Aligning Timing Marks

[Logue]

Alright i'm putting on my timing belt on the 6 bolt engine on the stand right now.

I have put the belt on and taken it off about 10 times now trying to figure this out.

The dowel are are 12o'clock. The 2 inner cam marks are alined at 3&9o'clock. But what about the outer marks on the cams when i lay a ruler accross one is always about 1/2-1 tooth off.

Did i do something wrong?

Even did what vfaq said and turned the exhaust cam a little clockwise put the belt on tensioned it and the one outer mark still doesn't line up.

Like i said the inner marks at 3 and 9 o'clock do align perfectly though.

Should that one mark be off?

Thanks,

JJ

 

[ADrewzki]

Outer mark? Is it possible to get a picture? I'm curious as to what that looks like. And yes, if the two notches line up, you should be fine.

 

[R3dR]

I never worried about the outside marks.
I always set the inside marks with the dowels at 12 and make sure that the crank is lined up ( I dont run balance shafts so I dont worry about those either)

Set your belt and then rotate the engine 6 times if you are lining up the oil pump to make sure that the marks come back together as exspected when the tension kicks in.
Also making sure that there is no valve collision ( remove the plugs to make this easy to rotate)

 

[Logue]

Here are some pics. Sorry they sux there from my phone. Let it be known that i am poor because of this car and a digi-cam is way out of the question.

how does these are with the belt tightened and everything.

 

[Logue]

Oh yah the bottum one is the one that is off.. i tried to piant the marks white to be clearer.

 

[huafist]

As long as the inner marks are at 3:00 (exhaust) and 9:00 (intake), then you're fine. Don't worry about the outer marks.

 

[Logue]

great exactly what i wanted to hear thanks guys

 

[DarthBulk]

I was getting completely frustrated putting my timing belt on tonight, for this exact same reason. I could line up the two inner timing marks, and one of the outer ones...but the other outer mark was almost a complete tooth off. It is physically impossible to line up all 4 marks with my setup...it would require about 1/2 to 1 tooth less belt between the top of the cam gears. I am going to line up the inner ones and say to hell with the outer ones then too. Did that work for you?

 

[Logue]

don't know yet tommorrow is d-day. we will see.

 

[rebuilt65]

With a ruler, the marks shouldline up perfectly.You have a problem. You are off by one tooth on a cam. The intake cam will line up with no problem. The crank will line up with no problem. The exhaust cam has to be tie wraped to the timing belt to keep it from moving back one tooth because a valve and it's spring are pushing it back. Line the intake cam first, tie wrap it to thye belt , then turn the exhaust cam to it's proper position, tie wrap it, and then line up the crank marks. A dealer tech taught me how to do this. If you start the engine how you have it, nothing will happen, but it will have a idle miss, and you won't be able to time it properly. The CAS will be to the far end of one direction, and you won't have proper range of timing adjustment.

 

[Logue]

i started it yesterday and there was no miss it idle perfectly. really rough but thats because of the motor mounts. i'm going to put the timing light on it today along with the logger.


JJ

 

[rjgeier]

Like the vfaq said, advance the exhaust cam about .5-1 tooth. Put the belt on and let the tensioner tighten. Spin the engine on the stand about 3 times. Whala, the marks are now lined up.

 

[Logue]

Like the vfaq said, advance the exhaust cam about .5-1 tooth. Put the belt on and let the tensioner tighten. Spin the engine on the stand about 3 times. Whala, the marks are now lined up.

^ I did that 10 times. Everytime it was off .

 

[DarthBulk]

^ I did that 10 times. Everytime it was off .

I know what you are talking about. It is impossible to move either cam gear ".5" tooth. It is either 1 tooth forward or 1 back, and both are too far for the marks to line up perfectly. The only way I was able to get mine to line up perfectly was with the crank timing mark advanced about 1/2 tooth. So I am still looking for an answer to this problem too. Are you using the OEM cam gears? I have AEM Tru-time gears, but the timing marks should be in the same place, I believe.

