Camshaft seal replacement without completely removing timing belt

[Brad Bell]

Hello all,

I know this has been discussed alot in the 4g63 world but I can't find much info specifically for the 420a, and am wondering if any of you have done this.

Anyway my new camshaft seals are leaking after completing a brand new headgasket/timing components job. I want to change them out but don't want to go through the hassle of doing the timing belt job again (most of you know this is a nightmare). Is it possible to do the old zip tie trick on the cam gears and replace one seal at a time while keeping the tensioner in place? I would replace everything if the parts were old but there's probably at most 30 miles on everything.

What do y'all think?

 

[John Miller]

You might be able to if you are really really really careful. Maybe if you ziptie the timing belt to the cams the only issue you might have is the tension might be too much on the whole belt if that makes sense. I guess you could put the grenade pin in, but tension on the cam lobes against the journals can be bad. So I would give it a try, but don't try anything to risky.

 

[Brad Bell]

You might be able to if you are really really really careful. Maybe if you ziptie the timing belt to the cams the only issue you might have is the tension might be too much on the whole belt if that makes sense. I guess you could put the grenade pin in, but tension on the cam lobes against the journals can be bad. So I would give it a try, but don't try anything to risky.

I see what you're saying, if I remove one cam gear all the tension will be on one cam. However it's also risky taking the tensioner off because the belt may fall off the crankshaft pulley. I'll have to try it and see what happens. I've seen a video of a guy with an evo who changed his cams without removing the belt in a similar fashion. Thanks

 

[John Miller]

I see what you're saying, if I remove one cam gear all the tension will be on one cam. However it's also risky taking the tensioner off because the belt may fall off the crankshaft pulley. I'll have to try it and see what happens. I've seen a video of a guy with an evo who changed his cams without removing the belt in a similar fashion. Thanks

You might be able to zipetie the belt to the tension arm to keep a little bit tension on the belt around the crank. Just play it smart