Tuhrak

Hello all,

I have a 2004 Lexus GS 300. While doing the timing belt service and changing out the intake camshaft oil seal, I mistakenly thought the intake half moon which holds the oil seal in place is held in only by the two 10 mm bolts and tried prying it off without removing the two hex bolts holding it down in the back. I ended up breaking the little ears off - please see the picture. For clarification this is where the VVTI solenoid slots in.

I have an intact bearing cap from a junkyard motor. I am aware that these bearing caps are line honed along with the head so it is not possible to simply swap in another cap from another motor, especially as it is important to avoid camshaft bending/loss of oil film, etc. BUT - there is a shop close to me (Phoenix) that does line honing, and I would like to explore the possibility of having my replacement cap line honed so that it meets OEM specs.

I would love to hear your thoughts on this, especially if anyone has done this before. I am loathe to buy a remanufactured head from mass reman companies, as I've heard umpteen stories of shoddy workmanship. My head is in great condition (other than the broken cap of course!) so it would be painful to have to buy a new one, and I would much rather have it rebuilt by a local company who I trust and is not a mass reman unit.

Thanks in advance and looking forward to hearing your inputs!!!

LeX2K

Those things are super delicate I've broken one before (different engine) I put one on from a salvage yard car has run ever since. Yes the bores are honed with the caps in place but since every head goes through the same process in theory the tolerances head to head are close enough.

Don't see how a machine shop could fix this if they line bore the head then the cam journals will be too small.