How do you remove the cam cover on a '97 Grand Am Gt 2.4L Twin Cam?

Answer 1

It's not as easy as it should be - you have to remove all of the obvious stuff to gain access to the cover from the top. Remove serpentine belt. Jack up passenger front wheel, secure with jack stands. Remove the splash shield to gain access to the crank pulley, remove that pulley, loosen all of the timing cover bolts. Put the crank pulley retaining bolt back on crank and use it to rotate engine to top dead center (align little dots on crank and case). Then mark the chain where it meets the two cam sprockets, remove the chain tensioner (lower on the engine, near the crank). Next, remove the two cam sprockets from the cams. Then the trick is to remove all the bolts in the face of the timing cover that hold it to the block plus loosen the nuts that hold the water pump (under the exhaust manifold) to the timing cover. Don't remove the nuts entirely or you'll have trouble getting them started again (at least the one nearest the engine block). With the water pump loose enough, you should have enough clearance to get the cam cover off the top of the cam housing. You can do all of this without removing any of the engine mounts, but you will have to work with the timing cover to find just the position that it will go up over the mount and allow you to work inside the timing chain housing. I'd recommend getting a Chilton's manual - what I've stated is not working line for line from that book, but what I've figured out by using that book as a reference and doing a bit of experimenting.