Coomer

I was driving home a while ago, I came to a stop after driving on the freeway for two hours, and my car sounded like the motor was knocking. I figured I finally blew up the H22, but I had to get home in time, so I slowly drove it 15 minutes home. As I was driving home, it would die at stops if I let me foot off of the gas and it lacked power as I got closer to home. I got it home, parked in the garage, and hadn't touched it until today.

I went out to the car, looked under the hood, and realized that the factory exhaust cam bolt had loosened itself to the point where it was hitting the valve cover and making that terrible knocking noise. I tightened it back up and was able to start the car with no noise, but I have to had to hold my foot on the gas to get it to stay idling.

I let off the gas and it died, so then I played with the idle adjust screw to adjust the idle to a high idle. Once I did this, the car would start and idle roughly, but would eventually die after a few minutes. While idling, the car would not rev quickly at all, but made no funny noises as it revved.

It kind of sounds like a timing issue to me. What do you guys think happened? Think maybe the cam bolt hitting the valve cover caused enough resistance for the timing belt to skip a tooth? Or do you think something else happened?

And how would you guys go about troubleshooting this situation? I'd love to be able to drive my car again.

SikB

Turn your engine to tdc and check to see that both cam gears are lined up correctly.

98vtec

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by SikB &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Turn your engine to tdc and check to see that both cam gears are lined up correctly.</TD></TR></TABLE>



do a compression test as well. If those results are good and the cam gears line up, check your valves.

james p.

I had a similar problem with the idle on the EK...

To fix the problem all that was needed was a little WD40 on the TB, a new fuel filter and a valve tune.


I don't know if these tips will help with your problem in particular, but either way BUMP cause I'd love to see this Sol rolling again!

Coomer

Thanks for the help guys.

I just today got to checking the cam gears at TDC, and they do line up perfectly. Now I'm back home (three hours away from the car), but next time I go home I'll do a compression test.

flyrod

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Coomer &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Thanks for the help guys.

I just today got to checking the cam gears at TDC, and they do line up perfectly. Now I'm back home (three hours away from the car), but next time I go home I'll do a compression test.</TD></TR></TABLE>

If the key between the cam and cam gear fell out or got worn heavily you could still have a timing problem.

Coomer

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by flyrod &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">If the key between the cam and cam gear fell out or got worn heavily you could still have a timing problem.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Ah, didn't even think about that. I'll have to look into this more.

Coomer

Anyone have some good pics of the cam keys/how the cams go together with the gears?

This was all I could find:

PirateMcFred

The keys for the cams are number 37 on that diagram. There's a slot in the end of the camshaft and a corresponding slot in the gear. Once the slots on the cam gear and the cam are aligned the key (#37) slides in the slot and is held in place by the bolt/washer (#31).

If the bolt came loose then the keyway could have gotten beaten open further and can allow for a few degrees of slop between the gear and the cam.

Coomer

Thanks for the info. To check to see if the keyway got beaten open further, I have to pull off the timing belt and cam gears, right? You can't just try turning the cam manually with the valve cover off and see if the cam gear moves as well, right?

I've never done any real internal engine work, if you guys couldn't tell.

PirateMcFred

Well if you can release the tension on the belt then you might be able to break the cam bolt loose and see if there's any extra play between the cam and the gear with the key still in the slot. if there's not a lot of extra slop then you might just get a new key.

But it would not be too much of a stretch to just put the belt off either. If you do that be damn sure you know what you're doing or you could set the timing wrong and damage the engine.

Coomer

Thanks for the advice. Next time I make it home I'll have to play with it and see what I can get figured out.

Coomer

Sure enough, the key, camshaft, and cam gear are destroyed, and it's clear that the cam timing is off.

So now I need to buy a new camshaft, cam gear, and key, and I'll probably do the auto-to-manual tensioner conversion while I'm at it.

Coomer

Replaced the cam gear and cam key (camshaft wasn't actually damaged), and now all is well.

Thanks to everyone who helped.

james p.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Coomer &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Replaced the cam gear and cam key (camshaft wasn't actually damaged), and now all is well.

Thanks to everyone who helped. </TD></TR></TABLE>

Excellent news Coom.