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Hi!

1- I want to replace myself the timing chain on my '73 455 and I do want to know if I must remove entirely the oil pan to do this?? Or I can just loose some bolts of the oil pan?? Or the best, if I can remove the timing chain cover and change de timing chain without touching the oil pan??

2- Oh and want to know if strong gas smell from exhaust can be the timing chain because it's too slack and the timing is not right?? By the way, the engine have 172,000 miles and timing chain have never been replaced.

3- Also, sometimes when I try to start the car, it turn over and over for about 5 secs and after that it stop by itself as if the battery died
immediately. I turn the key to Off, and I restart again and after 2 turns it start without problems! Don't know if the timing chain can get stuck and cause that?

It have a new battery, new starter, new sparkplug and wires, new fuel pump and everything else seems to be perfect. I would love that the car start in less than 2 turns and don't know if the timing chain can be the problem.

Thanks!

Oldsguy

1. Yes you must drop the front of the pan to un-seal the front timing chain cover, replace the gasket too.
2. No
3. Could be the timing chain has jumped and valve timing is off now which would cause the car to run poorly, not sure about the hard starting part but I guess it would be possible.

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Thanks for your reply! I really appreciate it!

Now that I need to touch the oil pan, just have another question:

If you go there: http://www.autozone.com/az/cds/en_us...rInfoPages.htm

They say that for removing the oil pan on a Olds 455, we need to remove the driveshaft, transmission, the flywheel etc... Is that true?? Because it seem excessive! But I think I don't need to do all of this just to unseal the timing cover, just want to be sure!

Thanks!!

Oldsguy

That is correct if you want to REMOVE the oil pan completely.

J-(Chicago)

You could try to slip the U gasket into the front of the oil pan, but it will leak unless you clean it up squeaky clean and use a really generous amount of Permatex "The Right stuff" everywhere. Also remember to trim the seal according to the manufacturers specs. Most of them come oversized from my experience.

J-(Chicago)

Also, if you re install the timing gear in the wrong position, you will ruin your pushrods and have to rebuild.

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Thanks a lot guys for your replys! Very helpful!

If it will leak if I try to slip it in, I think I will loose the oil pan and install the U gasket the way it meant to be

And yes, I need to be very careful to reinstall the new timing gears in the correct position. If I align the timing mark and change the gears without moving the crankshaft and the camshaft, I think it will be correct.

Thanks again!

joe_padavano

You DO NOT need to remove the oil pan to R&R the front cover. It is possible to simply loosen the oil pan bolts (more towards the front than the back) and work the cover back into place. There are a couple of tricks, as described in the Chassis Service Manual. First, the rubber seal that fits into the bottom of the front cover has ears that are clamped under the oil pan. These ears must be cut off on the replacement seal to facilitate cover installation. Second, the seal should be gooped up with RTV, particularly at the corners where the seal was trimmed. Now, place the bottom of the cover into place with the top held away from the block. Angle it into place on the two dowel pins on the block. You may need to gently pry down on the oil pan. I use two of the front cover bolts to actually pull the cover into place. Once seated, you can install the bolts and water pump normally.

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Great! More happier to know that just loose the front bolts of the oil pan will do the job! And a big thanks for the tricks! Now, after all these helpful informations, I am in the right way to suceed!

Very happy to have found this forum! Thanks!

J-(Chicago)

Joe is correct, that's how I did mine. He Describes things better.

Be careful. Some sealants are not oil resistant, that Is why I recommended "the Right Stuff" by permatex.

88 coupe

In the column to the right, on that page, scroll down to, and click on: Timing Chain Cover and Seal

"Squeaky clean" is important. "Generous amount" is a useful "band-aid", when "squeaky clean" (or its equivalent) was not done. If the surfaces are properly prepared, a "dab", where the seal meets the gasket, will do the job, and look better while doing it.

Be sure to do it before you remove the gears. You will eliminate two potential problems.

Norm

Bigkev44

Bigkev44

Octania

While you do not NEEEEEED to remove the oil pan for this job...

you may elect to do so.

If you find NO plastic on your timing sprocket, then it is all in the oil pump pickup. In that case you SHOULD drop the pan, clean out or replace the oil pump inlet.

Dropping the pan in the car is not that bad. The trans DOES NOT have to come off. I did this in a '76 LEmans with a 350 Olds engine. You may have to remove motor mounts, block the motor up as high as you can get, use sneaky joint small sockets to get at the oil pan bolts in the motor mount area, maybe even remove starter and/or oil filter adapter. Crossover pipe, obviously, if present.

THEN the crank has to be in the right position for the front of the pan to clear the crank. Once that is done, though, it's pretty easy. I had to get in to address a seized rod bearing, and needed it done that day, w/o engine removal. This will be a lot more work than just prying the front of the pan down for timing cover clearance, but it'll make timing cover install totally painless.

If you find most or all plastic still on the timing sprocket, you may opt to just pry the front of the pan down a little to ease timing cover install. Chamfering the bottom of the alignment dowels a little will ease the install. See the manual. Small hard wood WEDGES will help keep the oil pan down in the front while you install the timing cover. Remove the oil pan bolts as far back as you can get to.