Johnesweeney23

Hi everyone! This is my first post so I'm really hoping I can get some help here. I have a 2014 Jeep JKU and ordered some Melling replacement rockers, lifters, and went ahead and ordered some OEM camshafts. I had a pretty bad tick coming from my driver side, (left) engine head. Sure enough two of the rockers were very badly worn. Anyways the job was going good. Everything lined up and torqued down in sequence. I decided to rotate the crankshaft by hand just to be sure everything functioned properly. I made it like 97% of one full turn of the crankshaft and it stopped turning! I didn't use any more force than what I was using to turn the crankshaft. Frustrated and worried something serious was messed up I started doing a little research and calling around because I didn't want to do anything else until I could figure out what was keeping my crankshaft from rotating.

Well!!! I figured it out and I don't think it's as bad as it could have been. But I'm not experienced enough in dealing with camshafts and timing and all of that so I don't know the do's and don'ts. One of my rockers must not have been placed firmly on the lifter and valve. The part that rest on the valve slipped off! See below ...





So can anyone help me fix this? My timing marks are just about lined up. Maybe only a couple more turns of the crankshaft. So is this as easy as just loosening up the cam covers? Then guiding the rocker back onto the valve? Any help and information is greatly appreciated!!! Thank you in advance!

resharp001

This is no bueno.

SOOO, there are a lot of people that will replace a rocker simply by loosening those caps, letting the cam lift up and sliding the new rocker in. That is not something I would do cuz need to recall that head is alumiun, and those caps and bolts aren't intended to be used as leverage to pull the camshaft down. having said that, you are between a rock and a hard spot. I personally would not force that to turn anymore. I think I would use the tool(s) to release the lock on the chain tensioner and then the wedge to relieve tension on the chain. I think at that point the option is to indeed loosen the caps just enough to reposition that one rocker. I would try all I could to not use the caps and bolts to pull the camshaft back down. Hopefully the cam is in a neutral position and not under tension (recall how you have to back those driver's side cams off to to a neutral position when removing them). I'm not sure you have much other option here.

Observation - the rocker arms look pretty dry. did you soak those in oil for a good while before installing? Anytime taking a camshaft out or replacing, not a bad idea to use engine assembly lube when putting back together. Looks like might have some oil on the camshaft cuz glistening a bit. Definitely don't try to crank that sucker dry, AND, when you do use the key to turn the engine over, I'd step on the gas peddle all the way and let it crank for about 5-7 seconds to get all the oil primed before starting it up. (stepping on the peddle will disable the fuel injectors and just let the engine crank). Any time my jeep has sat for long periods of time, I'll do that before starting it.

Also, make sure you clean the hell out of the mating surface on the head before putting the VC back on. sucks to go through all that work to end up with a leak there at the VC gasket! Looks dirty in the pics still. use acetone or rubbing alcohol to clean it up......especially where the small bits of RTV go.

Johnesweeney23

Thank you so much for the response! Okay so...When I did the left side, (passenger side) everything went perfect. I made sure I was at TDC, made my marks, tooke everything off. Installed on that side new rockers and lifters, camshafts, cam phaser, and oil control valve bolts just because I wanted all new parts since I was already there. Torqued everything down and just made one full turn by turning the crankshaft just to see if everything lined back up and functioned properly. Everything was good 👍. But when I moved to the driver side, as I mentioned I did not complete the full turn. I'm literally like 97-98% there. So my #1 is no longer at TDC. If I still make timing marks even though I'm not at TDC, and mark the cam phaser, the chain link, the camshaft, and the cam cap, and be sure that everything lines back up when installed, I should be good right? It makes sense to me but again I've never done camshafts so Idk.

And yes, the rockers and lifters sat in oil for over a day before I installed them. The camshaft I used assembly lubed before installing. I can run some more oil over everything before I put the valve cover back on. I didn't get Tom cleaning the head yet because I just left everything as it was once I realized I was in a 💩 situation.

So just to recap, even though my #1 is not at TDC, if I make my marks anyways, and release the chain tension, take off the cam phaser, undo the bolts and take off the cam caps, I should be able to remove the camshaft to fix that rocker position and reinstall everything making sure all marks are signed up, I should be good right? I just don't know how much tension that camshaft is under, or if it's even something I need to worry about.

Again, I thank you for the response!

