Setting the K9K engine to TDC (Renault Megane II)

General information

Setting the piston of the first cylinder to top dead centre is necessary during various engine repair operations.

Preparing the vehicle:

We place the vehicle on a lift or over an inspection pit.
We remove the right front wheel.
We remove the right front wheel arch liner.

Preparatory operations

Preparation sequence:

We unscrew four bolts securing the bracket of the front part of the subframe to the body and remove the bracket.
We remove the auxiliary drive belt (see the article Replacing the auxiliary drive belt on a Renault Megane 2).
We jack up the engine and install a support.

Removing the right power unit mount — We unscrew the bolts securing the right power unit mount and remove it

Removing the upper timing cover

Having unfastened the retainers, we remove the upper plastic cover.

Removing the right mount bracket — We unscrew the bolts securing the right mount bracket of the power unit suspension to the cylinder block and remove the bracket

Setting the first cylinder to TDC

Important! We rotate the crankshaft clockwise by the bolt securing the auxiliary drive pulley.

Aligning the openings for the retainer — **Fig. Fitting the TDC retainer into the cylinder head opening:** 1 — retainer

Aligning the openings: by rotating the crankshaft clockwise, we align the opening in the cylinder head with the opening on the camshaft pulley.

Unscrewing the plug of the TDC retainer opening — With a TORX E14 socket we unscrew the plug of the opening for fitting the TDC retainer (shown on the removed engine)

Location of the plug: the plug is located to the left of the flywheel in the cylinder block at the level of the 1st cylinder.

Screwing in the TDC retainer — We screw the TDC retainer into the opening

Control position: after fitting the retainer, the keyway on the crankshaft must be located at the top.

Position of the keyway on the crankshaft — Keyway on the crankshaft in the TDC position

Completion of work: after carrying out the necessary repair work all the parts are refitted in the reverse order. Do not forget to withdraw the TDC retainer before starting the engine.

Recommendation: when fitting the TDC retainer, make sure that the piston of the first cylinder is precisely at TDC of the compression stroke and not of the exhaust stroke. To do this, one can check that both camshafts have marks coinciding with the setting marks.