i just did a head swap on my gsr, i put a alaniz b16 head that i bought used off a fellow honda-techer, will the install was going smoothly until my mechanic installed the ctr cams which were from my old motor...they were running fine...anyways when he was adjusting the cams to tdc, he had a really hard time moving the intake cam, the exhaust cam moved freely, but the intake cam was a bitch to move..even with both of us on the torque wrench we still had trouble moving it...it moved but was really ******* hard...well thats my problem...this was done at a local honda dealership, even the master techs took a look at it and they said it could be a bent valve...i called the guy i bought the head from and he said he'll come down and help me out which is great , whats not so great is that my car isnt running at all now and i still had to pay my mechanic for the labor ...it isnt much from the price honda was taxin....he hooked me up with a under the table price which was cool but the fact that my car aint runnin deserves a , by the way, all bolts in the head were torqued to factory spec


Modified by BumpinVTEC at 6:13 PM 2/26/2005

 

You need to check if the thrust collar on the cam and the cam cap that is closest to the distributor is on properly and allows the cam to spin freely.

 

thanks rocket, i'll look into it when i get off work

 

NP. Happen to me once. Was stumped for like 5 minutes.

 

whats the thrust collar look like? is it near the end caps

 

Yep yep. It's the part that sticks out and is what people look for grooves in to tell if the cam is ITR etc...

 

yo rocket, i checked the thrust collar and everything seems to be where there suppose to be....intake camstill wont spin

 

check the keyway on the distributor side of the intake cam. i once had a piece of the keyway break off the intake cam(where the distributor key goes in) and got stuck between the cam and cam journal. the cam wouldn't turn as well.

 

everything looks clean, no foreign objects that i can see, cam moves but is really hard, it is even harder turning it clockwise, all rockers move and im still stump, com on guys help me get this peice running again!!!!

 

bump

 

hopefully youre not knocking your valves together when you turn the cams...oh and it MAY be hard because there are valve springs, wild guess im not sure

 

i know there are valve springs but the exhaust cam moves fine, when we put the timing belt we tried to set it to tdc the timing belt was skipping teeth all b/c the intake cam wont move

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by hybridvteceg &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">hopefully youre not knocking your valves together when you turn the cams...</TD></TR></TABLE>

 

im sure there not my mechanic took note of that when he put the cams back on.....does anyone have an idea to what might be going on

 

I would take the cams back out, clean them, and inspect the cams, and the cam caps. This happened to me once. I checked the thrust collar like rocket said...It looked fine. So I took the cams back out. Then re-installed them. worked like a charm. Never actally figured it out.... But it worked. Also check to make sure the a cam cap is not on backwards..... I dont care how many times you've put cams in...It still happens to the best of us.Just human error. Good Luck!

 

we tried doing this already, we took the cams out and put the cam caps back on like 3 times, the thrust collar looks fine, everything was lubed up with assembly lube pretty damn good, i'll check the cams again and i'll let you guys know

 

forgot to add there are no spark plugs either

 

does anyone know the order in which the cam caps go in

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by BumpinVTEC &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">does anyone know the order in which the cam caps go in</TD></TR></TABLE>
i do, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
theyre labeled

 

Ok I will try to explain this best I can.... The end cams caps(T belt side) will say I-1 / or E-1 .For intake or exaust. The middle bridge type cam caps will say 2 with an arrow pointing towards the timing belt, but it will be upside down if you are standing at the bumper(exhaust side).They will say 2,3,or 4 on them. 2 sits between cylinder 1 and 2. 3 will sit between cylinder 3 and 2. 4 will sit between cylinders 4and 3. Buy a Factory service manual if you are unsure.....Well worth the investment.

 

You said you set the bottom end to TDC. That is top dead center. That means your two of your pistons are at the highest point. (I am sure you knew this).....But if you are trying to rotate the intake cam independently of the crank your valves are going to run right into those pistons that have been prepositioned at TDC and it will make it feel very hard to turn becasue the valves are stuck against the top of the intake valve reliefs.

Once you get your intake cam into place and the distributor into the slot on the intake cam- Install your timing belt and then attempt to rotate. Perhaps you are already doing this, but it sounds like your just installing the cam and then checking it's ability to rotate.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by asubennett &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">You said you set the bottom end to TDC. That is top dead center. That means your two of your pistons are at the highest point. (I am sure you knew this).....But if you are trying to rotate the intake cam independently of the crank your valves are going to run right into those pistons that have been prepositioned at TDC and it will make it feel very hard to turn becasue the valves are stuck against the top of the intake valve reliefs.
</TD></TR></TABLE>

he said the exhaust cam rotates fine, if this was the case the exhaust cam would run into the same problem .

- i replaced a distributor on some ones car one time, and saw that the key on the distributor didn't line up with the cam, it was 180 deg backward. honda design it so that it can only go in one way but some how he managed to get it on backward by tighten the distributor bolts down. needless to say the distributor bearing went bad. it wouldn't hurt for you to check. also, try turning the cams before you torque down the cap bolts completely.

 

Not neccessarily. Even the primary cam lobes have less lift on the exhaust side. If he has low dome volume pistons and stock cams, it could be the intake side only that is lifting the valves into the pistons.

 

1) Get a Helms to help you with the location of the caps

then

2) i) plastigauge the cams bearing journals or ii) take out the all of rocker arms and torque down the cam caps and see if the cams spins freelly.

IT IS IMPERATIVE THAT ALL WHO WORK ON THE HONDA MOTORS HAVE THE APPROPRIATE HELMS MANUAL. DOING SO WITHOUT IT, IS NOT RESPECTING THE HONDA MOTOR (UNLESS YOU ARE A PRO ENGINE BUILDER).

 

Rocket what would be ideal clearence when plastiguaging cam cap to cam clearence out of my own curiosity?