*Newbi Q* Timing/Cam gears off?!!

[way2slowtalon]

I'm fighting with my friend over my belt timing. I believe my timing is 180 right now. Car does run but choppy.

Crank was at TDC no problem. But my cam gears say, front up, on one side. And The other cam is upside down, with the words upside down. (I can take a pic if this helps.)

Also why does it say to have crack 3 degrees off TDC while installing cams. Someone who w has done timing on the 420a please help


Anyone have a pictures how they are supposed to look like?

THanks! You guys are life savers.

 

[VelocitàPaola]

Wha??? Please take pictures, I have no idea what you're talking about...

It's a relatively straight forward process. There are two timing marks on the cam gears that must be aligned, along with a timing mark on the crank sprocket that aligns with a mark on the oil pump. Once everything is aligned, slip on the belt, set tension, and rotate twice to make sure everything is still correct.

When all the timing marks are aligned, cylinders 1 and 4 are at TDC.

 

[Defiant]

Ignore the castings. Make sure the dowels are up. Use the inner marks and the edge of the head, along with the center of the cam bolts. Ignore the outer marks.

 

[donnyb1607]

Ignore the castings. Make sure the dowels are up. Use the inner marks and the edge of the head, along with the center of the cam bolts. Ignore the outer marks.

yep

also a little tip to get the belt tight is to take and set the crank sprocket to 1/2 tooth btdc, hold the cam gears so they dont move and turn the crank to tdc the belt will be nice and tight then, also when setting the timng on the acm gears remembe the engine is not sitting strait up in the bay, its actually tilted back, when alighning the cam gears keep that in mind

 

[matt98eclipse]

Im kinda in the same situation I have the aem trutime cam gears 3 bolt type. Im not sure how to set the time to get it right on!!

 

[way2slowtalon]

I was told by a buddy of mine to do this.


With the valve cover off, make sure the holes in the cams are both pointing up.

True or false?

 

[rcjr9186]

it makes no differnce what the cams look like... you wouldn't know which one should and shouldn't be up or down if you were looking for it. all you have to do is look at the timing marks on the cam gears, put them dead even with each other and then turn them about 1/2 tooth the oposite way that they normally spin... this 1/2 tooth adjustment is so when you put the tensioner on it, it will tighten them up to where they are suposed to be.... ( just about 1/2 tooth every time ) btw, since you have the belt off... have you thought about doni a lil maintnece on the car? timing belt, water pump, idler bearing, tensioner bearing? also, if you haven't replaced the head gasket... that would be a good idea also, the hardest part of gettin the head off is getting the timing belt off... so the hard part is done.

 

[way2slowtalon]

it makes no differnce what the cams look like... you wouldn't know which one should and shouldn't be up or down if you were looking for it. all you have to do is look at the timing marks on the cam gears, put them dead even with each other and then turn them about 1/2 tooth the oposite way that they normally spin... this 1/2 tooth adjustment is so when you put the tensioner on it, it will tighten them up to where they are suposed to be.... ( just about 1/2 tooth every time ) btw, since you have the belt off... have you thought about doni a lil maintnece on the car? timing belt, water pump, idler bearing, tensioner bearing? also, if you haven't replaced the head gasket... that would be a good idea also, the hardest part of gettin the head off is getting the timing belt off... so the hard part is done.

Had to do a Head Gasket, waterpump, all belts. Everything is together, and now my front cover is a 2 piece. It currently drives with the CEL for timing skipped a tooth. This is why I'm asking. It feels sluggish. HG stopped 100% of my oil leaks, and other than the CEL and sluggish performance I'd be happy.

I can't take a descent pic because of spacing. Best way to describe it is where it says up and arrow on the Cam Gear, the 1st one is upside down with the arrow up pointing down, while the 2nd is perfectly legible with the arrow pointing up. Did that make sense? Or should I get a better angle?

*NOTE* Had to drill holes in the frame to get to 2 Timing Cover/Motor Mount holder bolts. Anyone else experience that problem that the OEM holes didn't line up?

 

[VelocitàPaola]

That hole wasn't meant to pass the bolt through... there's nothing about it that didn't line up. You can remove the engine mount bolts by removing the front and rear engine mounts and jacking the engine up and down appropriately.

 

[bullettdsm]

I'm fighting with my friend over my belt timing. I believe my timing is 180 right now. Car does run but choppy.

Crank was at TDC no problem. But my cam gears say, front up, on one side. And The other cam is upside down, with the words upside down. (I can take a pic if this helps.)

Also why does it say to have crack 3 degrees off TDC while installing cams. Someone who w has done timing on the 420a please help

I'm afraid it sounds like you are a tooth off.

First off, as Defiant said, don't worry about the letters on the cam gears. You WILL have one read upside down (I believe it is the exhaust). The important thing is that the marks line up; all THREE of them (crank mark included). From your description this has all the earmarkings of timing being off a degree or two. When you set the marks, did you spin it over at least twice and then recheck the marks?

Crap I just noticed that you are right in Newington. If you want, you can PM me and we'll set something up so I can take a look a your cams. if you can drive it, I'll be home tonight.

MB

 

[rcjr9186]

i didn't have to drill anything, yes we did have to take 2 motor mounts out to get the cover off but never had to drill anything... when you say it feels sluggish what exactly do you mean by that? when you idle is it chopy? if so... you didn't line everything up correctly, if you did you didn't turn it over 3-4 times to check to see if the marks are still lined up and if you did those 2 things than it could be your TB Tensioner. . . we did everything corrctly but when i fired up the car for the first time it sounded like an NHRA car... it was a bad tensioner, took the belt off, got a new one and it runs like a champ now. also get your CEL code checked and let us know what it is.

 

[matt98eclipse]

does any body know how to set the AEM cam gears if so pm me please!

 

[way2slowtalon]

UPDATE: My cam gears are inside out, and hopefully will get fixed Friday. I don't even wanna know how bad timing is off. They say 2.4L instead of 2.0L
Thanks bullettdsm.