own6volvos
07-05-2005, 01:57 PM
If you have already picked up a performance camshaft to fit your 700/900, but is not drilled for the head mounted distributor, or want to make things easier for a Megasquirt conversion, swapping distributors is a pretty easy process.
Supplies Need:
Used parts
Block mount distributor (whichever one you are planning to use, either LH 2.2 or LH 2.4)
Intermediate shaft (if yours requires this)
New parts
Timing belt:
*86-92 part number............................................ .026-0109A at FCP ($7)
*93+ part number............................................ .026-0320 at FCP ($17)
Timing Belt Tensioner: part number.........................463633 at FCP ($22)
Seal plate gasket (timing cover gasket): part number 378493 at FCP ($3)
Front crank seal: part number................................1276425 at FCP($3)
Camshaft and Intermediate shaft seal: Part number...6842273 at FCP (2x $3)
Cam plug seal: Part number...................................1336763 at FCP ($2)
Intake manifold gasket: part number.......................1378879 at FCP ($3)
Distributor seal: part number.................................949659 at FCP ($1)
Step 1:
Source the distributor that your car requires. If you have LH 2.4, and are just swapping to use an undrilled cam, a dumb LH 2.4 block mount distributor from almost any 90+ b230 engine will work fine. If you are doing this to get easier mounted of a hall sensor distributor, look for one in a 85-88 240.
Step 2:
Check to see if your engine already has an intermediate shaft with the gears predrilled in it. Some engines were lucky enough to have this, while most were just blanks in that area. To check this, find the freeze plug on the intake side of the engine near the timing cover. It is one that faces down into the engine and not one that points side to side.
Next take a screwdriver and hit the freeze plug off center, enough to make it pivot upwards to get a grip on it with a pliers. Try not to mangle it that much, you might need it to seal that hole for a few days while searching for parts. Once it is out, look down with a flashlight at the shaft below. If all that you see is a nice round "cylinder" on the shaft, you have a blank spot and you must source a new intermediate shaft. If you have an area that looks like curved teeth, then you are set to drop the distributor in. If you have one with the gears already present, skip ahead.
Step 3: Removing the intermediate shaft
Get the engine to TDC or Top Dead Center. Align the notch on the crank pulley to the notch on the lower timing cover.
Next start to remove all of the various bits on the front of the engine. Start with removing the fan shroud, and then move onto the fan mounted with 4 10mm nuts to the water pump. With those nuts off, just take the fan and set it to the side, now tug on the pulley a bit and remove it from the water pump. If it won't come off nicely, then take loosen the alternator, ac compressor, and possibly power steering adjustment points. With the pulley off this gives you a clear shot at the timing covers and gives you some more space.
Remove the upper timing cover to give access to the timing belt and the camshaft gear. You will now need to loosen the timing belt tensioner. I usually do this with a long heavy flathead screwdriver pressed up against the intermediate shaft timing gear. You leverage against it, then stick a nail into the spot on the tensioner to hold it together. This should make the belt slack and keep everything in its TDC position for later steps.
Now the tough part for you might be removing the crank pulley. This will either require a impact gun and 26mm socket, or 2 other DIY methods. One is using the "rope" trick, and the other is for cars equipped with a manual transmission. Just set the car in 1st or 2nd gear, and set the parking brake up hard. Whichever method you choose, once the bolt is out of the pulley, you should be able to walk it off the crank. Some are pretty tough and might need a pulley remover, but most can be taken off my hand.
With the main crank pulley out of the way, remove the lower timing cover. Just a few bolts here and there, and it’s gone. With that off, remove the timing belt and set it aside. This gives you a clear shot at the intermediate shaft (middle gear on the engine). The only thing keeping you from pulling it out right now is a little gear at the back of the engine that drives the oil pump. To get that this, you need to unbolt the intake manifold, kind of pull it back a bit and remove the large plastic box bolted to the side of the engine. You might want to take this time to clean out that box, as it tends to enjoy getting clogged with oil.
