Ok people since i have started dealing with the 3vz-e cams (or ANY cam sets for that matter) i have always said to remove the cam according to FSM....well just because it is the FSM

HOWEVER there is ONE thing that i am noticing that is making peoples cams look like this:


I just could not understand why cams were turnign out like that when, whenever i do the cam removal it works out perfectly...

When you are ready to remove the cam, grab either a 17mm socket or adjustable wrench and either:
a) Using the 17mm socket rotate the cam clockwise, (the one you are going to remove at this time) with TIMING BELT OFF, slowly until the cam itself moves then stops. NOW it is safe to remove the cam as per BGB.
b) Using adjustable wrench look on the cam (valve cover off of course) and find the space where you can turn the cam as i explained in (A) above. Depending on the wrench and where you put it, it may get stuck, all you gotta do is pull the cam backwards and try again (sometimes flipping the wrench around will leave enough gap to remove the wrench)

When doing the above method BEFORE removing any bearing caps you are taking all spring tension OFF the cam lobes. That spring tension is causing an UPWARD force of the cam so as you are removing the bearing caps from the rear of the head toward the front the cam itself is bending. This puts pressure on that little lip there you can see in the pic and crack.....

Sorry it took so long to figure out what was going on with peoples cam removals, but follow the above steps along with the FSM and you should be good to go!

With the recent request for cam cores through me i am now sold out and looking for more cores locally and internationally to stock here. Hope to have more soon!

 

great write up!
Lets hope this helps guys removing their cams..
Perhaps the dealers should check this out

 

thanks Weasy, in addition, when detorquing the cam retainer caps, be sure that you break the seal of the FIPG-sealed end-caps before the cam retainer caps are completely removed. i didn't do this which resulted in the cam popping up at one end and cracking the lip like in the picture.

 

Interesting, but that can only happen if there is spring pressure to push the cam up, the above method will remove all the pressure (or at least reduce)

 

good point because 99.9% of techs out there follow the FSM...and if the FSM doesnt say anything about releasing spring tension...then well...they wont..

they should also be LOOKING at weak points in the cam before reinstall

 

exactly, yes. thanks for clarifying

 

bump for some people to see Here yea go Trevor

 

HI!!! Im glad you posted pics of my blown cam! I still have the sucker as a suvienier!

It comes from not following the FSM directly and to the letter. No matter which way you turn the camshaft one of its lobes on the #4 cylinder is still slightly engaging one of the shims. Thus if you don't follow the fsm and just remove bearing caps willy nilly, the backend of the camshaft pops up, the front stays down, and that cracked surface seen above binds with the backside of the forward most bearing face and when you give a nice tug you hear a sickening "CRACK" and the cam pops out with a GORGEOUS crack as seen aboe!

I pioneered the "screw your passenger side cam shaft up" mod!!


keep in mind I've since installed removed and reinstalled the cams since and had no issuses BUT I was following the FSM TO THE LETTER!!!



Weasy - you got PM

 

Haha, I still have my cam, cracked in the same fasion but in two places

 

Oh btw Johnny if you dont mind driving across the border into the US you can order 3vze camshafts from most of discount auto parts places. Cheapest I found was 145, but most of the time it was 150-175 per camshaft.

 

Aha! Now I know what happened to the cams on the rebuild I bought over a year ago that I had to rebuild yet again...the top end, anyway.

The cam bearing guides were fubar'd just like that scoring the heads and bearing caps beyond machine repair. Forunately, I had the top end from my original motor that had thrown a rod to replace the damaged ones.

My wife, nearby mechanic, and I all figured he must have dropped the damn things to srew'em up so bad. He swore up and down he didn't. I guess he was actually telling the truth.

Well, now I know...mystery solved. And any further fubar's will now be avoided. Thanks for all the tips, fellas.

 

Good to hear! I bumped this for trevor to look at and for everyone else to see again. I just hate to hear of these problems. I now include FSM files for people who order cams from me to help them out.

Bumpin,
Yea i intend to get out there and order up a whack load of cores and some extra pass sides...i am setting up a mailbox for a USA addy just south of the border to make shipping easier because some usa wreckers are scared to ship to Canada.

 

what place are you finding the cams for that price?? If you do mind my asking who is Jamie Riggs?? I see a guy here in So. Maryland with that same r.i.p. as a sticker on his back window of his truck.

 

honestly its been a year so the prices probably have gone up about 20 bux or so, but advanced discount auto parts, pepboys, carquest, Napa, and theres another I cant think of right now.

Jamie was a good friend of mine from sporting clays, she was very well known and loved nationwide amongst both the "noteworthy" shooters as well as the weekend only dudes... Do you shoot sporting clays at all?

 

when i broke my cam i bought one from napa for about $180. PartsDinosaur.com has the cam for $99 though.

 

i got one for 75 bucks at a junkyard

 

^ those are the best places to get them. I just got an email from a buddy who can get a few cam sets for me at a very decent price..woot this ends my core drought

 

Has anyone figured if these will work in a 5vz? I'm trying to build some good heads for my truck.

 

Whoops I thought it said 3vz-fe my bad

 

I did that to my cam when I rebuilt my engine 5 years ago. Thought it might reduce oil pressure on that journal, but no ill effects after over 50,000 miles....