Hi everyone,

I thought I'd cleaned the cylinder block surface really well, including the dowel pins. I should have tried to fit the timing cover dry today, but I didn't realize it might be an issue get the cover over the dowel pins. I have an SKP cover (pretty much the cheapest one around) and I'm not sure if that's part of the problem. The issue appeared to be that the dowel pins were preventing the cover from going on smoothly. I'm not sure how easily it's supposed to fit, but even tapping it with a rubber mallet didn't really do much. This thing really didn't want to go on there. I tried all the wiggling that should've been reasonable and it wasn't happening. I'll try to work on the dowel pins with green scotch brite to see if that helps and I'll try fitting the part dry next time. I put black right stuff on both sides of the gasket and on the timing cover surface, so I cleaned all of that off and I'll have to try again.

Any advice for doing this? Is it supposed to be that stubborn?

Thank you

 

I don't remember having any issues with them. I reused the original timing cover however on both of my discos when I tore them down.

 

I would have reused the original part, but it cracked, which was the reason I had to get into all of this.

It seems like the SKP cover’s holes or the dowel pins are making this difficult and I don’t want to hit it with a mallet so much that it cracks like the last one, unless you’re supposed to force a new cover in place. I figured these are just locating points to make sure it’s aligned, so it shouldn’t be so stubborn.

 

I’m wondering if this has anything to do with the oil pump failure issue for 03 V8s within a certain VIN range? This vehicle is within that range, but I was told all those engines either failed and were replaced by 25,000 miles or so, or they weren’t affected by the issue (if I understood what I was told).

Does the woodruff key fit into the oil pump gear slot?

Does the harmonic damper also fit onto the woodruff key? I think I might need to rotate the crank to get this lined up? It’s impossible to see through to the key when the cover is being installed, but I’ll try to line things up if that’s part of the problem here.

I’ll remove the pins to see how easily they fit into the new cover and I’ll try putting the cover on without the pins to see if it’ll go all the way on or if the woodruff key and oil pump gears aren’t lining up.

 

Fitting the oil pump on the crank correctly can be tricky. I don't remember having any issues but saw some people claiming it took them hours to get it all lined up. Either RAVE or if there's an AB video going over it was super helpful. The harmonic balancer keys on the woodruff but that goes on after the cover is on and shouldn't be a factor here.

 

I always turn the engine over until the key is at the 12oclock position, then I match up the oil pump gear as best as I can and guide it on usually with zero drama. Yes the oil pump gear must align with the spline/key and so must the harmonic balancer.

The 03 thing was a failure of the dowl pins being aligned properly with the front cover and it caused the oil pump gears to have added stress and grenade. No way any of those are still on the road today. They failed usually within 400 miles and the longest one I saw at LR Austin during that time was just after it's first oil change well within warranty.