Johnesweeney23

And sorry I forgot to mention too, you're right. When I took out the intake camshaft on the driver side, I had to slightly rotate the camshaft towards the passenger side in order to take it out. The same with the exhaust camshaft. So because I did not completely finish my turn to get back to my TDC, I actually might already be in that position where my exhaust camshaft isn't under tension 🤔

resharp001

Yes, I suspect you are pretty close to neutral position on that camshaft. the issue with removing the phaser from the cam is you will not be able to "lock" that into position with the timing block since you can't get the timing lined up. The only reason that becomes a hassle is once you remove that phaser, nothing is holding it up.....you'd simply be removing it from the chain and all. You could get a helper to hold it for a minute while you get the other things situated, or you could remove the phaser and just let the chain dangle for a moment. I'd mark everything again so you make sure things go back exactly as they are right now. the chain, the phaser, and mark the camshaft and bearing cap so that if you have to rotate the cam at all you can get it back right where it was previously.

On a side note, I'd move from 5W20 to 5W30 oil. i swear that 5W20 that is recommended is just too thin and when it heats up it's not getting the job done. really think that is the main source of a lot of valvetrain issues on this 3.6L.

Johnesweeney23

Okay...I got a little busy with my kids so I had to take a break from my Jeep, but here's a little update on my situation.

I watched another YouTube video where it goes over in good detail how to do the rockers and lifters, one side he does by removing the cam phasers, and the other side he does by leaving everything in tact and just removing the journal caps. He also went counterclockwise on the crankshaft which I never wanted to do because I was afraid of possibly jumping a link, if that's even possible. However, I wanted to get that camshaft lobe up amd off that rocker as much as possible. So I CAREFULLY, and slowly began to rotate the crankshaft counterclockwise and got to a point where all the lines on the camshaft were putting the least amount of pressure against the lifters and valves. I backed up the bolts all the way and then screwed them back down just a little back into the threads so I didn't have to remove them, unless I needed to. I got a pet bar ONLY to use as help to lift the camshaft up a little since the camshaft wasn't under a lot, if any, tension at all. Well I was able to get my fingers underneath the lobe and after a little struggle, I was able to maneuver the rocker back into place and seated it correctly onto the valve and lifter. Gave a little inspection again and noticed my rocker all the in the back by the end of the camshaft that little rocker was slightly off the valve too. So I corrected that one, gave one final inspection, and everything looked good.


Tightened all the bolts back down to spec and I've manually turned the crankshaft over a few times already with no issues. Sooo...I just have to wait for some vacuum hoses to come in so I can put this baby back together and it better start! Lol I can't see why it wouldn't but again I've never done a camshaft job so I'm just anxious about everything. Now while I wait for my parts I can clean off the head and get the valve cover back on, out new spark plugs in, ignition coils, and install the new camshaft sensor and cam phaser sensors as well. Then also while waiting I guess I can clean up the engine bay lol 🤷‍♂️...

Thanks again for the help!!!

resharp001

Glad you got it corrected. Sometimes it's also good to just walk away and come back later with a fresh mind. None of this stuff is rocket science, and doing things like this is great experience in seeing how the valvetrain is actually working. Similar to household appliances, the intimidation is just not knowing, and thinking there is so much more that it going on that you're not qualified to attempt a fix. Time, patience, and the ability to follow directions is really all it takes.

In regard to turning the crank counterclockwise....most of the time you don't want to do that is because of the piston rings. the piston rings operate like a window squeegee. that is an exaggerated example, but a good way to think about it. as the piston moves up in the cylinder the rings are slanted just a touch downward....then as the piston tops out and reverses travel downward, think of the ring snapping to the other direction like a squeegee would when direction of motion changes. So, any wear marks from the piston ring changing direction would be in normal areas at the top or bottom of the cylinder. when you start getting all willy nilly moving the crank bolt both directions regularly, think of the piston changing directions mid-stroke and possibly wear on the cylinder wall. Again, this is a very extreme example/explanation but you get the idea. doing it once is nbd.....just not something to do regularly.

When you do start that sucker up, don't forget to prime the oil system by stepping on the gas peddle and letting it crank for 5-7 seconds. Also, seriously consider 5W30 oil as I mentioned above. If you wanted to go crazy, good time to redo that wire loom in the engine bay while you have a little time.....or at least on that side. I did that this last year. I was tired of that junk disintegrating when tearing things apart for repair. Sure takes some time to do nicely, but man it's worth it.