I replaced the timing gears and cranked it up. Heard some rubbing. Just how far should the camshaft gear go on? I put it on until the front of the gear was flush with the end of the camshaft. Is this correct?

 

NO-----When I did my cam gears ( my engine is a 90) I noticed the can gear went on past flush. I made an installer spacer that let the gear go until it bottomed. Some where in my posts is how to do a cam gear replacement and it mentions the cam gear going on past flush. Flush will most likely allow the cam to walk back and forth.
Here is part of the post
on my cam the nose of the cam stuck out of the gear about 1/32 of an inch when seated all the way, and there was very little clearence between the thrust plate and the cam gear. It should be .005 or something like that. Using the above method the cam will stop moving when the nose hits the washer. I noticed at this point that the trust plate
had a lot of clearence and I realised that the gear had to keep moving. I made a spacer about 1/4 inch thick to put between the
washer and the gear so the nose would pull through more, the inside diameter of the spacer was larger than the cam nose.

 

There is a spacer ring that goes on before the cam gear. Then, the cam gear is pressed on as far as it'll go. The spacer keeps it the perfect distance away so there isn't any rubbing. If it's missing, your cam gear isn't lined up right and is either rubbing on the timing cover or the thrust plate.

 

Shouldn't there have been a spacer on the cam when I took the old gear off or is this something that has to be added on when replacing the gear? I did not remove the cam or crank shafts from the engine. I only changed the gears with both shafts intact to the engine. It wsa a pain to put the new gear on since it was a "pressed on" fit. I heated the gear up to about 400 degrees and then used a bolt, nut and large steel washer to push it on.

 

I would imagine there would be, unless they're pressed on by a machine that's incredibly precise. The idea behind it is, for example, if the thrust plate is .25 inches thick, the spacer is .26 inches thick, that way there's always .01 inches between the cam gear and the thrust plate. That's pretty precise.

I don't know why it'd be missing, unless it was misplaced in the fray of things.
Of course, it's possible that it was on there and you didn't know what you were looking at, and still is, and your cam gear is pressed on as it should be.

 

Thanks.I think I'll fire it up and spend a little more time trying to figure out where the noise is coming from. Worst case, I'll have to take the front cover back off and push the gear on a little further.

 

IIRC, it is crucial which side of the spacer goes toward the engine.

I used an inexpensive set of timing gears on a rebuild, and after only 50 miles they started making a noise, like a subdued knocking. I thought it was a rod knock at first.

Replaced the gears with a quality set and all is good.

 

I changed my timing gears now I need too change my oil pan tomarow I hope I have. it all done right and it is still in time??????¿???

 

I just pulled my old gear and it didn't have the spacer. It just had the oval plate. My old cam gear was flush with the cam face, so that is how I put it back on. I just used my old main berring bolt, the harmonic balancer washer and a big socket. Pressed on no problem. Is this spacer a big deal? I would hate to pull and repress my gear back on since both the engines I have been working on as well as junk yard runs I have never seen this spacer...

 

I *think* the spacer is only for replacement gears. In the factory, precision machines press the cam gear on to precision tolerances, so there's no need for one.

However, at home or in a shop, when you're pressing a cam gear on, a fraction of an inch too far can cause it to make contact with the plate behind it, causing problems. The spacer makes this impossible.

It's possible to put one on without one if you press the cam gear on until it's perfectly flush with the end of the cam (see the third picture from the top in my post with pictures), but any error may cause issues.

 

Yeah, about that spacer... I just called my Ford dealer and he said it is obsolete, but, he can still order it from a warehouse in Wisconsin for, get this, EIGHTY (with a Y) dollars! I guess I will be hunting the yard until I find one. I really need to get this engine together asap. I am off work tomorrow so I will most likely find one at the pull a part. There are about ten 4.9's out there. By the looks they probably all still run too. Also, since I am going to be pulling all these cam gears off I might as well grab all the keys, thrust plates and spacers for spares.

 

Sorry about the hijack. Though, it is related to original post...

 

Ford 240 300 4.9 liter 6 cylinder engines Cylinder head bolts / fasteners

The Finishing Kit has the spacer ring in it, as well as a few other goodies.
Looks like their thrust plate is currently out of stock. Maybe contact them and ask when they'll have it back in?

I've seen other sites with them, but can't track one down at the moment.

 

I have an 89 Bronco with 500,627 miles on it that the timing gears went out, I have managed to get the main gear back on but the smaller one is a bit of a problem, there is barely 1/4 of a inch left until it is on the rest of the way and I am having a hard time completing this last bit so I can put the truck back together. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

Also there are no spacers involved in this set up as the engine is a Straight 6 300....4.9L...no chain or belt or spacers,,also the gears that are replacing the old ones are factory.