VTX1800N1

Pulled the timing cover today. Both banks were timed correctly, so that is not the cause of Bank 2 being low on compression. I was really hoping that was it. There was a lot of dirt down in the spark plug holes for the Bank 2 cylinder head- so much in cylinder 8 that I could not even get a socket on the plug. I had to dig around it with a flat screwdriver and then blow the dirt out several times before I could remove the plug. I suppose with all that dirt, I may not have been able to get a good seal with the compression tester adapter. I have a leak down tester on the way and it will be here Monday.

I found that the cam sprocket gear bolt on Bank 1 was less than finger tight. The sprocket was rattling around. The upper bolt on the straight guide for Bank 1 wasn't missing, it had broken off. I have an easy out and will try to extract the remainder of the bolt this weekend or early next week. The bolt head must have dropped down in the oil pan. If we are lucky, it will come out with an oil change.

We removed the cams, replaced all the lash adjusters and cam followers, and reinstalled the cams and re-timed the engine today. Obviously I cannot install the Bank 1 straight timing guide until I get the broken bolt out and replaced. I'll stuff the front of the engine with rags and hold a shop vac near the ez-out while I drill into it. That hardened bolt isn't going to be fun.

I'm not exactly sure what caused the bolt to break. It could have been the loose cam sprocket rattling around, or it could have been over torqued when installed, or some combination thereof. If I can't get it out... the head has to come off and that means that the engine has to come out. What a mess....

jwog666

sounds like whoever did your engine work previously did a crap job, and cross threaded the bolt and snapped it off as well as not tighten some of the fasteners. i would be calling them up if it was my car

VTX1800N1

Luckily, it's not my car. I'm just cleaning up the mess from someone else who didn't know what they were doing.

I'm setting all the bolts to the proper torque values and using loc-tite to keep them in place.

oxfordgt

Sure hope you're not using loctite on timing components. No need to to wait for the leak down tester. Compressed air with the cylinder at TDC works just as good. Just listen to where the air is escaping.

VTX1800N1

I'm using blue Loctite on the chain guide bolts and tensioner bolts. They will still be removable, but the Loctite will ensure they do not loosen on their own. The chain guide bolts only get torqued to 106 in-lbs.

oxfordgt

There is a reason loctite isn't used from the factory. Have fun taking those stainless bolts with loctite on them out of the aluminum. Buy a helicoil kit first

VTX1800N1

They will come out fine. If it were red Loctite, it would be different. I've used blue just like this before.

jwog666

^ correct. u can use blue on anything you want, medium strength removes without heat, with hand tools.

VTX1800N1

Well, I got the cylinder leak down tester yesterday. Today I put it on the cylinder with the lowest compression, #5. I set it at TDC and it's leaking past the rings so fast that my little 5 gal compressor can't keep up. I don't know what they screwed up or how they managed to make all the screw ups on Bank 2, but the engine will have to come out and be completely disassembled for a second time.

jwog666

bummer, i would tell whoever paid for the original work, to get their money back from the shop that performed the original repair