2010 Head Gasket replacement - questions before reassembly

Yes, I understand, but I guess the conclusion I'm coming to is that I'll need to spin the motor not just twice but probably several times (up to 18) before the painted links hit all three marks on the same revolution.

Haven't had time to get back under the car yet but will tonight or tomorrow at the latest.

Thanks all for sticking with me on this btw! I read up on the P3190 and I hope it's just being caused by the timing being off. Couldn't find any obvious vacuum leaks.

 

Ok, so I rotated the crank so the timing mark on the pulley was at the 0 degrees point... Then I checked the painted links on the cams. (I had to rotate it like 8-9 rotations of the crank to get these to line up.)

When I did this, the dual painted link was on the correct spot. But the single painted link was one spot ahead of the correct spot on the exhaust cam. I took the tensioner out and was able to get enough slack by wiggling the crank pulley back and forth with the cams locked in place to adjust the position of the exhaust cam.

Started it up and no more code. Was not able to drive it (too late last night) so I just checked the codes. The check engine light did not come on, but interestingly there is still a pending code for camshaft/crankshaft correlation. It wouldn't go away when I cleared codes. Anyways. I'll drive it this morning and see what comes of it. The engine definitely sounded better when it started at least.

 

Drove it around the block a few times and it drove great! The pending P0016 camshaft/crankshaft correlation code actually tripped the MIL, but I reset it and it didn't come back and wasn't even pending after a few more drives around the neighborhood for 15 minutes or so. Drives pretty good! Wouldn't go into EV mode because the battery was too low, but I assume that's because it was using the battery a lot going around the neighborhood at low speed and not braking much.

Need to get the wiper cowl and the underbody parts back on, and then good to go! The title already came in from the DMV and I got insurance on it too. So I get to commute in it next week! (Except that I work from home so I don't have a commute.)

 

I think it happened while I was putting the timing cover on. It was difficult to keep the timing chain guide out of the way when putting the FIPG on, and I ended up having to come up with a zip tie contraption to do it. Meanwhile the chain has no tension on it without either the guide or the timing cover. I checked it after but I think I didn't understand how to correctly check it. First time! Have only done timing belts in the past. Never a chain.

 

I don't understand, would you be able to tell by counting links? The painted links only line up on the camshaft timing marks once every 18 revolutions.

 

This is what I was referring to, and what I experienced. I didn't count the full nine x2 revs to confirm, but I had to rotate quite a few times before the painted links lined up on the timing marks on the camshafts.

 

Ok, so I think the misunderstanding is that I don't know of any marks on the engine for the cam sprockets. I was using the timing chain to properly time the cams. Are there marks on the head or timing cover to line up the cam sprockets when the crack is on the tdc mark? I am away from the car for the holidays so I can't go check. Thanks for the explanations.

 

I put the crank timing mark at TDC and then put the painted links on the marks on the cam sprockets. But since they only get anywhere close to the marks on the cam sprockets once every 18 revolutions of the crank, I had to rotate it a bunch before they lined up.

Are you saying the cam marks must be straight up when the crank is at 0 degrees/TDC? Because there are no marks for the cams that I know of. The video doesn't seem to say anything about any marks, he just uses the method that I used, with the painted links on the chain to get everything timed correctly.

 

Drive it for two hours today. It drove fine the whole time, with no issues. I left the wiper cowl off so it was kind of noisy. But sounded fine to my ears other than that. But sadly it threw another P0016 camshaft/crankshaft correlation MIL after about an hour of driving. Will take the timing cover off again tomorrow or Monday to see if the chain is on the wrong teeth.

 

Great suggestions guys. I drove it for a couple more hours today and it threw the code again about every 20-30 minutes. I got home, double checked the electrical connectors and nothing looks wrong. So I pulled the valve cover off and found this busted O-ring. Doesn't this oil passage control the intake cam phaser? Could it be possible that the phaser is not getting oil pressure to rotate the intake cam correctly?

Just an inkling... I will check timing later tonight. I have kids and just seem to have limited garage time these days.