3.4 DOHC Intermediate Shaft Question

[dave_1976]

I just bought a 95 Monte with a 3.4 dirt cheap that needs a timing chain. The car has 171k but looks great. Someone else has already replaced the timing belt and idler pulleys. The bolt for the intermediate shaft sprocket was not tight at all. I took the sprocket off and turned the crankshaft but the intermediate shaft did not move. Is this normal or is there a keyway or an alignment dowl that may have broke off. I put everything back together and can make the thing idle. Rev it up a little and the chain makes some noise and finally jumps. The shaft is not broke since I have oil pressure. Just wondering what to expect at teardown. Plan on replacing chain, gears and tensioner. Any info on the intermediate shaft would be greatly appreciated.

[blazes9395]

The shaft is just a dummy shaft where the camshaft would be and is used only to run the oil pump. The timing chain is used to drive the shaft. I don't remember if its keyed or not. Most likely is.

One word of advice though, don't remove the cam sprockets for whatever reason and make sure you mark your cam sprockets before removing the timing belt. If you loose the position of the camshafts, timing this engine is not a simple task.

[dave_1976]

Just thought I would post back. The intermediate shaft is not keyed in case anyone is wondering. Someone had replaced the chain and gears as well but the crankshaft gear did not seem to be pressed on all the way. I believe this allowed the chain to walk up on the gear and jump. Replaced the tensioner, timing set, broke cam gears loose and locked the cams down to make sure everything was right. Runs great with no problems so far.