If I do not have access to a miller tool, what options do I have to hold the tensioner for removal and replacement during a Timing belt install?

I'm on the list for the GDE toolset, I may not get it in time for the July 19th day I have a bay rented to work on it.

See my comments at viewtopic.php?f=5&t=69392&p=742049#p742049

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Sold to LOST member my 05 Ltd, GDE Stg II turbo + TCM tune, SunCoast TC w. Transgo kit, Steiger window regulators, Samcos, Fumoto valve, 2nd gen filter head with Lub. Spec. bleeder, Hayden clutch & 11 blade fan, inverted spare, P-1 battery, BF Goodrich Long Trail TAs, Etecno1 glow plugs, timing belt at 50K miles/8 yrs

Thank you. The Miller VM cam and crank pins are easily purchased?

Just google the 2 part numbers. They seem to be readily available for about $100 for the 2 or you might do an in the clear post asking if there is a member nearby from whom you can borrow the tools. Most of us with tools are a bit reluctant to let them out of our sight.

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Sold to LOST member my 05 Ltd, GDE Stg II turbo + TCM tune, SunCoast TC w. Transgo kit, Steiger window regulators, Samcos, Fumoto valve, 2nd gen filter head with Lub. Spec. bleeder, Hayden clutch & 11 blade fan, inverted spare, P-1 battery, BF Goodrich Long Trail TAs, Etecno1 glow plugs, timing belt at 50K miles/8 yrs

Understood, I'll get my own. I hope to do it at least 1 more time

Ordered the locking pins from miller today. Parts from idparts also.

I am about to start my timing belt project, which will include the water pump.

I am resisting buying the cam gear tool, and GDE has quite the wait. I have the pins on their way already. With that said, here is my question...

What exactly does this tool do? I understand it locks both gears together, but the lower portion looks to have some adjustments in them. Are these adjustments there to set tension, or simply to lock the tool in place?

I have more than enough material and ability with the welder to come up with an "I" that will slip between the gears, preventing them from rotating. Do you all think doing so will be adequate for the locking duty?

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-Rich
It must be air in the fuel!

You might want to PM Sir Sam as he has been all the way into the water pump and I have not.

That said the 2 cam pins and the flywheel pin are used to make sure the cams and the flywheel/crank are timed together which makes the engine run properly and, most importantly, keeps the valves and pistons from occupying the same space. If you are just doing the timing belt (not including the water pump) you don't really need the big shiny aluminum cam sprocket holding tool although IMHO if you have one, I do in my full Miller kit, you might was well us it. I don't recall if the top edges of that tool engage upper cam teeth (I think they do but just am not sure) but I do know that the bottom knobs are used to engage lower cam teeth (i.e. lock not adjust). As I understand it the main purpose of the tool is to hold the cam gears and cam shafts stationary relative to each other while the cam nuts are being removed and reinstalled. The 3 pins are simply not up to the job of doing so. The cam gears are not "keyed" to the cams so the cam gears can bolt back on most any way, the same position the came off is IMHO still best, but it's critical that the cams and flywheel remain in the same relative postions.

That said http://www.beesvillebeefarm.com/jeep.html used a VW cam holding tool and I recall a forum post, don't have the link, where someone used some combination of welded angle iron to lock the 2 cams together during removal.

Sir Sam and others would likely know better than I but I suspect locking the 2 cams together during removal is not critical, rather it's convenient. Seems to me, pending ratification, that each cam could independently be held stationary and removed/reinstalled so long as when done the witness marks and 3 pins all lined up properly. NOTE this opinion is just that until ratified so don't depend on it.

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Sold to LOST member my 05 Ltd, GDE Stg II turbo + TCM tune, SunCoast TC w. Transgo kit, Steiger window regulators, Samcos, Fumoto valve, 2nd gen filter head with Lub. Spec. bleeder, Hayden clutch & 11 blade fan, inverted spare, P-1 battery, BF Goodrich Long Trail TAs, Etecno1 glow plugs, timing belt at 50K miles/8 yrs

The water pump is getting done as well. Maybe not totally needed, but since I have the piggy pulled apart, I am going to just knock it out.

My question was specifically, the VM tool has the two adjustable "pins" which I now understand are simply locks. If that is the case, I can make a very simple lock out of 1.5" angle iron that will bridge bottom and top of the gear, with a vertical bar to connect them. Just got word from Keith at GDE verifying that the tool only locks the gears together. So thank you for the response, parts will be here tomorrow, and when I start the project I will take pics of the tooling I create.

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-Rich
It must be air in the fuel!

If you take a welders marking pen, you can mark the old belt to the pulleys, transfer the marks to the new belt, and bingo, no timing troubles. That is what I did and I have all the Miller tools, but did not need them. KISS!

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20 year owner of Libby CRD!
2006 LTD Bright Silver loaded with all the needed mods, CCV intact.
Equipped with HDS thermostat, plenty of heat, faster warm-ups, increased fuel mileage.

I'm not doing the wp this time, I am just doing the Level II service in the sir sam guide, along with the gde and the beesville write up I hope to work through it in time to go over to the brewery after I am done

I did purchase the locking pins but will use the welding pen to mark the cam sprockets and any other pulley I don't remove.

I received my parts from idparts today. ordered them Friday. Still waiting for the pins, but not doing the job until next Thursday when I have a stall available to work in at the biodiesel plant