i had done this twice before in less than 15 minutes. i never found the right type of o ring and the ones i had used where kinda thin and had quickly disintegrated. this time i had found some nice fat ones in an assortment at pep boys and they assured me it was oil and heat resistant. the only thing different this time was that the engine was hot and i was working outside in the afternoon summer sun. being very careful not to burn my hands i was able to extricate the bolt. the first hint that this was not going to go as smoothly was that the shock moved and i couldn't get the hole lined up properly. got the bolt out again and lined up the holes with a screwdriver and reinserted the bolt - only to see it disappear into the dark recesses behind the pulleys. kept cool, and dropped the splash pan but no sign of the bolt. started to panic, calmly assessed the situation and decided to remove the fan shroud so i could see clearly. i had never done that before and upon discovering that it was just a couple of clips holding it in place i kicked myself for not having done it in the first place because now there was a lot of room and i would never have gotten myself into this jam. finally i took one final look around underneath and saw the bolt head peeking out behind the round plate with the timing marks - WHEW! buttoned everything up in no time flat after that.

moral of the story - just take the darned fan shroud off if you're gonna attempt this fix - specially with a hot engine . it really is a snap and it does take care of that diesel-like clatter...

__________________
joE
1993 300e-2.8 - gone now <sigh>
"Do not adjust your mind, it's reality that's malfunctioning"
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