[Miguelcon74]

PART 3: REINSTALL:

Install new camshaft bolts hand-snug to hold everything together.

With the 22mm wrench on the intake cam, pull toward the front of the car to apply tension to the timing chain. While holding tension, remove Tool E to unlock the timing chain tensioner and apply tension to the timing chain, slowly releasing the 22mm wrench.

Rotate camshafts so you can slide tool B, the "camshaft locking plate," into the grooves on the ends of the camshafts to lock them in place.

Rotate cam phasers in the following alignment:

Install Tool C, the "intake sprocket holding tool." This tool will maintain proper tension on the chain while holding the intake sprocket in place. Start with the sprocket holder at the bottom-most position, bolt the tool into place, then push the holder toward the sprocket and tighten firmly. You can see where the sprocket holder is marked with an arrow on the back side below. Install Tool A, the "exciter ring positioning tool." All bolts on the tools need to be tightened to 71 lb in. Make sure there is no clearance at the two outer mounting points on the exciter ring positioning tool.

You can now tighten the camshaft bolts. Be sure to hold the camshaft with the 22mm wrench while tightening. The timing tools are intended to be used for alignment, not to hold everything in place while cam bolts are being tightened. The torque spec for the cam bolts is 37lb ft + 60 degrees. For reference, 60 degrees is the distance from one corner of a hex socket/nut to the next. I didn't have a specific tool for this so I printed an angle on a paper, cut it out, and had someone hold it up to the wrench for me.

Once cam bolts are tightened, remove Tool A, B, and C.

Install the timing chain guide, tighten bolts to 71 lb in.

Rotate engine 720 degrees, set back to TDC, and double check timing with tools A, B, and D.

Remove all timing tools.

Reinstall the two plugs you removed and tighten to 30 lb ft.

Hello I'm new here, name is Michael.

So the cam phaser sprocket don't matter about any specific orientation? I noticed the both had same post number. I had marked timing chain and sprockets in relationship to cog on crankshaft sprocket tooth.

Set it all up with the kit but I forgot to put on sprocket holder before and after reinstalling sprockets. Did install the cam exciter ring tool and torqued to specs.

I have not had one misfire but now a lean code randomly. Po171. New dorman intake, PC tube, valve cover. The gas had been in the tank sitting for about 6 months? Excessive oil throughout Pcv system but I believe it's all cleaned out now.

Smoke tested and nothing, bake clean around any possible areas, nothing.

Boost on scan tool says 14psi at idle? I can let it sit for half hour and no lean, drive and get above 45 and short trim will randomly go up to 36 and sometimes stay unless I slow downtown 20 and sometimes when coming back to a stop it'll go back up. I've burned through almost all that gas and is gotten better but the short trim confuses me. Also b1s1 upstream o2 harness side connector has an exposed wire buy scan tool shows voltage up and down between .1 and .9

Any suggestions? So question 1 is: cam sprockets don't matter anyone one of the teeth can be facing straight up? Q2 is: po171? Q3 is boost psi at idle with stock stuff should be what?

Thank you for any help. If I should create a new thread let me know.

 

[Miguelcon74]

Hello, can you show me where GM says the two cam exciter ring / sprocket bolts say TTY bolts. I can't find any information online.

Thanks

 

[Miguelcon74]

1. If timing is off, you'll know for sure already, it shouldn't be. Chains typically don't fail but these cars are an exception when it comes to failing, lol.

The main thing is crank at TDC along with harmonic balancer hole lined up to TDC also.

2. Yes you loosen the cam sprocket bolts when setting time. All the tools should fit if you follow instructions in the thread.

3. Sprockets don't matter on alignment JUST exciter rings "phaser rings".

The sprocket bolts from what GM says are not torque to yield. I could find ANY specifications anywhere saying they are torque to yield. The thread here though from OP says they are.

There are a couple YouTube vids also that might help on chain replacement. I'd do tensioner and guided too. My guides were broken when I got into mine.

 

[Miguelcon74]

This post might be dead but do you have a work around for me? I took off my head trying to replace the headgasket and I didn't lock in the tensioner so the spring flew out, any ideas on how i can put it all back together without dissasembling the whole side of it?

If no pieces fell down inside then you're good. Just lubricate the spring and tensioner pin, put back inside the tensioner and hold in place with the tensioner tool from the timing tool kit.

If you don't have the proper tool find a 3" pin to hold tensioner tight while putting head back on.

 

[Miguelcon74]

Heat it up with a propane torch, tap it with a hammer and just be careful of any plastic or wires around it.

It doesn't have to be glowing red, just hot. Tap the top of the ratchet too while turning it to come off.

 

[Miguelcon74]

My question is if u remove the chain completely does it matter where the chain is when u put it back in time ??

No,

But it's best to mark reference points on the cam sprockets, and crank sprocket and the chain just for safe reference. Some will say too that you don't want to turn it "around". Since it had been going in the same direction for tens of thousands of miles it'll wear in a very minor pattern and sometimes changing it front to back can have noise but it's rare.

