through it onto the pulley bolt. Retightening of this bolt is best done using this locking tool, as requires a lot of force to achieve the necessary additional 90 degrees rotation after an initial torque setting...


The mounting arrangements for the engine hoist can be seen here after unbolting the steering pump and moving it to one side, then fitting a bolt into the previously unused thread to clamp on whatever hanging arrangement you need. The engine has to be suspended because the drivers side and rear engine mountings have to be removed to allow the chain cover and sump to be removed (the mounts are bolted to these parts, unfortunately)....


Chain cover removed, revealing the old chains (sump still partially obscuring the lower/oil pump drive chain)...


Timing chain tensioner removed, after careful inspection I decided it could be refitted. In any case, this tensioner can readily be accessed, if necessary, for replacement at a later date via an inspection cover in the chain case. Note the M3 screw being used as a simple pin to hold the tensioner compressed to aid removal, instead of using the 'special tool' called up by the Honda eManual ...


Timing chain tensioner arm removed. Note the grooves and pitting that resulted in this part requiring replacement ...


Timing chain removed with new timing chain on left. Old one noticeably longer....


Sump removed and draining into box full of rags and paper towels. Despite draining out the oil via the drain plug in the usual manner, a fair volume remains 'trapped' in the sump casting. This helps to explain why 6.5L of oil is required after major engine work, rather than the normal 5.9L...

 
Jon_G's post with embedded pictures continued...

Removal of the sump fully reveals oil pump drive chain, sprockets, tensioner and tensioner arm. Note the coloured chain links to aid correct setting up of oil pump drive, necessary as the oil pump ***embly also features a pair of balance shafts...


Removal of the sump also reveals the combined oil pump/balance shaft ***embly (looking at underside of engine from the rear) and the oil pick-up strainer visible on this ***embly. Note the screwdriver (as a substitute for the 'special tool' that was called up) inserted through housing to lock rear balance shaft (and hence the ***embly), this allows the chain to be manipulated to aid tensioner compression prior to removal plus also allows the lower sprocket to be undone so the chain can be slid off with both sprockets...


Purely for interest, a picture of the balancer shafts from the opposite end to the sprocket (so through the passenger side wheel arch)...


At the point, I was very relieved to have a tourer to store the growing collection of parts in!...


The oil pump drive chain tensioner removed, note the ratcheting mechanism present on these very early i-CTDi tensioners (the replacement tensioner is the later, simpler 'floating' design). Despite this part appearing to be perfectly serviceable, it is fairly complex so I decided to nevertheless replace it, mainly because it is extremely inaccessible if it later fails. However, this part alone accounted for almost half the cost of the job!...


New (on right) and old oil pump drive tensioners for comparison. As with other tensioner, note M3 screw used to hold tensioner in compression (although shown extended here). The green pin comes fitted in the new Honda tensioner to serve this same purpose...


The oil pump drive chain tensioner arm removed. It is a simple part to ***ess for wear and after careful inspection I decided it could be refitted...


New oil pump drive chain on left. Only a very small difference in length...


Oil pump/balancer sprocket plus the dual crankshaft sprocket (I did not need to remove the top/cam shaft sprocket). Practically no sign of wear, which is impressive when considering nearly 160k miles of use!...


New oil pump drive chain and tensioner fitted, along with the refitted original tensioner arm and sprockets. Note the green pin still awaiting removal to allow the tensioner to extend...
 
Jon_G's post with embedded pictures continued...

Old and new timing chain tensioner arms. The old one looked worse in the flesh, hence needing replacement...


New cam/timing chain fitted... note blue coloured links. Unlike the original chain (or the oil pump drive chain) this Febi chain did not have the coloured links present on the original, so I coloured them in myself with a permanent marker to match those on the original. Not actually necessary, as TDC on the crank sprocket pretty obvious plus the cam shafts have a setting position which is also clearly marked, but this belt-and-braces approach makes things a little clearer (coloured links line up with punch marks on the relevant sprockets)...


New cam chain tensioner arm and refitted original tensioner in position...


Sump cleaned and ready to have instant gasket/sealant applied to it prior to refitting. You have only 4 minutes from putting the sealant on to getting the sump into position and it's quite tricky getting the sump between the bottom of the engine block and the engine subframe... I hoisted up the engine as high as I thought safe and levered the drivers side of the engine subframe down as far as I could with the front and mid-position mounts removed...


The Loctite 5920 instant gasket/sealant I used for the sump and chain cover (plus two points on the cylinder head cover). Despite buying 3 tubes (!), I actually used less than half of one 80g tube...


Sump refitted. Note orangey-brown excess sealant...


I took no pictures of the chain case re-fitting, but this was a tough job to get on without wiping too much of the sealant onto the sprockets and chains (in fact I did have to rotate the engine to clean up the timing chain afterwards!). There is really insufficient clearance between the chains and the vehicle bodywork (would be simple with engine removed). I had to perform a few dry runs and experiment with raising/lowering the engine to find the 'least worst' position. Refitting the cylinder head cover was also a little fiddly, but at least this has a gasket so needs no instant gasket to make things messy.

Refitting the injectors was actually fairly straightforward. Details of how I did this at post #67... http://typeaccord.co.uk/forum/topic/4542-injector-issues/page-4
 
Thanks very much for making my photo links work properly Steve!

Hopefully anyone considering replacing their engine chains can now see how straightforward this task actually is. No special tools are strictly necessary and all you need is a decent tool kit and plenty of time.
 
^^ and a huge set of steel balls!!

Thanks for sorting Steve, so it was the post limit that was causing the problem..
 
Not a problem. The limit to the number of pictures in the post was certainly an issue, but I don't think it was the issue with Jon_G's posting problems. He seems plagued with copy and paste issues, embedded links, pictures, videos etc... His version of IE and our version of the forum software seems to really dislike each other.
 
Great write up Jon and some very good photos.How is the car running so far
 
Cheers Brett - at now just over 700 miles covered, it's still running great and is lovely and quiet. I did a 300 mile round trip last Tuesday and I'd forgotten what a great motorway car these are... I just set the cruise control to <censored> MPH and sailed down the M5 and along the M4 like I was sitting in a big comfy armchair with very little wind, engine or road noise. The high-pitched whine I mentioned earlier in the thread is still there at between 2000/3000 RPM - more noticeable on the over-run - but not really a big issue (often reported following new chains, for some reason). I fitted new front brake pads on Thursday, so took the opportunity to check for oil leakage from the sump, chain cover and crankshaft pulley seal... I'm please to report I couldn't find even the slightest sign of weeping. MPG was a little on the low side (41.8) but I'll put this down to the relatively high speed I was driving at.
 
Jon_G said:
I just set the cruise control to <censored> MPH and sailed down the M5 and along the M4 ........... MPG was a little on the low side (41.8) but I'll put this down to the relatively high speed I was driving at.
Click to expand...

as well as there being a swear filter in the forum, I never knew there was a speed filter too :lol:

btw, should this excellent write-up be put in the DIY section ?
 
While you probably could use this thread as the basis of a DIY and muddle through, I would strongly recommend that anybody doing this job gets hold of a workshop manual. I only photographed the more interesting points... there's a fair bit of other detailed dismantling that has to be done that is far too boring to photograph.
 
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