Volvo Forums - Volvo Enthusiasts Forum - Timing gear to camshaft position

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Timing gear to camshaft position

Hi I just recently purchased a 1999 Volvo s80 t6 from a friend that had a bad head gasket. The car had everything already disassembled when I purchased it. I aligned the crankshaft to its proper timing mark and now I'm having trouble putting the rest together. My main problem is that I don't know were the two cams have to be positioned to the pulleys. There is three possible potions on each and I don't know which one is correct. Maybe someone has some picture of there cams and sprockets aligned?

Does anyone have some help?

Hopefully you know the exhaust camshaft from the intake. On the rear of the shafts are slots, these are positioned parallel to the parting line of the valve cover but opposite each other. ( one high, one low)
https://volvoforums.com/forum/showth...light=camshaft
http://www.matthewsvolvosite.com/for...p?f=11&t=34642
You also need to make tools to pull down the valve cover to depress the valve springs upon reassembly. If you search some, you'll find some good info.
Ed

Ok so when I aligned the slots on the back of the cams, the valves for cylinder 3 are open, but the piston in the motor in cylinder 3 is at the very top. Wont this cause the valves to hit the piston? When I set the mark on the crank Cylinder 1 and 4 are halfway up 5 and 2 are at the bottom and 3 and 6 are at the top. Is this correct? This is how the cylinders are numbered 1-5-3-6-2-4

Cylinder #1 is at TDC when crank mark is aligned. 1 2 3 4 5 6 #1 is at the timing belt end.
Firing order makes no difference here.
http://www.matthewsvolvosite.com/for...p?f=11&t=34642
Ed

Is it possible for the gear on the crank to moved or be installed incorrectly? Because when it is aligned to the marks like in the picture the first piston is about 2 inches from TDC?

If the crank marks are aligned, #1 should be about 1/8" shy of TDC. I could be wrong here, double check the balancer and sprocket on the end of the crank shaft. Be sure of your cams and their position and orientation.
You need to check the valve clearances before you put the lid on.
Ed

Here's what I figured out and posted on MVS:

Quote:

Freakin VADIS makes this look so complex, and its documented differently for the same (edited profanity) motor in different areas of VADIS too!

I wrecked my head with this. When boiled down, its incredibly simple. The end goal is that all the notches should line up and the VVT unit (inner part of the cam pulley) will be turned fully clockwise to its limit position. Therefore the three small bolts on the pulley should be in their rightmost position. Thats it! I messed mine up at first when I rebuilt the top end of my T6. I corrected it two nights (100miles) ago with the belt still on, code are now gone and it runs like a champ. I'm not a mechanic by trade so the info below is E&OE, at your own risk with no warranty implied.

Basically, consider it to be a three stage process:

Stage 1
Forget the VADIS proceedure for now and whatever you have tried so far http://www.matthewsvolvosite.com/for...on_e_smile.gif

Stage 2
Have the crank locked in position on its mark. Drop a 6" 3/8 extenstion into the hole near the starter, turn motor counter clockwise by hand until it hits the stop.
Cams should locked in position, in line with seam in head.
Ensure all all notches are lined up on the cam pulleys with the timing belt cover.
Timing belt sould be on.
Inner bolt on cam pulley that fixes the unit onto the camshaft should be torqued down (Circa 88Ft Lbs, please verify).
The three bolts for the cam gear to VVT unit should be loose
VVT unit should be turned fully counter clockwise (bolts will be on the left of the holes in the toothed pulley when this is done).

If you cant achieve stage 2, ie the VVT unit will not move far enough counterclockwise for the three bolts to be at their leftmost limit, then the center bolt that attaches the unit to the cam needs to be loosened as their relative positions are incorrect.

Stage 3
Keep cams locked, pulleys at marks amd crank locked\at mark.
Fit the outer "cap" onto the VVT unit (T60 torx), no need to torque it yet.
Rotate the VVT unit clockwise using the cap with a T60 torx until it hits its limit.
Lock the three outer pulley bolts.
Torque the VVT cap (25 lb/ft I think, please verify).
You should now be in a position where all marks line up and the three pulley bolts on the VVT unit are on rightmost part of the holes in the toothed gear.

