Txdragon

So the cam will not turn. Crank is at TDC and binding after install. I can remove the cam rockers and it all turns great at the crank. Torque those down and nada. I remover the timing belt and turned crank, it's good. Turned cam, nada. Cam will not rotate with the rockers on. Is my valve lash THAT out of whack? I'm kinda stumped here. Stock springs/valves, what's the problem?

Txdragon

I've searched for answers and found squat. Comp is closed til Monday morning so nothing left but pull this bitch til then.
I've narrowed down 2 possibilities: i got a bad cam, or my girdle is somehow fucked..

Txdragon

So with a second pair of hands helping me out, I had them turn the crank while I was inspecting the action. I started with the rockers on, not tightened, and it spun. I torqued down 2 bolts at a time and the crank gradually slowed til it would not turn. There is evidently a clearance issue here.
i have seen too many 59300 ran on stock heads so i think I've got a bad grind. Lift is too high? I dunno. Any other reasons it wouldn't clear the girdle properly?

Txdragon

Morning update... I pulled the rocker assembly again and removed the cam to see how it fir in the journals. To my surprise, it fit like a glove.. wtf did I do wrong? I saw it here..
Evidently, it is CRUCIAL to check, double check, and even triple check all your rockers. The VTEC rockers were not seated properly. Well, one or more. I put the cam back in and dropped the rocker assembly on and made sure to keep the rockers up and gave them some wiggle before the bolt tightening process. Success followed. Cam installed and spins properly with the crank. Now I'm adjusting my lash, then I get 1st startup and some tuning runs! Yay! May wait for that cause it IS raining outside. Supposed to all day.. Sigh...

Txdragon

Went in without a hitch. Problem occurred after though.. took it on a test run and ended up losing all my oil through the cam seal. That was a new seal I installed before. Sigh. Hopefully engine damage is non-existent and I can just put on a new seal, top off the oil and call it a day. I shut it down before things really got outta hand but meh.. we shall see.

Txdragon

Update update.. I managed to jump time. Cam sprocket is lined up properly, crank position sits well into my ignition timing marks. I'd guess about 3 teeth jumped? Not sure how unless the oil leak from the cam seal caused the slippage. **shrug** Good news is that I don't believe this is far enough off to have caused pistons to meet valves, bad news is it is raining and my car is not under the carport.. Sigh..

Txdragon

Reset mechanical timing.. same thing.. no start, sounds like bad compression. I don't think the degree at which it was off would have been bad with a stock cam, but given the higher lift.. **shrug** Gotta tear **** apart now to see what I need to fix.. Sigh.. I don't need the car going down right this moment. It was scheduled for a rework anyways, but I wasn't going to start doing that til AFTER I moved .

NVturbo

Set the crank pulley to TDC,.....THEN, set the cam sprocket/gear to TDC. Don't do it the other way around. That's why timing is off.

Txdragon

Thanks for that, but the initial issue was due to the rocker assembly positioning. The VTEC rockers were not all in the "up" position and resting on the lobes in a way that prevented me from torquing the assembly down. After I figured that out, and got it set and able to drive the car, my timing belt jumped, possibly due to being oil soaked from losing 80% of my oil during that drive because I was an idiot and thought my previous cam seal would have been sufficient because it looked fine. Before the drive though, my mechanical timing was dead nuts on.