Adjustable cam gear install.

[JimX]

I know it's been discussed before but I did a search and couldn't turn up anything too specific.

I'm wondering how hard it is to install these yourself? I'm not sure of what has to come off other than the cam cover. Do you have to remove the timing belt completely or can you just loosen off the tensioner (which is where?) and slip the old one off and put the new one on? Do you have to drain the coolant and remove the radiator first or can it be done with cooling system intact?

If someone has a step-by-step then please post details

[blind_elk]

1. Bring #1 cylinder to TDC.

2. Mark position of CAS

3. Remove CAS, cam cover

4. Remove CAS mounting bracket

5. Mark position of cam belt relative to TDC on cam wheel.

6. Undo cam wheel retaining bolts

7. remove cam wheel - may require some levering and wiggling

8. Insert new cam wheel, aligning its TDC mark with the mark you made on the cam belt

10. You should now be able to put the cam wheel back up onto the camshaft. may need to adjust crank to get the locating dowel to align properly

11. replace camwheel retaining bolts, tighten

12. replace CAS mounting bracket

13. replace cam cover

14. replace CAS, aligning marks.

I think that covers it all. It might be worthwhile to carefully check that all clearances are maintained, ie no bolts sitting out further than they used to, before doing 12 / 13 / 14.

You may also need to get a check done on the timing, it might be a few degs out.

[JimX]

Thanks! Doesn't sound too complicated then. I might give it a go soon.

[Jay95R33]

Cool - thanks Blind.

Hay how do you rotate the motor to get no. 1 at TDC ?

One thing that scares the crap out of me is once you've taken the factory cam gear off, how do you keep the tension on it so it doesn't slip off the bottom or change position?

Or isn't the tension on it very tight?

Cheers

J

[blind_elk]

Originally posted by Jay95R33

Cool - thanks Blind.

Hay how do you rotate the motor to get no. 1 at TDC ?

You need a 27mm socket - fits on the bolt that holds the crank pulley in place.

One thing that scares the crap out of me is once you've taken the factory cam gear off, how do you keep the tension on it so it doesn't slip off the bottom or change position?

Or isn't the tension on it very tight?

Cheers

J

It all just sits there (unlike the chain on the old L-series engines).

[Guest RedLineGTR]

hhmmm was thinking about doing it myself...might just let a shop do it.

[benm]

Yup same, i'd rather pay a shop to do it for me.

[Jay95R33]

Originally posted by blind_elk

1. Bring #1 cylinder to TDC.

2. Mark position of CAS

3. Remove CAS, cam cover

4. Remove CAS mounting bracket

5. Mark position of cam belt relative to TDC on cam wheel.

6. Undo cam wheel retaining bolts

7. remove cam wheel - may require some levering and wiggling

8. Insert new cam wheel, aligning its TDC mark with the mark you made on the cam belt

10. You should now be able to put the cam wheel back up onto the camshaft. may need to adjust crank to get the locating dowel to align properly

11. replace camwheel retaining bolts, tighten

12. replace CAS mounting bracket

13. replace cam cover

14. replace CAS, aligning marks.

I might just add to this list a little

4a. You'll need to manually rotate the engine (27mm socket) to find TDC. You may need to remove the clutch fan to get to the crank nut.

5a. I used a clamp (big G clamp) to clamp the timing belt to the exhaust cam, this way you KNOW it's not going to slip - just me being paranoid

8a. Seems as the new exhaust cam wheel is now 3-4 degrees different compared to the crank, you may need to manually rotate the crank a bit backwards a slight bit (VERY slight bit) so the dowl on the cam will slot into the new cam gear wheel.

13a. The cam cover can be a real b1tch to get back on !

I did two cars last night, took about 3 hours to do both, that included stopping for pizza and plenty of talking in between, and waiting for the cars to cool down enough to work on.

It really is a basic job. If you know how to use a spanner and willing to give it a try then go for it.

Just remember to mark the timing belt on the 'dot' on the cam gears (you'll know what I mean when you see them).

BTW: noticable increase in mid range torque. I wouldn't say it's massive, but there is an increase.

J

[JimX]

I got quoted from Unigroup $160 to fit one of these. Considering that I wouldn't want to be driving my car very far without tuning it pretty much immediately after installing it, I'm considering just paying the bucks and letting these guys do it before they tune it. Also to go in are my 550cc injectors so I think I'll just book it in and hand it all over for a few days.

I dunno, I'll think about it. If I find myself unable to afford the tune and parts install for a long time (total price is close to a grand), I might give the cam wheel a go myself. I can always set it to 0 degrees until such time as I can afford the tune, and then the whole thing will be $160 cheaper as well

[Jay95R33]

Yepp, I'd probably do the same. If I was getting other work done I'd get them to do the lot.

Even though I like working on cars, the thought of dropping the car off somewhere and then picking it up a few days later when it's all finished and ready to go is very appealing

J

[otto]

when i put mine in i just slipped the old one off then slipped the new one on in the same spot as the old one came off (put a mark on the timing belt and old pully then translated the mark to the new pulley and lined it up), im worried is this wrong/bad??? the car seems to be running great

[Jay95R33]

when i put mine in i just slipped the old one off then slipped the new one on  in the same spot as the old one came off (put a mark on the timing belt and old pully then translated the mark to the new pulley and lined it up), im worried is this wrong/bad??? the car seems to be running great

I wouldn't worry Otto. You just got lucky and it slipped straight back on.

