Pontiac Repair: water pump 96 grand am, shaft gears, cam shaft

Question
i am a mechanic by trade and work on a wide variety of vehicles but have never been into a 2.4l.i know you have to remove the exhaust manifold and timing cover,are there any short cuts or tricks of the trade that would help with this endeavor,and aside from "flat rate time" how long should it take?

Answer
Hi Glenn:

There really are no short cuts to this job. You just have to be carefule with the timing marks. ther are 8MM holes in the cam shaft gears that are at the 6:00 position when the crank is at 12:00 you need 2 bolts 8Mm or 5/6" that are about 2-2-1/2" long to go through the gear and then will go in to the back of the timing cover housing to hold the gears in place while you remove the chain and the shoes for the chain. make sure when you put it all back together ther is no slop in the chain inbetween the 2 can gears and alsm make sure the tensioner is released out of the holding compressed detent before you put the cover back on the timing housing. If this had a lot of miles on it I suggest replacing the tensioner and the tensioner shoe before you put it back together. If it has a lot of miles on it the shoe on the tensioner is more than likely worn. Good luck :)