Camshaft Bearing Caps don't match

take the cams out completely so that you are only dealing with a the caps. during manufacture the caps were installed and torqued then a line boring operation was performed on that cams location. I would really really be surprised if a cap could be successfully installed on more than one spot. with the arrows pointing forward, install a cap then feel with your finger for a perfect fit between the cap and the head. As I reread your description and look at the pictures it looks ok but to be sure, put the caps on w/o the cams just to be 100% positive. I am also wondering if what you are feeling is the lobes on cam opening the valves for those effected cylinders. not all of the valves will be closed when you install the cams. If this is what you are feeling, creep up on the cap bolts being installed... 1/2 turn here, a 1/2 turn there. What you want to avoid is warping the cam.

I hope that the knock sensor harness is a new one.

 

Appreciate your answer! That's exactly what i was looking for, i recently found out that my gen toyota only makes one part of the head, never expected that type of money save from them but it makes more sense now!

 

Yeah, the factory repair manual shows the bearing caps on the driver's side with the arrows pointing toward the back.

Also, I don't see the service bolt in either exhaust camshaft gear. Maybe you have it on the backside so I can't see it in the pictures?

And did you put all the buckets and shims back in the same location, or the same location they were in when you got it back from the shop? It would be good to check the valve clearances after the cams are installed just to be sure they are correct, and you'll have a record for the future.

 

the heads are same left to right. just flipped. the book should show correct orientation and numbering. just follow it and you should be fine.. but the chances of issues later are higher if the caps were swapped head to head.

 

Yup, all done, my dad has worked on toyota engines before so we did all the routine

 

I used a photo above to double check correctness of my bearing caps position, they were all in spot