I'd say if you have your timing system off, replace it all!

My chain guides looked fine when I replaced my head on my car but I dropped one of the guides about two feet and it shattered like a thin piece of ice. I took the other one and pushed on it with my fingers and it too cracked, very brittle from heat and oil absorption over time.

 

[Miguelcon74]

No,

But it's best to mark reference points on the cam sprockets, and crank sprocket and the chain just for safe reference.

Okay ! I’m having issues looking my crank at TDC that tool u slid in wants to back out on me an not lock in ! What could be causing that ??

Once you have the crank bolt in place turn the crank clockwise to hold the bolt in place. See the right angle on this picture, that is where it'll push against and hold timing bolt in place. You can also wrap a piece of double side scotch tape around it to "grip" it to the threads of the plug hole. But the crank is what should be holding it in place.

You can also wrap a plastic bag around the bolt too and shove it in there to make it a tighter fit.

 

[Miguelcon74]

This article is a life saver. I bought a sub to Autodata and I could not find a thing like this.
My question is:
My son and I bought a new solenoid and cam shaft bolt for his Cruze. I figured we would just replace both parts for a P00011 code, but I did not realize that the timing would be screwed up but just removing and replacing the bolt.
I knew something was wrong when I saw the reluctor ring( I hope that is the word) fall down and flop around after removing the bolt.
When we try to start the engine, it just keeps cranking.
The chain was never removed. Just replaced the exhaust bolt.
I assume something jumped out of place when I loosened the bolt.

I have read your article and I thought, if I rotated the crank around, at some point the end of the cam shafts would meet up close to the horizontal position so I could just loosen the cam bolt and reposition the ring. But no matter how many time I rotate the crankshaft, the slots on the cam shafts never meet up to place that bar into them.
Does the cam shaft spin freely, independent of the other once the bolt is loose?
If so, then I thought I could simply rotate the cam shaft(exhaust) until the two can be locked together and then positoin the reluctor ring correctly. Or does something pop out of place as soon as you remove the bolt, other than just the reluctor ring ?
Like the timing chain jumping a tooth or something, that I don't even know about.
I don't have the tool kit but I saw that someone posted a drawing template of the position tool. It is Sunday and I can't find any store that has one to purchase or borrow.
Thanks for any help

You have to have the timing alignment locking tool kit.

You can find it on ebay for $35 maybe even less.

Once you loosen that bolt the camshaft rotates, so you need the plate that locks both camshafts in place and the holder that holds both camshaft phasers in time while you tighten the bolt.

 

[Miguelcon74]

One last msg do u have any idea how to remove the guid on the intake side ?? It’s **** near impossible to remove I’m having no luck

Guide? Explain

 

[Miguelcon74]

Does my timing look correct

No, in your picture your timing is not correct.

These instruction below are all by memory and also are dependent on that you have the intake cam (firewall side) and exhaust cam (radiator side) are on their side and didn't get switched. If I remember, you did NOT REMOVE THEM RIGHT?

I would read through this whole post twice or more to get a bearing of the steps.

1st. Make sure you have #1 cylinder (closest to timing chain) at top dead center (tdc). do this by having all spark plugs removed (makes it easier to turn crank and cams) or at least #1. And putting a long straight rod or screwdriver into cylinder #1 and turn till it is up as far as it will go and then insert the crankshaft locking pin. If you've already done this then next step. timing cover marks too if you have your cover on still.

2nd. make sure your tensioner is in the non-tension position with the pin locked in place.

3rd. Loosen both the cam phaser bolts and remove both the sprockets and exciter rings wheels (odd shaped pieces on outside of sprockets).

4th. At this point make sure your intake cam (one by firewall) and exhaust cam (one by radiator) are in the "closed position" You have to use a 22mm I believe wrench to rotate. The smaller flat part of the end of camshafts should be up top and the "u" shape should be on bottom and your locking plate slide into the slot. This a NON-INTERFERENCE engine so you should be able to spin them freely without an issue.

5th. Put the locking plate on back side of cams to hold them in place. You should only need to move them clockwise or counter clockwise no more than 1/16" in either direction to slide plate in place.

6th. Now slide sprockets onto cams and make sure they are aligned onto them easily. Not crooked by even a little bit. Also put exciter wheels on and screw in sprocket bolts and hand tighten, leaving enough to allow sprockets to rotate freely but not move off and on the cams. exciters should be able to be turned too freely but not loosely. Both sprockets are the same, so if they got swapped it won't matter but it's best to make sure they got put back on the cams they came off of. Mine had a #1 on the intake side and a #3 on the exhaust side.

7th. Align your camshaft sprockets in their proper positions with identifying timing marks. Each sprocket will have a line right above the bolt hole. this line should be facing straight to the top of the engine on each sprocket. If these are straight up then the half circle indention up and to the right on each sprocket should be to the right about 60°.

