Hi!

(First of all "Hi", I'm new here )

I bought a '99 Dodge RAM 1500 V6 2WD at an auction in NH a few months ago. Drove nicely for a couple of months, then water started pouring out somewhere around the water pump, I could never really locate it. Also exhaust was blowing white smoke and leaking water, and the airfilter had quite some oil in it.
So all in all not so good I replaced the water pump and the head gasket, and I'll clean/replace everything that I'll encounter on the way there that doesn't look right.

Anyway, the problem at hand is:
I'm trying to re-install the lifters and pushrods, and the manual tells me to set the engine to TDC before I do that. And that I should do that by aligning my "V6" mark on the crankshaft damper with the TDC mark on the timing cover.
Problem is that my damper/balancer is basically one big round piece of rust, and if I squint really tight and look at juuuust the right angle, all I can see is some very faint timing marks on the right side of the big "notch" (the one that goes all the way through) and a "60" about 2 inches to the left of it.
So, no idea what to line up here... Is there a picture out there from a non-rusted balancer that I could use for reference? I checked if Autozone had one in stock that I could have a peek at, but they'd have to special order it
Is there any other way to adjust to TDC?

Thanks in advance,

Thomas

 

I think the 'notch' cut into it is the zero mark. Might try hitting it with some steel wool, to clean it up a bit.

 

Problem with the notch is, there's 3 of them Two of them are "half way" and one goes all the way across the damper (that's the one with the faintly visible timing marks next to it).
It would make logical sense to me that the big notch with the marks is TDC, but I don't think it is, as the picture in the manual that shows me how to align TDC with the "V8 mark" shows that mark about 1.5 inches to the left of the big notch . Sadly the manual only shows the V8 mark, and I have a V6, so not much good...
EDIT: Oh yeah, tried cleaning, it's no good. This isn't just some surface rust, the whole thing is one big block of pocked brown I tried with some sandpaper, but all it does is distribute finer dust into the small "craters", making it actually less readable. The marks are also so faint to begin with that I'm worried more scrubbing/sanding will just remove them all together.

 

Take out the number 1 spark plug, and stick something in there..... rotate the crank SLOWLY until you feel the piston hit whatever it is you have stuck in there, get the piston as close to TDC as you can. Put the balancer on, and see where things line up. DO NOT have the pushrods/rockers installed just yet......

I seriously doubt you are going to find a V-8 mark on your V-6 dampner......

 

Well yeah, I'm not trying to find the V8 mark, but there should be a V6 mark (according to the manual). Was just saying that the picture in the manual shows the V8 mark way off from the notch, so I don't think aligning the notch to TDC is what I have to do.
Question is: Do I actually have to bring the crank/cam to TDC to install the rods, or is it something *off* TDC, and are they trying to tell me how far off with this ominous V6 mark that is supposedly somewhere else than the big notch.
What I'd really need is a good look at a non rusted damper, so I can see whereabout those marks are. Couldn't find any pictures anywhere, though

 

I am looking at the 01 service manual...... and NOT finding a section that talks about rockers at all. For the lifters, they just say drop 'em in, and the arrow on the yokes point toward the cam...... for the rockers, they just say tighten the bolts to 21ft/lbs......

Do you already have the timing chain/gears in place? Cover on? etc??

 

I'm talking about the installation of the push rods.
Here's a scan of the section of the manual I'm talking abou:



I highlighted the passage that explains how to rotate the crank before installing the push rods. In the top right you see a picture where they align the V8 mark with TDC, I've marked the "big notch" in red on the pic since it was hard to see with the scan.
Also just realized that say to bring the engine to the "neutral" position, not sure what that means? Doesn't sound like TDC then after all?

EDIT: Oh, just saw that I missed your question. I didn't remove the cam, chain or timing cover, just took the heads off.

 

No, that will be somewhere after TDC. They probably want the engine somewhere where most of the valves are pretty much closed.... (or, half open, whatever...) In the pic, it looks like it is actually stamped into the ring there.... Sanding, and then wiping with a damp cloth might bring it back... if not, replacing it really wouldn't be a bad idea.

 

Yeah, it's stamped into the ring. Sanding really won't work, the marks are very fine as it is, it'd just remove them.
Sounds more like they just want to give some general clearance for the rod installation then, and not have the engine at a very specific point for timing. Hm, maybe I'll just "wing it" after all if I can't find any reference pictures.

 

That could be an expensive exercise....... pistons smacking valves is never a good scene.... how much would a new balancer run? Cheap insurance in my opinion.