UPDATE: I got the cam gear out by rigging some tools together. The rear timing cover fell out and the water pump came with it. :D

Now it seems time to put everything back together. I have two questions for you gurus:

1- I will need to clean all that greasy mess you can see in the pics. What kind of engine cleaner you recommend me to get from AutoZone? I would like something that I can spray abundantly on that area but that is not too corrosive and that doesn't damage seals/gaskets.

2- As for the install of the new waterpump... when I loosened the bolts and I pulled out the OLD waterpump, water came out from the edges and rushed out as soon as I removed it completely. What kind of sealer do you guys recommend me to smear around the edges of the new waterpump? I'm too concerned about having leaks, so I assume I will need to apply some sort of produce with my fingers on the borders on its body that come in contact with the block. Am I right? What should I use?

Thanks again for the help, I will keep you updated.

Walter

2- The gasket provided is all you will need for the pump.

As for the cleaner, I have used brake kleen and wiped it off. Cleaners usually need to be rinsed, causing a big mess. Many engine cleaners are basically the same. Use what you want.

Tom

You mean the one you sent me along with the pump?

- I don't mind rinsing the cleaner after, actually it is probably the best solution because mine is really messy.

Thanks.

Walter

Yes that gasket is all you need.

TOm

Thanks Tom.

UPDATE #2:
Today I finally found some time to work on her. I cleaned the whole front part of the engine with degreaser, rubbed a little with a plastic brush and rinsed, now it looks much cleaner. I installed the new Waterpump with the gasket and a new thermostat I picked up at AutoZone (I had to recycle the thermostat rubber ring, but it looked good). The process proceeded fairly smoothly, I am very happy and I really hope it will hold up.

I do have a few questions for tomorrow when I go back to the shop:

1- There's a plastic piece that goes on the side of the waterpump, you can see it circled here:
http://s100000760.onlinehome.us/Data/SVX/wp.JPG
The one on the old waterpump was all dried and broke off while I was trying to pull it out, I know that if it was there there must be a reason, but then again do I really need to buy a new one and replace it? How important is that little piece of hard plastic?

2- Torque settings! Here's the table I found on Mitchell:
http://s100000760.onlinehome.us/Data/SVX/SVX_Tq.JPG

I need to know how much to torque everything as I put it back together. Unfortunately, I have a hard time understanding technical engine terms in english, so I just wanted to confirm the following:

- The "Camshaft Sproket Bolt" is the bolt that holds the cam gear, right? The one I had such a hard time removing? Ok, so if that's the case I need to Tq it to 80 if I am recycling the bolt, or 94 if the bolt is new then?

- The "Timing Belt Idler" is the pulley next to the tensioner, right? If that's the case I must torque 26-32. The two small bolts that hold the piston need 17-20.

- Now, what about the bolts that hold the four pulleys that Tom has sent me (the two smooth ones and the two with teeth)?

Thanks again for your patience. Hey, there's a reason why I do computer networking for a living instead of being a mechanic, so please bare with me... ;)

Walter

...any idea guys? I wanted to go work on it later on today and these answers will help me a lot. :)

Thanks,

Walter

yes
yes
those are also timing belt idlers - use 26-32 on them too.

That little piece of hard plastic was actually a soft piece of rubber at some point in time. It goes between the oil pump and water pump to keep dirt and road gunk from getting up into the timing belt area.
I ran over 100k miles without it and didn't have any problem.

Matt, you just gave me a lot of good news.

Thank you, now I can work on it some more... until next question I guess... :o

Walter

Hey guys, quick question... when I removed my radiator, it had two thin hoses plugged on the bottom that seemed to contain engine oil... does that mean that there's some sort of oil cooler built into my radiator? When I put back the radiator (which is gonna be one of the latest steps) do I just plug them back or should I do something else in particular?

Thanks,

Walter

Those are the tranny cooler lines. Put them back on and that's it. You shouldn't lose a significant amount of atf to worry about it.
If it looked like anything other than red clear liquid you might want to change the atf soon.

Good to hear... yeah it looked like red oil and it was a very small loss, so I am not too worried about it. I will still check the level after I am done (if I ever finish, that is) just to be sure.

Walter

Are you done yet??? Jeeze I wanna know if ur car is running again or not. Hurry UP!!!! ;) :D

Tom

Eh, trust me man, I need my car back real bad, I'm not procrastinating, it's just that work and school are killing me...

Anyways, I do have lots of news. Today I got to my friend's shop (where the car is - he lets me use his tools) around 12pm. Look at the time I am posting this thread... yes, I just got out of the shower, because I left the shop after midnight... I will leave you guys with the pics to see what I managed to do (notice how in the first pics you can see sunlight and the ones where the timingbelt is installed are artificial light... :D).

http://s100000760.onlinehome.us/Data/SVX/1b.jpg

http://s100000760.onlinehome.us/Data/SVX/2b.jpg

http://s100000760.onlinehome.us/Data/SVX/3b.jpg

http://s100000760.onlinehome.us/Data/SVX/4b.jpg

http://s100000760.onlinehome.us/Data/SVX/5b.jpg

http://s100000760.onlinehome.us/Data/SVX/6b.jpg


Now, if you look at the before pictures you will realize that the engine looks much better now, right? Please pat me on the back because I am a computer guy for a reason, and if I got that far it is a fairly big accomplishment for me... ;)

...anyways, I wound up putting the whole engine back together, torqued everything to spec, poured ATF Dexron fluid in the PS pump, some water in the radiator and tried to fire her up. For a fraction of second she tried to fire up but gave up because the battery didn't make it. I hooked up a battery charger set to "start" and tried cranking again, and the engine would turn but wouldn't fire up. I must add that the noise changed, the engine does turn but it doesn't sound normal, sounds like there is no spark at all. At the beginning I was convinced that I had messed up something and I was about to trow the car into a canal with myself in it. Then the man himself (Mike - longassname) called me on the cell to check up on me and after hearing my desperate update he asked me to go by the driver's side kick panel and hook up the blue diagnosis wire to the black plug to see if the ECU was trowing codes. Long story short, the Check Engine light was blinking LONG-SHORT-SHORT-SHORT which according to Mike is a faulty crank angle sensor (front). Mike said that with a faulty crank angle sensor the engine will never start, and that gave me hope because if there's no spark the engine may make in fact a slightly different sound when turning. The crank angle sensor might have crapped out on me because when I was filling up the radiator I dropped the canister and spilled water all over the place, so it might have shortened out and died on me. I blew some compressed air on the connector as an attempt to dry it but no luck. I tilted the front timing cover a bit just to check the belt and she's still there, looking nice and fresh waiting to turn around the gears, so I am still hopeful.

Guys, does any of you have an extra used front crank angle sensor to sell me? That looks like all I need, wouldn't you say? Please let me know what you think.

Thank you in advance for all the support, I'm gonna go get some rest now.

Walter

let me look in my box-o-parts and see what I can turn up for ya. I don't havethe cam-angle sensor but I do have both crank angle sensors if my memory serves me right. Ill get back to ya

Tom