I can’t get any break....

Ohhh, that's unfortunate.

It's easy to forget what efficient machines threaded bolts are. Make a lot of downward force when you're cranking that wrench.

 

There is a bright side to this. Those caps on the cam bridge are the same on every 1.8 2ZR engine. Whether it’s the hybrid in the Prius, or the Otto cycle in the Corolla, Vibe, or Scion. So if there is a pull it yourself yard near you, all you need is the cam bridge parts.

 

I see that from Toyota, the whole cam bridge (er, housing sub-assembly, camshaft) is available for sale, separate from the rest of the head, but the individual bearing caps aren't.

That suggests that also if you go to a pick-n-pull, you'll want to bring home the entire "housing sub-assembly, camshaft" and all the bearing caps that come with it, as they were machined together and make a matched set.

 

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The cams from the Gen 4 engine I bought have lived the last 3 1/2 years in my Gen 3 head with no issue. The front cap, where the oil passage for the VVT solenoid is, and possibly the rear one have a replaceable bearing in them. The rest are machined to size.

 

The other option to pull a part, is buy a reman head. Either from Toyota, or one of the major chain stores. Surefire PN# 2866A is the Gen 3 head. My neck of the woods it goes for $607.99 exchange, with a 1 year warranty.

 

Buy some junkyard parts and a torque wrench on your way back.

 

Well, Toyota will sell camshafts separately, while they won't sell bearing caps separately from the housing they were machined with, so that kind of gives away the answer. The camshafts you've got should be ok in the replacement housing as long as they pass whatever thrust clearance and oil clearance (Plastigage) tests you find for them in the repair manual.

 

Yes, absolutely that's what it was. You can't go torquing them down in that condition, only snugging them enough to hold the cams tightly. When you torque a bolt like that, it exerts a very strong downward force on the cap.

 

I wasn’t aware Toyota offered that separate. That’s good to know it’s still available from them.

 

Nobody mentions that you must coat cam shaft with an engine lube so that there is suction in the oil pump prior to torquing elsewise you will have zero oil pressure on startup and may never have. Plastiguage (as mentioned) caps and clean bolt holes, lightly oiling with thin oil to ensure proper torque specs. Caps could be fixed with retainer clips from copper easily but this is a BMW trick & Necessity.

 

You also have to torque in 2 or 3 steps starting from middle and working outward so we don’t break things. Oh! Don’t forget the ‘pre-lube’ of cam journals and caps or else no oil pressure will result since the pump can’t pressurize when moving parts are dry!