308 Cam Belt Change

???

The cam pulleys are bolted on to the ends of the cam and everything is free to rotate when you set the tension. I don't think anyone suggested leaving the cam locks in place to set the tensioners. That would be a recipe for disaster IMO.

Unless you mean we should loosen the cam pulleys and allow them to 'float' while we turn the engine over? I don't think so???

Please explain at little more b/c I just can't grasp what you are suggesting here.

 

Beautiful.

 

Don't know if you were aware of this thread:

http://ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?p=136366773#post136366773

The 2V cam locks are in stock for immediate shipment: $158.65/pari = $150/pair + $8.65 S&I.

 

That's been the case in all the 4V (308 & 328), and some of the 2V engines. Also, you often have to remove the waterpump pulley as well.

Unbolted the compressor from a 2V injected car yesterday & hung it over the tank. Studs weren't a problem (barely cleared), but still had to remove the WP pulley. Wouldn't you know that 1 of the hoses was so tight I could barely get the compressor onto the tank.

 

I was in too much of a rush and could not see front timing belt cover. To make long story short I removed timing tentioner nut by mistake on my two valve 308. I then put nut back on and snugged up bolt. What are my chances that cams turned? I can't believe I did that!

 

I'm confused. Is the timing belt cover removed, or did you loosen the tensioner bearing nut through the hole in the cover?

 

As long as the engine didnt turn, and as long as the belt stayed tight on both sides, you might be okay. Just dont turn the engine until your able to verify cam timing. Just an FYI, 1/8 turn of the crank either side of TDC, puts all eight pistons 1/4 stroke or more down in the bores. IOW, far out of valve contact range. Also, TDC on either bank puts all the pistons on the opposite bank at half stroke, even farther away from contacting any valves. If you can calculate which way to turn it, you may be able to turn the engine away from any potential damage until you can verify cam marks.

Dont feel bad for pulling a boner, the trick it to both admit your mistakes, as well as to keep from wrecking anything further. They say your not truly a pilot until you wreck an airplane, best if its someone else's, and even better if you can walk away from it. I always figured mechanics was about the same deal.

 

The tensioner is on the "slack" side of the belt so if you didn't turn the engine you can probably put it back together with no harm done.

Did anything move when you loosened the nut?

As Paul recommended, don't turn it until you can be sure nothing moved.

 

I'm in the process now doing my cam belts on my 77 308, I'm wondering how much work is it taking the fuel tank out on the A/C compressor side? I thought this would give me more room to work plus I have to change very fuel line on this car anyway.

 

Here's roughly what's involved to remove the passenger side gas tank:

- Drain both tanks

Lower the rear wheel hub & a-arms so that they're out of the way:
- Disconnect the passenger side upper a-arm by removing the inner bushing thru-bolts
- Remove the passenger side shock absorber
- I believe you also have to unbolt the half-shaft from the hub(someone pls confirm).
This will let the rear suspension drop down below the level of the fuel tank.

Remove the gas tank:
- Disconnect the gas tank from all upper & lower fuel lines.
- Disconnect both the horizontal & vertical tank mounting straps.
- Slide the tank back into the wheel well & remove it.

The driver's side tank removal is pretty much the same.

IMHO, Tain't worth it for just a belt change. However, if you're changing the fuel lines, you don't have a choice.

With the A/C compressor draped over the gas tank, there's a reasonable amount of space to work. In fact, if you'd ever done a Dodge Stealth belt change, you'd declare the 308 absolutely cavernous!

 

Thanks Verell, I do plan on changing all the fuel lines plus all the suspension bushings and power coating suspension pieces.

 

you should not have to remove the tank
I changed my belts last week.

remove the a/c compressor and belt covers
roll the crank over to tdc where cams line up on marks
put a mark on the cam pullys on the point where they are closest to each other
cut the belt from the rear bank and remove the tensioner with housing
replace the belt--cams should not move---and replace tensioner

one the front bank, the cams will spring off of their mark. in the manual i think htey say to roll crank over to BDC ( not sure) to replace that belt......anyway i cut off the old belt and both cams sprung out of alignment.

to fix--- with crank at tdc place belt on bottom pulley and put small clamp on it to hold it in place, take a screwdriver and rotate the intake cam by prying it around using stud nearby--when your "mark" that you made before starting looks right slide belt over pulley and clamp it on. next do samt proceedure with exhaust cam. now reinstall tensioner.

important: changing belts does NOT require readjustment of the cams and you only need to have the belts line up as the old ones. This is really a pretty easy job. the a/c compressor is hardest part of the task.

 

I want to mention one thing to alert people on these fuel systems, I just started working on the tanks and I wanted to drain the tanks so I located the drain on the cross pipe and proceed to open the fitting on the cross pipe, well it broke thank God only about one gallon of gas in this car. Still got gas on the floor and luckly was able to get water in the garage and flushed the floor and I ran down stairs and shut the furnace off. I knew there was only about a gallon or two when I started this and I was prepared with a gas can to collect it, I didn't expect this to break. So what I'm getting at is these are 30 year old cars and I questioned the fuel system on this car that's why I wanted to go through the whole system. I now will proceed to pull the tanks and go through very part of this system. That pipe shouldn't have broke like that and the cross pipe is to close to the front exhaust with minimal protection for my liking, a fire waiting to happen. I bought this car last year and I decided I'm going through it with a fine tooth comb before I start driving it. I'm going to run a Fire exting. setup in this car specially in the engine compartment. Change ALL those Fuel Lines !!!!

 

Birdman,

Question I'm in the middle of doing this now your saying pull the 2 studs off the Compressor itself? The bracket that holds this compressor on theres 2 nuts that are blind on the back portion of the bracket which connects it to the cam belt cover. With those two nuts removed then the compressor should come off with out removing the studs correct? They look almost impossible to get off , I was thinking a 17mm 3/8 drive socket on a small breaker bar might work, I haven't tried it yet. I had my fun time today having the gas tank cross tube crack when I drained the tanks lucky only 1 galllon of gas, this appears to be brittle because it broke so easy.

Jim

 

I removed tensioner nut through hole in belt cover. After realizing my mistake I put nut back on tightened enough to put tension on belt. I have cover removed now. I know not to turn engine over untill I find out if cams moved or not. I am starting to believe that removing tensioner nut did not allow cam to move What do you think? Thanks, [email protected]

 

Turning the engine by hand with the belt installed and tensioner unlocked (nut loosened) is no problem at all. That's how you set the tension in the first place.

If you have the covers off- just replace the belts anyway, and tensioner bearings unless you know they are brand new. Get some help with this if it is your first time, belt changes are a little tricky- good luck.

John