92 Z24 timing troubles on crankshaft

[KansasZj09]

I have a 92 Z24 and the old chain broke when my brother had it, i replaced the heads as they were bad, and pushrods, and now I am in the midst of trying helplessly to put the timing on correctly, but the crankshaft will not go to the 12 oclock position, it keeps stopping at either 11 oclock, or the 1 oclock position, its soo close to getting lined up, but i am stopped right before that 12 position, I am clueless on whats wrong with it, the guy helping me is telling me that the lower motor is shot, I do know he hasnt worked on a car like this and im sure he knows what he is talking about, but i want to make sure there is something I might be missing before I confirm the death of the motor. Thanks in advance.

[rkvons]

Originally Posted by KansasZj09

I have a 92 Z24 and the old chain broke when my brother had it, i replaced the heads as they were bad, and pushrods, and now I am in the midst of trying helplessly to put the timing on correctly, but the crankshaft will not go to the 12 oclock position, it keeps stopping at either 11 oclock, or the 1 oclock position, its soo close to getting lined up, but i am stopped right before that 12 position, I am clueless on whats wrong with it, the guy helping me is telling me that the lower motor is shot, I do know he hasnt worked on a car like this and im sure he knows what he is talking about, but i want to make sure there is something I might be missing before I confirm the death of the motor. Thanks in advance.

I'm sure you're much more experienced at this than me, but don't you have to make sure the camshaft is also properly aligned? I mean they are not a 1 to 1 relationship with their rotation, so perhaps the camshaft needs to go around once more. It seems like it could be like a puzzle, where it seems like it could go together more than one way, but definitely only one way will work. I would try moving the camshaft one way, then the other and see if I could get the crankshaft to at least go past the 12 oclock position.

[KansasZj09]

Thanks for your reply and advice, and actually, I think you are more advanced than me in that category, my cousin told me that the cam needs to be played with before I could get the crank to budge. I messed with it for like a hour and couldnt get it, I havent a clue what i am doing, its soo close to being lined up, but my cousin told me he would take a looksy at it when he got the time. I just dont want to say its shot when its not, or its not shot and keep wasting time on it. Thanks

[rkvons]

Originally Posted by KansasZj09

Thanks for your reply and advice, and actually, I think you are more advanced than me in that category, my cousin told me that the cam needs to be played with before I could get the crank to budge. I messed with it for like a hour and couldnt get it, I havent a clue what i am doing, its soo close to being lined up, but my cousin told me he would take a looksy at it when he got the time. I just dont want to say its shot when its not, or its not shot and keep wasting time on it. Thanks

Is your engine an "interference type" engine? Do you know if your valves could hit the pistons if the timing chain were to break? If so, it is possible that you must align the timing marks before you put the head on. Perhaps you can remove the head, see if the crank will rotate, align the marks and put it back together while aligned.

[KansasZj09]

Thanks, and supposedly the dealership says the Z24 is not a interference motor, but i am clueless on that, two valves broke and the rest got bent when the chain broke on him, so i am assuming it is actually a interference, my cousin last night gave me the advice of loosening the valve cover off and loosening the rocker arms to close the valves then try to rotate the shafts. So i am going to try your guy's advice this weekend, and ill let you know what happens, thanks.

[KansasZj09]

Alright, now I remember something. When I had the heads off and tore down to the pistons, i could rotate the engine over easily and fine. Now that we put the heads on, im hitting resistance, I think there is a very good chance youre right.