Camshaft sprocket bolt is stronger than me

I know this is 4 years old, but I had to revive it to thank @Wishbone Runner for posting the wrench size for the cam bolt removal, and linking to his posts on the 4R forum. Thank you!

I too have cam sprocket bolts requiring superhuman strength to remove. I bought the biggest impact wrench I could find, and it popped the crank pulley bolt loose with the first tug of the trigger!

But the cam bolts are WAY tighter. First I tried 30" breaker bars. Failing that, I got out the impact gun. Even then I gave up, I was afraid I'd break the socket or round the bolt head. I'm going to go buy a proper set of impact sockets before I unleash the full power of that impact wrench on these #$(%&^ cam sprocket bolts.



Those bolts are TIGHT.

 

They sure are tight, I had a tough time with Dewalt 1/2” drive Impact. Finally got it with air impact and the shortest stiffest 6 point impact socket I could buy.

 

Well, I couldn't find a 23mm wrench anywhere on my way home today, so I made do with a 15/16" which would be a nominal 23.8 mm or so. But the box wrench I bought today was actually too wide for the flats, so I used the same stubby service wrench I was using yesterday, with a cheater bar. If you are doing it by hand, probably you'd want to use a proper 23mm wrench, but with the impact gun, the 15/16" was a slam dunk. What a weird size and length for the flats on these cams!



The bolts spun off as soon as I opened up with the impact wrench. Like, instantly. Why didn't I get one of these things years ago?



To reiterate, these bolts withstood all the strength I could muster, with 30" breaker bars.

One more vote for impact wrench on the cam sprocket bolts!

 

Nice job, but check the #2 chain tensioner nylon pads for breakage. I trashed the lower pad on my driver side bank removing the exhaust cam bolt with my impact gun.