Hey guys, so about a year ago I did a timing belt job, I didn't have the magic cam-lining-up tool and did it by eye. It's been running ok, but the timing was off enough that the check engine light has been on reporting several misfires, so I finally got around to buying the tool and tried to fix the timing. That's where it all went wrong.
I pulled the camshaft sprockets loose, lined up the crankshaft according to the marks, put the camshaft alignment tool on and tightened them back down. At that point I thought I was victorious, but when I tried turning the crankshaft by hand, I got about 90 degrees and it stuck hard, like piston-headbutting-valve stuck. I rechecked everything, the crankshaft marks are perfectly lined up when the camshaft tool is in place, I even loosened the camshaft sprockets again and rotated the crankshaft a full 360 (several times), just in case it had somehow gotten off by a full revolution, even though I had been standing in front of it the whole time. Now, when I loosen the left (drivers side) camshaft sprocket and leave the other one attached, the engine turns just fine, I even pulled the valve cover off that side and the cam chain is good and tight and everything looks like it should.
At this point, I am at a total loss as to where to even start looking. If everything is lined up right according to the marks and the cam tool, what could possibly be wrong?

If anybody has any suggestions, both myself and my wife (who is now going to be carless this coming week at least) would be very, very appreciative!

 

hate to tell you this buddy, but you arent supposed to loosen the sprokets to do this job, you are simply supposed to turn the whole camshafts... You probably messed your timing even worse.

 

Actually, it's designed to work that way, that's why the camshaft sprockets can be loosened, otherwise they'd just be keyed on like the little guide plates. with those sprockets free, you can move each camshaft and the crankshaft independently, use the tool to align the 2 camshafts and the marks to line up the crankshaft and then you tighten them back down and the belt holds everything in place.

 

I thought you said you loosened the cam sproket from the cam. The piece that attaches the camshaft to the belt, are are you saying you loosened the cam journals? Maybe we are using different termonology here. Last time I checked, the cam sproket was the large round gear that is bolted to the camshaft that the timing belt sits on. And unless it has an eye hole on the cam to keep it from moving without the camshaft , if you turn it after being loosend which would also turn the timing marks, and the cam shafts themself did not turn, you would cause a timing issue. Not only that but thesr engines also have two sets of sprokets on in the front for each head, and then a pair in the rear attacked on a chain.

 

If you have the correct camshaft holder tool # t40005 attached to the camshafts & the 3242 holding the crankshaft then the cam timing should be correct.
Note: You can not always go by the timing marks on the lower crank pulley due to possible pulley slippage. The only way to get a True correct crankshaft position is to have the crankshaft holder in position when checking cam timing.

If that checks out good then you have a timing chain issue! The valve covers will have to be removed & the cam to cam timing will have to be checked.

 

SenkoA8 - Yes, I'm talking about the sprockets that the timing belt runs on, not the sprockets under the valve covers that the chain runs on. The belt sprockets can be loosened so that the camshaft can be turned without the belt turning, then you use the t40005 tool on those little diamond shaped plates in front to align the camshafts. Having them free of the belt allows you to turn the crankshaft independently to get it in the right spot, while the camshafts are aligned by the tool, then you tighten those sprockets back down without ever having to mess around with the belt.

M5S5 - This is what I was looking for:

"Note: You can not always go by the timing marks on the lower crank pulley due to possible pulley slippage. The only way to get a True correct crankshaft position is to have the crankshaft holder in position when checking cam timing."

I did not think of that possibility. After several minutes of searching and then finally finding out where that plug is I decided that no normal human could possibly get a hand in there and decided to go by the marks on the crankshaft pulley, never in a million years would it have occurred to me that those marks might be off. I guess I'll have to try harder and remove whatever I need to to make that thing go in. A thousand thank you's sir!

 

ok, thanks for setting me straight, wow apparently you can not put normal american logic to a german car, it just does not work! at least now I know!

 

You Must Think Like a German!