Cam seal change question.

[redsvx94]

Hi All,

I'm trying to change the cam and crank seals while I'm doing the timing belt and water pump.

I loosened the left cam sprocket bolt by setting the breaker bar on the bolt and banging it with hammer, thereby mimicking the effect of impact wrench. While I first set them up to an alignment position, after loosening the bolt, the cams are a little bit rotated. I tried to put them back to alignment position by rotating the right cam (since old timing belt is still on), but I wonder that if the left camshaft and cam sprocket slips with respect to each other, since now bolt is loose, than I may have messed up. I'd think that Subaru wouldn’t design a critical system like that, but I would like to make sure….

[redsvx94]

Deleted. Sorry.

[redsvx94]

So can any one let me know, whether a cam sprocket would rotate without the corresponding camshaft rotating with it when the bolt on the cam sprocket is loose? Sorry my question is not clear, this is my first time to working with that parts of car.

Thanks!

[Beav]

While there are some engines that have keyless cam sprockets the SVX isn't one of them. If you were to remove the sprocket you'd find a woodruff key and slot combination to locate the sprocket/cam.

[redsvx94]

Thanks again, Beav.
Am I relieved to hear that..

[redsvx94]

O.K. I have a couple more questions.
How do I remove the woodruff key and crank sprocket from crankshaft? Some posts state the sprocket should slide right off. When using just hand to pull it off, mine doesn't.

I can see the key and key way on sprocket and shaft. And I don't think the sprocket is stuck to the shaft, since if I tried to rotate it, it has a slightly slack. I loosened the pulley bolt pretty straightforwardly, and the bolt looked good as new.

Should I press the key to some direction with some tool or something?

The other question is, should I drain the engkine oil before taking out the crank and cam seal or would oil pour out when I remove the seal?

Thanks for the helps!