With the box out of the way, there should be a fairly large hole looking back at you. Take a magnetic pickup tool, and lift the small gear out of there. Shouldn't be that hard. Once this is removed, you can remove the shaft. I like to leave the gear on the front of the shaft in place for this, as it gives you something to grip onto. This step must be done very slowly and carefully. It must also be slid out perfectly level. Otherwise you can damage the bearings. If you kept the gear in place, now remove the bolt, and take that off the old intermediate shaft, and swap it over to the new one. Before installing the new shaft, use some assembly lube and put it on all the large bearings to make the install a bit easier and safer. Now just slide it right on it.
With the shaft in place, drop the oil pump gear back in place, and kind of rotate the shaft back and forth to make sure it is set correctly. Now take your distributor and drop it in place. Might take a little work to get it to mesh, but it will go in. If you are really picky, you might try to align the distributor with the TDC dot on the gear, but I am not that picky. I will just align it by which way the distributor rotor is pointing when I am installing the timing belt.
Step 4: Reassembly
At this time you make want to replace any seals or any various bits while you are in there, while it is still easy to get to.
Install the timing belt again. With it in place over the crank gear, you can reinstall the lower timing cover so you can see the timing marks on it. You also want the crankshaft pulley back in place. Once that is in place, I usually will pull the timing belt upwards and get it meshed well with the timing gears. It might take a bit of messing around, but you want the distributor rotor to align with a notch in the outer shell of the distributor. It is on the outer rim of the thing, and if you run your fingernail along it, you should be able to find it. You want the rotor pointing at it, centered if possible. Might be off just a bit if the distributor itself it rotated a bit in the engine block. It is basically pointing at the #1 spark plug wire connection.
Once you get that lined up, slide the belt over the camshaft gear while still keeping tension on the belt. You don't want it slipping out of place or anything ;-) With it over the camshaft gear completely, remove the nail from the timing belt tensioner, and get all the slack out of the belt. Now take a wrench or your hands, and rotate the crank pulley one rotation. Make sure all of the timing marks are still lined up. The camshaft has its own marking that a dot on the gear meets up with on the rear upper timing cover. It looks like a little bump around 11-12 o'clock. If everything lines up, complete reassembly and you are done! Fire the engine up, and make sure everything works. If you have an LH 2.2 car, check the ignition timing and get it back in spec. LH 2.4 cars are auto correcting.
I would highly suggest changing the oil incase there was some dirt or other stuff that may have gotten into the engine during this process.
Supplies Need:
Used parts
Block mount distributor (whichever one you are planning to use, either LH 2.2 or LH 2.4)
Intermediate shaft (if yours requires this)
New parts
Timing belt:
*86-92 part number............................................ .026-0109A at FCP ($7)
*93+ part number............................................ .026-0320 at FCP ($17)
Timing Belt Tensioner: part number.........................463633 at FCP ($22)
Seal plate gasket (timing cover gasket): part number 378493 at FCP ($3)
Front crank seal: part number................................1276425 at FCP($3)
Camshaft and Intermediate shaft seal: Part number...6842273 at FCP (2x $3)
Cam plug seal: Part number...................................1336763 at FCP ($2)
Intake manifold gasket: part number.......................1378879 at FCP ($3)
Distributor seal: part number.................................949659 at FCP ($1)
Step 1:
Source the distributor that your car requires. If you have LH 2.4, and are just swapping to use an undrilled cam, a dumb LH 2.4 block mount distributor from almost any 90+ b230 engine will work fine. If you are doing this to get easier mounted of a hall sensor distributor, look for one in a 85-88 240.
Step 2:
Check to see if your engine already has an intermediate shaft with the gears predrilled in it. Some engines were lucky enough to have this, while most were just blanks in that area. To check this, find the freeze plug on the intake side of the engine near the timing cover. It is one that faces down into the engine and not one that points side to side.
Next take a screwdriver and hit the freeze plug off center, enough to make it pivot upwards to get a grip on it with a pliers. Try not to mangle it that much, you might need it to seal that hole for a few days while searching for parts. Once it is out, look down with a flashlight at the shaft below. If all that you see is a nice round "cylinder" on the shaft, you have a blank spot and you must source a new intermediate shaft. If you have an area that looks like curved teeth, then you are set to drop the distributor in. If you have one with the gears already present, skip ahead.
Step 3: Removing the intermediate shaft
Get the engine to TDC or Top Dead Center. Align the notch on the crank pulley to the notch on the lower timing cover.
