Author Topic: cams in the wrong tray.  (Read 2361 times)

dakon

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cams in the wrong tray.
« on: February 19, 2011, 09:15:49 PM »
Got my head back, and is currently torqued to the block... today i went to put the cam lock on.. and the Cams are in the Wrong tray.! cam E the intake cam is in the exhaust tray A, cam A the exhaust came is in the E tray....


my question is, can i take these cams out without the special tool?


I am going to call the machine shop on monday, and see what they have to say.....


Any help would be appreciated.

romkasponka

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cams in the wrong tray.
« Reply #1 on: February 20, 2011, 03:17:35 AM »
Yes you can do it without special tool. Just release nuts evenly to avoid brake cams apart.
E30 318is M42
E36 318is M44

rjcaptsean

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cams in the wrong tray.
« Reply #2 on: February 25, 2011, 04:32:45 PM »
Hate to keep plugging the book from Pelican, but they have a great writeup about removing/reinstalling hollow camshafts.  The one they use is for the M50, but the theory is the same.  

First, find the "sweet spot" where the only lobes pushing down on the lifters is for cyl 1.  If you get those lobes facing straight down, most likely the cam will stay put, but I held the square end with a crescent wrench to keep it from turning the entire time.  

Once those lobes are down, you will see that lobes for the other three cyl's are not under any kind of pressure.  At this point you can remove all of the nuts on the carriers EXCEPT the one straddling the 1 Cyl.

After you get all of those off, CAREFULLY remove the last two nuts one quarter turn at a time.  You will see that the nuts have hash marks on the top, just line them up horizontally or vertically, then turn one quarter turn, turn the other one quarter turn and repeat.  It's a slow process and they will not release until they reach the very tippy top of the stud. (Try not to let them go flying across the room when they finally come off the thread)  

To reinstall, reverse the process.  I relieved the hydraulic pressure from the lifters on cyl. 1 and I was able to get the nuts started on the studs.  Again, turn them one quarter turn until snug.   Make sure you or your partner have a good grip on the camshaft, as you don't want it to turn at all.  Once those are snug, you should be able to reinstall all of the other caps and torque in a logical order.

The caps are numbered, so make sure they go back onto the correct studs when reinstalling.  

The book goes into a lot more detail, I highly recommend it.

Good Luck!

dakon

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cams in the wrong tray.
« Reply #3 on: February 27, 2011, 08:29:55 PM »
yeah, i read the article in my 101 performance projects book.. (wrote by a pelican employee) i rotated the cams, and on the 4 cylinder i think there is a sweet spot where none of the cam is loaded, due to the reduction of the 2 cylinders, if you look at the pelican article, only 1 cylinder is loaded on the 6er, and 5 are unloaded. so the 4 should have all 4 unloaded.....


i didn't even know there was that article in my book, until my buddy told me about it... gr.r.r.r.r.r.r.

one day this damn car will be on the road with no issues.......