Hello camry lovers

I want to change my valve adjustment discs. I have a spare engine to practice on. so i started to remove the discs one by one to get the technique (wich is damn hard and frustrating... )
I have removed a few. but now it seems i cant turn the camshaft to remove the rest. I think the camshaft lobes are getting stuck in the metal surrounding the valve discs ? is this normal and what should i do ? i didnt want to try to turn it too hard because i guess that would scratch the cam lobes and make it useless...
Also, are the parts very sensitive or does the smallest scratch from a screwdriver on the cam lobe or valve disc make it useless ?
thanks for your help

 

Don't rotate the cams unless there is a disk installed on each valve spring disk holder.

Is the timing belt off, if so the cams will be difficult to rotate with the cam pulley even with the disks in place.

Best not to scratch the disk or cam lubes however both surfaces are very hard.

You can turn the disk over and use the other side if scratched.

Use electrical tape, etc on the screw driver for protection. There are special tools for changing the disks, try Ebay for photos.

Best to work one valve at a time. Measure the clearance, then remove the disk and measure its thickness. Toyota has a chart that can be used to determine the replacement shim number based on this info. If you have a stack of shims find on the thickness you need to obtain the desired clearance.

 

Yes i have the speacial tools for that. and the toyota manual. I just wanted to remove all the discs to get the trick to it. this is my spare ''learning'' engine. I will then check the valve clearance on my engine in the car and do it 1 by one. I guess youre not suppose to remove em all at once ?

 

You can remove all of them but as you have found out the cam will be much more difficult to rotate.

 

for $170 to have it done at the shop.... I am die hard DIY but I would let them do it. We had 94 Corolla with those goofy things. What a shame...