When aligning the cam gears, you will have to put a 17mm box wrench on each of the center bolts. You will have to pull them inward to get the marks to line up and then slip the belt over. Then binder clip the belt onto the cam gears to keep it in place. You won't get the marks to line up by leaving the cams lay as they naturally want to.

For future reference, this tool from Jay Racing takes A LOT of guess work out of doing a timing belt job in regards to keeping the cam gears aligned and makes it a lot easier.

If you have not got the timing cam locking tool then use cable ties then once you get the belt on it and aligned then carry on down to the idler pully etc etc i had it move on me even with the tool but i had to use a wrench and bring it forward to position and its fine once its all tight

This might help or not but its always good to have a few extra hints and tips Timing Belt VFAQ

When I did mine I had to rotate the exhaust cam clockwise. It wanted to kick back so put belt on held in place with zip tie then put intake cam to position when belt was put on the exhaust wanted to kick back but take didn't so put tension onto belt. Then wrapped it around pulley and crank didn't even have to move crank it went right on with nice tension on belt. Put it on tensioner pulley was easy. But adjusting the pulley without the special tool was time consuming. But used a set of circ clip pliers to rotate pulley and out tension on it and tightens bolt. Rotated it 18 times (3 cycles) all marks lined up. Then started backing off bolt (used alternator bolt) off tensioner arm a few turns and went to dinner came back loosened it up until bolt wasn't touching arm and started putting it back together. Before putting cover back on checked gap at tensioner pin it was good, removed bolt and finished it up. Runs better now then before.

so it looks like I might need that cam holder, I did everything by the books my cams were lined up, pulled the grenade pin and rotated 6 times now my exhaust cam is further then the intake by a tooth. Though this is the first attempt, also I had no slack in the belt at all. I will try again tomorrow.

Timing Belt VFAQ

If it was me and this was my first attempt at doing a T-Belt I would follow these directions, they are allot more detailed than the F.S.M.

A little trick is to offset the crankshaft by about 2 teeth or so, I forget exactly the number of teeth I never counted but start with about two and adjust from there. Do not pull the grenade pin until all marks align perfectly, all will fall back into alignment with the crankshaft offset. Start your belt routing from the exhaust side and work your way downward. Hopefully you got #1 T.D.C before you removed the belt and marked the positions of the pointers clearly. Also make sure you mark all your alignment marks and reference points clearly with some white paint, that's a little trick I learned over the 2 decades.

Glad you seen your mistake and corrected it. Your now one step closer to being a mechanic than those 5 mechanics that turned you down, Congrats! Perhaps you avoided disaster that the other so called mechanics would have cost you if they had took on the job and had improperly done the job in the first place and sent it out the door. Now, hopefully you installed a new water pump and new tensioner kit with the idler and tensioner pulley and good for atleast another 50K until it's time to change it again.

stars said:

Glad you seen your mistake and corrected it. Your now one step closer to being a mechanic than those 5 mechanics that turned you down, Congrats! Perhaps you avoided disaster that the other so called mechanics would have cost you if they had took on the job and had improperly done the job in the first place and sent it out the door. Now, hopefully you installed a new water pump and new tensioner kit with the idler and tensioner pulley and good for atleast another 50K until it's time to change it again.

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yeah man that is sorta crazy I got turned down everywhere I go but I did save alot of money as opposed to what they would have charged, I still have the car in pieces but today I will toss on everything and get ready to boost again!

btw is there an easier way to get the water pump pulley on? I like how my haynes manual just says

"remove 4 bolts, take pulley off" ......yeah easier said then done

Yes there is. With a car on jack stands take your floor jack and ablock of flat wood and put it under the oil pan and tske the weight of the driver side mount and remove it. Then just jack the engine up and that should help you slide the pulleys on much easier.

I wish I would have seen that quicker, its been a busy a weekend but you were absolutely right. Also glade I did this timing belt job too because I found out my top motor mount is bad.

When u are putting the weight on the oil pan, make sure to pad the jack or wood block enough, and also try and disperse the weight as evenly as possible. Cant tell you how many times people crack the oil pan getting consumed with the job and not taking the precautions!

jasonbaz85 said:

When u are putting the weight on the oil pan, make sure to pad the jack or wood block enough, and also try and disperse the weight as evenly as possible. Cant tell you how many times people crack the oil pan getting consumed with the job and not taking the precautions!

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Your not jacking the car up like that and Our pans are not cast...