 

[Logue]

Yes they are oem cam gears

I'm having no problem with the car yet idles and drives fine, So i'm not going to worry about it. Still haven't got a timing light on it though. my logger says between 4-8 advance at idle but i don't knw if that counts for anything .

 

[DarthBulk]

Well, if you aren't having any problems, I think I'll just assemble mine the same way and log it right away, to see how it looks. Thanks for the info...

 

[Logue]

let me know what happens

 

[defrag010]

can you view timing advance on a 1G With mmcd palm logger?

 

[turbodagain]

you ignition advance reading through your logger will give you no clue to if your valve timing or your base ignition timing is correct

 

[rjgeier]

Line up the marks. Then turn the exhaust cam barely. Put belt on. Pull pin on tensioner. Spin the belt 5x. You'll be fine.

 

[hippy]

How in the name of god do u guys get these to line up?? My buddy and i did a bunch of timing belt jobs and everytime we are allways of by a tooth or a half tooth! How do u guys get the marks to line up perfect?? It allways seems to be of by a hair. And we allways use mitsu belts. Any Tricks!

 

[WatchItExplode]

http://www.vfaq.com/mods/timingbelt-1G.html

Follow that and you'll be fine. In your case, pay extra attention to the part where you put clamps on the cam gears to hold the belt in place. When I did mine I didn't have clamps so I used zip ties. Once you clamp the first gear (intake), use a wrench on the exhaust gear to line up the marks (it is difficult because the internal tensioner makes the exhaust cam [pressure from the valve springs] want to turn one tooth off) then clamp the belt in place.

 

[luv2rallye]

Note in step 22:

NOTE: THE EXHAUST CAMSHAFT SPROCKET MAY ROTATE IN THE COUNTERCLOCKWISE DIRECTION. THIS SHOULD BE CONSIDERED WHEN INSTALLING THE TIMING BELT. (What this means is that in some cases, lining up the timing marks on the sprockets won't work - when the tensioner is tightened, it will pull the exhaust sprocket, and the camshaft marks won't line up, while the bottom ones are lined up. If this happens to you, try setting the exhaust sprocket one tooth off in the clockwise direction (mark below the head plane), clamp the belt to the sprockets, then rotate the sprockets a little so the intake mark is slightly above the head plane and the exhaust is slightly below, with the bottom 3 marks lined up. Then the marks should align when you tension the belt - but try with the marks lined up with the head plane first)

 

[ken inn]

How in the name of god do u guys get these to line up?? My buddy and i did a bunch of timing belt jobs and everytime we are allways of by a tooth or a half tooth! How do u guys get the marks to line up perfect?? It allways seems to be of by a hair. And we allways use mitsu belts. Any Tricks!

some laugh at me, some praise. find a matco tool truck, get the mitsu special tool, kent moore #09000-00109. it is aluminum/gold anodized. really trick tool, when you get the cam sprockets lined up, BEFORE removing anything, this rascal fits right in between the sprockets, and keeps them right where they is. not only does it hold the sprockets, now you can thread the belt thru on the crank, oil pump, etc. costs about 40 bucks. some tools cost a good amount, but the convenience is well worth it. i got the o2 sensor socket, that is always in demand here. the long threaded rod to compress the tensioner, even the special ball joint separator(THAT sucker cost me 200 bucks!). but, in some cases, it makes the job so easy, it is well worth it. just be careful if you let anyone borrow them, cause i find that when someone borrows a tool, and they keep it long enough, they think that now it BELONGS to them.

 

[hippy]

Ya its just we find whne we do the timing belt jobs we can get all three marks lines up except the last one is of by a half a tooth, If you go ahead its of by a half a tooth and go back its of by a half a tooth the tooth on the belt would be dead on but you got a go one way or the tother if you know what i mean!! So it seems like it is allways of a tooth and there isnt anyway we can get around this??