HELP!!!!!! camshaft position at tdc

I put a new head on my car, but i forgot to mark where the nipple on the cam was facing. I have the motor at tdc now. But i need to know witch way the nipple on the cam needs to be facing. It is the nissmo cam, (i dont know if that matters). The @#$%ing manual i have is usless. I need to know fast i have a big race comming up next week.and i have to still get it tuned and dyno'ed first. I NEED HELP FAST!!!!!!!!!!!

dude!!!!!!!! sombody has to know this

please...i know someone knows this .. if you know please post back or im me as soon as possible ..please my screen name is drifterdreamz

iono if this helps or not...I've never looked at my camshaft or any camshaft face to face before so I dunno what "nipple" you're talking about...but I hope this helps.

http://www.sfu.ca/~tyee/misc/em24.jpg

well, thank you very much .. however i already have the crankshaft at tdc .. i need to know how to get my cam shaft at top dead center ..also it is a ca20e head on a ca20e block, it just has the nismo camshaft and i think ca18et lifters ..but that shouldn't matter .. i just need to know how to get my camshaft at tdc without taking off my timing cover,thanks in advance, Rick

I don't know about "the nipple" on a camshaft either, however, you can achieve the same thing if you line up the timing marks for the crankshaft sprocket and cam sprocket.

yes but to do that i would have to take off my timing cover which i dont want to do becouse its 115 out when i have the time to do it and i am not getting under neath my car and taking off the timing cover, soo basically what im asking is there is a mark on the crank shaft its at tdc pointing straight up .. ,now on the cam ,, there is a nipple or sproket or lil mark that is supposed to line up with the cranck shaft pulley, does the mark on the cam haave to be point straight up, straight down or what ..?? thanks Rick

Don't know what to tell you, man. No one here may have your answer. You may have to suffer the heat and take off that timing belt cover. You can also try calling the service department at your local Nissan dealer and see if they can answer the question for you.

Alright... I have a Chilton's manual I got today... so pick the most likley section
Camshaft and Bearings Removal & Instalation
Checking Camshaft Run out
Checking Camshaft Lobe height
Checking Camshaft Journals & Camshaft Bearing Saddles
Checking Camshaft end play

I know some are totally irrelevent, but I figured I want to help!

yeah right... 5 bucks :hit:
:p

make sure the block is at TDC for cylinder one, not four. Now remove the camshaft and look at the lobes, figure out TDC for cylinder one, now bolt in the camshaft. make sure the timing gears "timing marks are lines up" then wack on a new belt. SImple! i did this last week with a swift engine.

haha piston 1 is a tdc .....basically easy way would be if you have a car thats running, to do me the favor of taking out the spark plug from piston 1 .. either plug.. and put a screw driver where the plug went .. then get a socket and turn the crank shaft pulley (while its out of gear of course) when the screw driver goes up ..and then stops ..have a friend looking to tell you when it stops .. then look and see where the sproket on the cam is at .. note do not let the screw driver go up hen back down .. it must go up..then stop.. tdc of piston #1 then let me know where the lil mark on the camshaf tpulley is pointing

I did this a couple months back. If I remember correctly the cam nipple needs to be pointing at the crankshaft. so the marks should be pointing at eachother. hope this helps.

what eva you do...DONT ROTATE THE CAMSHAFT WITHOUT ROTATING THE CRANK IN TIME....otherwise you will clash valves into pistons and thats the least of your worries. Take the cam out, then all valves are retracted into the head, rotate the crank to TDC cylinder 1, you will see the timing allignment dots on the cam-belt-sproket on the crank, nowfit the camshaft onto the head with the alignment marks pointing in the right direction (your manual will have this), install the belt and its done......like i said i did this on a swift engine like 2 weeks ago......its as easy as that.

thank you .. but that wont work... i do not have the timing cover removed and the belt is off ..

take the cover off and do it right ... anything else will be a guess. You'll never know if you've degreed the cam properly.

take the cover off and do it right ... anything else will be a guess. You'll never know if you've degreed the cam properly.
that definately sounds like the best way to go i wouldn't want to risk breakin somthin just bein lazy...

icould give a shit less .. soon as its running .. i'm selling it .. just got a 85 turbo .. and i wanna sell my car so i can do more shit to the ca18et

icould give a shit less .. soon as its running .. i'm selling it .. just got a 85 turbo .. and i wanna sell my car so i can do more shit to the ca18et
yeah but if the timing is off the first time you crank the engine you will ruin a valve (or two) and it WON'T run!!

i cant believe no one on this club is experienced to know which way the cam should be point when the crank is at TDC ... what a waste

I can't believe you've wasted all this time waiting for an answer instead of getting off your ass and doing it right. Experience should tell someone to do it right the first time. Don't blame others for your own ignorance.

I can't believe you've wasted all this time waiting for an answer instead of getting off your ass and doing it right. Experience should tell someone to do it right the first time. Don't blame others for your own ignorance.
damn right if you don't want to do it right DON'T DO IT!!!

sorry mate but for the sake of removing a couple of bolts and a plastic cover to do the job right, you arent going to save any time, you coulda done the job 100 times over since you posted this thread. I am still curious as to how the belt is off and the cover on still? the cover must be loose, so its half way off, undo the rest of the little bolts, pull off the crank pulley and its 1/2 way finished.......man thats 10 minutes work.......is that too much of hard work??....dont bother posting any more threads if you are going to tell us we dont know what we are doing cause some of us are qualified and not just as mechanics......maybe some of us are mechanical engineers!

