VVT Fix Notes and Observations

[tkephart]

I figured since I had used these message boards to help me out of a couple jams, I should contribute some of my notes and observations regarding my VVT replacement.

First off, I highly recommend the Shop manual or subscribing to ALLDATAdiy.com Leading Source of Factory Automotive Repair Information that has the Speed 6 workshop manual broken down into sections describing procedures, specs and part numbers needed. I found that it was very helpful in filling in the gaps as well as torque specs and the like.

I will have to apologize that I did not take more pictures, I was under somewhat of a time constraint and had to get it done in two days or I was sol for a couple weeks. Having said that, if this is your first time into your engine, it will take a while to check and double check your work. Also figuring out the little details takes a little time and should not be taken lightly.

You should only attempt this if you have a decent garage with a set of air tools, floor jack, jack stands and lots of light.

I would consider myself mechanically inclined but a novice to serious car maintaince such as this. I used chimmike's post/ as a step by step in conjunction with the workshop manual to fill in the details. I am going to repost his tsep by step with my notes added.

BE SURE TO STUDY THE FSM MECHANICAL SECTION PRIOR TO DOING THIS!

1. Jack up the car, support on stands
2. Remove battery, intake, TIP
3. Remove camshaft driven fuel pump

   The pump has a hard line connected to the bottom that you will need to remove prior to removing the whole pump

4. Remove CDFP housing from head (4 bolts, pulls off end of intake camshaft) don't be shy about disconnecting wiring and moving out of the way.

   There are a bunch of connectors, wires and brackets that you should remove/move to easily access the pump

5. Remove all ignition coils and any items bolted to top of valve cover
6. remove valve cover
7. Remove passenger wheel and splash guard

   I would recommend having a supply of extra rivets because the rivets used to hold the splash guard on tend to be a pain in the ass to remove and you end up just ripping them out

8. Locate tensioner pulley, turn in direction indicated in Mechanical section of FSM to loosen tension; remove drive belt

   A long breaker bar and a friend are helpful here. The belt in my case was pretty tight and required full activation of the tensioner to remove the belt.

9. Remove spark plugs (this is to release compression, make it easier to spin the crank)
10. Look to the left of the crank pulley, on the back of the block is a 12mm or 10mm bolt, almost directly facing the axle. This is a plug, remove and place the crankshaft SST

    Example of the SST This will stop the crankshaft from rotating at TDC. Be aware thought that it will not prevent the crankshaft from rotating off of TDC backwards. You might need to remove the crankshaft position sensor to access this plug.

11. Use 21mm socket, rotate crankshaft clockwise SLOWLY until it stops, reaching TDC for cylinder 1.
12. Look at intake and exhaust cams. They should be facing eachother in an upward angle of approximately 45* (someone correct me if I'm wrong please!)

    This is correct, 45 facing eachother

13. Use 21mm again and impact gun, loosen crank pulley bolt (Or use crank pulley SST and pry bar, but good luck with that)

    Impact gun is the best here. If you try to use a breaker bar or ratchet, you will be disappointed and frustrated. The impact gun will only remove the crank pulley bolt and should not turn the crakshaft away from TDC in the process.

14. Remove crankshaft pulley

    This was a little tricky as the shape of the pulley made it a little difficult to setup a puller to remove the pulley. BE CAREFUL IF YOU ARE TRY TO PRY IT OFF TO NOT BEND OR BREAK THE TEETH ON THE INSIDE OF THE CRANKSHAFT PULLEY! Also be careful to not drop the crankshaft pulley as it comes off.

15. Access idler pulley, use pry bar to hold in place and loosen bolt (easy enough)

    This might be done easier with the motor mounts off. I was able to put a wrench on it and turn it 360. The bolt is really long and takes a while

16. Access water pump pulley (3 bolts), lock in place with pry bar and loosen/remove

    I found a large file braced against two of the bolts allowed me to remove the free bolt. A friend or an extra set of hands helps here.