8th. put the sprocket holding tool in place and follow instruction that came with tool on aligning those two parts and tighten down. When tightened again, both little lines above each sprocket bolt should be straight up.

(I like to leave the bolt in the crankshaft without the harmonic balancer on and a long extension and ratchet wrench to make it all easy to get to while holding the chain up top too)

8th. At this point take the chain starting from the right hand exhaust radiator side and pull snug to set onto exhaust sprocket being careful not to pull too hard to accidently move the crank sprocket (if crank lock pin is installed correctly you won't be able to turn it in either direction) but you do not want any slack on the right side going down to crank once you have it on the exhaust sprocket. Now pull it over snug onto the intake sprocket. There shouldn't be any excessive play in between the two and it should rest snuggly on top of sprocket holding tool.

9th. Now align your exciter rings like in the picture so that your aligning tool will hold those in place. They are different and have to be aligned just like in picture or tool will not hold them in place. Once you have them aligned and tool attached. Make sure the exciter aligning tool is installed equally on both side of cylinder head (not too far left or right) and centered.

excerpt from xtremerevolution --- Install Tool A, the "exciter ring positioning tool." All bolts on the tools need to be tightened to 71 lb in. Make sure there is no clearance at the two outer mounting points on the exciter ring positioning tool.

10th. Once you know you have your tools locked in place and double checked chain snugness at this point and made sure that crank is still snug at TDC against the crank locking pin. You can go ahead and hold the intake camshaft with a 22mm wrench and tighten the camshaft bolt. torque to 37ftlbs (please have a torque wrench, it is for peace of mind and if you choose to buy a nice enough one, get one with "angle torque") Torque to 37ftlbs and then tighten the exhaust camshaft bolt to 37ftlbs. MAKE SURE YOU HOLD THE CAMSHAFT YOU ARE TIGHTENING BOLT DOWN ON WITH A 22MM WRENCH. The locking tools are not meant to hold parts for torqueing, only for aligning timing. Do your best to keep the 22mm wrench from moving, only move the torque wrench

Now go back to intake camshaft and keep 22mm wrench in place and you can use your angle torque wrench if you bought one, but if not just take the socket and another long enough ratchet wrench to toque the bolt to 60° degrees.

Degrees are pretty simple to comprehend. Starting from holding ratchet wrench straight up vertical from cylinder head, turn wrench to the right till you get to 45° and then go in between 45 and 90°. Do this to both sprocket bolts. 37ftlbs and then 60° each.

You can also take a piece of cardboard and draw a 60° angle line and a vertical 0° line and set it right behind sprockets for a reference point.

11th. Now at this point you can take out all the locking tools. I like to start from front to back. Take off exciter lock, sprocket lock, and then camshaft lock, and crank lock pin. Install original metal/plastic chain guide in between sprockets and tighten to 71inchlbs.. So pull the timing chain tensioner holding pin and this will set the chain in proper time tension.

12th. Now turn clockwise (not counter clockwise) the crankshaft two full rotations referencing the two lines on the cam sprockets straight up and a rod or screwdriver in cylinder one and insert crank lock pin to test to see if you are still in time.

If you have the timing cover off, it does make it so much easier to do all this, because some find it easier to put chain on and make sure it's snug starting from crank sprocket counter clockwise while having the tensioner guide off.

Also if you have the cover off, I like to scratch a timing line on the crank sprocket at the 2 o clock position or 45° position in line with the timing mark that is on the timing cover (see photo), I like to scratch a line on the block where this timing cover line is down by the sprocket. See picture of timing hole on harmonic balancer. That way, when rotating and rechecking timing alignment, it's easier to just look at that scratch line and the two lines on the cam sprockets.

**where #1 is on the timing cover I like to look for or make a reference mark on the block in same area once cover is off and also #2 on the balancer, I make a reference mark on crank sprocket to help at the end when rotating clockwise to check for time.

13th. Take the sprocket tool and make sure it lines in place and take the exciter lock and make sure it fits into place. If so you are good to go.

If you followed this properly then you should be good to go.

Some thoughts to consider. If you actually took camshafts out and reinstalled them, they are different. There is an intake and exhaust camshaft. There is an intake and exhaust exciter ring.

If you have any questions, feel free to reach out. Also make sure when installing gaskets, that rtv gasket material is used where the block and cylinder head meet. also where the timing cover and the oil pan meet. also where the timing cover, cylinder head and valve cover meets. These areas will leak boost and oil if not sealed properly.

I hope this post is not too complicated I did my best to make is streamlined and straight to the point.

Xtremerevolutions tutorial is pretty straight forward too.

There are also multiple videos on youtube. The two videos below are a tremendous help. Even though they are in different languages, you can use the youtube video settings and go to auto translate and then autotranslate to english.

German but go to video setting and auto translate subtitles. Not perfect translation but helps.

spanish but use auto translate in video settings