Mopar Muscle Association UK

Yeah, saves my back
Sorry, I guess they might all come out like that!

Grille, rad, alt, etc are all off. Motor is resting on the jack. Just the water pump and motor plate to go and I'm in! Oh, and the valve gear.

So to remove the balancer I take it I need a 2-legged puller? I have one but the legs are too fat. I just want to check I'm not missing anything before I break out the grinder and make my puller fit...

No you need a balancer puller, thick flat plate drilled for 3 bolts to thread into the pulley bolt holes and a big bolt in the middle to push against the crank snout. Use any other method and you risk damaging the damper, sometimes they are a tight fit.

Right thanks Blue. I'll see if I can make something ...

Ok, good result! I found an old flywheel puller, I've had to extend the slots and find some longer bolts, but it fits properly and the spacer I found sits well onto the crank end.
Here goes!

Well, I do believe I've found the cause of my problem... One very loose cam sprocket bolt. It was literally one turn from falling out, only the contact with the timing chest was holding it in!

That will be it, good cheap fix rather than the major carnage it could have been.

Loctite is your friend!

Good bit of detective work there young Skywalker.

Thank you boys

Two more questions -
How does the crank timing gear come off? The cam gear clearly just slides off but the chain won't allow it to come off unless the crank gear comes off and that doesn't want to budge!

Should there be any fore/aft play in the cam? I'm not happy about how it all fits together. The end of the cam protrudes through the gear by approx the thickness of the eccentric cup. This sits over the cam end and is retained under the dished washer and centre bolt. When bolted up (not tight but nipped up, the cup is loose and the cam moves a good 1/16" back n forth.

Sometimes you can prise the gear off the crank with 2 pry bars, more often than not you'll need a 3 legged puller.

Cool, I'll find a way cheers

What's the purpose of the cup on the cam sprocket? Being eccentric I assume it's a counterweight, but why the cup shape?
Also there's a thin disc on the crank. Oil thrower? It appears o have been loose or dished as it's slightly scarred from contact with the chain.

So this is the slightly worrying sight that met me this morning... I hope I know what I'm doing!

The eccentric cup is the fuel pump drive which you're not using, in the past I have cut that down so it becomes just a washer. The loose plate at the crank is an oil slinger, not all engines have them and they will get scarred by the chain. The other way to oil the chain is a small hole drilled through one of the cam plate bolts, the tensioner if you fit one has a tag to direct the oil from that.

Tensioner, factory fit on later engines, good idea to retro fit to earlier engines IMO.

Great, thanks for the info mate.
The timing gear popped off easy with pry bars, nothing nasty to report but there does seem to be premature wear to the chain. Am I right in thinking this pointer is a wear indicator?

I'll look into the tensioner, if I replace the chain at some point I'll fit one.

I thought that pointer actually directs oil to the chain. Have you thought about a gear set rather than chain?