GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

Hi all,

i am hoping someone can bale me out.
i pulled a real (removed)!
let me explain: 2009 vibe 1.8, diagnosed rough idle problem to a head gasket leak, via compression test and leak down test.
no oil in antifreeze, slight loss of power, no tell tale signs of white in the exhaust.
compression test showed 2 adjacent cylinders were low (about 80psi) other 2 were 145psi.
suspected leak between these 2 cylinders.

look at ton of posts here and decided that the most likely culprit was the head gasket.

again found some great links here on changing out the head gasket.
watch multiple times, convinced myself that this was within my skill set.

WELL, all was going great until i forgot to lock the cams in place before i removes the timing cover.
i can hear the groans!!! What an idiot.

the cams jumped and now i have no idea where the valve timing is.
put an instant halt on this project until i can get help.

how can i get myself out of this mess.

is there a way to put this motor back together with one hundred perecent confidence that the valve timing is correct.

BTW i havent told my wife about this major f-up yet, its her vibe..
really hopin you guys can bale me out and save me from suffering the wrath of my wife

thanks in advance
mike

It's been a VERY long time, but I remember my cars having markings for TDC (top dead center) on the cams - when the timing belt for my Sportage snapped while driving. Once each was set correctly, then (with a second person), a new belt could be installed and everything locked back into place.

I'm sure some of the folks here that do more engine replacement work than I will chime in with the correct procedure. There's also a 2003 shop manual floating around that should work for your engine, as it's still a 1.8 liter.

Wow. I can relate to the "not telling the wife" thing as I do that a lot BUT you may be in a deeper hole than you think! Thought I'd be able to help you out with the info in the Helms manuals ... BUT nothing that I think will help you. First off the manual is based on the fact that the engine is OUT of the car and on a stand where it's easy to perform all this work. Anyways here are three sample pages that probably won't help you out at all but it's the closest to what you'd need. Your best bet may be to find another 1.8L engine and place it side by side to yours and compare. Then adjust as needed.

Also let us know where you're at (update profile) so if any of us are close enough we could actually stop by and give you a hand!

thanks for the replies,

i was able to get a hold of a recent manual for my vibe.

after i a changed out the head gasket, i reassembled the top works (cams) according to manual, locked cams in place and put new timing chain on, with all the timing marks in the correct place with #1 cylinder at tdc. it wasnt really a big deal after all.

Got the vibe running yesterday, sounds like a new car.

molson59 wrote: ↑Sun Sep 22, 2019 1:06 pm thanks for the replies,

i was able to get a hold of a recent manual for my vibe.

after i a changed out the head gasket, i reassembled the top works (cams) according to manual, locked cams in place and put new timing chain on, with all the timing marks in the correct place with #1 cylinder at tdc. it wasnt really a big deal after all.

Got the vibe running yesterday, sounds like a new car.

Great! I didn't think it was going to be a huge problem, but I haven't had to deal with the cams being out of sync for 18-19 years.

molson59 wrote: ↑Sun Sep 22, 2019 1:06 pm thanks for the replies,

i was able to get a hold of a recent manual for my vibe.

after i a changed out the head gasket, i reassembled the top works (cams) according to manual, locked cams in place and put new timing chain on, with all the timing marks in the correct place with #1 cylinder at tdc. it wasnt really a big deal after all.

Got the vibe running yesterday, sounds like a new car.

Just curious as to why you were replacing the head gasket?

molson59 wrote: ↑Sun Sep 22, 2019 1:06 pm Got the vibe running yesterday, sounds like a new car.

Awesome. Are you still married ???

zbyers wrote: ↑Mon Sep 23, 2019 3:23 am

molson59 wrote: ↑Sun Sep 22, 2019 1:06 pm thanks for the replies,

i was able to get a hold of a recent manual for my vibe.

after i a changed out the head gasket, i reassembled the top works (cams) according to manual, locked cams in place and put new timing chain on, with all the timing marks in the correct place with #1 cylinder at tdc. it wasnt really a big deal after all.

Got the vibe running yesterday, sounds like a new car.

Just curious as to why you were replacing the head gasket?

He had a coolant leak and low compression.