Hi all, forgive my ignorance as I am fairly new to this. I have a 2001 civic with the D17A1 engine, the head gasket recently went out and when I got my head back from the machine shop, the camshaft was not set to TDC. Currently the "up" mark is at the 3 o'clock position. My question is, how do I set the head to TDC to match the crank? Do I just turn the camshaft sprocket counterclockwise until the valves are shut on cylinder number 1? If so how? It appears that the intake valves are open on cylinder number 1 now. Thank you in advance for all the help!

 

Turning the cam gear until the UP mark is facing upward and the witness marks at the 9 o'clock and 3 o'clock position are both level/parallel with top edge of the cylinder head casting, then the camshaft is set at TDC. If the head is already bolted to the block, you may have to turn the crankshaft away from TDC 1/4 turn until after you have properly set the camshaft to TDC and turn the crankshaft back to TDC to avoid valve to piston contract.

 

Thank you! Right now the head is on the bench, is there a special tool used to rotate the camshaft?From what I understand this engine rotates counterclockwise but the bolt on the camshaft has a normal thread. Would it damage the head to turn the camshaft clockwise with that bolt? Or is there a better way to rotate the camshaft? The "up" mark is currently in the 3 o'clock position and it looks like the intake valves on cylinder number 1 are open.

 

There is a hex cast into the camshaft, stick a wrench on it and rotate as needed. Alternatively, I have rotated cams by the gear bolt. As long as there is no engine compression (like having the head off the block) it shouldn't tighten up any more than it already is.