Are you sure they align every time? I say this cuz as I remember my old bevel head Ducati had a number of rotations til the dots lined up again ... this could be totally different of course. To verify TDC put something long in the sparkplug hole that touches the piston if possible.

 

I have a rod that I use for knowing when the piston is near TDC; not precise. I'll check a few rotations to see if your theory is correct. The engine does rotate, so we are not talking about being off 3 teeth. PIA because the rear cylinder cam gears are on the opposite side of engine than where you rotate the engine.

 

The LC8's have a hole on the clutch cover, you have to remove a bolt, its the one with a copper crush washer. if you look inside that hole you can see a notch that aligns with the cover that means it's at TDC either front or rear cylinder. that little notch or detent is meant to be used with a Engine blocking Screw.

Also when you verify final timing when rotating the crank make sure the tensioner is installed so it takes up the slack of the timing chain.
Good luck!

 

Also when you verify final timing when rotating the crank make sure the tensioner is installed so it takes up the slack of the timing chain.
Good luck!

Pablo, I anticipated the tensioner taking some play out when I reattached the tensioner cap. Maybe it went the other direction I expected.

Thanks.

 

 

Thanks Paul. I used it for the retention bolt, It did not occur that the tiny hole was also a sighting hole. My 450XCW sighting hole is about an inch diameter. Kinda expected similar.

 

you need to fit the chain tensioners when spinning crank , it will slip a tooth.
Even though you pull it the correct way that the crank pulls the cams , the over run of your cam slacks out the operation .

I was in the same boat as you my first , very frustrating if you dont fit and tension the cams tensioners.....
Some type of quick thread holder is good if your track playing , or just go to manual tensioners...................

 

Here's a pic of mine with the timing marks lined up but with the timing chain slacked. You can probably get away with sticking a screwdriver in the tensioner hole to take up the slack to get a more accurate reading but I think at most it could appear to be a tooth off either way.

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

 

Thank you Pablo and Cors. My cams have 2 dots. They are marked FR and RE. Rear cylinder uses the 2 RE dots. I have them lined up just like Paulo's pic. Then i tighten the tensioner cap down. When I start rotating the crank slowly, after about 30 Deg of rotation it becomes hard to turn and the chain jumps a tooth. I'm assuming the valve is touching the piston? I think I need to back off one tooth on the exhaust, so when the tensioner applies pressure they will probably line up. I'll get back to the garage later today. My Ducks are easier.

 

You only need to keep the cams hand held tight and the chain is firm on the take up side (not tensioner side ... Forget that side altogether unless you want to move crank . Then if you move crank you need to fit tensioners and take the slack .....


The cams being easy to move a tooth only one way . One cam is easier to move one tooth than the other.....


Remember this thing ..Depending which head your doing,
Put both cams in with the chain over the teeth don't worry where the dots are yet.... now deliberately try the manipulate the cams to quickly spin and move one tooth without scratching the cams . Because you lift cam up and magically it spins a tooth easy . You can do with both cams . One cam easier to do than other one for the last tooth spin you do finally lines them both up...

Practice it a bit protecting the cams from scratches ....

Then you realize , fck yeah , this motor is easy and shim check /cam removal is so easy ...

But practice the lift cam from other end and spin so it jumps teeth...

If I remember correctly , I fit cams and then set the dots back in the reverse direction of what I'm calling , "trick cam tooth spin "...

As you realise , clicking the tooth spin trick is so easy and presto....cams come in perfect with zero fks..........

 

Made my own crank holding tool by grinding the tip of an 8mm threaded bolt. Used file to make it smooth. I set the rear cylinder by taking all the tension out of the exhaust cam first. Then the intake, which is the tensioner side. I manually pushed the adjuster in a few times with a screwdriver handle. I heard it click a few times. Then put the cap over the adjuster. I assume that is what you were implying. I will do the front now. I assume the crank always rotates counter clockwise (CCW). CW seems easier to perform, but I think that loads the cams incorrectly. I've never encountered "Cam hopping".

 

Then the intake, which is the tensioner side. I manually pushed the adjuster in a few times with a screwdriver handle. I heard it click a few times. Then put the cap over the adjuster.I assume that is what you were implying.

Im not sure what you said but i think you said the last part of what the manual says about setting the spring of the cam chain tensioner.

My comments refer only to setting the dots......................

But if you spin the crank without the tensioner then the cams can easy jump a tooth by the over run from the valve spring pressure.

 

Odd that my reply last night did not go through. Here's a second try. The root cause of my issue was the cam chain adjuster. After the 15th time resetting the cam, I just broke the problem down. DUH! my brain said. Cam chain should not be loose enough to skip teeth. I ended up taking a 2.5mm hex wrench and pressed it onto the ball release with alot more force. I could see the adjuster protruding farther. I hope this doesn't accelerate chain guide wear?? I was always getting a click from the adjuster previously, but I had to push into the adjuster farther to get 2-3 clicks. It seems to do the trick. Sorry for venting my frustration guys. Should have taken a couple hours vs evenings.

Make sure your adjuster will expand as well as lock in a compressed position before reinsertion. Put the cap on the adjuster, and remove the 5mm hex plug. Depress the adjuster by pushing into the adjuster vs stopping after you hear one click. If you can rotate the crank in the opposite direction and the cam chain begins to buckle, add a "click" to the adjuster that signifies that the adjuster expanded one more position. Repeat as necessary.