Thread: Cam install problems

So I had to pull my intake cam and I was using my hoist to keep tension on the cam gear. I replaced a rocker arm and when I went to put the cam back in I can't get that beotch back in. The timing chain was ziptied the the gears, but it fell out of my hand twice and the chain got loose. I'm goign to remove the tensioner and try tog et it back on but i'm wondering is my timing going to be fubared now?

make sure the rear cam is at 1200 and the front cam is at 2 and you should be alright

ok i took the tensioner off and got the cam back on the gear but how in the hell do i get the tensioner back on. I push it in and i can hear it making noise from compressing but i cant even get it close to getting back on so i can start a nut????

you have to unlock the tensioner. theres a keeper there you have to lift. once you do that, push really hard on the sliding part and lock it with the latch.

thats kind of misleading...
you gotta look at the dowel pins. pass side cam at 10 o'clock and drivers side at 12.

Ok guys I ****ed up I'll admit it but I need help. Basically I just really wanted to get this done and I started doing it before I turned the motor to tdc. I did zip tie my cam gears tho but I suspect the chain may have moved on the bottom. If I turn the motor to tdc now will I be able to fix everything?

ps my car is fwd lol.

You have to get the cams back to TDC. What will help you is to look at the cam gears and look for the dot on the gear and line that up with both chain links. They should line up. That will tell you when you are at TDC. You can do this by turning the crank with a socket. It will make it easy say if you do it by yourself, to have a few long 5" extensions. This why you can see over the fender and eyeball it.

As for the tensioner... the best way to get it pressed back in is to take a towel over the inside end and press it down on the ground and lock the clip on the side down. Once you get it back in and screwed down and done with the cam job. Get a long flat head screw driver and knock that clip off. This will tighten down the chain.

So I turn the motor until the marks on the crank pulley are upward first, then try and line the cam gear marks up with the chain links? Which chain links? I know I sound like a total noob right now but this is my first time dealing with any valve train so I should have read a little more first. You live and learn I guess.

It should look like this, you will notice a difference in the color of the links. They will go around many many times. You just have to keep and eye out at dot on the cam gears and for the (2) links that like up with the (2) dots on the gears.