17. Loosen and remove power steering pump from front of motor, top right of timing cover

    Three bolts, two top and one underneath. Simple enough

18. Loosen/remove all 8mm bolts on timing cover, use care not to remove 8mm bolts next to some that hold on the water pump

    I highly recommend looking at the specifications in the manual when removing these bolts. There is a torquing pattern recommended when you put the cover back on. I numbered the bolts as I took them out. There are one or two bolts that do not hold the cover in place that are smaller than the rest.

19. Place floorjack under oil pan with 2x4 or 4x4 on top to spread weight, jack up and support motor.
20. Move power steering and coolant reservoirs out of the way
21. use 17mm socket and air ratchet, remove passenger motor mount from motor and frame, do not be surprised if motor moves during this process.

    As with most things, caution is not a bad thing here. You are not jacking up the motor, but rather just supporting the motor. Be careful when removing the motor mount bolts. If you have too much pressure from the support jack, the engine will move as your remove the bolts. Reassess and make sure that you are only supporting and not jacking up the engine

22. Remove 3 12mm bolts below the two studs holding the upper middle of timing cover to block
23. Make sure ALL bolts (including 8mm and 13mm bolts) are removed from timing cover
24. Make sure you know where these bolts return to! Some are VERY specific
25. Use pry bar and GENTLY begin to pry timing cover off block, working your way around slowly, pull timing cover up and out

    There is a bunch of silicone sealant on this cover. Make sure that you have removed all 22 screws holding the plate on before you start prying. Once you get it started, it should be easy to peal off.

26. Now is the time to prep: Scrape all sealant off edges of timing cover and block, spray NON-Chlorinated brake cleaner ONTO A RAG, NOT THE MOTOR, and wipe the machined surfaces clean
27. Follow FSM instructions for removal of chain tensioner

    Fairly straightforward. My tensioner was fully extended so there wasnt very hard to remove it. Watch your fingers if there is still a significant amount of tension.

28. Remove intake cam caps in order described in FSM, SLOWLY and IN STEPS
29. Remove your intake cam, bishes, and follow FSM steps for removal and replacement of VVT Actuator

    I didnt remove the intake cam. Rather, I removed the chain and removed the bad VVT (pictures below). With the timing chain off, I installed the Cam Alignment SST and set my timing. My cams were about 5-10 degrees off. With the SST, they were religned. Make sure that you note the orientation of your old VVT when removing it. There is a specific orientation that you must take into account when you install your new VVT. There are holes in the camshaft that you must align with your VVT. As I understand it, this allows oil to enter the VVT and is critical to function. As will all of these bolts, torque to spec

30. Replace cam in motor with lobes of cyl 1 facing same way they were prior to removal, or at a 45* upward, facing towards back of car (CYLINDER 1 LOBES)

    TDC cylinder 1 cam position should have intake and exhaust cams facing each other at 45 degrees.

31. Utilize Camshaft SST Plate as described in FSM to set cams in proper location
32. Use adjustable wrench to secure exhaust cam, use 21mm box wrench to loosen exhaust cam bolt enough to allow cam sprocket to spin

    I replaced my chain as well. You loosen the exhaust cam sprocket to take up slack between the exhaust sprocket and the VVT. Make sure that the chain is tight between these two sprockets.

33. Reinstall chain tensioner as described in FSM

    The new tensioner should be almost fully retracted. This means that all of that slack that was in the chain is no longer there. Good thing!

34. Make sure chain is on guides!
35. Release pin from tensioner allowing full tension
36. Do not be alarmed if exhaust cam sprocket spins when this happens
37. check chain tension, ratchet tensioner out a notch if you want
38. Using old crank pulley bolt, install crankshaft pulley
39. Reinstall intake cam caps, torque down as described in FSM procedure!
40. Secure exhaust cam in place via adjustable wrench and torque down exhaust cam sprocket bolt per FSM specs
41. Remove Camshaft SST and crankshaft SST plug
42. Spin crankshaft in clockwise motion to verify no valve interference. If crank stops firmly, don't force it, that's valve interference!

