camshaft pulley!

[ffgb]

How do you all tighten/loosen the camshaft pulley before/after a timing belt change?  I do not have the fancy bar that attaches to the pulley and leverages the pulley in the opposite direction when trying to torque down or loosen the bolt.  Please, how do you all do it safely?

[745 turbogreasel]

vice grip on the cam (not on the lobe ) with the handle  wedged  on valve cover surface works ok in the field.
I welded 2 allen bolts to a bit of pipe such that they plug into holes in the cam pulley, and my socket fits through the pipe....then welded on a handle.   works great.

[8v-of-fury]

This works great too.

[Rabbit on Roids]

omg dude, you are gonna mess your cam up doing that. never use a tool on the lobe of a cam. thats possibly the stupidest thing you could do. get a little nick on the lobe, then it wipes out the adjuster shim, and possibly that lobe on the cam. leave the timing bar in the back of the cam, or lock some vice grips to the actual shaft of the cam, not the lobe.

[Doug]

That was worth a chuckle. I think that was the intent.

[Op-Ivy]

Vice grip on cam shaft between the lobes.

[truckinwagen]

I regularly use a crescent wrench on the cam lobe, I just put a rag between it and the cam, works great and no issues yet.

an old timer told be to do it, and I have no problem doing it.

I would be more worried about damage done by putting a vise grip between the lobes, the cams are not great castings to begin with and adding stress points(the grooves left by the vise grip) would be a bad idea, at least as I see it.

[Rabbit on Roids]

I regularly use a crescent wrench on the cam lobe, I just put a rag between it and the cam, works great and no issues yet.

an old timer told be to do it, and I have no problem doing it.

I would be more worried about damage done by putting a vise grip between the lobes, the cams are not great castings to begin with and adding stress points(the grooves left by the vise grip) would be a bad idea, at least as I see it.

Vw cams are of much harder alloy and much greater quality than american counter parts. vw cams are tough, no set of vice grips is going to mess one up if you do it on the shaft between the lobes. theres just no way that i would ever hold the cam by the lobe.

[8v-of-fury]

theres just no way that i would ever hold the cam by the lobe.

Vince says its ok.. so I believe it is ok.

[Dakotakid]

Life on the ragged edge can be exciting!!!

[wolf_walker]

If you hurt that lobe with an adjustable crescent you are a bad, bad mofo.  Think about what that piece of metal does for a living.

[8v-of-fury]

'tis true. use a clean crescent wrench. always worked for me, however IMO i'm cheap

[wolf_walker]

however IMO i'm cheap

If I wasn't a cheap SOB I damn sure wouldn't(still) be driving one(two) of these noisy slow
beasties after all these years..   lol

[Rabbit on Roids]

NEVER use the cam lock to hold the cam while loosening the cam bolt.  There are lots of ways to hold the cam from turning.  I've never used the vice grips on the cam or the crescent.  Neither method appeals to me.  It took me about 15 minutes one day to make a "temporary" pulley holder using an old piece of pipe, a piece of angle iron three bolts and six nuts.  A drill and chop saw with fiber disc did the work.  That makeshift pulley holder has lasted several years.  I've actually just recently been eying some nice new steel square tube I have here and been thinking I'd make a more refined version.  The actual tools can be had for $30 or so.

   

why cant you use the cam lock to hold the cam? it seems like its safer than holding the cam with a toothed tool. or a cresent wrench. i just have a slightly bent wrench that i hold my cam with.

[8v-of-fury]

the cams alloy has never been subjected to twisting force. You run a very high chance of breaking the back of the cam (where the lock slides in), and if your lucky it comes off when you did it.. if your not it only cracks and comes off 1000miles don the road when your 140miles from home lol. you probably run a slight chance of breaking the cam right in the middle, im just saying.

You'd use a cam lock to loosen/tighten but you are against a crescent wrench on the lobe.. Makes sense lol