According to my Pintara (R31) manual with the crank pully mark on TDC the cam gear mark should be near vertical with the valves on cylinder 1 shut and the dizzy rotor firing no1. The valves on 4 should be rocking (1 opening and 1 closing). Hope this helps.

dont tell me about hard work you asshat .. my car is sitting on the side of my house with no shade in ARIZONA ..hence THE DESERT ...hinting that walking out side you sweat like no other, let alone sitting under a car tryn to get the crank pulley off which is rusted on and i dont have a impact gun that will fit up in there .. so i would have to drop the engine ...AGAIN and then take off the pulley ... and i would lovvvvvvvvvvvvvvve to see you do that in 10 mins. like you stated ... actually i will pay for your flight to arizona and do it and give you 500 bucks .. if you can do that in 10 mins. you newb ... the reason i asked is cause i have a 1,000 head on my car and i want to get it done...without droping the engine again "spooled" .. so when you coming to arizona so you can set this world record ????????

drop the radiator, you should have more room to get an impact gun onto it. i would just use a breaker bar instead as it needs less room, i got mine off this way. use a puller and remove the crank pulley, then you can get to the rest of it.......i dont think you would wanna pay for me to come ova tho....i am in australia

Big deal about arizona, it gets to 45 degrees where i live to but anyways. Sitting on a forum isn't going to get it done weather it's easy or not. It can be done in 10 minutes usually on most engines, if it can't, use enginuity a puller or a giant bar to persuade it :)

i cant believe no one on this club is experienced to know which way the cam should be point when the crank is at TDC ... what a waste

Funny, I read a lot of replies here ... and we all seem to be experienced enough to tell you what to do ... you just don't want to do it.

All that hard work with an impact gun :roll:

If we're no help, don't insult us ... just take your ass hat and leave.

lol... you are a pompus ass, i orignially stated the the timing cover was not coming off ... it is rusted on .. i ended up using a impact gun that has 550 pounds of torque .. will NOT COME OFF ...so you cant just go and say .. ahh ten min. job ..its been a 10 week job .. eeverything is hooked up readyto go .. so its not like this is the first thing im doing while putting it back together .. and just sitt on the internet complaining ... i just cant believe now one has done this before ... no one here ever changed a head without removing a timing cover .. come on ... and nobody here has a fsm ..that would more than likely say which way the point at each other .. all i need to know is whne the cranck is at tdc which way does the notch on the cam go ??????? TIMING COVER ON OR OFF ..SAME problem ... so mr.200ideas .. you want me to go take the timing cover off and come and ask you THE SAME DAMN QUESTION ?!?!?!?!? which way dooes the notch on the cam go ??? thats all im asking .. when crank is at tdc which way does the cam notch go ... timing cover off .. well i have them timing cover off .. crank is at tdc which WAY DOES THE CAM POINT ??????????????

Dude, I don't know how to help u unfortunately.....but if people are trying to help u and u down them, then theres something ****ed up with your social skills man.

Ever thought of explaining yourself better than which way the cam points and how the nipple isn't alligning? Everyone here that would have some sort of clue to help you is trying....and all u can do is put them down....man thats some screwed up shit.

And still ...

The reason that I or no one else here can really help you, is you chose to do it a different way than we have. Not only that, you've changed the details a few times, and I'm still not clear on what you're asking.

But let me try to the best of my abilities to help ... for whatever reason.

The timing marks have to line up.

If you are sure the motor is at TDC on the compression stroke, then the timing mark should be pointing straight up. You want the mark on the cam gear to line up to the other mark, as in they should be pointing directly at one another.

By "nipple" I'm not sure if you mean the cam locator. This is the metal pin that lines the cam into the cam gear. Or are we talking about the notch on the cam gear?

the notch on the cam gear .. sorry for bein a ass im just frustrated .. here is what happened ... bought a ca18et head has been heat tanked and cleaned installed nismo cam stage 3 port and polishvalve job ... so i slide the belt off the old head ... and forgot to see where the notch on the camgear was pointing when i removed it ..( my fault) so i put the new head on and now i dont know where the camgear notch should be pointing?? so i then put cylinder number one to top dead center thinkin someone here could tell me .. where the cam gear notch should be pointing when cylinder number 1 is at tdc ? straight up ?? or straight down pointing at the camshaft pulley ?? thanks ..Rick.. ohh and by the way if i dont get it running the head is for sale .. asking $450 since i bought the cam for 190 and have 300 dollars worth of porting .. not to mention 40 for heat tank .. and new lifters ..it has about 650 into the head and wanting 450 for it

the cam gear will only go on one way with the locator. with the cover off and the camshaft out (to retract valves) spin the cam and line up the timing marks, bolt in the cam, double check marks, put on timing belt (and tighten), put on cover, put on crank pulley, put on fan belts, put on rocker cover and bark her up! i have prob forgotten somthing

11min job.......lol.......nah bout a few hours if workin slowley and carefuly.

Nahh ... TDC on the compression stroke can easily be found by putting your finger over the sparkplug hole ;)

But yes, there are 2 TDC positions for each cylinder, you want the compression stroke.

I understand your frustration, and I'm sorry to be harsh, but it can be almost as frustrating for us.

Unfortunately without getting the timing cover off, you might be off on TDC, even by a degree. And we all know what can happen if the timing belt is off a tooth.

The timing cover isn't a necessary piece, a lot of people run without them. So you might want to cut a hole in it just to see the timing marks.

But yes, on TDC of the compression stroke for cylinder #1, the bottom mark points straight up, and you want the cam gear mark to point directly at the bottom mark.

hey, see if this is what you are looking for:
http://memimage.cardomain.com/member_img_a/590809_5_full.jpg

I can send it to you, just ask.

thanks for all your help head is sold