It’s that time…127,000 mile 3.6L Penstar work

[mrtm1970]

Of course took the alternator and bracket off…thank goodness I can get rid of my Mickey Mouse spacer of washer and nut!

Took off the thermostat and water pump:

Cleaned up the thermostat mounting:

Here is the new and old water pumps (right one is new correct one - notice the boss is longer). The left one is for an e-torque (the wrong one sent to me…not by AllMoparParts.com but a different Mopar store even after giving them my VIN for part number verification)…why I thought I lost my mind and thought I lost the aluminum spacer (which never existed) and put a nut and washer as a spacer.

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[mrtm1970]

And for those wondering about the 1000 grit paper, I got these from Amazon for less than $10:

20 Pcs 1000 Grit Sanding Sponge, Wet Dry Sanding Block Sandpaper Sponge, Soft Foam Sand Block Washable & Reusable Sanding Pads for Metal Wood Drywall Polishing (1000 Grit)

Highly recommend and use for any mounting/flanged/sealing surfaces

 

[mrtm1970]

So official start of day #2…

Cleaned up the water pump block surface and water pump itself. I did find that you HAVE TO use a razor blade on the block surface as the water pump gasket material will not come off without using it. Also tip, use your finger to feel the surface because even if you “think” the minute amount left is ok, it is not!!! If you still feel even the slightest raised surface, use the razor blade till it is smooth! I sadly didn’t do this last time and know why it leaked.

 

[embedded rock]

Still early, but what's DoorDash bringing today?

 

[mrtm1970]

Still early, but what's DoorDash bringing today?

LOL… leftover pizza we got from Friday night

 

[mrtm1970]

Water pump and Thermostat in:

 

[jadmt]

super impressive that you are photographing along the way..I have tried that but found it is all but impossible for me when involved in this kind of project. Kudos to you for doing it.. much respect.

 

[mrtm1970]

super impressive that you are photographing along the way..I have tried that but found it is all but impossible for me when involved in this kind of project. Kudos to you for doing it.. much respect.

@jadmt Thanks…I’m taking my time as I have myself 5 days to do this work

 

[mrtm1970]

Alternator Mounting Bracket and Alternator re-installed

NOW for the fun to really start… Left Side Intake & Exhaust Cam Shafts, Rockers and Lifters to start

 

[58Willys]

Glad cylinders l

@jadmt Thanks…I’m taking my time as I have myself 5 days to do this work

You seem to be moving along pretty quickly, considering kids and photo time.

 

[mrtm1970]

Glad cylinders l


You seem to be moving along pretty quickly, considering kids and photo time.

@58Willys

I am blessed that though my 16 yr old daughter is very severely Autistic, she is not violent or hurts herself or miss behaves (most of the time but there are very hard days with her as well) and pretty much loves just hanging out in her room watching stuff on her TV, IPad or cell phone, unlike other kids in her Autism Charter School (we have to volunteer 10 hrs a year in the classrooms) that gives perspective and seeing the blessing of how well she is doing compared. She was diagnosed at 18 months old.

My 14 yr old son is very high functioning Autistic and was originally diagnosed with developmental delay at 2 yrs old and didn’t start talking till he was 4 1/2 yrs old and can’t get him to shut up now, lol He is a great helper with his sister and for me. Most of their food is (I know sadly) microwaveable, so he is able to do that for me and he gets rewarded for the help (his autism shows in infatuation with flipazoos, BeaneeBoos and other stuffed animals that most 5-6 year olds would be into and starts conversations about them all without hesitation to someone new he meets).

Also what helps (and makes me feel more aware of not having my ex-wife around) is they eat at 6-6:30pm on the clock and take showers and go right to bed and are asleep no later than 8pm and even I have told them to stay up later and they don’t…so after that, it’s me twiddling my thumbs so to speak.

One thing I can say is how surprised the services FL has (I know FL had a bad rap for education, etc especially back in 2008) unlike most think. When we (the kid’s mother and just my daughter at the time moved from SoCal to be closer to the kid’s mother’s family) and there was a major shift in my daughter at 18 months, FL has a program called, Early Steps for any child with any type of difficulties and the services were tremendous to helping and guiding. Unfortunately it ends at age 4 and then you are on your own.

 

[mrtm1970]

Ok back to work, lol

Set-up all the parts for the Left side…and pre-soaking the Rockers and lifters:

Intake Rocker:

and the benifits of the bubble wrap for the cam shafts is now I got butt protection/cushion, lol

 

[mrtm1970]

Ok before I get started, I wanted to link the YouTube videos I will be referencing:

MCM Part 1
MCM Part 2

Nic Fix Part 1
Nix Fix Part 2

I also wanted to share a video that was shared to me that will help explain how our Intake lifters work and the Intake Cam/Rocker/Lifters system works and to give some more reference to all these 3.6L Pentstar issues:

Pine Hollow Auto Part 1
Pine Hollow Auto Part 2

 

[mrtm1970]

Another tip, I should have mentioned in the beginning is that Brake Cleaner and shop towels are your friend

 

[mrtm1970]

So I got all my tools and aids together:

The parts came from:

AllMoparParts.com Post
Failed

I white penned the blocks as the “left” and “right” is very hard to read.

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