Next start to remove all of the various bits on the front of the engine. Start with removing the fan shroud, and then move onto the fan mounted with 4 10mm nuts to the water pump. With those nuts off, just take the fan and set it to the side, now tug on the pulley a bit and remove it from the water pump. If it won't come off nicely, then take loosen the alternator, ac compressor, and possibly power steering adjustment points. With the pulley off this gives you a clear shot at the timing covers and gives you some more space.
Remove the upper timing cover to give access to the timing belt and the camshaft gear. You will now need to loosen the timing belt tensioner. I usually do this with a long heavy flathead screwdriver pressed up against the intermediate shaft timing gear. You leverage against it, then stick a nail into the spot on the tensioner to hold it together. This should make the belt slack and keep everything in its TDC position for later steps.
Now the tough part for you might be removing the crank pulley. This will either require a impact gun and 26mm socket, or 2 other DIY methods. One is using the "rope" trick, and the other is for cars equipped with a manual transmission. Just set the car in 1st or 2nd gear, and set the parking brake up hard. Whichever method you choose, once the bolt is out of the pulley, you should be able to walk it off the crank. Some are pretty tough and might need a pulley remover, but most can be taken off my hand.
With the main crank pulley out of the way, remove the lower timing cover. Just a few bolts here and there, and it’s gone. With that off, remove the timing belt and set it aside. This gives you a clear shot at the intermediate shaft (middle gear on the engine). The only thing keeping you from pulling it out right now is a little gear at the back of the engine that drives the oil pump. To get that this, you need to unbolt the intake manifold, kind of pull it back a bit and remove the large plastic box bolted to the side of the engine. You might want to take this time to clean out that box, as it tends to enjoy getting clogged with oil.
With the box out of the way, there should be a fairly large hole looking back at you. Take a magnetic pickup tool, and lift the small gear out of there. Shouldn't be that hard. Once this is removed, you can remove the shaft. I like to leave the gear on the front of the shaft in place for this, as it gives you something to grip onto. This step must be done very slowly and carefully. It must also be slid out perfectly level. Otherwise you can damage the bearings. If you kept the gear in place, now remove the bolt, and take that off the old intermediate shaft, and swap it over to the new one. Before installing the new shaft, use some assembly lube and put it on all the large bearings to make the install a bit easier and safer. Now just slide it right on it.
With the shaft in place, drop the oil pump gear back in place, and kind of rotate the shaft back and forth to make sure it is set correctly. Now take your distributor and drop it in place. Might take a little work to get it to mesh, but it will go in. If you are really picky, you might try to align the distributor with the TDC dot on the gear, but I am not that picky. I will just align it by which way the distributor rotor is pointing when I am installing the timing belt.
Step 4: Reassembly
At this time you make want to replace any seals or any various bits while you are in there, while it is still easy to get to.
Install the timing belt again. With it in place over the crank gear, you can reinstall the lower timing cover so you can see the timing marks on it. You also want the crankshaft pulley back in place. Once that is in place, I usually will pull the timing belt upwards and get it meshed well with the timing gears. It might take a bit of messing around, but you want the distributor rotor to align with a notch in the outer shell of the distributor. It is on the outer rim of the thing, and if you run your fingernail along it, you should be able to find it. You want the rotor pointing at it, centered if possible. Might be off just a bit if the distributor itself it rotated a bit in the engine block. It is basically pointing at the #1 spark plug wire connection.
Once you get that lined up, slide the belt over the camshaft gear while still keeping tension on the belt. You don't want it slipping out of place or anything ;-) With it over the camshaft gear completely, remove the nail from the timing belt tensioner, and get all the slack out of the belt. Now take a wrench or your hands, and rotate the crank pulley one rotation. Make sure all of the timing marks are still lined up. The camshaft has its own marking that a dot on the gear meets up with on the rear upper timing cover. It looks like a little bump around 11-12 o'clock. If everything lines up, complete reassembly and you are done! Fire the engine up, and make sure everything works. If you have an LH 2.2 car, check the ignition timing and get it back in spec. LH 2.4 cars are auto correcting.
I would highly suggest changing the oil incase there was some dirt or other stuff that may have gotten into the engine during this process.