Engine knock

2

28 fast faton

Member
I have an engine knock that I think might be the cam gear. When I put the timing pin into the hole while it is running it has a bit of a wobble(ie the pin moves in and out slightly) My questions are 1. will this cause a knock and 2. How does it come to wobble when I know the cam nut is tight and the spring is new and 3. if I leave it will it damage anything or should I replace it. Thanks guys
 
Did you put grease on the new spring ? If not it can cause a knock. The pin will go in and out as the pin depresses into the TDC mark indentation on the gear.
 
A loose timing gear will cause a knock. Since you have a question about wobble in the gear, I suggest that you open the engine up and take a look. It is easy to remove the cover for the timing gear. If the gear is loose, eventually it will fail. Gar Williams
 
I have already tightened the cam nut and I do realize the pin goes in and out of the TDC hole, but there is still a wobble and one of the books I have said to check for wobble. I don t know how a wobble could come about if it was tight.
 
How did you tighten the cam nut? With one of the specific sockets or a chisel like some folks would use? And I was always told to never push the timing pin into the cam gear while running because it can wreck the fiber gear. The best way to see wobble would be to remove the side cover and run the engine and watch the gear if it wobbles then with the engine off try to gently pry it back and forth and see if it has any play.
 
Timing gear should not run out.
1=timing gear loose.
2=some thing is keeping it from going against the cam flange flat.
3=metal center in cam gear is loose in the fiber. Never use one with a metal center.

The only way to tell for sure is to take the cover off.
Is this a old cam gear, did you just work on the timing gear?
 
Bob C is correct. my timming gear was knocking also. i started the motor and inserted the timming pin, knock went away. the timming gear was two piece, and the outter part was loose, it would have come apart if left alone.
 
I read that if it is knocking to tighten the cam nut. I had to buy a new cam nut because someone had beat the hell out of the old one and install it with the cam wrench. I tightened it as much as I could but after re assembling I realized it wobbled. I am not sure if it had a metal centre or not. Will the wobble hurt it if I drive it for the summer.
 
I'm helping my friend with the same noise right now ay Oshkosh. I just pulled the side cover put the pickup in high gear and rocked it back and forth. Sure enough you could see the play between the aluminum center and fiber gear. Tomorrow we'll finish changing to a one piece gear.
 
28 fast faton said:
I read that if it is knocking to tighten the cam nut. I had to buy a new cam nut because someone had beat the hell out of the old one and install it with the cam wrench. I tightened it as much as I could but after re assembling I realized it wobbled. I am not sure if it had a metal centre or not. Will the wobble hurt it if I drive it for the summer.
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It takes a lot of torque to make it tight some where around 100 ft lbs. That would be a 100lb weight on the end of a foot bar. That is a lot of torque.
So the nut is not tight or you have a steel center on a fiber gear. Either way it needs to be fixed.
Gear wobble is not good, your gear teeth will not mesh right.
 
If you try to use the cam nut to force the gear on, most often one of the dowels will hang up, and no mater how tight you pull the nut, the dowel digs in to the fiber gear and will not be at a 90 degree to the cam.

The easy way is stand the cam on end, on a block of wood, and may be cement, or anything that won't give you two ups, for one down, dowels up, and line up the gear with the dowel pins. Then make a thick wall pipe, about 6 inches long, with a I.D. so that it clears the threads on the cam. the wall thickness about 3/8's or so.

Use a heavy hammer on the thick wall pipe, and tap the gear down to the thrust on the cam, making sure that the gear goes on right, and nothing shears off, and goes between the gear, and flange.

The cam threads should be clean and dry, and also the nut, put some, thread locker on, and the nut on.

I use a 5 inch Jawed vice, and lead lined , and put the cam gear side ways in the vice, tighten the cam nut, and give the Z- Ford wrench a crack with a hamer, and I have never had on come loose, ever.
 
Could it be that the two index pins were not in perfect alignment when you tightened the cam nut? That could easily account for the wobble when the nut is tight. It is my suggestion that you remove the cam gear to throughly investigate the problem. Gar Williams
 
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