Intake cam gear is moving.

[xion0374]

Hey,

So today I open up my cam gear cover to inspect my car and see if the gears where off, as I was looking I did not see any marking to show the cam gear alignment. As I was inspecting the gears, I push down on the timing belt and it was not tight, as I was pushing the timing belt down I notice that the intake cam side was moving when I press down on the timing belt. It didn't move a lot but enough to see it move half a teeth. Is this normal. The more I drive my car the louder the ticking from my engine increase to the point that my engine sunddenly jump forward aas I can hear a rubbering grind and felt that somethings not right. I have not done a compression test yet, and it idle funny now. Could my tensioner belt be bad that caused my cam to slip out of synch and cause the valve damage.

 

[MichaelSuch]

Does the cam gear wobble from side to side when the engine is running? I ran into this problem a few weeks ago when I rebuilt the motor and didn't get a gear completely torqued properly, after a few hundred miles the cam gear bolt backed out just barely and it made a horrible knocking sound. I tightened it about half a turn and the sound went away.

But it is normal for the cams to move a little if you push on the timing belt. The lifters bleed down and relieves a little pressure off the rockers so the cams are easier to move.

But if I were you, I would definitely check your timing and make sure it did not jump. If it did jump then your hydraulic tensioner most likely did fail and will need replaced along with the bent valves and most likely cracked valve guides.