2011 - Setting The Timing Chain/Releasing the tensioner

Yes ... clamping with shop towels is a Gasket Masters expedient. It isn't in the repair manual procedure.

I see that the way the Japanese got translated to English could be read the wrong way:

They don't mean to hold the wrench still and turn the gear on the shaft. The gear at this point should be in its fully retarded and locked position (that was checked on an earlier page, where you confirmed you could turn the gear clockwise on the shaft and when fully clockwise it clicked and locked and could not be turned back). So you're really turning the entire camshaft a tiny bit backward, using the wrench to do it. If you look at the drawing, with the wrench and the arrow, it's clear what they mean.

 

Should be at zero when you slip the chain on and line the marks up.

 

If you start by getting the painted links on the top of the chain correctly aligned with the marks on the cams, and then set the crankshaft so the keyway points straight up and the dot is at 3:00 and the yellow chain link is next to the dot, you should later find you're pointing pretty close to 0°.

But if you're not, as long as all the painted links are still next to their respective marks, you've got your timing set up right. After all, once you've put things together right, the engine stays properly timed, all the way around.

By the way, in case you wonder later, if you try to check the timing after reassembly by cranking the engine around several turns until you see the painted links again, they won't appear lined up right. If you want that confirmation, keep cranking till you see them eight more times. The way the math works out, you see them on their marks every ninth time you see them.

 

If that turned out to be the case, it would somehow mean you had the wrong crankshaft in that engine....

 

The manual doesn't say to replace them unconditionally, but only to inspect them (along with the chain and sprockets).

The chain is inspected for elongation: under 33 pounds of force, 15 links shouldn't be more than 115.2 mm. (Naturally, it matters how you measure; there are details and a drawing in the manual.) For the oil pump chain, 102.1 mm is the figure.

The two oil pump sprockets should be no less than 48.2 mm (across the rollers, of the chain, wrapped around the sprocket). The two cam sprockets should be no less than 96.8 mm (measured the same way). For the crank sprocket, 51.1 mm.

The various tensioner slippers and guides should be replaced if worn more than 1 mm.

For the tensioner, you just inspect that it moves smoothly, and ratchets securely when you're not lifting the ratchet cam.