I recently got a TRX250X that was a basket case. Have the engine all together except for aligning the cam sprocket with TDC. On older Honda's the timing mark was pretty well defined on the head, but in order to align this one the valve cover is removed and the mark has no reference other than the flat of the head? The intertec book I have covers 88-92 all makes/models and does not go into specifics for this problem I have. Can anyone steer me in the right direction?
Thanks in advance.

 

ok . with the valve cover off & removal of the timeing chain tinching adjuster . set the cam in the head with the lobs faceing down . remove the 2 allen bolts on the side of the case (big one on the bottem little on the top ) turn the 18 mm bolt in the hole till the little hole reads T . make sure it is not on F. now put the cam sprocket in with the 2 dots horrizontal . the cam sprocket should look like a cross + . now put the tincher in with the flat head screw turned all the way in . this should suck it together .(the flat head is behind the 8mm bolt on the tinchener ) now place the tinchener in with the new gasket & tighten the 2 8mm bolts & u are done . good luck & let us know how it goes.

 

hhmmmm....
That is what is throwing me off - I thought it might be like the Mojave type cam gear - aligning the dots with the flat of the head, only this has no dots to align, and with the lobes facing down there is only one way the gear can fit the cam.... that is with the single mark on the gear facing in an upward direction (or downward - out of sight- depending which direction you put the gear in)- with nothing other than eye-ball reference. What am I doing wrong?

 

Well, I finally got it figured out.... the marks to align the cam gear with the head are on the backside of the cam gear... the gear has a side that says OUT - it has the single mark pointing in the upward position - looking on the backside (from the direction you are looking when aligning the T mark) there are 2 marks that align with the flat of the head.
Thanks for the help.

 

dan
i am working a 250x and i am having trouble getting the cam gear marks to line up.i can get the marks to line up but as soon as i release the chain tensioner it pulls the slack and the gear back just a bit and it is not line up anymore. according to the book it must be lined up after the tension is on. i tried to compensate so that the gear is turned clockwise 1 notch so that when the tension is on it will come back to tdc but one notch is too far the other way. is there excessive wear somewhere or is lining up before applying tension good enough?
thanks dan

 

You can't get it perfect. Thats what my engine builder said when he did my engine. He said he had to choose one setting or the other. He said he retarted it one tooth and that as the new cam chain stretched out it would retard the timing a little more. The guy has been building engines for over 20 years so I trust him. He said contrary to popular belief you get more horsepower when you retard the timing as to when you advance it.

 

thanks for the response. its had me stopped until i found something out. if you are looking at the cam gear from the right side which way is retard clockwise or counter clockwise?
dan in hartland.

ps where do you ride in fowlerville?