Oil pump sproket is slightly off, normal?

[Throwback23]

So I was doing my timing belt and got everything looking good..or so I thought, for some reason I just can not get the oil/ ballance shaft sproket dead on. It seems to be either one tooth before at tdc or one tooth ahead... I also noticed the tdc mark is at an angle and not as simple as just lining it up and down, does that sound right for 95s? I'm still new to dsms so it could be me just being a newb...any input helps, thanks!

Cam gears lined up


Balance shaft lined up


THE PROBLEM

[iugrad92turbo]

I get mine dead on, thats just me.

[sordid]

Although I've never heard of a front case having the timing mark mis-casted, is it an OEM front case?
To answer your question, yes, if you still have the balance shafts (which you obviously do as the front one is still attached), then you must be meticulous in aligning all timing marks otherwise you will upset the harmony of the system and kill the rain forest by introducing imbalance into the rotating assembly.

I found it was all about paying attention to where i was initially placing the pump sprocket before I tensioned the belt, and watching it rotate as I applied the tension. That way I could see how much I had to advance or retard the sprocket prior.

[spyderdrifter]

Since you still have balance shafts, make sure they're perfectly lined up. If you don't get it right, keep doing it until you do. Even though I've removed my balance shafts, I still line up the sprocket just to keep in the habit. I've gotten to the point of doing it so many times, that I know how to align the sprocket so when I loop the belt over it, it just rotates into place.

[bryanwheat]

The front balance shaft and crank marks look to be slightly off also.

[pauleyman]

It doesn't look right. The crank for starters. It's a little blurry but I think the tab is slightly below the bolt. You look past that already. Start with the crank, get everything relative to the crank. You could state it as 4 are right and one wrong but in reality if everything is relative to the crank (and it is) that would be one right (as the crank is always right at least once every rotation) and the other four wrong, which appears to be the case here. Start over.

[born2tune]

If you look at one of the pictures in my profile you can see what a 95 timed right looks like. with the exemption of the balance shafts because they are removed. I still lined up the balance shaft mark just for aesthetics.

the tensioner pulley determines how off set your arrows will end up at, meaning a proper torque with the special tool is key to accomplish proper marking alignment. the auto-tensioner compensates improper torque to an extent but by no means it is meant to do so under improper settings.

improper torque may cause catastrophic failure on your engine and/or components so I strongly suggest you follow every torque sequence and procedure correctly by the FSM.

if you have not touched the tensioner pulley(with the 2 eyes) its either worn out or torqued incorrectly.
if you have not touched the auto tensioner it may be worn out. check for proper gap. (note:gap is relative to the tensioner pulley torque. assuming you do not have a failed auto-tensioner)

[Throwback23]

Got it done, I was defently off by a tooth on the cam gears...pulled the tooth over and now everything lines up and after hand cranking it everything stays where it should be....thanks everyone!

[bryanwheat]

Not sure if anyone else noticed but the balance shaft tensioner is on backwards also. The lip goes on the outside, not the inside.

[pauleyman]

Not sure if anyone else noticed but the balance shaft tensioner is on backwards also. The lip goes on the outside, not the inside.

I forget which is which but the text below is right out of vfaq.

NOTE that if you are replacing the balance belt tensioner pulley, there is a lip on this pulley - on 95s, the lip goes on the inside, towards the block. 97-up, possibly 96-up, have a different pulley with a smaller lip, their pulley installs with the lip on the outside. Click on the pics at the top of the VFAQ to see a closeup of a 95 engine - notice the larger lip than what you will have with a 97-up (possibly 96-up).


Out of curiosity I looked up the part number. There were three numbers at one time for 2g. MD185544 through may 1994 production of 2g, MD192068 for may 1994 through june 1997 and MD352473 for the remaining years. All years have been superceeded to the latest part number in ASA.

I found no memos or TSBs to talk about which side of the lip goes.

[Throwback23]

Got everything lined up perfect, tensioner to where the pin slides in and fired her up and it sounds and feel way better then it ever did I'm guessing the previous owner did somthing wrong because I had a lot of vibration that I thought was normal... thanks everyone!