Hey all,

I tried to replace my cam gears this weekend and had a few problems:

I could only replace the exhaust cam gear. For the life of me, I could not break the intake cam gear bolt. I bought new wrenches and it still would slip (the open wrench would spread).
I heard there was a tool that goes on that cam flat. Does anyone know where I could get that?
Second issue is I did not know there was anything else driven by the belt and now I am not sure if I got the balance shat off a tooth or not?
Is there a way to check that?

Thanks a lot,

Sigfrid

 

You have to take off the valve cover, and use the correct size wrench to hold the cam while you break the cam gear bolt. Then the gear will come off no problem. Make sure you don't let the timing belt slack or you might slip a tooth, then you'll be doing a full timing belt job

 

With the timing belt there are four significant timing mark issues. The main crank gear (which also controls the rear balance shaft via a second belt & gear) , the oil pump gear (which also controls the front balance shaft) and the two cam gears.

If something slips then everything gets very complicated. IIRC part of the process of resetting the timing belt also requires making sure the balance shafts are in proper alignment; I believe it's possible have the timing mark correct and the balance shafts wrong under a worst case scenario. It's unlikely that a small belt would lead to this, but it's something to keep in mind.

Nightwalker's advise is dead on. What I would add is that you should use a good 17mm 6 point socket on the timing gear bolt with a breaker bar in addition to using a correct sized wrench on the cam. Or borrow an impact wrench & compressor to loosen the cam gear bolt.

 

Hey,

I used a regular wrench and bent it like a banana. I then used a 2 foot handle on a 1/2 drive 17mm socket. That was okay. With the valve cover off, I used a 24mm open end wrench on the cam (HKS) and the open endd wrench would spread open and start slipping. The person who installed these cams and cam gears used an impact gun to put them on. Not a good idea.

Anyway, I may just buy a used 272 intake cam and be done with it. The only thing that worries me is if I go the balance shaft out a tooth or not (or nany other driven function). THe car runs exactly like it did before.

Sigfrid

 

Anyone know how to tell if the balance shaft is off a tooth?
Anyone have a picture of what the belt drives and how to check to make sure everything is aligned? That would be greatly appreciated. Thanks,

Sigfrid

 

I believe in the how to section there are manual pages that show the marks. To be honest though you probably couldn't even notice a bshaft out one tooth. If you set the rear shaft up 180 out of phase you'll notice that though. There is more information about this in that thread.

 

Thanks for the info,

I looed at the service manual pages and there seems to be a second belt that goes to the balance shaft. What I need is to find out howand where to look at all the marks I am supposed to set.

Like: get car at TDC, check cam gear marks with crank mark (I got that down)
remove passenger front wheel and x cover, etc, and look xxx.

That would be perfect.

Thanks,

Sigfrid

 

you need to remove the lower belt cover to see the balance shaft belt and its timing marks. set the motor at TDC, make sure the cam gear marks are 17 belt teeth apart, and both are on the valve cover marks. check the crank position mark (it is a notch in the crank sensor toothed wheel.. there are only 2 teeth if i remember correctly one of them has the knotch in it). you line the kotch up to the tiny arrow located at the top and slightly to the left of where that toothed wheel spins.

you'll also need to line up the oil pump mark which is pretty obvious when you look at it.

from there, with the crank at TDC, you can see the balance shaft belt behind the timing belt. it only goes to the balance shaft pully and a tensioner pully, the balance shaft pulley has a mark for TDC as well. it is also obvious when you see it.

basically you need to take the lower belt cover off and look at the pulleys. you can't miss the TDC marks. there are 2 on the cams, one on the crank, one on the oil pump pulley and one on the balance shaft pulley.

 

Thanks for the info Kevin. I really appreciate it.
Is the lower cover difficult to remove?

 

Comes off easily. Much easier than DSMs. The serpentine belt with spring loaded autotensioner helps dramatically. The idler pull and tensioner both have to be removed. Then it's just a matter of finding all the 10mm bolts that hold it on. I've done complete tbelt swaps on my car in under an hour, it's really not difficult on the EVOs. Once you get out there and attempt this, you'll wonder why you spent so much time on the internet instead of in the garage.

 

+1

 

I would like to thank everyone for the feedback. Because of my work schedule and the kids, I opted to take the car in to replace the last cam gear and check everything. I took it to CARZ in Lakewood. They did an awesome job and I definitely had the balance shafts off a tooth. My car has not worked this well (smooth as hell) since I took it in to get the cams installed when it had 1000 miles. That's 3 years with the balance shafts off. My car now runs like it did when it was new.

Thanks CARZ and thanks for all the advice.

Sigfrid