Cam Timing?

[HazMatt]

Does the notch on the crank gear line up with the 0° mark on the lower case to properly time the car? As well as the 2 cam punches lining up with the lines. Do all 3 have to be lined up or?

I have a funny feeling I fudged this up. I went by the circle punch on the crank gear. Then I lined everything else up but the punch on the crank was at like the 7 o clock position, and the cams arent lined up with the lines on the back of the case.

If I messed this up, other than retracing my steps and returning the crank the amount of times till I get back to where I started, how do you reset the timing on this? I dont want to fire up my car after all of this work and since my crank gear wasnt aligned to 0 degrees now I'm thinking I may have screwed it up.

Crank to 0°, both cam notches lined up and centered for proper timing is what I read. I just forgot to get that crank to 0° :/

The red dots are where the punches were on the gears until I rotated the engine 500 times.

 

[Rubix]

It doesn't matter how the belt lines up when you are disassembling, you will never get the belt to line up. Just make sure to line up the marks on all the sprockets with their proper marks and when reassembling line the belt up properly when reinstalling. Everything should be lined up when you put it back together.

Edit, I think I misread your post... the mark on the crank pulley should line up to a mark at about 5 o'clock. The cam sprocket marks should also align with their marks at 12 o'clock.

I'm still not really sure if I am answering your question or not. Are you disassembling or have you already reassembled? If you are reassembling, perhaps it would be easiest to remove the belt and use a strap wrench to realign everything and start over.

 

[lowc]

you want to make sure that u are at tdc on cyl 1 then you can set the cams seperatly after you set the crank
then you can reinstall belt

 

[LJRuddy]

Here you go

http://www.shoforum.com/showpost.php?p=1010441&postcount=26

 

[HazMatt]

When the crankshaft has cylinder 1 aligned to TDC, this indention on the sprocket will align perfectly with a line that is on the lower timing belt cover

How do you know specifically when CYLINDER 1 is TDC? And TDC meaning in this case the crank gear aligning to 0 degrees on the lower timing cover, yes? I just need to know what I did wrong and how to fix it. That link said once you rotate the engine the lines on the belt will never line up again so how to I properly time my car? 0 degrees on crank and 12 o clock cams?

 

[lowc]

best way atleast imo is pull out the plug on 1 and stick the end of a coat hanger in there. the coat hanger will move witch erver way the piston is going when it stops going up and starts back down you should be lined up at the crank and you will be at tdc.
tdc= top dead center
and forget about the cover and pully use the dimple on the crank gear it will be at 5oclock when ur at tdc then your cams should be at 12oclockif not you need to pull of the belt an realign the cams also aslong as your crank is at 5oclock an the cams are at 12 dont worry about the marks on the belt if you have already rotated everything insync(or together)

 

[LJRuddy]

How do you know specifically when CYLINDER 1 is TDC? And TDC meaning in this case the crank gear aligning to 0 degrees on the lower timing cover, yes? I just need to know what I did wrong and how to fix it. That link said once you rotate the engine the lines on the belt will never line up again so how to I properly time my car? 0 degrees on crank and 12 o clock cams?

You will know when cylinder 1 is TDC when the indentation on the crank sprocket is pointing at the 5 o'clock position.

 

[jimtash]

The timing belt I put in didn't have any marks on it but I did line everything up according to the pulley marks. Funny thing is the crank marked move as soon as tension was placed on the belt. This is normal, right?

 

[lowc]

dont think so just did mine last night and no movement might be a litle to much tension

 

[jimtash]

dont think so just did mine last night and no movement might be a litle to much tension

I just let the tensioner snap back. The mark on the crank would probably move over a tooth afterward but both cam marks stayed put. I did it several times and each time the crank would move after the belt was tensioned so finally I decided to leave it be.

 

[lowc]

3.2 or 3.0?im gonna asume 3.2 hydrolic tensioner? then i have no idea my 3.2 has 3.0 timming setup and mine not move but you may be right
and did the cams move as well?

