How do I re-engage the lock pin on the timing gear on the intake camshaft? The gear is able to move through its normal range of motion, but to set the timing chain I need the lock pin to engage. Do I need to use an air compressor in one of the oil holes?
I think you need air to release it, but you shouldn't need to do anything special to re-lock it, other than rotate the gear back to the position where it locks. (I think that's why the manual keeps nagging you over and over not to rotate it back to that position, until you get to that step.) If it doesn't just click back in at that point, I'd suspect some kind of problem. Gummy oil? The manual warns against disassembling the thing, but I've seen photos where somebody did.
That’s what I thought, it should just re-engage. And yes, the manual does make a point of this, but I have two intake cams sitting in my garage, neither are locked...I took one gear apart to try and figure this out and it doesn’t look like videos online; there is no circular recess in the backing plate for a pin to sit, nor was there a spring putting pressure on a pin. There is only an empty cylinder in the phaser. Car worked fine for 330k, if this broke at some point I can’t imagine where the parts went. Aside from the 5-pointed bolts, it’s not really difficult to disassemble and reassemble. Just pay attention to what you’re doing. At this point though, if I put it back together, I haven’t solved anything.