If you did it wrong, your car would run really bad.

Cheers

J

[otto]

phew, excuse my ignorane but why do you have to rotate the engine to top dead centre?? also i think mine just slipped on cause i had it set on zero and adjusted it to 4deg once it was on (afrew light taps with a hammer and wooden drift).

[Jay95R33]

phew, excuse my ignorane but why do you have to rotate the engine to top dead centre?? also i think mine just slipped on  cause i had it set on zero and adjusted it to 4deg once it was on (afrew light taps with a hammer and wooden drift).

Ahh, yepp, that would've been why it slipped straight on - cause it was set to zero.

I adjusted mine while it was off the car, cause the difference between 3 and 4 degrees is about a bee's d1ck !!

The only reason you rotate the motor to TDC is to get a reference point (you would've seen the dot on the cam gear, as well as the while line marked on the cam cover plate.

You could do it without being on TDC, but it's good practice to use TDC as a reference point.

J

[JimX]

Ok, I'm thinking about doing this again myself now, but now I have a few more questions.

1. How hard is it to change the timing of the gear once it's installed?

2. How do you get the tension off the belt so that the cam wheel will go in? Can you push on the belt tensioner or something to get enough slack?

Hm, that's about it. I'm just finding cash hard to come by these days so I'm thinking that I will do all the hard work myself and save the bucks for the tune

[Jay95R33]

Ok, I'm thinking about doing this again myself now, but now I have a few more questions.

1. How hard is it to change the timing of the gear once it's installed?  

2. How do you get the tension off the belt so that the cam wheel will go in? Can you push on the belt tensioner or something to get enough slack?

Hm, that's about it. I'm just finding cash hard to come by these days so I'm thinking that I will do all the hard work myself and save the bucks for the tune

G'day JimX,

1. I personally would adjust the cam gear before you put it on. Once you get the cam gear and see the difference between 3 and 4 degrees you'll see that it's really hard to get it spot on. I think 4 degrees would be moving the marker less that 2mm !! When I was adjusting is in my hand it took a bit of time do get it perfect. Remembering that for each 1 degree on the cam wheel is 2 degrees crank angle, so to get 3 degrees you actually adjust the cam gear to 1.5 degrees.

You may need to rotate the crank back a little (see previous post) to get the cam gear to slot on if you've already adjusted it though. This is nothing, just leave the rachet on the crank while your changing it over, and when the time comes, just give it a slight move and the cam gear will slot straight on.

2. This was easier than I thought it would be cause the tensioner is between the inlet cam gear and the crank. So if you clamp off the timing belt to the inlet cam gear (like I said in the previous post) the timing belt will just sit there when you take the exhaust cam off. I was scared that it would just fall off the crank or do something weird, but all was ok and the belt just stayed there.

The whole thing was much easier than I thought it would be.

In the time that my mates left to go get pizza's and come back I had mine about 90% done !!!

J

[JimX]

Ok I just got my cam gear in the post, so now it's time to set it up.

Jay, you say that 1 degree on the wheel is 2 degrees on the CAS? So to get 4 degrees of retard in, I should move it 2 of those little lines?

The other obvious question is which way is retard? Does the inner bit go clockwise or anti clockwise when looking from the front/adjustment side?

[Jay95R33]

Ok I just got my cam gear in the post, so now it's time to set it up.

Jay, you say that 1 degree on the wheel is 2 degrees on the CAS? So to get 4 degrees of retard in, I should move it 2 of those little lines?

The other obvious question is which way is retard? Does the inner bit go clockwise or anti clockwise when looking from the front/adjustment side?

Yepp, that's it. For every one degree on the cam wheel it's 2 degree crank angle. So set the cam gear to 2 degrees (second notch) to get the 4 degrees that everyone is talking about.

LOL - I had to think about this too !! Standing in front of the car (looking at the front of the motor) the motor and cams turn in a clockwise direction. So what we need to do is give the exhaust cam a 'delay' of the 4 degrees. So the centre on the cam wheel is to be rotated clockwise. Or the outer rim of the cam gear is to be rotated anti clockwise. Both are the same thing really

I hope that helps.

J

[PHaT MR30]

yeh just doing the belt on mine, you will notice that on the cam gears there is a white mark, you will also notice that on the backing plate there is a white mark, you will possibly notice that the belt has a white line across it, the crank also has these same markings. it you rotate the crank (can take a few turns) till all these marks meet up this is i think TDC #1. makes life much easier doing it like this

[otto]

LOL - I had to think about this too !! Standing in front of the car (looking at the front of the motor) the motor and cams turn in a clockwise direction. So what we need to do is give the exhaust cam a 'delay' of the 4 degrees. So the centre on the cam wheel is to be rotated clockwise. Or the outer rim of the cam gear is to be rotated anti clockwise. Both are the same thing really

I hope that helps.

J

are you sure, dont mean to add confusion but i was positive it was the other way around??????