How exactly do you "restrain" the camshaft gear so the bolt can be loosened and tightened without moving either the camshaft or the crankshaft once the marks are aligned?

 

Did you ever figure this one out? I’m scratching my head on it, too. They make it sound like it’s just something you should know how to do. Special tool involved?

I’m also confused because the step before this says remove the crankshaft bolt, which is the one thing you might think to use to restrain the whole thing.

Thanks,

— Jason

 

IIRC with the timing chain installed it’s not difficult to tighten the bolt. Maybe need to still keep the crank from turning.

 

With the oil pan off, shove a 2x4 block between a thick part of the engine block and a piston counter weight to tighten the cam bolt, if needed - you may be able to tighten it just with the chain on and without blocking the crank, so you can try that first. You’ll probably need the wood block for the crankshaft bolt.

 

Ah, ok. I had a piece of 2x4 in there to get the crank bolt out originally. But I took it out when I started following the RAVE to replace the timing gears and chain.

I’ll get another piece of wood in there to wedge it so I can break the timing gear bolt loose. Do Rover mechanics use wood stops like this or do they have some other magic altogether?

Thanks,

— Jason

 

I know the manual calls for a specialized tool, but I think plenty of mechanics would use simple tricks - I’m not sure how exactly, but you can stop the engine from spinning at the flywheel too. I’m hoping everything made it through the winter alright. I’m dealing with a bad injury and hoping to get back to it ASAP… I left off just before installing the new timing cover. I’d put the new chain and chainwheels on, but struggled with the new cover as the front valley seal was causing the cover to misalign and it wouldn’t fit onto the alignment dowels on the block. I’ll help as much as I can up to the point where I left off.

 

As long as the chain is on it won't matter if the gears turn while tightening. Naturally if they're turning then they're not tightening so you need to restrain them somehow but it's not a concern if they shift while tightening.

 

Right, but I’m stuck at REMOVING the timing gear bolt!

The confusing thing about following the RAVE here is that there doesn’t seem to be any reference to “restraining” anywhere else. That makes me think it’s something really obvious, but not to me, since I’m not a Rover tech. I’m just a guy whose wife and daughter love this 14 mpg maintenance nightmare!

 

The direction doesn't matter. Once it's broken loose, rotate the engine by hand back to TDC before you remove the bolt/chain/gear. If compression is making it hard to turn pull the spark plugs out.

 

I used the wood block method to stop the engine from spinning when I needed to remove and tighten the bolts. I had to put the crank bolt back in numerous times to be able to turn the engine with a wrench, then block it and remove it again if you’re unable to remove the crank bolt just by cracking it loose with a wrench. I removed the spark plugs as well. There’s a lot of resistance, but you’ll be able to manipulate it however you need.