I have a 1987 turbo 2 which i recently rebuilt. I was a total moron and left a wrench on the front bolt while i was setting the timing. Not realizing it, i turned the engine over, the wrench caught and threaded the bolt out. A gush of oil spewed forth and i cursed a lot. My question is this, what are the chances that the needle bearings popped out and are now sitting improperly? can i just slap that sucker back in there and be done with it, or do i have to remove the front cover do all the hoopla of setting the spacers, needle bearings etc.?

muchas gracias for any advice.

 

Pull the front cover. The needle bearings have slipped.

 

damn. figured. stupid dumb f'ing mistake.

 

No. Not really. IF you have a set of dial calipers or maybe just a mic you can check it out without removing anything. See the FSM, any year, and under ENGINE ASSY, there is a measurement you can make to determine if the bearing has dropped, or not. I"ve done it this way before and it's trust worthy.

You simply reinstall the bolt and run it down with your fingers OR use just a touch of torque, then remove the bolt. Now you measure from the area the bolt was pressing against on the pulley, TO the eccentric shaft. The measurment should be 0.0961 inches. If it's over this LIMIT, then you should remove the cover and put the bearing where it belongs.

This measurment has been in the FSM and the HAYNES for decades.

EDIT: Maybe this will help you figure out what I'm talking about. Pickup the bolt. Look at the bolt. It has a *flange* on it. That *flange presses against the PULLEY when the bolt is installed. So you set the bolt to the side. You go look at your pulley on the shaft. See the area on the pulley where the bolt flange pushes against? You measure from there to the eccentric shafts end. That's all there is to it.

No dial calipers? Well you could get a piece of wire and cut a piece off that is the same distance as the LIMIT figure and hold it againt the distance b/t the eccentric shaft end and pulley mating spot of the bolt. OR get apiece of wire and mark that LIMIT distance from one end and hold it against the end of the eccentric shaft and see how close to the pulley spot where the bolt rests, is.

IMHO there is too much being made about the bearings dropping. I've removed the pulley on one of my cars to remove the oil thermostat device and didn't even think about pressing clutches etc. Why? Because I did no pull/pushing on the pulley or shaft. Just removed the bolt and fetched the old oil thermo device out and put another in.

By the way, the measurement is in two places in the FSM. The OIL or LUBRICATION section and the ENGINE ASSY sections. Decades.

 

better to play it safe and pull the front cover

 

this happened to a friends car.. the engine was actually still running when the bolt came out, and after we pulled everything apart, turned out the bearing had not dropped. I would say just try hailers suggestion first, chances are it hasnt dropped

 

well I went ahead and pulled it (would have tried hailers method but did not see it) and it had dropped. So better safe than sorry, in this situation. Much thanks for your advice, next time i will definitely try the measurement deal first, as it seems like a simple way to assess the bearings location pre disassembly.

 

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