G54b head removal

[FMS88]

That would make it easier if I don't need to worry about the tensioner. I wonder why the manual is concerned with it? I did watch a video where a guy had the tensioner slip off the chain and he then had to pull the timing cover off. I don't know why that happened to him, and was something I certainly wanted to avoid!
The manual also says to attach a large vice grip to the cam to hold it from turning while unbolting the gear from the cam. That seems kind of sketchy to me, and thought about holding the crank instead. Is there a better way to hold everything from turning? I did notice over cylinder 3 on the cam there is a small block cast on the cam. I think that may have been where the manual was talking about holding the cam, but space is tight in there.

Here's an illustration of the cam sprocket (gear) and the holder on which it can rest without adding enough slack to the chain to cause the tensioner to expand too far.



The cam bolt torque is only 40ft lb, so use the crank pulley bolt to prevent things from turning. Set the crank at #1 TDC then only loosen the cam bolt. If the crank moved, return it to TDC. Remove the bolt, distributor drive gear and sprocket. A split pin aligns the cam, sprocket and drive gear. Place the sprocket on the holder and zip tie the chain to the sprocket. As long as you don't move the crankshaft while changing the head gasket, reinstallation of the cam timing components should be a simple reversal of removal steps and the tensioner shouldn't be an issue.

Law Dog is right. Now is a good time to inspect the timing components, especially the chain guide and tensioner surfaces. If heavily grooved, consider replacing them. With the head off, R&I of the timing cover is pretty easy.