I'm having my top end gaskets, injectors, lifters, and cam replaced over the weekend. I'm curious how many hours the cam is going to take on top of the rest of the work? My mechanic said the diagrams he pulled up showed a pin in the front and a pin in the back holding in the cam meaning the engine would have to come out to get to the rear pin. This didn't sound right, but I can't find any info confirming or disputing it. Has anyone here replaced the cam on the 4.6 who can steer me in the right direction?

Thanks!

 

Your mechanic is an idiot, and there is probably nothing wrong with your cam in the first place.

 

when I rebuilt mine the 2nd time I thought I had a bad cam and lifters, pushrods etc. i replaced everything and the new cam bearings need to be honed out while in the block so i found these guys D&D Fabrications: Engineering & Fabrication Services | Land Rover Specialists they had the cam bearing sized and ready to install. Needless to say my rebuild lasted 1 year and then dumped out again. The problem with the 4.6 in slipping sleeves. You need a new mechanic, when I walked into a rover specially shop they said 7500 as soon as I asked for a rebuild so I walked out and found out the hard way. If I did it right the first time I’d have more off-road accessories and trips under my belt instead of a truck sitting for 2 and a half years and endless diagnosis’s by crappy mechanics.

 

The cam slides right out. There is a plate that holds it behind the cam gear. Two bolts hold the plate on.

 

He's not an idiot, he's actually quite good at what he does. You are correct, there is nothing wrong with the cam I have other than 130k of wear. I'm replacing it because I have some lifter click and wanted to upgrade my cam and lifters at the same time. He has simply never replaced a cam in a Rover V8 and is ignorant on the matter.

 

Ok, I'll give him a shout. Thanks for actually answering the question. Do you have any ideas on the labor time for that?

 

unless im wrong replacing the cam shaft is going to require removal the front cover, which is going to increase the time considerably. replacing head gaskets, injector or lifters do not require removing the front cover and dropping the oil pan.

As far as your mechanic is concerned a cam change is going to make a big difference in time. At the stealerships is 4 hours to r & r a front cover.



also if you are pulling the front cover you should be replacing the oil pump and timing chain while your in their.


personally; I would never put new lifters on an old cam, but technically it can be done.

 

Ok, that makes sense. I gave him a call this morning to talk to him. He didn't pick up, but I left him a message and he's pretty good about calling me back.

Haha, I couldn't afford to get anything done at the dealership even if I was within an hour and half drive of one. Dealership prices are outrageous.

Thanks!

 

I put new lifters on old cams all the time, never had a problem. I would suggest not tearing the motor apart to replace parts that don't need to be replaced, only for the fact that there is a much higher chance of a new cam rounding off than a stone hard work hardened and heat cycled cam failing.

 

if the lobes on your cam are worm out than it might be a good idea to replace it, (to check your cam all the way around leave the front cover on so you can turn the main pully to rotate the cam) if you do the engine needs to come out, unless the ac condenser is removed and even in that case i dont think there is enough clearance. if the cam is replaced than so should the cam bearings (D&D fabrication). to get to the cam timing cover needs to comes off and 2 bolts on the thrust plate, which is behind the cam sprocket which holds the timing chain. once you get this far it might be best to replace other stuff. my cam was worm out, and that wore out cam bearings and my thrust plate which also gave my timing chain some play so i replaced that also. the oil pump gears are a given it's like 25 bucks. if your just going to do the head gaskets than the lifters (tappets) are right there on top no need to pull the front cover. i thought the same thing about the ticking noise, turned out to be slipping sleeves. (notorious on the 4.6) here is are some pics to reference.


front cover off



here are your pushrods holding the tappets in place which be being all held in place be the heads and rockers.


sometimes the pushrods get stuck in the tappets slightly which will also need to be changed if stuck or bent. rovherfarm is a cheap source for these internal parts at a very decent price.


best of luck