Another timing question

[kt239]

I am trying to set my timing and have two quick questions that I feel are legitimate to ask. Question one is with lining up my camshafts should I got with aiming the pins up or go by the up mark on the gears? Their a little offset from each other but I assume the pins so I want to be sure.

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Second question is with the crankshaft sprocket I have the pin lined up with the arrow but the notch on the plate is not lined up. Should I just go with the notch cause the plate is on correctly?

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[92AWDHX40]

Timing Belt VFAQ

 

[kt239]

I've read that writeup but just noticed the timing marks for the crank are where the notch is so I'm good by that reasoning? The sprocket is def correct and the number one piston is up so it has to be on. But the cams I am guessing are defiantly pins up and I shouldn't go by the cam gear markings? They are not the stock cams their the bc 272s so I didn't know if the bc cam gear markings were more relevant to their cams. Sounds stupid I know but I want to be 100%.

 

[kt239]

Talked to the tech support at crower and was told that though the lines are off on the gears you should go by them not the pins on the cams. Just wanted to post that incase someone ever gets confused by that because the above link does not have any information relating to that question.

 

[Calan]

It's hard to tell in the top pic, but on the exhaust cam gear it looks like the inner markings line up with the pin, but on the intake they don't... which is a bit strange.

You really should degree your cams so that you know they are dead on. You will also have a baseline to use later when you start adjusting them for more power.

IMO, it's kind of silly to have adjustable gears and the motor out of the car, and not degree them.

Not sure what you mean on the crank issue... it looks like the notch is in the correct place in your pic, unless you have the plate on backwards.

 

[kt239]

I don't know anyone with the equipment to degree the cams so as much as I'd like to I just can't. But what I'm talking about with the crank is that notch does line up without a doubt. The issue lies in where the line on the pulley is at with the lines on the timing cover. It lands anywhere between the btdc and the one with the T, is there a specific place it should be to be safe? Cause it will turn without any interference when I turn the crank but I'm not sure what I should be aiming for there. On a side note should the exhaust cam be any rougher to turn than the intake? Cause mine is a slight bit harder.

 

[kchaazz]

I don't know anyone with the equipment to degree the cams so as much as I'd like to I just can't. But what I'm talking about with the crank is that notch does line up without a doubt. The issue lies in where the line on the pulley is at with the lines on the timing cover. It lands anywhere between the btdc and the one with the T, is there a specific place it should be to be safe? Cause it will turn without any interference when I turn the crank but I'm not sure what I should be aiming for there. On a side note should the exhaust cam be any rougher to turn than the intake? Cause mine is a slight bit harder.

You want the timing mark on the harmonic balancer to be lined up with the "T" on the timing cover. As far as the cams go, DO NOT turn the cams with the head on the motor without a timing belt with the bottom end at TDC or you will be pushing the valves on cylinders 1 and 4 into the pistons. As far as the marks on the gears go, do the gears not have notches on the teeth to line up like the factory gears do?? I always thought the white marks on the tops of the adjustable gears were only for measuring in degrees when advancing or retarding for dialing in the cams.

 

[kt239]

Alright I got them lined up with the T give or take a hair or two . I only turned the cams when all pistons were centered in their cylinders and moved it back when the cams were where they were supposed to be. Sounds risky but nothing was binding up while doing so and the more I moved the exhaust cam the easier it moved. I ultimately ended up getting everything as close to perfect as I could so hopefully come startup time there will be little tuning needed to get her running right. Here's what the final product looks like minus a few things that need to be put on still...

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[kchaazz]

Looks good! Where did you get the pullies?

 

[Calan]

Looks good!

Except for the lack of a dampener on the crank.

 

[kchaazz]

Yeah I definitely wouldnt run that crank pulley but I like the others. OP, you should buy a new oem harmonic balancer or if you want a really nice one, get a Fluidamper. The one you have now can kill your motor.

 

[turboglenn]

Gotta agree with the others on that crank pulley, the looks aren't worth killing your engine, and no one can really see it in the car anyway (hell, look how har dit is to see enough of it to set base ignition timing )

As for the crank pulley not lining up I know what you mean and if you've tried over and over and it's always that much to one side of the mark or the other, put it how you have it (to the counter clockwise side) I just ran into this on my head rebuild, with a gates belt it will line up perfect for some reason and with the OEM mitsu it was doing what yours is, So i set it to the counterclockwise side and ran the engine, once i stopped it to recheck, it was clear that the running of the engine was the "stretch" it needed to make everything line up exactly where it should be

As for the Cams, the pins should alays be pointing up, but you should still have the marks on the outter part of the gears that line up and point at each other (but looking at the pictures i guess the BC gears dont have em??? that's lame on their part) But even on adjustbable cam gears (like my fidanzas) the pins should be up as well as the tick marks on the outter part of the gears being parallel to the valve cover gasket surface. Even if you've adjusted the cams it's the inside that you've "moved" and the outter part should still be put together with the tick marks facing each other and again with the valve cover surface (and the pins will in general still be pointed "up" just off by how ever many degrees you tweaked the cams by


Engine looks good, now put it in a car and make some powa!!!!

 

[turboglenn]

STumbled back upon this tonight and the only thing that pops into mind as to why they don't have the marks on them to line up is they are forcing you to centerline/degree the cams to the specified "zero" by not providing you with the typical alignment marks, thus ensuring you check them with dial gauges at set lift specs (what a PITA, but it will make for a perfectly timed cam train)