Hi Group, i am new here and need your help. I have in 1998 Lexus GS 300, It has a 2JZ-GE VVTI. I recently took my VVTI cam gear and replaced the oil seal but did not take in consideration that i needed to place marks identifying were to place the inner plate. I put the engine back together and now I am experiencing a lot of hesitation.

I have looked all over the Internet and I have not been able to find anybody that can explain how to configure the Cam gear properly.

If you have any information or can help with any guidance it will be greatly appreciated. I don't want to buy a new one as this part is really expensive.

 

Does the 2JZ use Scissor Gears on the Cams when it’s equipped with VVTI? I know that a common problem with the 1UZ when someone does the cam seals for the first time, and don’t lock the gears in place before removing the cams. You might want to start there if your car does have these helical cut gears turning the cams.

 

Below is a picture of the Cam Gear, i forgot to mark the position and now i dont know where it should go.

 

Im not sure but I dont think it requires such marking for timing as I believe it is slotted to prevent issues.
i suspect your vvti solenoid or timing may be causing the problem. Again not sure but i think before ypu pull apart the gear the timing should be double chevked and maybe clean vvti solnoid screen and ck wiring and operation. The pind just love to push out of the connector when plugging onto solenoid.

 

So on the 1UZ, what I have experience with, when the crank is at 0degrees, the #1 piston will be at TDC, and if you look closely at the inner cam gear, not the big external one, there will be a single dimple on both gears where they’re closest together. So the single dimples will be in the same position and on the opposite spot, on the same face, there will also be a double dimple on each gear. When they’re in this position there is a 6mm bolt hole in one of the gears, and threading a bolt thru will lock the gears together, in the correct spot. Again I am talking about the he smaller gear located down the cam a little bit. They are spring loaded and if taken apart with locking them in, they can’t mesh correctly. I believe these gears are part of the VVTi system and when not locked up during removal and installation, that they make a big racket when u fire it up.
Maybe I am going down the wrong path here. I am just not as familiar with the intricacies of the 2JZ like I am the 1UZ.
I am certain that the cam seals on any DOHC engine require correctly timing the cams and crank. Did you have it set to 0degrees when you removed the cam? That’s where you’ll need to start now, set the crank at 0, and the cams to their corresponding rotation. You have to make sure both cams are timed correctly and synchronized with the crankshaft also. Have you got a good reference for how to correctly time the cams and crank during a Timing Belt install? If you don’t have the instructions for a Timing Belt install. Try searching clubLexus, there should be plenty of help for your engine. If you cant find anything useful, let me know and I will see if I have any better luck

 

This forum member did a nice youtube

 

I believe that’s Jeff Tsai, one of the 2JZ OG’s that had built some of fastest and record setting GS300’s ever built. His user name is all over some of the original threads if you go back in the archives. He certainly knows the 2JZ better than I do. You need to locate his video reinstalling the cams. And that should help get any kinks worked out.

 

Yep that's Jeff. I would think everything the OP is after should be found within that youtube. I referenced it myself doing that job a number of years back. Seems like a pretty straightforward operation.

 

I was going to make a thread on my change, but I'll just piggyback on this one. I did not remove the cam gear, I just did the cap. However, it was a very long and frustrating experience. Luckily, the leak is fixed $10 later. So, you can change the seal without removing the cam gear.