papak Posted March 23, 2019 Share Posted March 23, 2019 Can the cams be changed in a Duratec with the motor in the car? It seems to me that the only real question is the chain tensioner. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yellowss7 Posted March 23, 2019 Share Posted March 23, 2019 I would assume so, as I had a head gasket replacement done without pulling the motor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ashyers Posted March 23, 2019 Share Posted March 23, 2019 (edited) papak, You can pull the cams in the car if you can get to the bolts that allow you to hold the tensioner released. I found a copy of a set of Cosworth instructions that's pretty good. Here's the link: http://dubaipetrolheads.com/biggles/download/camshaft_install.pdf We are nearly ready to fire up the motor in my car (Finally!!). I'm planning lighting it off on Monday with the students, once the initial break in is done it's going to be strapped to the dyno. What cams are you going to use? As I recall you had some Crower Stage 1's in the car. We're trying Crower Stage 2's. If you need some new buckets drop me a line, I have a bunch of them! Andy Edited March 23, 2019 by ashyers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wemtd Posted March 23, 2019 Share Posted March 23, 2019 Technically i think it 'may' be possible. practically i don't think so. When i changed mine I remember needing to remove the front cover (and crank pulley) which could not be done with engine in the car. In theory if you are able to get the tensioners disengaged, you should be able to do it with engine in. Either way you'll be getting intimate with your car. let us know how you make out p. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
papak Posted March 23, 2019 Author Share Posted March 23, 2019 This is in the “consideration” stage right now before I seek a spousal spending authorization. I’ll take a close look at the link. The Stage one cams currently in the car only have 1500 miles or so on them. I would venture that another set of new cams would not be likely to need new buckets but I would certainly check them. On a side note, I have pulled the front cover with the motor in the car. It’s a pain in the ass to do it by yourself as I did. I actually acquired the tool to hold the crank pully. I would have assistance this time around. I’ll keep the thread updated if I move ahead with this. Thanks for the feedback. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
papak Posted March 23, 2019 Author Share Posted March 23, 2019 That’s a very helpful guide, Andy. A real confidence builder! Kevin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ashyers Posted March 23, 2019 Share Posted March 23, 2019 Kevin, We had planned to pull the cams with the motor in the car, but my car has a Ranger front cover with a giant idler pulley that once drove a fan. When the orig. builder rerouted the belt to get to the right side alternator the upper bolt hole for accessing the timing rail was eliminated because it was in the belt's path. We discovered this in process and had to pull the cover off. Of course we had to tear down the entire engine in the end to fix a mess of issues... Had the bolt hole been there I think the only tough bit would have been locking the tensioner in it's retracted state. We should have it running next week and after some break in miles I'll have some dyno runs you're welcome to check out with the Crower Stage 2 cams. Andy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
papak Posted March 23, 2019 Author Share Posted March 23, 2019 When i rebuilt my motor, (out of a 2008 Ranger), I acquired a Focus front cover for just that reason. If I can figure out the idler retraction, I'll feel better about moving forward. Kevin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ashyers Posted March 24, 2019 Share Posted March 24, 2019 Kevin, The idler is a ratchet mechanism. Once you lift the pawl it doesn't take too much chain tension to cause the plunger to retract. You'll just need the right pick to lift the pawl out of engagement. There's not that much tension on the spring, I believe most of the tensioning is done via oil pressure and the ratchet/pawl is just to maintain tension when the engine is off. Andy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
papak Posted March 25, 2019 Author Share Posted March 25, 2019 I recall that when I originally went through the motor, I fully disassembled the tensioner to make sure everything was perfectly clean. I also installed new plastic guides. Simple but effective design. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wemtd Posted March 25, 2019 Share Posted March 25, 2019 I’ve got some diagrams if you pm your email address should you proceed with the change Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lancefitzgiben Posted March 26, 2019 Share Posted March 26, 2019 You can change them in the car (SV, anyway) - gonna be a job though. Main hurdle will be getting the torque-to-yield crank bolt out, and sourcing new diamond friction washers for crank/cams. Everything in front of the motor between the motor and next chassis tubes needs to come out obviously. In my case this meant the oil tank needed to come out. All in all it's not a bad job, just make sure you source all the critical parts such as the diamond washers, crank bolt, cam plate (tool) and timing pin bolt (tool) ahead of time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
papak Posted March 27, 2019 Author Share Posted March 27, 2019 Not sure if my pm got through. kpkehoe@ca.rr.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wemtd Posted March 27, 2019 Share Posted March 27, 2019 Once or twice... Hang in there Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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