Lemme just say I learned my lesson and not to f*ck with things unless I learn all the proper procedures first.

I was changing my exhaust cam seal because it was leaking. I tried to take an easy approach my removing the cam gear only and sliding the seal off. In the process I lost my woodruff key.

Being stupid, I put the gear back on and tightened the bolt without the key. Somewhere in the process I managed to get the exhaust cam out of alignment to the intake cam. Here is a pic below:

The intake cam is in the proper position relative to the crank. You can clearly see the exhaust cam is out of alignement.

My question, what do I do to get the exhaust cam lined back up with the intake cam? Thank you much for any help!

 

Turn your crank until the WHITE line on your crank pulley lines up w/ the pointer on your timing cover. Both cams should be straight up, meaning the notch in the keyway should be straight up. Whichever one is not straight up just turn with a 14 mm wrench w/ the timing belt off. Once you have both cams straight up install your belt. After you get your belt back on turn your crank pulley counterclockwise w/ tensioner tight to seat the belt. After you've done that, loosen the tensioner and turn the crank counterclockwise again about 5 teeth on your cam gears. While holding tension on your timing belt with crank pulley taught, tighten your tensioner. I'd rather have my timing belt a little to tight, then to loose.

 

I didn't take off the crank pulley bolt or adjust the tensioner the whole process. Will I have to re-tighten the belt per your instructions? If so, I would rather take it to a shop since I have never done a timing belt change and wouldn't want to cause further damage .

Thanks again for your help man .


Modified by princebunta at 3:51 PM 4/15/2006

 

you have to have both woodruff keys installed or your just asking for major enging damage.

the bolt only keeps the cam gear from falling off......its the woodruff key that keep the cam from spinning inside the cam gear which will cause all your valves to become really close friends with the pistons..........get my drift?


FIND THE DAMN KEY YOU LOST!! dont even THINK of starting that engine without installing the woodruff key!

 

::carlos mencia:: DEE DEE DEE

dude you sound like you know better than this.... so whyd you do it?

 

get a new key from the dealer. they are like $5 i think

 

I didnt even realize you lost the key, don't go any further until you buy one. The other problem is that it might be down inside your timing belt cover. You really should take the cover off to make sure it's not caught under your oil pump gear...unless you're sure it didn't drop down in there. Just put a jack under your motor for support, and take off the drivers side motor mount to pull it apart. If you follow the instructions I gave you before it's not a big deal.

 

Yeah, I did get a new set of woodruff keys from the dealer. My problem right now is getting my cam gears to line back up like this orginially:



I'm trying to follow sc4dr's advice, but the only way I can turn the exhaust cam gear is clockwise with the belt off. I tried to turn it counter clockwise with the key back in place. But it always snaps back into the 12 o'clock position seen in the first pic.

Yelp .

 

It's pretty simple. There's a hex thing on your camshaft somewhere so you should use that to rotate it when the timing belt is OFF. When your cams/keys are in the UP position, the holes on the NUMBER 1 camshaft holder and the hole in the camshaft under should line up. You can put a 5mm pin punch in there to keep it from moving while your putting the belt back on per the above instructions.

And read his instructions CAREFULLY as they are correct. Good luck.

 

Awesome dude, stuff is making more sense now. Thanks alot, I'll update along the way when I get things done.

 

Additionally, I don't think it should matter on the direction of rotation to the camshaft when the belt is off. It's when you throw the belt back on you want to rotate the entire assy with the crankshaft counterclockwise as advised above.

 

Modified by zerovandez at 3:21 AM 4/17/2006

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by zerovandez &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Additionally, I don't think it should matter on the direction of rotation to the camshaft when the belt is off. It's when you throw the belt back on you want to rotate the entire assy with the crankshaft counterclockwise as advised above.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Correct, you need to turn the crank counterclockwise to keep proper tension on the timing belt. With the timing belt off you can turn the gears in any direction you need so the keyway faces straight up. Take your spark plugs out so you can adjust your cams without forcing them.

 

OK,

Got the cams to line up TDC with the crank. Go and put the cam gear bolt back in and I fawking snap the head off .

Question, would it be stupid for me to drive w/o the bolt to a shop so they can swap the cam with another one I have [approx distance is about 10-15 miles]?

I'm gonna try to extract the bolt out of the cam first, but if that doesn't work I'll need to take it to a shop to swap the cams.

for learning experiences
for ******* up during learning experiences

 

I'd do it the safe and right way by taking wutever part that's broken off, and have a proffessional fix it. Don't be dare devil and mess something else up. I too am just learning and going through my first engine build. And I'd definetly do this if I were in your position.

 

without that bolt in, theres nothing keeping the cam gear on the cam except the tension from the belt, which is extremely dangerous. It's not that hard to get another bolt and take the other one out, go to sears and get an easy-out kit, or just try and use vice grips to twist it out. but please dont drive it without ALL the bolts, keys,etc. relating to the cams in, tightened to spec, and the timing set-up right.