Quote:
Originally Posted by jpcallan
Actually, there is no danger of a keeper, etc. falling into a cylinder as I faithfully used the black plastic spark plug hole guides provided with the AGA kit and the flag rod to plumb the piston TDC position, as well as faithfully using the AGA cam chain lock tool to prevent crank shaft movement. With the rope/bungy method there still exists the risk of dropping a valve into a cylinder when backing off the the piston a bit so the valve can extend into the cylinder to put the rocker arm back in place.
You raised the issue of the camshaft balancing lobe on cyl #2. I did the valve stem seals on an 2008 X5 with N62TU engine; #2 had no balancing lobe as described in the AGA Kit manual, but did have a balancing weight lobe on #7 that I had to work around. I've not seen anyone else describe this anomaly, but did confirm it with AGA tech support. AGA's instruction manual is indeed in need of some updates and revisions.
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No, not falling into the cylinder but into the depths of the engine through the wide gaps around the timing gears - it's pretty obvious. If a keeper falls in there, it may be impossible to get it out without disassembling the lower timing case!
As for your assertion of the risk of the valve dropping when backing off the piston to install the rocker arm back, the valve spring and its keepers are already installed at this point so it's impossible for the valve to drop as long as you keep pressing down on the valve as the spring is compressed, the same thing you're to do when using air pressure or nothing at all!
The only risk I see with a rope is it getting stuck due to forming a knot. For this reason a bungee cord is the way to go.