Re: Worse Car Screw Up

[Chris Idleman (FSAC) <cidleman@fsac3.pica.army.mil>]

I know this one isn't Audi related and I'm glad it wasn't MY car:

Over on the Alfa Romeo list, there was a guy trying to get the head off
his engine.  On stubborn cylinder heads, the accepted shadetree-Alfa 
"break-it-free" method is to disconnect the fuel pump and coil, loosen 
the head bolts just a bit, and then crank the starter motor for a second 
to break the head-gasket seal (the overhead cam timing chain and cylinder 
compression do the trick).  Then comes the normal head removal by undoing 
the bolts and taking apart the master link in the timing chain, being 
very careful to not let the ends of the chain or the loose master link
fall into the depths of the internal timing chain cavity.  Anyway, the 
unfortunate newbie carefully pulled the timing chain apart and draped each 
half to each side, then tried to loosen the head with a crank of the 
starter.  In addition to bashing his valvesi with the pistons, the 
crankshaft sprocket pulled the loose timing chain down into the remote 
abysses of his engine.  

OUCH!

					Chris Idleman
					cidleman@pica.army.mil