lateral alignment of idler gear with Cam

[River Raft]

All,

Making my way through the short block rebuild. Last night I moved to the idler gear assembly and noticed that it seemed to sit too deep on the shaft in relation to the cam gear. When I flipped the idler gear, it then sat too shallow. I referred to the A4 Parts Diagram, Rev. 92 to see if I was missing a spacer between the gear and the block. Clearly there is no spacer. Only a washer on the front side of the gear. Is this lateral offset (~1/8 inch) normal? I wish I had taken more detailed photos during disassembly.

Aaron

[Al Schober]

Aaron,
The cam gear is driven directly off the crank. The idler gear is on the other side and is also driven off the crank. I've got a photo in my files that shows the idler gear being about 1/8" aft of the crankshaft gear. Found it! In the photo, the idler is the one on the bottom - cam drive has match marks. Another photo that shows the idler and the accessory drive isn't clear enough to tell whether they're even or not.
Hope this helps.

[River Raft]

So very helpful. Picture is worth a thousand words. Right now, my idler gear is recessed in relation to the cam. You picture tells me that I now need to flip it such that the idler becomes offset in the aft direction. Many, many thanks for the perfect response. By any chance to you recall the torque needed on the castle nut holding the idler gear?

[River Raft]

Found the answer to my question in a previous post by Don.

http://www.moyermarine.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2481