Camshaft Replacement Question

[JRA2000TL]

I was reading over the SHO Phoenix Project website on the 60k stuff as I'll be replacing my left intake (upper front) camshaft due to a pitted lobe.

Do I have to do the starter bump and break the crank bolt loose and disassemble all of that other stuff as if I was doing a full front 60k? Maybe I'm missing something blatantly obvious and not thinking.....but after tearing apart the top end before, I think I can just loosen (or remove) the top part of the timing cover, remove the intake and vc, remove the 3 10mm bolts on the cam gear, slide the timing belt off, remove and replace the cam seal, reinstall the new cam (slipping the timing belt over the new gear), and bolt it on.

I'm thinking what I should do before removing the old camshaft is to use the ratchet on the crank bolt and line up both camshaft timing marks; then install the new cam exactly in the same position where the old one was.

Is there more to it than this? I have the 60k DVD as well that I'll have close by. I am NOT mechanically inclined but I have a garage now and want to try.

 

[sho'noffmtx]

It sounds like you have a really good idea of what you are doing. You dont have to do the full 60k. Just losen the belt and take the cam out. Good Luck

 

[NEp8ntballer]

pretty sure you could possibly get by with just removing the upper timing cover.

 

[Bob Gervais]

Remove intake (it'll give you more room to work), remove upper timing cover, remove valve cover.

Get both cams on their timing marks, and use a paint pen, grease pen, some sort of bright mark on the timing belt to mark your timing reference marks to the cam sprockets. Crack the 3 bolts holding the cam sprocket on. Loosen the timing belt, then remove the three bolts and the cam sprocket.

Make sure you pay particular attention to the cam caps, make a diagram if you have to, showing position and direction. Taking a pic will be helpful here. Take pics of the relationship of the two cams as well, paying particular attention to their timing in relation to each other. If you can, borrow a cam alignment tool from someone, though it's not completely necessary, however the cams need to be timed properly to each other.

Remove the bolts holding down the cam chain tensioner, remove the bad cam.

 

[sdpatt]

The access port in the lower timing belt cover will allow you to loosen the tensioner nut, pivot it CW to remove tension from the belt and retighten the nut to so that the timing belt is loose. This will allow the removal as described above. Make sure that the timing belt tensioning process below is followed upon reassembly.

During timing belt replacement:
The procedure to set the tension on the 3.0L is to install the belt and release the 14mm locking nut on the tensioner pulley to apply the spring tension to the belt.

The crankshaft is then rotated approximately two turns in the clockwise direction until the yellow mark (first) on the crank damper aligns with the "0" degree mark on the lower timing belt cover. This sets the number one cylinder at 60 degrees BTDC and causes the greatest slack on the tensioner side of the timing belt. The 14mm nut is then tightened to set the tension at the greatest that can be applied by the spring.

 

[rubydist]

You may be able to do that, but I've never been able to get a timing belt off without sliding it off the upper (cam) sprockets at the same time as I slide it off the crank sprocket. To do that, of course, you need the crank pulley removed.

 

[drivinhard]

The access port in the lower timing belt cover will allow you to loosen the tensioner nut, pivot it CW to remove tension from the belt and retighten the nut to so that the timing belt is loose. This will allow the removal as described above.

x2

that should give you enough slack in the belt to remove the cam gear, etc

with the upper covered removed, don't drop anything down into the middle/lower cover. stick some rags in there

 

[Bob Gervais]

You may be able to do that, but I've never been able to get a timing belt off without sliding it off the upper (cam) sprockets at the same time as I slide it off the crank sprocket. To do that, of course, you need the crank pulley removed.

He's gonna pull the cam sprocket off, which is more than doable without taking all the other crap off.

 

[JRA2000TL]

Thanks to everyone! (I ran out of thanks privileges about halfway down.) I'll reference this when I'm ready to start. I just got to thinking about it last night. Cam seal should be in the mail when I get home, and I was going to start on it this weekend until I realized I'm out of town for most of this upcoming month. This will be a December project when I won't be traveling at all. I can take my time and do a little each night without worrying about finishing before dark since I have a garage now. I'm sure I'll get stuck somewhere along the way and will have to post another Help! thread.

 

[Bob Gervais]

Thanks to everyone! (I ran out of thanks privileges about halfway down.) I'll reference this when I'm ready to start. I just got to thinking about it last night. Cam seal should be in the mail when I get home, and I was going to start on it this weekend until I realized I'm out of town for most of this upcoming month. This will be a December project when I won't be traveling at all. I can take my time and do a little each night without worrying about finishing before dark since I have a garage now. I'm sure I'll get stuck somewhere along the way and will have to post another Help! thread.

Good plan, and congrats on the house (and garage).

It's pretty easy once you get into it, all the instructions and "don't do's" make it seem tougher than it is.

 

[NEp8ntballer]

lucky you that upcoming cold ass weather/snow isn't in your outlook for when to do stuff.

 

[K-Dawg]

Whenever I try to do this the belt always inevitably comes off the crank sprocket. Without removing the lower timing cover, you'll never know until you try to start the car and it doesn't start. Then you have to pull the whole damn thing apart to re-time it. Its not hard at all to pull the harmonic damper and lower timing cover. A little extra work to save a big headache, IMO.

If you decide to to leave the lower cover, you HAVE to make sure you keep the belt tight against the crank sprocket during the whole process. A one tooth slip will ruin your day. I'm not the smartest guy, but I haven't figured out a good way to do this.

