Cases split

Today I started with removing the right side cover. Wasn't really hard to remove - just unscrew the bolts and that's it. The sealant didn't hold the cover too tight but it took a while though. Would have been hander if I had removed it while the engine was in the frame as there's the primary drive gear nut underneath the cover and it's pretty tight and now I didn't have anything to hold the gear against. But again, the cheap pneumatic impact gun saved the day and the nut was easy to remove after all.

RH side engine cover

Under the RH side cover

Primary drive gear nut off

I took the pistons off before undoing the nut to avoid damaging them if the gear slips out from hand for some reason. Lost one piston locking ring though but maybe I'll find it later, or then just get a new one.

Alternator cover puller helps splitting the cases

Cases split!

The factory manual suggested using the alternator cover and it's puller for splitting the cases so I put two blocks of wood under the engine and turned it sideways and tried what happens when turning the puller's bolt, after unscrewing all the engine retaining bolts from both sides of course. There didn't seem to be anything holding the cases too tight together so turning the bolt slowly and a few pretty gentle taps with a rubber hammer to gearbox transmission shaft did the job.

Inner race of the LH side main bearing. Doesn't look healthy.

I thought before I wouldn't find anything interesting on the flywheel side since the original noise sounded like it was coming from the right side of the engine. Though it's hard to tell for sure and the source of the sound waves perhaps can't be located accurately just by listening. I'm sort of happy of what I found since it indicates that there's definately something wrong with the bearings. The inner race seems to be toasted but only about half of the race. Also the same half of the inner side of the ring looks like polished but couldn't get a clear picture of it with my cellphone camera and I don't have anything better for the photos. Would this be an indication of too tight crank? If it is, the bearing on the RH side should probably look pretty much the same. Going to find out soonish but first I need to get the primary drive gear off.

I still have the timing belt pulleys on since didn't find suitable tool for the job so need to figure something out for it. For the primary drive gear I know a guy who has the puller, just need to pay a visit there.