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Are there different ways to set timing marks on 06 3.6 ?


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:welcomesmiley:

Nearly all modern engines are interference engines, but don't assume that there has been impact between valve and piston until you get to that point.

Since the camshaft rotates at half the crankshaft rate, there is an ambiguity, when the cam chains are positioned correctly with all the timing marks, in whether the cams are positioned for the reference piston at top dead center exhaust/intake or top dead center compression/firing in each pair of camshafts. The 2:1 ratio is in the idler sprockets. To get this right, you must follow the procedure in the FSM to position the pistons correctly when you align all the timing marks for the secondary timing chains.

Also, there are two designs for the 3.6 cam chains and the timing marks and diagrams for the secondary chains is slightly different. I'm going to assume that you know this and have the correct timing marks for your engine. Using the incorrect timing diagram might get a cam or two one tooth off but that will result in hard starting and poor performance but not zero compression.

I'm also going to assume that you have the intake and exhaust cams in their right places. From the FSM, it appears that it may be possible to put them in place in reverse order, or even put two intake or exhaust cams on one head. The car won't start this way and I think that you will not be able to align the timing marks with the timing flats of the cams properly aligned.

This gets us to the key: the flats on the back of the camshafts must be parallel to each other and the cylinder head while all the timing marks are aligned on both the primary and secondary chains, with the crankshaft in a one position for the left head and another position for the right head; the left and right heads must be done separately. The crankshaft position must be in the correct position for Stage 1 for the left head and Stage 2 for the right head. In other words, once the crankshaft angle is set to align all the timing marks for the left head, the crankshaft must be rotated to the Stage 2 position before aligning the camshaft for the right head.

If you don't have a 2006 FSM, you should get one before you proceed. I have it on the GM SI DVD but there are a whole lot of figures and several pages of instructions that are linked to each other in the browser, making it a bit hard to upload. Send me a PM if you are in a bind on the FSM.

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