i started to change my head gasket, when i started to slide the timing belt off the cam gear the cam gear moved from the marks i had made... i got everything done, just need to install the head again and didnt know how to go about this since the cam gear moved
this is just the stock motor for ef 4door lx please help

 

There should be a spot on the cam that has a hole in it where you can put a pin in there to keep the cam from moving because it's the top of the stroke. I'v used allen head to keep the cam in place while I slide the timing belt over.

 

well i already removed the timing belt ang the cam moved on me

 

Its a small world, I am in the EXACT same boat as you are. I started to change the head gasket yesterday, and a nosy "mechanic" neighbor came by when I was not looking and took the head off. He moved the cam gear about 1/4 of a turn. Now the "UP" mark is facing the exhaust manifold ports. I wanted to finish the job today, but have no idea how to return the cam gear to the original up positing. Any help with this is very greatly appreciated.

 

This should be in the manual and I hope you are using a manual because it's not really going to be worth your time to change the hea gasket and then not know the torque or torque sequence to bolt it back on. Most likely you will be replacing the head gasket again if you go about it that way.

 

its not really rocket science, just reset everything to tdc and torque everything down in the right sequence.

 

"up" goes up there shouild be 2 horizontal lines that go even with the base of the head. and put the belt on

 

Well, I dont know about the original poster, but I do have the tightening sequence along with torque amounts ect. The only problem is how to rotate the cam by hand when the head is not on the car yet. I try just using bare hand power to turn it over, but does not seem to move at all. Do I try a wrench? I would be finished by now if it were not for this little problem.

 

You'll also need the lower timing belt cover installed and the crank pulley on. The TDC mark (white mark all by itself) on the crank pulley needs to line up with the indicator on the cover. You then rotate the crank pulley counter-clockwise to take up slack and tighten up the tensioner. Continue to turn the engine over a couple times and align the crank mark up with the indicator again. Check the cam sprocket to ensure the cam is indead correctly aligned (saves you a lot of hassle if you end up finding that you have it set a tooth off).

 

Valve springs will not let you rotate it by hand.
Make sure you have the head supported by wood blocks at the ends or maybe on it's side somehow so that the vavles do not contact your working surface and inadvertantly become damaged. You can then use a wrench to rotate the cam by (turn clockwise and make sure you have oil or lube on the cam lobes).

 

Got it to rotate, just needed my wife to hold the head. I had never had the cam gear move out of place before, so this was the first expirance rotating the cam with the head out. Thanks again for your help. And to the original poster, just get socket or wrench at turn, no big deal (well now its not a big deal