hey all i have a question

[ca240sxcoupe]

well i recently discovered that my timing chain tensioner is sprung and needs replacing along with both of the guides......so today i began disassembling the front of the motor.....i managed to get everything apart but in doing so made a rookie mistake, i let the crank turn seperate from the camshaft.....well long story short i know that i have to set both the head and the bottom end back to TDC...but can anything be harmed if i turn them by hand...and if so is there any other option to set everything back in line????

[evildky]

depends, how much did you move it and was it moved forcably? with the dished pistons and the n series heads it is possible to contact the valves, in which case you might have bent a valve, if however it was turned by hand and only a few degrees then it should be fine, reset the chaim and runa a compression test, you'll have your answer

[DemonZ]

The valves can and will make contact with the pistons if the crank and cam are not moving at the same time.

Turning it by hand can cause them to make contact. I always pull the head and set the cam position and set the crank position with the top and bottom end separately, then put the engine back together and hook up the timing chain immediately to prevent any problems

[Pharaohabq]

yeah like Evil said it depends on how far the crank has moved. Take off the Distrib cap and see where the bottom of the engine is positioned in relation to TDC, you can then judge the direction and distance to turn the crank by hand (spark plugs out of course) to TDC. You can also see where your cam is positioned by looking at it's timing marks. If the crank has to be turned more than about 1/4 turn, then you need to be VERY careful turning it, if you meet any extra resistance, then you'll need to stop and pull the head or just pull the cam to close all the valves so you don't bend anything you don't want to. if it hasn't moved far, you should be okay.

separately, you can see what pistons are coming up by where the dist is pointing. you can carefully turn the cam to close valves as the pistons are coming up, but you'll need to verify by shining a light through the plug holes. you've just got to be careful.

Phar