 

[bigblock]

i say do it right the first time so you have peace of mind. i've taken the easy way out so many times only to have to backfire on me that i just do it right once.

here what i would do. remove intake,remove acc belts, jack passenger side up, remove wheel, remove splash guard, remove dampener pulley, remove timing cover, loosen belt tensioner, remove timing belt, remove both cam sprockets, remove the dust shield behind them, remove cam cover, loosen chain tensioner, remove all cap set them aside in order or take a pic or both, once you start lifting the cam you should be able to take the tensioner off. if i remember correctly you will need to remove that to be able to take the cam out. or else just take the sprocket off. the chain tensioner will still need to be removed for assembly as its a pita to try and put the sprocket on the cam with the tensioner.


how to time the cams. now during dis assembly the cams might rotate left or right, both front and rear bank. not a big deal. if the cam it self (say the exhaust side moves) theirs flat spots on the cam where you can use a wrench or crescent wrench to move it back where it needs to be. DONT USE VICE GRIPS OR CHANNEL LOCKS! that will leave teeth marks on the cam. there will be dots on both the chain sprockets. they'll be on the outer edge near the teeth. they will need to line up with the timing makes on the cam (the holes on the back). they only go on 2 ways wrong and right. pretty hard to screw up. just take a look before you take it apart. if you going to time everything back to TDC (thats what i would do) this is how you line it up. the timing marks will need to be flush with the mating surface of the cam covers. the exhaust cam marks will need to be facing down towards the radiator the intake cam dots towards the intake manifold. looks like this _.. ____ .._ (under dash is the head surface, dots are timing marks). thats basically it for those 2.

put some engine oil on the cam and bearings before install.
the intake cam will need to be tighten down in a 2 step torque sequence. like this,

6 4 12 8 10 2
5 3 11 7 9 1

( 1-2 cap being the rear and 5-6 being the front) torque them to 6-9lbs and then 12-16lbs. DO NOT OVER TIGHTEN! you can strip the threads like i did and then you have to heli coil new threads. lot of extra work. and obviously the arrows on the caps point towards the front of the motor. the front cap will need silicone to seal. DO NOT PUT SILICONE IN THE GROVE. that's for the oil to flow. it needs to go on the outside edge of that. for the cam seal i like to put a little film of silicone on the outside but that up to you. after the cam is good and tight and all timed up slap the cam cover back on.

install the dust plate, install the cam gears. line the dots on the gears to the index marks on the dust plate. if the gears are hard to turn you can use one of those rubber strap wrench thingies. line the dot on the crank sprocket with the index mark on the oil pump. install belt. the rest is pie. btw inspect the gaskets on your intake, if they look bad replace them. i had a bad vacuum leak because i was lazy and i though i had the timing wrong because it ran like crap. anyways thats about it. i know some of the stuff i said was obvious but i wanted to be thorough.

 

[JRA2000TL]

Ok in my other recent related post, I'd begun this project. Turns out I don't need the 60k kit as I've pulled both valve covers and found all of the valves to be in spec. The damaged shim will need to be replaced but that won't require the tools since I have to replace that camshaft anyway. I went ahead and put plugs in and new valve cover gaskets, and I'm also going to replace the intake gasket (just the one where it seats to the engine for now).

As of now, the plugs have been installed, valve clearances have been checked, and valve cover gaskets have been installed (only the rear valve cover has been reinstalled on the car). All I have to do now is the direct camshaft swap and replace that one shim.

Here's a photo of what I have all cleared out and ready to replace it.



I'm worried about stripping those 3 sprocket bolts since I've done that at the j/y before. I'll find the timing belt tensioner, line up all my marks and go from there. Spent probably a good 7 hours on it today but took my time. My brother helped out alot, and I went through and wiped stuff off, torqued the plugs to specs, etc.

We'll try and get it finished tomorrow if we have another shim of the right size. I'll be nervous putting it back together. Working around that firewall is a royal PITA and it took several tries to get that rear valve cover on because it kept screwing up the gasket. I figured out the trick to getting it back on right though. The stupid bracket that has to be kept (the one with the grounding strap) was also a nightmare. I am leaving the other brackets off since they're pointless.

 

[rubydist]

Be sure to keep those "pointless" brackets on the rear of the engine that keep the wiring harness off the exhaust manifold, otherwise you will have a larger project soon....

 

[JRA2000TL]

Be sure to keep those "pointless" brackets on the rear of the engine that keep the wiring harness off the exhaust manifold, otherwise you will have a larger project soon....

Yeah I'm putting those back on; leaving the front off. The pass. side rear bracket has to go on due to the grounding strap. They are just a PITA to deal with. I'm about go to start back on the car again shortly. Hopefully I'll get it done today and all put back together with no issues.

 

[JRA2000TL]

Got the new camshaft in and my brother and I are in the process of getting it all back together. If it runs...and runs right when we're done; then I'm going to go ahead and buy new hood struts when I put the hood back on. If it does not run, I'm gonna just go buy some booze.

 

[JRA2000TL]

OK I am done with this car. Got it together, starts up, idles high for a sec then shuts off; will stay running if you hold on the gas...started up roaring nicely at first and then quiet...now the SOB started tapping, runs like ass if you let off the gas and stumbles badly and there's black sooty liquidy crap coming out of the tailpipe.

HELP!

 

[SHObill]

check GROUNDS! & vacuum lines & sparkplug/coilpak wire orientation.

 

[jmpSHO]

Sounds like you have a vac leak some where. Keep looking they can be a ***** to find some times.