** Have a beer. **

Keep in mind that excessive cranking/hard starting can throw a p0014 as well http://www.matthewsvolvosite.com/for...on_e_smile.gif
Send me a PM if you wanna call me and I can talk you through it. Its so freakin frustrating and so simple!

Hope this helps.

As pointed out, ignore all cylinders except #1. Also make sure you are NOT at TDC, but rather at the mark on the crank pulley of against the stop via the hole in the block behind the starter motor (sounds like you are good here anyway).

Thank you for helping. It seem to me that my crank is set incorrectly even though it is lined up to the mark. I have seen the Volvo tool that aligns the motor but don't really want to purchase it. Will the 6" 3/8 extension piece of steel work just as good? The reason why I'm looking at all the cylinders is because once i have the cams aligned to the seam of the head certain valve open up when they should be closed. I know that when the piston is all the way at TDC both exhaust and intake valves should be closed but they are not. I don't know which is set wrong because the crank is set at the mark and the cams are now were they would be if locked in.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ridextream53 (Post 253766)

Yes the 6" 3/8" extension works just fine. Turn the motor, gently counter clockwise until it hits the stop. Its will be a solid stop, there's no mistaking it. Some valves will be open when you bolt it down, its not an issue, remeber to consider that they overlap and that piston may be going down rather than up.

So today I tried to the center the motor with the 3/8 shaft. Its the hole behind the starter motor that has to be used correct? I turned the motor counterclockwise till it stopped. Now the alignment mark on the crank is about a quarter off to the right from the mark on the block. The first piston looks to be at or close to tdc now. Does this sound right? I feel like I am missing something really simple here and making it really complex.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ridextream53 (Post 253901)

Yeah I know how you feel. Can you post a pic of the marks? I think I would go off stop rather than the marks, but then they should all line up... Hmmmm. Where are you looking for the mark on the pulley?

These are the marks I align the crank at. About the cams, once i have them locked in properly the top is were the makes on the pulleys go right?

Quote:

Originally Posted by ridextream53 (Post 253953)

These are the marks I align the crank at. About the cams, once i have them locked in properly the top is were the makes on the pulleys go right?

Those are the marks I went by. It should stop there when you rotate the motor with the extension in the hole. Yes at this point you will lock the cams into position, then install the pulleys with the notches lined up. You will also need to make sure to set the VVT correctly.

so after the crank has stopped does this mean i am tdc? assuming i stuck the 3/8 extension in the hole. iam stuck at this part. so the crank pulley can b moved around?

Quote:

Originally Posted by jmoney2001 (Post 255118)

so after the crank has stopped does this mean i am tdc? assuming i stuck the 3/8 extension in the hole. iam stuck at this part. so the crank pulley can b moved around?

As you turn the motor counter-clockwise by hand it should stop with a clunk. To be pedantic, this is not TDC, however it is where you set up all of your marks. Once the crank hits the stop, check the lines/notches on the rear of the cams are parallel to the seams and that the notches on the pulleys at the front match up with the marks on the top timing cover..

ok got it. so when i do the vvt. after i tighten the outer cap, do i turn the outer pulley to max? it wasn't like this before i took i off? i followed the directions on this post but wasn't sure since i max out the 3 bolts clockwise

Quote:

Originally Posted by jmoney2001 (Post 255283)

No the outer pulley must remain lined up with the notch in the timing cover. If the cam is locked at the rear and the center bolt has gone as far clockwise as I will go, you are done. Lockup the three outer bolts and call it a day. After thinking about it, the three bolts dont actually have to be on the far right of the holes, but the center bolt/VVT will need to be turned as far right as it will go.

ok got it so as long as the cam is tensioned to its fullest iam good right? now after several hand turns on motor the exhaust cam on the rear of the motor does not line back with the line on valve cover. is this correct? iam having a hard time with this. i know that the exhaust cam has play will this cause this? please keep in mind that all timing marks on the front of motor do line up it just the rear exhaust cam doesn't line up on horizon with valve cover

Quote:

Originally Posted by jmoney2001 (Post 256159)

Hey I just got your PM. I would say if you can move the exhaust cam back in line with the seam without it trying to move the motor/camshaft sprocket you are golden.