Mr.88-80Q

Last night when I removed the cam, I didn't remove it exactly the way I should have. I removed the 2 middle bearing caps, and then the rear, and finally the front....I'm just thinking of it now and was afraid I could have bent/broken something....Should I worry about it?

Berserker

Just make sure that your distributor is in time with the rest of the engine. When I did my lifters on my 90, I put the cam on one tooth off from what it had been on the distributor. I had the valve timing correct in relation to the crank, but not the ignition timing. I couldn't figure out why the engine ran like CRAP at idle, but would smooth out at higher rpm's.

Checked the timing, and the ignition was WAY off. Pulled the distributor, rotated it a tooth, and slid it back into the head. Car ran great again.

I don't know that there is a correct order to remove/replace the bearing caps, but then again, I don't have my bentley handy right now either.

MikTip

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<ul><li><a href="http://pictureposter.audiworld.com/6607/i5tbelt2.jpg">http://pictureposter.audiworld.com/6607/i5tbelt2.jpg</a</li></ul>

Mr.88-80Q

Nope I had loosened up the water pump originally to get the tensioner off, and the belt fell off..... I marked it, at the cam pulley but it had slipped at the bottom too. So I said the hell with it and just figured I remove everything and start from scratch.

Berserker

Put the car in 1st or reverse, remove the spark plugs, and push it until the -0- lines up in the window for the flywheel in the transmission bellhousing. I think I've used the bottom of the window for the -0- mark. There's a notch in the crank pulley that lines up with the oil pump casting at TDC as well.

Some of the cam sprockets have two notches in them, make sure you put it on the way it came off. The woodruff key should only allow it to go on one way, though, based on how it is tapered in the casting. Line the notch in the cam sprocket up with the top of the valve cover flange in the window at the back of the sprocket. Make sure both cyl 1 cam lobes are up. Then you've got the cam and crank lined up.

To line up the distributor, remove the cap and make sure that the rotor is pointing at the notch in the housing, usually toward the front of the car and a little down. If it's grossly off, you're probably off a tooth or more on the cam/distributor gear interface, if you're really close, you may need to remove the rivet that holds the distributor tamperproofing cover, and loosen the nut on the distributor. This way, you can turn the distributor if you need to. The rotor stays in the same place being locked to the cam with the gears, and the body will move.

Good luck!

MikTip

4-stroke motor

Merkin

the cam sits with both 1st cyl lobes up tdc naturally