    This shouldnt be a problem if you have done everything correct up to this point

43. Place crankshaft SST plug back in place, spin crank slowly clockwise to reach TDC for cyl 1 again.
44. Use impact gun to zip off old crank pulley bolt
45. If no issues, your timing is good!
46. Discard old crank pulley bolt, you won't need it anymore.
47. Reinstall timing cover and seal per FSM guidelines/torque

    Make sure that you follow the torquing pattern described in the shop manual. You will also need to apply a bead of silicone sealant around the cover in specified areas.

48. Reinstall crankshaft pulley and torque following FSM instructions closely

    I bent my alignment SST when I was torquing the crankshaft pulley so be careful.

49. Install crankshaft position sensor (20th tooth middle should line up with middle of notch on sensor, check FSM to verify)

    IMPORTANT STEP!! The crank pulley has teeth around the outside. These teeth are used by the crank position sensor to do what else, sense the crank position for firing sequence. If this is not set properly, as I did the first time, your car wont start and you will start to think that you should have taken it to the dealer. I installed the crank position sensor at the lowest adjustment point. The crank position sensor has slots for minor adjustments. Make sure that you are as far down as you can be. There will be a tooth that is marked with a white dash on the crank pulley to indicate TDC cylinder 1 location. This is the 20th tooth counterclockwise from the gap in teeth. Verify this by checking the shop manual. Carefully align the 20th tooth with the middle line on the crank position sensor and carefully tap the crank pulley back onto the crank shaft. Take care to keep the 20th tooth aligned with the crank position sensor. Once you have the crank pulley on, torque to spec. The pulley may rotate clockwise and this is why we put the crank position sensor at the bottom position, so that we could adjust up/clockwise if needed.

50. Reinstall idler pulley and water pump pulleys
51. Reinstall CDFP housing
52. Reinstall Power Steering pump
53. Reinstall passenger motor mount
54. reinstal CDFP
55. reinstall coolant and power steering reservoirs
56. Reinstall valve cover, sealing as necessary per FSM

    There is a torquing pattern and spec that should be followed here as well

57. Complete reinstallation of all accessories and lines, connectors, etc. etc. etc.
58. BE SURE TO DOUBLE AND TRIPLE CHECK YOUR WORK!

The original step-by-step by chimmike was definitely helpful and it would have been very difficult to do without it. Make sure to reference each step in the shop manual as there is valuable information as well as confirmation of the steps listed above.

Here is a picture of my broken VVT

Oh and she sounds fantastic now, more more diesel like grinding as I start my engine. I dont know if it is just a placebo but it feels much more responsive now with no hesitation.

If you have the garage, time, an extra set of hands, and the shop manual, you should be able to replace the VVT.

[NinjaT1985]

I hope this problem is only with genwons...

[Rokusek]

now if you only had pictures, thats where i keep failing, im trying to get the How-To with pictures and things to keep in mind put together.

Glad you got through it and made it happen!!! congrats bro, shit was not easy lol

[jracer]

good write up ! one thing i think you forgot was the 3 friction washers should be replaced when doing this job .

[Dano]

Originally Posted by jracer good write up ! one thing i think you forgot was the 3 friction washers should be replaced when doing this job .

absolutely and without fail...the FSM will indicate this and prab why OP kept referencing the manual.

[TiGraySpeed6]

bookmarking this one!
for my '06 speed6 it's only a matter of time, and at just about 60,000 miles, not much time left either I suspect......

Respectable post for a noob brownie!

[06Speed6]

4 washers...

Nice 2nd post, if only everyone could make a 2nd post this good.

[Rokusek]

Originally Posted by 06Speed6 Nice 2nd post, if only everyone could make a 2nd post this good.

Indeed

+1

[tkephart]

Yeah sorry about not having pics, I only had a limited amount of time to get it done.

Originally Posted by TiGraySpeed6 Respectable post for a noob brownie!

Originally Posted by 06Speed6 Nice 2nd post, if only everyone could make a 2nd post this good.

Thanks!

I figured that I got enough info from everybody else on this site I owed it to at least give my 2 cents.