divil

I am taking my time with this job. I have some questions before I go any further...

Can I/should I tighten down the tensioning tool any more than I already have here...I have removed the seal & gasket and cleaned the surfaces, but I'd like a bit more room to get the new half moon seal in, plus it'll be very hard to do the same job without more room on the passenger side (this is the driver's side). But every write up I've read on this says if I tighten it down "too far" I'll break it

This is how much I can tilt the adjuster at the seal end:


Here's how much I can lift it if I keep it parallel:


This is how the tool looks now:


Finally, how much of a problem is it that this much of the old half moon seal fell down underneath the camshaft:



Here's a pic of the same thing from further away so you can see where it actually is:



Thanks!

Prospeeder

Im doing this right now at work. I just use a screwdriver handle and tighten the tensioner tool down lightly untill it gets firm, dont force it. I also will wedge a screwdriver in and force some more room, i can get probably 2-3 times the clearance you do. You wont hurt anything. it will just take advantage of all the slack in the chain.

I really wouldnt want to leave that half moon down there. it probably wont go anywhere. if you have timing belt stuff off, just remove the cams and tensioner to get it. really isnt much more work.

divil

ok...I might try to fish it out an easier way. The good thing is that I know more or less how much of it could be down there, because I have the rest. I'm missing around 1/2 or at most 2/3 of the rim from one side. If I can fish those bits I can see out, I'll be happy, otherwise I suppose I'll have to pull the cams.

4Driver4

I usually pull the cams on the passenger side. Much easier.

The valve springs put tension on the cams too. Don't be afraid to turn the cams a few degrees to migrate chain slack to the top of the tensioner to get more wiggle room.

divil

Anyone have any tips on removing the driver's side cam sensor on the 2.8? I can't believe how difficult it is. I got the bolts out but there doesn't seem to be enough room to remove the sensor. It looks like I'd have more room if I could remove the pipe that comes from the reservoir (it's already disconnected from the reservoir), but I can't manage to reach the hose clamp with anything. How does one normally remove this sensor?

4Driver4

You have to remove the hose and the metal fitting it attaches to.

divil

Cool, OK got my driver's side all squared away, finally.

I then removed the camshafts on the passenger side since there was no way I was going to do a neat job of the tensioner seals otherwise.

Now I'm having trouble getting the camshafts back in correctly. I had to separate the tensioner on the way out - there was no other way I could get it out because of the way the solenoid connector is trapped behind that metal pipe (power steering line I think?)

Anyway, now I'm having a hell of a time getting it all back together. I think my cams have jumped relative to each other on the chain. I made marks with a grease pen on the sprockets and the chain, but when I line them up, and temporarily install the caps with the arrows, I count 14 links between the arrows, inclusive. But I'm confused as to how to fix this. I need to make sure that the marks on the cam caps line up with the notches on the camshafts, and that there's 16 links between the marks. Then I get the tensioner back in...is all that right?

divil

Hmm...after a ton of searching and reading I think I have had an epiphany, by which I mean, I found out that there is another Bentley manual, a proper one, which I think explains what I needed.

Actually this was kind of obvious: put the camshafts on a table, count out 16 rollers (or 15 1/2 or something, I'll soon find out anyway), then line these rollers up with the marks on the sprockets. Then I can just install them like that and eyeball the exhaust cam orientation...and forget the marks on the caps, since they will have to be right when the cam lock bar is back on. That simplifies it a bit. Now I think all I have to do is figure out how to get the tensioner back in...does it go in between the cams before or after installing the cams. Maybe it's a little from column A and a little from column B