pulling a 4EZ1 timing belt cover

[Yota Krawler]

so im pulling the head off of the engine and i'm working on the timing belt cover now. i got the top half off and all the bolts pulled on the bottom half, but it seems like the cover is held on by the crankshaft bolt? is there a trick to getting it off? any help would be great! thanks!

EDIT: its a 87 trooper if that matters

[dumpster]

Getting the crankshaft bolt off can be a pain. If you're lucky a breaker bar, a cheater bar and a impact socket will work. Put the vehicle in 5th with some one standing on the brakes. If that doesn't work or if its an automatic pull the starter and wedge something in there to keep the engine from spinning. It should pop right off.

The starter isn't too bad to pull. one bolt needs an end wrench, the other can be reached from the front with a bunch of extensions. Actually I think there may be three, they are a little hard to see.

I know you'll need to remove the cranksaft pulley to remove the head, but I can't remember if there is another hidden bolt holding the cover on.

Good Luck

Mike W

[ShoMeDave]

Originally posted by dumpster
........I know you'll need to remove the cranksaft pulley to remove the head, .............


Good Luck

Mike W

Say What!!?? I've pulled the head on my Trooper twice and have never had the bottom cover off. As long as you set the cam timing correctly after you reinstall the head you should be good to go. There is really no reason to pull the bottm half of the cover unless you are into pain. Personally I'm not into that sort of thing.

[dumpster]

Umm...Why in hell would you replace a head on an interference engine and not spend the extra couple of bucks on a new timing belt? It only takes a couple of minnutes to pull the starter out of the way. The whole process takes less than 15 minnutes, and whats that in the grand scheme of replacing a head? About one extra sip from a

Good luck

Mike W

[Yota Krawler]

i spent like 30 mins last night working on trying to pull off the bolt and i bent 2 screwdrivers and an allen wrench, but now that i know thats what i gotta pull off i'ma get creative. thanks for the help!!

[dumpster]

I forgot, you may also need a harmonic balancer puller or some sort of puller to actually remove the pulley.

Good Luck

Mike W

[ShoMeDave]

Originally posted by dumpster
Umm...Why in hell would you replace a head on an interference engine and not spend the extra couple of bucks on a new timing belt? .............Mike W

Couldn't agree more!

But..... Yota K. was asking about pulling a head and timing cover. He said nothing about a timing belt. My reply was to your statement saying(and I quote....again) "you'll need to remove the crankshaft pulley to remove the head". That statement was and is false and I was only trying to clarify that Yota K. did not NEED to pull the bottom cover to get the head off. That's all I was saying........nothing more.....nothing less.

BTW....It's a 4ZE1, not a 4EZ1.

[10inches]

i have done my head several times and no you do not need to pull the bottom cover off to re & re the head.
remember when you are placing the cam to make sure you have the crank at no.4 piston TDC on the compression stroke. the cam
has a round mark on the front end of it. this mark needs to be facing upwards. only when placing the cam do you use no. 4 TDC. everything else is based on no. 1 TDC

[reptileguy777]

I have a question on the 2.6 4cyl when setting the #4 to TDC in order to replace the timing belt and Head should more that one cylinder be up equal with the #4 cylinder when placed #4 in TDC? #1 and #4 are moving simultaneously with eachother ans well as #2 and #3. This is my first engine teardown and I wanted to make sure before I went and put everything back together. And also is there anything else I have to do besides Set the #4 to TDC, Put in a new timing belt after installing the new head and head gasket and then of course putting everything else under the sun back together.

Thanx Joshua Guerrero

[mlclark]

Originally Posted by Yota Krawler

i spent like 30 mins last night working on trying to pull off the bolt and i bent 2 screwdrivers and an allen wrench, but now that i know thats what i gotta pull off i'ma get creative. thanks for the help!!

Your first problem is using a screwdriver and an allen wrench to remove a large crankshaft bolt. At the least, I would suggest these may not be the best tools tools for this particular job.

There are a few ways of doing this. Like mentioned, put a breaker bar on it and lay it on the frame rail. Pull the coil wire and bump the starter. It should break it free.

Beyond that, a strap wrench on the pulley and some armstrong power is another approach. An impact works well too.

After that, you will need a harmonic ballancer puller.

Good Luck,
Michael