Tacoma head installation spinning up the cam

Leggo , May 9, I would machine the head everytime you take it off. The head do warp just a bit everytime you loosen it. I've seen a lot of people changing their head gasket without machining the head and coming back to square one with a leak.

Stay away from that steal seal bullshit. It's only meant for a quick fix and for you to drive home. I will just let it sit on the sideline till I can muster up enough funds to get it fixed properly. Also I know a shop that does the machining work in the Norwalk area, pretty good guys pm me if you want their number. Or look up the head exchange, I think they are in Hawaiian gardens or cylinder head exchange in slymar. I'd also replace the studs while you're in there.

Twistedfreedom , May 10, Not a big fan of planing heads that have cams in them. I have heard about cam bearings failing after installing them.

If the head warps when you unbolt it, won't it flatten out again when you bolt it back down? Not a problem if you have the head line bored for the cam journals after planing it. Just a thought. Leggo , May 10, Show Ignored Content.

Make sure that the yellow marker links on the chain are facing up. Then you set the whole assembly in the head journals loosely we will set it tight in the next step while pressing the plunger on the tensioner that is in between the two sprockets. The next step is to You will need to kinda wiggle the whole assembly when setting it in place to make sure both camshafts sit snug into the journals AND that both are in the rotational position when no cams are actually pushing their respective lifters this is critical in order to sit snug in the journals.

If both shafts are sitting snug in the journals which, as explained in step 4 means no cams are pushing their lifters in that position , you can set the two front bearing caps that hold each shaft in the front journals.

Each of those caps has a notch in the middle that is used as a guide to align it against the little chain's yellow markers. The not-so-great instructions I was following merely say that the clamp markers need to align with the yellow links, however, it doesn't specify whether they should align the middles of each link or either end.

In my case, I was unable to align them with the middles of the yellow markers but was able to align them to I think the left side of each link respectively when looking from above while the shafts were sitting in the journals all the way in. Proceed with torquing the rest of bearing caps to spec. The only question, other than the general inquiry whether the rest of it is right or am I wrong somewhere, was to confirm what I have bolded in step 5, regarding the alignment of notch markers on the front bearing caps and the yellow marker links on the chain.

Last edited: Aug 12, Here is what mine looked like during disassembly. The zip tied gears are exactly in the position they were in when they came off, with the yellows not lined up, and I put them back in just like this, 7K on them with no issues.

Wishbone Runner , Aug 12, I noticed that your VVT drums look different than mine, I'm guessing yours are older. On the left side, I was able to align the yellow links with the marks on the sprockets AND align the notches on cam bearings with the sprocket marks which also means the centers of yellow links AND make sure the camshafts sit in the journals all the way.

Please note that there are two marks on the intake VVT sprocket, one with a single and one with a double dot. The one that I aligned the left side was the double mark in order to fit it in the puzzle.

I like stock. Mostly just curious, but can you post some pics of your engine bay? I will try to get pics soon. Until then can anyone tell me how to find out what motor is actually in the truck? Is there an accessible ID or something that will tell me? I think it must be a 2. Can you guys see the images? First time using photobucket and not sure if I did it right. I can see them so I assume everyone can. Did you look up the 97 Tacomas with distributors to check and see if their camshaft sensor is located in a different place?

Maybe it is there, but hiding from sight. Also, check the 2. There is no way that head is anything but a Tacoma head. They're too specific to assume another companies truck utilizes the same exact shape and bolt pattern. Also, if it looks too much like a hodgepodge, then its a safe bet to assume you're looking at either a 2. The 97s were the last to utilize the classic distributor system. It was a coil pack but fed off the cam like a distributor. I am pretty sure the sensor is supposed to be on the cylinder head beneath the fuel rail where I described in the images because when I had the throttle body off I found the wiring harness that fits the sensor.

It is long enough to reach the spot described, but not long enough to reach anywhere else the sensor might be located. Do you know if the cams on the distributor engine would be any different from those on the coil motor? If I take off the head and drill the holes I want to be sure that the sensor will be able to pick up its needed information from the cam. There should be some kind of teeth near the center of the cam for this purpose. Apart from removing the valve cover and looking at it I don't know how to tell if my plan will work.

Finally I have found some used cylinder heads online, but I was advised against purchasing a used head because tacoma heads are prone to cracking. Is there any truth to this? Judging from the factory service manual for both the distributor and coil motors, the intake camshafts look identical, as do the cylinder heads. The only difference is that the coil cylinder has a port for the sensor to be bolted into place, and on the distributor motor that port is not drilled out.

Would it be wise to try to drill and tap this port and try to install my sensor? I think it picks up its information from the camshaft gear, so the only variable would be if the sensor would be at the right depth to pick up the needed information. My sentiment right now is that as long as I am careful to avoid getting any metal shavings in the head I really have nothing to lose, because if the sensor does not work then I am right back where I started.