Bone headed timing belt move - HALP! (1 Viewer)

[Lalalx470]

So I'm doing a timing belt replacement, and everything is going well...

Until I decide, oh yeah, the belt is totally ready to come off... Well I didn't remember to align the timing marks on the cam pulleys or crank...

So thats where I'm stuck. Interesting enough, if I align the belt marks with the marks on the head, things sorta seem to work out.

Is there some better recovery process from this point? Is what seems to align, actually correct?

 

[Sayer Lane]

Looks like you’re almost 180 degrees out. If I recall correctly, these are definitely interference engines. (Meaning valves and pistons will hit it out of time). I’ll probably be crucified for suggesting this, but if you have an extra set of hands, try putting a wrench (not a ratchet) on each of the cam bolts and installing the crankshaft bolt turn all three at once (cams slower than crank and clockwise) until your timing marks on the cams are roughly in the 11-12 o’clock position to the cylinder head and timing mark on the crank is at roughly 5-6 o’clock. This should get you in the ball park to retime and install the timing belt correctly. Also, check with other’s advice as well. THIS IS WHAT I WOULD DO AND CANNOT GUARANTEE POSITIVE RESULTS! Good luck bud.

 

[MJK]

Read this:

RTH - Timing Belt Alignment 01 LX470

I followed the process to a T and made sure I didn't move either of my cams. I started at TDC, then rotated 50° to align with the pulley. After a beast of a cam bolt battle, I ensured it was there again. As I start routing my new belt, I am so far off the L Cam mark and pretty much jacked on my...

forum.ih8mud.com

 

[l3n0x]

nvm

 

[MechE30]

Put your pulleys back on is step one.
Then try the belt. You shouldn’t be off that far.
Put the slack of the belt on the passenger side, by the tensioner. Align the driver side cam to the crank first. Then the passenger side cam to the drivers cam.

 

[MechE30]

And if you’re not confident in your efforts, spend the $100 for a tow and $400 For diagnostics for a mechanic to set the timing and put everything back together. It’s cheaper than a new engine.

 

[Lalalx470]

As it sits, I'm confident that if the timings off its only off by a tooth or two.
Thinking I'll temporarily install the belt, pull the plugs, and manually turn the crank. This will let me see where the pulley timing marks align and I can adjust the belt from there.

Thoughts from the hive mind?

 

[Sayer Lane]

I definitely overthought this, the others are correct. Put the belt back on, you shouldn’t be off but by maybe a tooth. Spin it to tdc and restart the belt process.

 

[MJK]

1. Watch the OTRAMM video on how to do this, if you have not already.
2. Don't touch the cams or crank for now, just remove the belt.
3. Put the water pump back on, idler, tensioner back on
4. Read post 6 in the link I posted, with photos.
5. THEN put the belt back on, aligning the crank and cam marks on the belt to the crank and cams (not covers!) Start with the crank first, then driver side cam, then passenger side. Pull tensioner pin when happy.
6. Spin crank over twice (720 deg total), which will spin the cams once. Check marks on cam (not belt) against the cover "I" marks at TDC. You don't need to remove plugs to do this. Belt marks will no longer line up as they have all advanced by turning the engine - this is normal.
Reassemble if it all lines up. Realign it if not.

 

[Lalalx470]

1. Watch the OTRAMM video on how to do this, if you have not already.
2. Don't touch the cams or crank for now, just remove the belt.
3. Put the water pump back on, idler, tensioner back on
4. Read post 6 in the link I posted, with photos.
5. THEN put the belt back on, aligning the crank and cam marks on the belt to the crank and cams (not covers!) Start with the crank first, then driver side cam, then passenger side. Pull tensioner pin when happy.
6. Spin crank over twice (720 deg total), which will spin the cams once. Check marks on cam (not belt) against the cover "I" marks at TDC. You don't need to remove plugs to do this. Belt marks will no longer line up as they have all advanced by turning the engine - this is normal.
Reassemble if it all lines up. Realign it if not.

This is a great set of instructions. Question about aligning the belt to cam marks as described in #6 of the linked post. My Cam pulley marks to belt marks (ala step 5 above), are about 180 degrees off. Recommend rotating just the cams or loosely installing the belt and rotate the whole works to get them closer to where I can rotate the individual cam?

 

[MJK]

This is after you have the water pump, idler and tensioner back on? Also, is this an Aisin belt?

If nothing moved during disassembly, I wouldn't expect anything to be off by that much. Make sure you have the belt routing correct and take some pics.

Correct belt routing:
Start with crank/belt alignment, which is correct in your photo and the one below. Note belt routing. From memory: belt goes up vertically, inside driver idler, around driver cam, under water pump, around passenger cam, inside tensioner idler, back to crank

Green arrow on the cam should align to the belt during initial assembly on both cams (again, not covers). This photo is off 2 teeth. Spin them if you need to, but it shouldn't be off by more than a few teeth if you've been careful during disassembly.

Then spin crank twice and at TDC the green arrow on the cam should align with the red arrow on the cover. Belt markings will be off once you have spun the engine over.

 

[Lalalx470]

This is after you have the water pump, idler and tensioner back on? Also, is this an Aisin belt?

If nothing moved during disassembly, I wouldn't expect anything to be off by that much. Make sure you have the belt routing correct and take some pics.

Confounding issue that I don't think I mentioned. I didn't check the crank timing mark before I started taking anything apart, yeah, I'm a knuckle head. So I'm guessing that I'm probably ~180 off of TDC. The step I didn't follow is ~15:40 in the OTRAMM video 1:

 

[97 AZ LC]

You are off by 180 on both cams. Count teeth and put a new mark on the opposite side of the cam wheels, then rotate both cams 180 clockwise by the center bolt. I would remove the spark plugs first, or at least the six or seven easy ones. Then get some lacquer thinner and get rid of your black marks on the cam wheels, they shouldn't be there.

 

[Lalalx470]

Ok back in business!
I installed the belt without the tensioner and rotated the crank almost one full rotation. Nothing moved since I took the belt off, so looking good.

Thanks all for the assistance! Now I'm gonna clean things up a bit and see how the rest goes. I'll be sure to check the timing after all is said and done.

 

[MechE30]

Looks good. Don’t be worried if the belt indicators don’t line up after multiple rotations, the critical indicators are the cam and crank markings relative to the block’s markings.

 

[MechE30]

You’ll have to put the pulley back onto the crank to see its indicator.

 

[97 AZ LC]

That's it - 50 degrees past on the crank and about 25 degrees past on the cams.

 

[Lalalx470]

Lesson learned, RTFM!! (At least twice)

 

[MechE30]

The best lessons are the ones that don’t cost much. This one was free. Everyone does it, don’t beat yourself up. Great job figuring it out!