Hi all, Hope someone can point me in the right direction. I picked up a 2002 1200cc sporty motor for a project I'm working on. When I received the engine I also received a note in the box from the seller explaining that he is not sure the cams are aligned properly (timing). The HD manual does not explain cam timing at all. It shows a very nice diagram of the alignment markings which I totally understand. My question is this, (1) when I roll the engine up on TDC (front cylinder) with the TDC line in the (window) timing hole, are all of the alignment markings on the cams suppose to all line up at this point? (2) if the rear cylinder at TDC compression stroke lines up the marks on the cams, are the cams 180 degrees out?

Any help is appreciated.
Thanks and Best Regards
Dave

 

By getting the line in the hole at TDC your ensurring the pinion gear timing mark is at the 11:00 position.....so as long as the pinion mark is up and all the cam timing marks align up your good to go. Key is timing the #2 cam to the pinion gear, andall cams timed to each other. #1 cam is far left and #4 is far right.

 

Hi Doc, Thanks for your quick reply. With the pinion gear timing mark(line) at 11:00 position and aligned properly to the #2 cam timing mark (dot) I haveinstalled the other 3 cams with proper alignment and all timing marks line up perfectly as per the HD service manual pictorial.
However, the TDC mark is not in the timing hole with all cams aligned. If I roll the engine forward to get the vertical TDC line in the hole, the timing mark on the pinion gear is at 1:00. You mentioned that by placing the TDC vertical line in the timng hole would ensure that the pinion gear mark would fall in at 11:00.. I'm a little confused about that. I know the pinion gear was never removed from the engine. I heard the engine run before I bought it and I know the owner was incapable of removing the pinion. The reason he messed up the cams is he had a chrome gear case cover and rocker boxes and he wanted to keep them. I'm sure he had the rockers off when he pulled the cam cover . Withno valve spring tension the cams came out with the cover. So here I am... I really appreciate your help, I can't believe the HD XL service manual doesn't have more info on this.
Dave