Worst nightmare: moved cam while not at TDC with crank

[lucone]

I'm giving you guys a cringe alert..
... I definitely screwed up big and just writing this post was difficult out of sheer embarrassment and disappointment. Hoping I can get a sense of at least what options I have left now..

I'll give a bit of context. Was fixing my first E30 (it wasn't running), and had replaced water pump, timing and accessory belts, radiator, thermostat, spark plugs. Followed instructions to the T and had the car running (still not driving it, needs all the brakes redone, some electrical stuff, etc). I noticed that the belt would squeal when at temperature on acceleration, and after seeing some residue on the tensioner, I realized it was too loose. I went to tighten it and it wouldn't move. I then realized the bottom bolt holding it into the block was on backwards which meant it kept it too tight and not allowed it move to tighten or loosen. So in the excitement to get the problem fixed, I took the bolt out and the tensioner. But in my excitement, I had not gotten cam and crank both to TDC marks before doing..

Unfortunately things get a lot worse.
At this point I was thinking, since I hadn't changed the camshaft seal the first time around but had the spare part, I decided I'd do that step as well. Since the belt was loose I took it off. I know.. I can't believe I did this..
Anyway, I looked at the instructions for cam seal but I had forgotten that in the instructions I was following originally, I had to set everything to TDC before getting to that step. This time I had just skipped to that specific part of the step. So I loosened the cam pulley by sticking a screwdriver to hold the gears from turning, but in that process the gear definitely turned a bit if the screwdriver slipped, and definitely more than a few teeth. Replaced seal, put the gear back in, went to tighten it up, and here misread instructions that specified to torque at the end once belt was back on and instead went ahead and torqued it (or tried to). Had a friend reading instructions and they kinda messed up here..
Anyway, used screwdriver to keep gear still but it definitely slipped a couple times and moved the gear maybe a half turn. At this point we put back in the water pump and tensioner, and then thought that we needed to align the cam and crank. Aligned the cam to its mark (don't remember how much we had to move it) and then went to align crank. Yes I know, this is all very dumb!

I tried rotating the crank and after it moving maybe like a fifth of a turn I hit resistance and heard a vibration. At that point I stopped because it did not seem right and I didn't remember feeling that resistance the first time. I tried turning it in the other direction but same thing would happen, and if I put more pressure, it would just feel like a spring. Feeling like something was very wrong, we looked at the instructions again and realized all the mistakes. We tried putting the belt back on, and seeing if things would be different if we tried moving the crank together with the cam. Nothing really changed, still could only move a fifth or less of a turn. I didn't put a ton of pressure on the crank once I felt resistance, but I'm sure it was more than it should've been, since at first I wasn't sure if it was just compression and tested it a bit.

So basically now I don't know how to get the cam back in the right sync with the crank since the cam gear moved so much. I'm guessing there's damage, I just want to know what you guys think the extent is and what options I have left. Is there any way to fix the situation or find a way to bring the cam gear back where it should be and in sync with the crank? Is this engine totally gone, and the only thing left is to replace it?

Thanks for reading this essay on how to not do things! Please help because even though I really screwed up I don't want to give up yet.

[maxthegearhead]

I doubt you bent a valve only turning the crank by hand. If I were you, I would pull the cylinder head off the ensure that there is no damage, realign the crank and cam to TDC and put it back together with a new head gasket etc. Good chance to replace all the seals!

[superj]

I too /\ would go that route. You can also look into each cylinder with a horoscope and see which is hitting and try to adjust from there, but, taking the head off would be easy and quick

[clarkitect]

You could pull the spark plugs and the valve cover and insert a long screwdriver to discern the position of the pistons. Take turns moving the cam and the crank, watching the rockers and making sure the valves are closed as the pistons come to the top of their stroke. Keep fiddling until you get it all back to TDC. If you feel resistance stop turning. Once you get it all back together rotate a few times to make sure things are good before you run it.

That's what I would do.

[lucone]

I doubt you bent a valve only turning the crank by hand. If I were you, I would pull the cylinder head off the ensure that there is no damage, realign the crank and cam to TDC and put it back together with a new head gasket etc. Good chance to replace all the seals!

That's a huge relief! I'm glad I asked for help.. So basically with the head separated, I should be able to align each separately to TDC as they won't be obstructing each other, and then they should just fit back together ok?

[superj]

There are alignment marks on the head, for the cam pulley, and on the block, for the crank pulley. Align those and than put it together.

[Iggy7]

Did you end up taking off the head? Did you find any damage? Was curious to hear the end of the saga if you don’t mind sharing.