Cam Sensor Orientation

[OldGrayII]

O.K., I'm about to pull my hair out with this dam Cam Sensor! After buttoning everything up from the timing Chain and Blueprinted cover Install I did as the Instructions said - With the motor at TDC, matched Zero mark on balancer, I Installed the Cam Sensor, Then moved the motor to the 25Degree mark (1.50in) on balancer, Loosened the sensor, plugged-In the caspers tool, and spun the sensor clockwise about 1/2" and the Light came on, kept spinning about another 3/4 to 1 inch and the light went out, turned it BACK counterclockwise till the ligt JUST came on, and tightened the bolt!! Now, the weird part is this:

A. The sensor cap wires are facing forward(6 oclock)??

B. The Timing Chain Instal instructions on GNTTYPE say to move the motor to the 0 mark (TDC) on the balancer and install the sensor, everything else I've read says to Install it at the 25Degree mark ATDC (1.50in) mark...Which is correct??

C. Caspers tool says to loosen sensor, turn it 1/4 turn, stop and turn it counterclockwise until light JUST comes on, and bolt it down. Well I loosen sensor, turn it 1/4 turn clockwise and BING the light comes on!! So I continue turning it (clockwise) until the light goes out, then I go counterclockwise until it just comes back on, and bolt it down. Why is the light coming on at the WRONG TIME????

 

[Chuck Leeper]

Cam sensor??

OG, you move the crank to 25* ATDC on the compression stroke, THEN install the cam sensor. DO NOT install at TDC, and then rotate to 25*ATDC.. you will be 25* off as the sensor gear meshes w/ the cam at that point and turning the cap only makes a mess!!

Bring the engine to TDC on the compression stroke.. BOTH valves on #1 closed. Continue to rotate to 25* ATDC.
Look at the cam sensor gear. there's a dot on it near the bottom. Install the sensor w/ the dot facing the pass. fender and the wires in the cap are pointing towards the dr headlite. Once the gear meshes w/ the cam gear, you should be close to the sensor bottoming in the cover.[ A little "sneaky cream on the o'ring helps!!] If it's still up a bit and the gears are meshed,[you can't turn the sensor shaft], it's OK to bump the engine a bit to get the oil pump shaft to mesh into the bottom of the sensor gear.Once this is done, put the cap on, and hook up the indicator lite. Turn the sensor CLOCKWISE until the lite goes out, turn it COUNTER CLOCK until it just lites. I then continue CCW about 1/8 to 1/4" and lock it down. [Lite should still be on]

HTH,

 

[JDEstill]

OG, the wires can face any direction and the sensor still be installed correctly. It all depends on the orientation of the sensor as you drop it in. I like to drop mine in with the cap off, so I can see the window. If I start with the window pointing to the firewall, when I'm all done the wires point straight down. This is due to the window rotating some as the sensor meshes with the gear on the cam shaft.

If you don't like the way yours is oriented, pull it out, take the cap off, and drop it back in with the orientation I use. You can use a long screw driver to get the slot in the oil pump oriented correctly so it will all fit together without having to bump the motor.

I always start with the motor at 25deg ATDC and I don't have to move it at all during the procedure. I don't think it matters if you start everything at 0 deg and then move it to 25 deg later, as long as the engine is at 25 deg when you set the cam sensor with the tool.

BTW, make sure you start from the right TDC, there are 2 TDC's (since this is a 4 stroke engine). And if you are using a piece of masking tape on the balancer to indicate how far 25 deg is, the correct length is 1.45". Some people recommend going to 22 deg, which is about 1 5/16". So somewhere in that range. I saw you reference 1.50", which is probably a bit much. Depends on which theory you subscribe to, which we all may be sorry that I brought up.

Oh yeah, question C... it sounds like their instructions assume you are starting with the cam sensor being pretty close to where it should be, already on the back side of the window. Since you started from the front side of the window, the light came on as you turned it clockwise. Don't worry about it, it sounds like you got it set right. If you went through the procedure now that you have it set, it would work exactly like they described.

John

 

[OldGrayII]

Chuck,

Once Again, thanks a million!! Only 1 thing, when I Re-Install the sensor, I'll have the cap off, so instead of the wires pointing to the dr headlight, how about the Reluctor window?

 

[OldGrayII]

JDE, thanks to you as well...One other thing too guys, when my motor builder (South Jerseys Dan Smith) did my front cover (booster plate, new longer gears, etc.) he packed the gears with Vas., so I guess I DO NOT have to prime the motor??

 

[Chuck Leeper]

PRIME THE MOTOR??

PRIME THE MOTOR!!! The vaselene was put in there to enhance the prime process. It seals the cavity so the oil is pulled into the system quickly!!
The references I made to locations was from the published info in GS extra from some yrs ago. John is right, the wires can face any direction.
As for the 25*ATDC. That location was put there for some reason. Guess I'm not aware why.

 

[S10xGN]

Another little trick - you can use a screwdriver blade to align the oil pump drive slot so it drops in the first time - I find that 5/11 o'clock on the drive groove (viewed from the front "over the radiator") works best for me.

HTH,