Hi there folks, It's been awhile but I'm finally getting to adjusting the valves on my P6. I have removed the camshaft successfully as instructed in the manual by installing spacers to each cam bearing in order and replaced the shims that were out of spec but my question regards reinstalling the camshaft. As the manual describes, I removed the camshaft only after installing spacers for each camshaft bearing block in the order described. Since I locked the engine in place at the flywheel with the #1 cylinder exhaust valve fully open what is the best way to reinstall the crankshaft? Do I start by reinstalling in reverse order the bearing blocks starting with the 3rd one and cranking it down all the way to open up the #1 cylinder exhaust valve in the process as the camshaft is laid down? This seems a bit scary to be putting all that stress on the camshaft at one single location. Or do I loosely install all the camshaft bearing blocks together and tighten them all down evenly?.....but this method would seem to be risking the head gasket sealing if all the head bolts are off at the same time? Any wisdom in this area would be greatly appreciated. The manual seems to indicate that reassembly is the reverse order on removal........Cheers and thanks! Paul
Reinstalling camshaft after valve adjustment
- Thread starter darmahsd
- Start date
sdibbers
Well-Known Member
Yes, reverse order of the bearing caps, that reduces the chances of snapping the camshaft. What I also like to do is align the key of cap no. 1 into its slot on the camshaft flange first and just drop the bolts into the camshaft carrier lightly, then as you tighten down the bearing caps it holds the cam in place with EP for no. 1 cylinder.