Resolved 1G - Rough Idle after Timing Belt replacement

[AskaFa]

Hi.
I've recently did a complete timing belt replacement, with balance shaft and all tensioners too. I checked all my timing marks: cams, oil pump, crankshaft and balance shaft were all where they needed to be. I even tried slightly turning the oil pump wheel, if it would return to it's timing mark, which it did.
After all has been done, all things tensioned I fired up the car and it idles rough. This only happens at idle, when I bring the revs over 1300rpms the rough idle stops and the car also stops vibrating like crazy.
Now I'm curious, did the timing skip a tooth? Or did I do something wrong? I may have overtightened the tensioner a bit too much, because the timing belt is VERY tight, but I couldn't think that'd be the problem.
Thanks for any replies and sorry for my bad English.

 

[AskaFa]

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[danl]

How did you verify the balance shafts are phased correctly? How did you set belt tension?

 

[pauleyman]

Hi.
I've recently did a complete timing belt replacement, with balance shaft and all tensioners too. I checked all my timing marks: cams, oil pump, crankshaft and balance shaft were all where they needed to be. I even tried slightly turning the oil pump wheel, if it would return to it's timing mark, which it did.
After all has been done, all things tensioned I fired up the car and it idles rough. This only happens at idle, when I bring the revs over 1300rpms the rough idle stops and the car also stops vibrating like crazy.
Now I'm curious, did the timing skip a tooth? Or did I do something wrong? I may have overtightened the tensioner a bit too much, because the timing belt is VERY tight, but I couldn't think that'd be the problem.
Thanks for any replies and sorry for my bad English.

If you think the marks aren't right then you must remove the covers and double check.

 

[AskaFa]

How did you verify the balance shafts are phased correctly? How did you set belt tension?

I aligned the arrow of the balance shaft with the little notch on the block of the engine. Just like on the picture, and I double checked after tensioning that the balance shaft or the crank didn't move a tooth off.

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[AskaFa]

If you think the marks aren't right then you must remove the covers and double check.

Yes, I mainly wanted to ask because I've checked a lot of videos and thread for rough idle, but everyone seems to describe the problem and get many different replies. I've read it could be anything from exhaust cam jumping a tooth, oil sprocket not being aligned correctly, balance shaft misaligned, alternator problem, ground problem, IAC etc...

 

[danl]

I aligned the arrow of the balance shaft with the little notch on the block of the engine. Just like on the picture, and I double checked after tensioning that the balance shaft or the crank didn't move a tooth off.

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That’s the front balance shaft. How did you phase the rear one?

 

[AskaFa]

That’s the front balance shaft. How did you phase the rear one?

Rear balance shaft? I’m sorry if I sound dumb, but do you have a picture? I only know of one balance shaft on NA 4G63. Also the engine is EU spec and may/may not have some differences. (Also thanks for being patient, I’m kinda new to this)

 

[danl]

The oil pump gear has a balance shaft attached to it. Did you phase it correctly?

 

[danl]

Also , the whirring noise is a bit concerning. I’ve never over tensioned a timing belt, but if I imagine it would sound like that. You want to verify correct tension because too tight will ruin your oil pump and the engine.

 

[AskaFa]

The oil pump gear has a balance shaft attached to it. Did you phase it correctly?

If you mean this than yes. I adjusted it so that the arrow on the oil sprocket aims at the notch top left. I also lightly rotated it before putting the belt on to verify that it returns to the position where the arrows align.

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[AskaFa]

Also , the whirring noise is a bit concerning. I’ve never over tensioned a timing belt, but if I imagine it would sound like that. You want to verify correct tension because too tight will ruin your oil pump and the engine.

Noted. It seems from what I’ve read so far that i need to dissasemble the whole timing again. So I’ll definitely loosen the tension a little bit.

 

[pauleyman]

Yes, I mainly wanted to ask because I've checked a lot of videos and thread for rough idle, but everyone seems to describe the problem and get many different replies. I've read it could be anything from exhaust cam jumping a tooth, oil sprocket not being aligned correctly, balance shaft misaligned, alternator problem, ground problem, IAC etc...

If it ran perfectly before this job then it stands to reason either you made a mistake in the timing or you've disturbed something else during the repair to cause this. Bumped a vacuum line off? etc etc. Go look over what you did. As far as tension goes it is super objective whether it was right or not BEFORE you put the covers on. It's either right or it isn't and the procedure is well documented.

Read this.

 

[AskaFa]

If it ran perfectly before this job then it stands to reason either you made a mistake in the timing or you've disturbed something else during the repair to cause this. Bumped a vacuum line off? etc etc. Go look over what you did. As far as tension goes it is super objective whether it was right or not BEFORE you put the covers on. It's either right or it isn't and the procedure is well documented.

Read this.

Thanks for the link, I’ll do the timing again and look at what I did wrong.
Thank you both for help.
I’ll post the results here after I repair it and show where I made a mistake so more new people can identify it easier.

 

[AskaFa]

Hi again, just a follow up, I reseated the timing belt and found out that the exhaust cam was a tooth off. Luckily no damage was done to the internals. Thanks everyone for help.

 

[Dericsh]

Hi again, just a follow up, I reseated the timing belt and found out that the exhaust cam was a tooth off. Luckily no damage was done to the internals. Thanks everyone for help.

Thanks for coming back with the solution! Glad you got it back right.