joes

I am doing a water pump & belt job on a '86. The kit came with all the seals. I can't get the bolt off the cam gear. What's the trick?

Magnus

Remove the distributor, remove the small black axle witch the distributor is mounted on and unscrew the hex or torx screw behind. (Use a good bits, you don't want to strip it!) The big nut and the pulley can now be pulled of with some force.

//Magnus

aribop

Joes,
The bolt on mine was on so tight that I had to use a big pipe wrench with a breaker bar to break it loose!

joes

Thanks,guys I had a chain wrench to hold the cam gear and a big 1 1/4 wrench to turn the nut I was afraid I was going to bust something or it was left hand threads. Any suggestions as what to use to lock the cam gear?

Jeremy Himsel

If your trying to get the gear off by loosening the large nut on the cam gear you're going to be there a long time. The large nut does not come off the gear (it's one piece). Recessed in the center of the nut is a cheesehead bolt that holds the cam gear to the camshaft. Use the large nut to hold the cam gear stationary and loosen the cheesehead. The cam gear will slide right off.

joes

Thanks Jeremy, That's the answer I was looking for! I had a feeling that there was something I was missing. After you get the rotor button off and take the other small bolt out of that shaft whats next?

cruise98

Joes:

The rotor has two parts to it, one is the plastic rotor button and the other is a steel adaptor. Remove the adaptor and you will see the 12 point internal bolt inside the large 32mm nut you have been trying to remove. I just counter hold the 32mm nut with a large combination wrench and use a Hazet 12 point tool on it. Use a high quality socket and make sure it is firmly seated before cracking it loose. They are called cheeseheads for two reasons!

Bones944

Be very careful when reinstalling the cheesehead bolt. Use some Loctite and Torque to the correct specs. It is easy to strip the end of the cam (ask me how I know).

potent951turbo

I used a mallet to tap the 12 point tool into the bolt to make sure it was in there good before trying to loosen it. I also had a friend hold the 32mm wrench while I got the bolt lose. The cam gear came right off after that.

Ski

Sorry but I disagree with the Loctite use on this bolt. It is tough enough to break sometimes after heat cycles. The torque on it is between 48-52 pounds IIRC. If you have an OLD socket that fits the large retaining nut, which is held in place by about 5mm of the key that holds the cam gear in place, you can take the OLD socket with about an 18" section of 3/4" pipe to a welding shop; have them weld the pipe to the side of the socket near the back of the socket. Then you can put the pipe/socket on the retaining nut then loosen and tighten the cheesehead bolt through the old drive hole. The pipe can lay on your bench or on the floor to hold everything.

If this bolts ever even looks like it is going to strip after you've gotten it out, get a new one. They are cheap compared to the headache they can sometimes cause and make sure your 12mm tool is in good shape too.