Difference in VVT-I/Camshaft gears

I opened removed the valve covers last night to inspect and I am quite sure that the gears are on all the way, the locating pins are set, and the gears are perfectly perpendicular to the camshafts, and all three chains are on on straight and square. The only real concern is if it's possible for the inlet cam gear to fit 180 out on the inlet camshaft. My underlyingvassumption was that there was only one way for the cam gears to fit on the cams. That is true for the exhaust. But I fear that the inlet can fit two ways, allowing the same inlet (VVT) gear to work on both sides. Recall that the inlet gear has two sets of timing marks: a single alignment mark on top, and a dual alignment mark on bottom. The drivers side has the dual mark side up, and the passenger side had the single-mark side. That makes sense in that the cam positions should be different between the two sides and enforce the notion that the gears can only fit on one way. But, that is the question.

 

With the picture in the link that I posted, as well as here



The pin can only fit in one hole. Therefore, the only way to be 180° opposite, would mean that the cam was setup 180° opposite.

Which 300 series codes are you getting? A specific cylinder? Multiple different cylinders? All on one bank? Which bank if so?

 

Yes - that's the money shot of the inlet cam gear. So the big hole is for the location pin, and the other 2 are for oil in/out?

OK, so this is what I did:

- I put the cranshaft at TDC and screwed out the bearing caps bolts so that the cams would not depress the valves and hit the piston as I rotated the cranskshaft, and also removed the main chain tensioner.
- I remove the passenger-side exhaust cam gear bolt and gear.
- I removed the timing chain from the drivers side inlet gear. This allowed the inlet cam gear to rotate independent of the main chain and its camshaft so that I could adjust it.
- I adjusted both inlet cam gear and chain until the passenger side was 1-tickmark up aligned with the groove in the bearing cap, and the driver's side was 2-tickmarks stradling the peak (tit) on its bearing cap, when the crank was at TDC.
- I then put the main chain on to lock the inlet cam gears relative to the crank @ TDC.
- I then rotated the passenger inlet cam until it fit into the fixed position of the inlet cam gear (the gear slid up over the cam's locating pin) and hand-tightened the gear bolt.
- Next I located the passenger exhaust gear on the 2nd chain so that the dot was pointed up aligned with the tit on its bearing cap.
- I then rotated the passenger exhaust cam until its locating pin aligned with the exhaust cam gear's pin-slot, and fit it over and hand-tightened its gear bolt.
- I then evenly tightened all bearing cap bolts and torqued them, then torqued the cam gear bolts.
- I re-installed the main chain tensioner.
- I rotated the crankshaft several times to ensure that the alignment remained.
- I hooked up the battery and used the starter to rotate a few times and re-verified the timing.
- I re-assembled everything, then started the engine. It runs very bad (but I don't hear valve clatter and it actually sounds like a fuel/air/vacuum issue) and I got p0300 code.
- I pulled the valve covers again and verified valve timing and that nothing slipped. At TDC, all 4 cam gears align to its bearing cap (passenger inlet 1-hashmark at valley, drivers side 2-hashmarks stradling peak).




I am getting P0300 - multi-cylinder misfire.

 

Correct, in regards to your first question.

With your last comment, about the timing and what you said about the possible vacuum leak, that might be the case. You might have created a vacuum leak after fixing the timing, perhaps? Have you sprayed any starter fluid around the engine bay to see if you have idle changes?

 

No I haven't. Can you please describe how to do that effectively? Thanks again.

 

Unfortunately it won't idle.

 

Didn't forget to plug something back in?

Just to be clear, you still have the ninja 3 point star cam gears installed, correct?

 

I can't find any hose or sensor unattached. I wish I had a checklist so I could methodically go through. Just for completeness on the valve timing I will do a compression test. I did not change the VVT gear - still original 3pt. Also, the docs say that the p0300 test is not performed if a p0016/18 exists, which is what I think would be pulled on any VVT issue.

 

Get some good pictures to compare to these.










One last for the sake of it.

 

Unrelated. I have a continuous P0016/18, since my cam gears don not move. No misfires.

 

I am so sorry I meant a breakdown or checklist for all of the vacuum hoses & sensors. However! Wow! What a great set of detailed pics of your engine and mechanical timing. I can't tell you how much I appreciate your help and excellent documentation.

So you replaced the VVT actuators/gears? Mine look much more like the top ones on your pic. Where the new ones for your turbo version? Does it bypass the VVT function? Awesome project on that turbo. My sister lives in Houston - I was just out there in August.

 

You're quite welcome.

The actuators with "KOZMIC" engraved into them are the new ones. Just bolted them onto the OEM gears. They do not change phases like oem. Conpletely static. It was a necessary change to prevent VVT-I activation from creating a piston to valve contact incident. Since my custom cams have such a high lift profile, compared to stock.

The are only on the 4.3L 1gr, which is currently in the truck, as well as awaiting the turbo kit to be re-installed.

 

So you are bypassing the VVT in favor of a static cam?

I ran a compression test tonight and the passenger side barely read 90 psi cold. The driver side average 120. I made a jig to pump 150psi air from my 2-gal muffin air compressor and it would not hold pressure. Depressing. Maybe I cracked ths head in that valve adjustment procedure? Hard to understand how, but, damn!

 

Correct. I have mechanically disabled the VVT-I. Since a phase limiter was not avaliable. Again, all to protect the valve train.
Yours might just be out of time again. I am being optimistic.

Check your crank position with the pulley, and reference your cam gears with my pictures. Let's be 100% positive about the timing.

 

You are right! But, ,,, I am very confused. I saw your PS (passenger side - re-posted) timing and cam lobe location. My inlet cam seems to be 180 out! How can that be if the locating pin in the cam can only align one way with the timing gear? I really, really don't want to remove that timing chain cover again (its not the timing chain cover; its the alternator & ac compressor).

Also, on your turbo build, how do you avoid the P0016/18 errors with the VVTi disabled?

 

I don't get around it. They are constantly on. Doesn't matter though, since I have a standalone ems.

Back to yours. Look at my cam lobes. See their positions? This is why I posted both of the driver and passenger sides, with the crank at TDC. Your cam lobes on both banks should match mine, when all points line up. If they do not, there is your issue.

 

Exactly. I just can't figure out how the inlet is 180-off given the pin. But this completely explains the problem. That was the one thing that I was concerned when doing the procedure but rationalized as couldn't happen because of the unique fitting of the cam to cam gear. Really appreciate your posting of such a clear pic to help diagnose and guide me. Thanks

 

You're welcome. That is why I took this massive database worth of pictures. They make the explanations much smoother.

Also, in your picture, neither of your cams match mine. So I feel you might not have rotated the crank enough. If you have, then they are both off.

 

The crank might be a couple degrees shy - accounting for the exhaust location (I took these at 6am adjusting the crank with my shop light). But when I was doing that timing adjustment the thing I feared was not having a good reference of where the cyl 1 & 2 cam lobes should be at TDC. You have provided both - which is awesome. I was banking on the cam only fitting to the cam gear in exactly one way. Hopefully, I can rotate the inlet cam 180 and it will lock the gear.

 

OK - mystery solved. I removed the offending inlet cam timing gear and lo! the cam's locating pin fell to the ground. Does anyone know how much these are supposed to extend? The pin does not look like it has sheared off and I could probably tap it back in, but I am a little concerned that it could shimmy back out. Any suggestions anyone?