Well I started doing my cam phasers yesterday >, it took me about two and a half hours to do the driver side . I didn't replace anything , but the cam phaser and bolt . was kinda easy > very happy with my self . But this means the passanger side is going to probley kick my ***** when I do it , this coming week-end . I hoping I can do this with out pulling the A/C lines off but I keep reading it has to be done so at least I have a few days to think about it before I do it .
THANKS TO ALL WHO HAVE POSTED INFO ON THIS SUBJECT IN THE PAST YOUR TIPS HAVE HELPED ALOT SO FAR !

 

Good Luck
Did you see the phasers damaged? Were the "bent looking"?

 

driver side had no outward damage showing , it look just like the new phaser did , but was only marked with the L not both the L and R like the new one . I did drive it to work last night and my gas mileage did just 2 mpg from 13 to just over 15 mpg , so I'm hopeing that changing the other phaser will get me to 17 plus mpg.
AND BTW THE VISE-GRIP TRICK WORKS

 

was your chain nice and tight when you opened it up?
The tesnioners like to fail and it causes slack on one side of the chain :s

 

Passenger side rocker cover removal is a pain in the ***! You will have to depressure and remove the AC line at least!

It great that you are tackling this work yourself, I just hope the remaining timing gear componants are not going to give you problems soon.....becasuse the phasers wear out after something else usualy starts wearing!

Good luck with the rest of it!

 

^^ I like this guy, he knows how its done!

 

It can be done without removing the a/c refrigerant. It's a PITA but can be done. If I were do it again I would skip draining the A/C system.

 

chain was loose on the phaser but felt tight other wise > I've been going over it in my head to do the chains and guaids and put a new oil pump in it , it does have 167,000 miles on it now .

 

I was goinng to try to unbolt the passanger side cover then lift the front and see if there was room to change the phaser with out removing the cover conpletely .
Also my driver -side cam sensor had all kinds of crap on it , I'm hoping the passanger side doen't have as much crap on it , wasn't really bad .but my cobra motors were always clean when I pulled them apart.
I'D LIKE MORE INFO ON TAKING THE PASSANGER SIDE VALVE COVER OFF WITH OUT DISCHARGING THE A/C !! ANY TIPS???

 

chain should not be loose at all when you open it. Personally, I would dig further for the $$ and the few extra hrs