 

[itwonder]

The reference dots on the sprockets line up as in the pictures. The white lines on the belt line up when the belt is first installed, but begin to "march" as soon as the engine turns over and you won't see them aligning after that. The dots on the crank sprocket and cam sprockets will always line up with their respective reference marks, when the crank is positioned as in the pictures. Note that if one is wrong, it's going to be at least one tooth off so it will be fairly obvious.

 

[rubydist]

How do you know specifically when CYLINDER 1 is TDC? And TDC meaning in this case the crank gear aligning to 0 degrees on the lower timing cover, yes? I just need to know what I did wrong and how to fix it. That link said once you rotate the engine the lines on the belt will never line up again so how to I properly time my car? 0 degrees on crank and 12 o clock cams?

You know that Cyl 1 is at TDC when the punch mark on the crank sprocket is at the mark in the 5 o'clock position. The cams are timed properly for this when their marks are at the 12 o'clock position.

When you install the belt, just make absolutely sure that the 3 marks on the belt are lined up with the marks on their respective pulleys (as shown in the post above), and you have it correct.

 

[jimtash]

3.2 or 3.0?im gonna asume 3.2 hydrolic tensioner? then i have no idea my 3.2 has 3.0 timming setup and mine not move but you may be right
and did the cams move as well?

3.0L. Cams didn't move at all.

 

[SHOtimer]

itwonder's post is perfect.

Doug

 

[lowc]

3.0L. Cams didn't move at all.

thats not good then
if you had everything lined up right and the tension made the crank move then so should have the cams i would double check your markings aswell

thanks itwonders i was tryin to post pics but it would not work for some reason

 

[jimtash]

thats not good then
if you had everything lined up right and the tension made the crank move then so should have the cams i would double check your markings aswell

thanks itwonders i was tryin to post pics but it would not work for some reason

Maybe not. Looking at the pics up above it seems that the crank has moved after being tensioned. Look at the belt marks in the first and last pic. The 3.2 is facing straight down at the 6 o'clock position in the first pic and in the last it's moved towards the 7 o'clock. It makes sense the crank would move after being tensioned because all the belt slack is there and there is no slack between the cams or the front cam and the crank. Any and all slack is between the rear cam and the crank and once the tensioner is released, the front cam is what sets the tension so it should not move at all but the crank will just a hair while the tension is being set.

 

[itwonder]

When the sprockets are positioned with the dots aligned for belt installation, the rear cam is positioned with one of its lobes straight down on a valve. It's quite unstable there, and will sometimes snap itself out of position from the valve spring force. Then you have to realign it. After installing the belt and releasing the tensioner (leaving the lock nut loose), let the crank rotate clockwise just enough so that rear cam is in a more stable position. That is what you see in the last photo. All alignment is still correct because the toothed belt moves everything in synchronization.

The next steps are to finish up the tension adjustment procedure, and verify index mark alignment is correct, as instructed in the FSM:

1. Install lower timing belt cover
2. Install crankshaft damper (pulley)
3. Rotate crankshaft two revolutions in the clockwise direction until the yellow mark on damper aligns with 0 degree mark on lower timing belt cover.
4. Remove plastic door in the lower timing belt cover. Tighten belt tensioner lock nut to 33-51 N-m
   (25-37 lb-ft) and install plastic door.
5. Rotate crankshaft 60 degrees more in the clockwise direction until the white mark on the damper
   aligns with 0 degree index mark on lower timing belt cover
6. Ensure index marks on camshaft pulleys align with marks on rear metal timing belt cover.

The reason for this is the belt has the most slack at 60 degrees BTDC, and that's the point where you want to secure the tensioner lock nut.

 

[HazMatt]

My cam wasnt in the 5 o clock but it was in the 7 o clock. The picture I drew with paint has where the markings were when I put the timing belt back on. Since then, I've rotated my engine.

So what I have to do is cycle the crank until its on cylinder 1? I dont know a damn thing about all this cylinder talk so I'm really at a loss.

Cycle the crank to cylinder 1, crank gear should be at 5 o clock, then throw the cams to 12 o clock, rebelt, and im properly aligned?

 

[lowc]

yes then you will be properly timed