Timing chain replacement on a Big Block 400

Thats the way I do them.It takes a little time to get the bolt out.If you cruch or snap off the heater nipple it becomes a major job.Rocky

Ok,so I have torn everything down. Have the crank pullies off,and the large bolt holding the Harmonic Balancer on. It Was rather easy to remove,just whacked a ratchet & a 1-1/4 socket attached with a mallet and it loosened right up.

So now I gotta get the Harmonic Balancer off,so I can work on getting the timing cover off.

Is there a "Do it yourself makeshift" way of getting the Balancer off,or would it be more adviseable to go rent a harmonic balancer puller?

This job has been rather easy,compared to how it actually looks prior to jumping in.

You need a damper puller. They are pressed on pretty tight. As mentioned earlier while you have the water pump houseing off get the torch and remove that nipple. It makes life so much easier to reinstall the water pump houseing. A little heat and they come right out.

A damper puller kit is not very expensive and good for other things like pulling steering wheels.

Ive priced them and I agree they are dirt cheap.

Haven't tried it yet but recommended to heat the nipple threads at the bottom and melt in some beeswax (household candle?) into the threads and it'll come right out which will save your gas

Ok so I have the Puller an am ready to remove the harmonic balancer(damper)

Does the engine have to be on TDC on #1 prior to removal of the damper?

How s this achieved?

you want it on TDC #6 compression so put the harmonic dampener timing marks at TDC with the dist rotor at the #6 plug wire. This'll put the dots at 12 o'clock on the small bottom crank gear and 6 o'clock on the top large can gear & you're ready

I used PB Blaster and a pair of vice grips to remove the heater hose nipple. I thought it was going to be a terrible job and would surely break off but it came right out. One of the easier things on the whole thing and I thought for sure it was going to be a terrible mess. 440 Source sells the nipples and they aren't that expensive and if you break one off in the water pump housing an aluminum housing isn't all that much either.

Did as suggested and your experience paid off.The dots are totally lined up...Awesome,Thanks for the tips!!

I have taken some pics of the chain as its currently installed. According to the pics,is this chain in need of replacement? Looks to have alot of slack in it.

Regardless,im in there,have the replacement parts,the truck has 93k miles...Might as well do the job.

Im doing this job because the truck has no power,and it backfires,"sounds" like its backfiring in the crankcase.I was told the Timing Chain may be suspect,so thats why im doing this.

And lastly,YES that Fram filter will be coming off once I get it running again.

Change it.

Yep, change it.
After you get the gears and chain off, stuff a rag down into the front of the oil pan to keep ann the junk out when scraping the gaskets off.
Make sure the front cover is flat and clean.
Remove the rag before installing parts!
If you are going to change the oil before starting, you can rinse any slime down into the pan. No chunks or stuff that will clog the pickup though!
It's a good time to install a front seal too.

Start all the front cover bolts, then the oil pan bolts. Then tighten.
The harmonic balancer will not slide on, so you will need a hammer, chunk of wood and be careful of the radiator (shade tree style) or a balancer installer (rent?)

If you are doing an engine cleanup at the same time, paint the front cover and the back of the water pump housing before putting the housing on.
Clean and paint the timing marks too.

The balancer and pulley should align only one way, it might help to figure this out and have an alignment mark before it's way down in that engine bay...

rent a harmonic balancer installer to draw it back onto the crank smoothly and w the cover loosely back on, tighten the pan bolts to draw the cover/gasket downward to help line up the TC to block bolt holes in the front on the block if need be, then snug everything down evenly keeping an eye on the gasket at the bottom.

Ive got the Radiator out,just for clearance sake. Im not sure it was necessary to remove it but I did anyway...It was easy enough and reinstalling it will be easy as well.

The new timing gasket set comes with a new seal,so I might as well replace it.

Will I need a seal puller to remove the old one,or is there an "At Home" way of getting it out? What about installation? Do I need to get a special tool,or can I just use a 2x4 and tap it on evenly?

Like Robert said, when putting the seal in, don't just peck on it, get it started and just knock in. Don't mess around with it, you'll get it cocked.
A poor boys way of putting the balancer back on is to use a crank bolt and washer from a small block. that will pull it up enough to use the big block bolt to finish pulling it in. If you have a impact wrench good, if not use a 1/2" drive ratcht and screw a couple of bolts into the balancer and use a pry bar to keep it from turning while you tighten it up. Good luck, and this is the way you learn.
"Them that can, do. Them that can't, teach."

So I now have the new Chain and Gears installed. What im wondering now is about the slack in the chain.

If you are looking at he chain and gears installed,the right side(drivers side) of the chain has slack and the left side(passenger side) is tight.

Is this normal?

Next thing is the timing chain cover gasket(s)and partial Oil Pan Gasket.

Is RTV (Permatex) recommended when installing these gaskets? If so,which type is best for these gaskets? I believe the gaskets I removed had the Orange RTV on them.

How much slack are you talking about? There should be almost none with a new chain.

It basically looks just like the pic I took of the old chain when it was still installed.Pic attached is of the new Chain and Gears installed for comparison with the pic of the old one which I already posted earlier.

I have installed the large crank bolt and turned the engine over by hand and in some areas,the opposite side of the chain gets loose,while the other side is tight.

Is this a normal occurance due to certain areas of the valve train being under load,either on the right or left bank?

Something is wrong ?????

Heres a pic I took while pushing in on the opposite side,right after I took the pic above.Hardly ANY slack,very taught compared to the opposite side.

The slack should be the same on each side when you push on that side. I'd put it together and run.

I plan on putting it together and running it,I had to ask about the new chain slack issue because I havent done one of these before(EVER)and so I wasnt sure what to expect.

Seems it may be normal.Ill run it and see what happens. Thanks for all the advice.

You will have some slack, not a lot, but some. Only one I know of that was SUPER tight was a Rollmaster I had one time.

Don't be surprised if that STP filter is just a repackaged Fram.

That's a oe replacement morse "silent" type and will have some slack even when new. If this is a low perf daily driver plus the fact that you already have it I'd put it together & get back on the road.

you didnt need to replace it the old one was fine... the stock chains and gears seem to have a lot of slack which is fine as long as you dont have nylon coated gears! i,m doing mine right now also not sure what i,ll find under the cover! could you do me a favor and see how much slack is in it by sticking the T cover and balancer on [lightly dont need to bolt em down] and rotating it back and forth at tdc 0 DEG and see if its more than 10 degrees of slack either direction ..if the covers are on and your able to do it now doesnt matter would still give me my answer thanks dan

Well I guess the old one may have been fine,It had about the same slack as the new one,you could see some wear on the Cam sprocket though.

Oh well,Its done. No worries,I can now say Ive done my first ever Timing Chain on a Big Block Mopar...Wasnt too hard at all. Its not like its a daily driver(yet)so I could just take my time on it.

Oh and it is gonna be a low performance(stock) engine,that I may use for hauling parts and maybe some towing.

They got some stuff called "Freeze-off" I think its a R-134 type CFC that you spray on a bolt and it gets it very cold and usually breaks free. I had a friend put a chevy balancer almost all the way on by hand using about 1/2 the can on the crank snout. It got COLD and shrunk a tad, like heating the balancer but easier!