Bottom end timed 15 degrees BTDC - WTF?

[doubleclutch]

So I was following the guide of all the checks to do before starting to tune with ECMlink after my 16g upgrade. I went to check my mechanical timing and my crank pulley said 15 Deg BTDC. Hoping it was jsut the pulley spinning, i decided to pull the timing belt covers. Sure enough, the bottom end is 15 degrees out of time. Before you all say it slipped, the balance shaft is also 15 degrees out of time, meaning I think the previous owner timed it that way.

All that being said,

Is there potential that internal components are damaged?
I assume i was losing a whole lot of power due to this, is this correct?

 

[pauleyman]

Everything is relative to crank. You could say crank is out of time but its probably more appropriate to line up crank and say cams are out of time. So...how far off are the cams if you do this? Nobody would do it on purpose. Yes you will lose. How many teeth are cams off? That will determine the likelyhood of damage. Yes it must be fixed. Its a fair bet the tension is probably wrong also.

 

[doubleclutch]

Well. if the crank is out 15, then if you time the crank right, the cams would be out 7.5 degrees. Not sure how many teeth it would be on the cams, I already pulled the belt and have installed it correctly. It doesn't have to be on purpose if you are incompetent.

 

[pauleyman]

Not sure how many teeth. Id suggest a leakdown test

 

[doubleclutch]

Probably about 1-2 teeth at most. I will take a look tomorrow when i finish the job. Leakdown test is a good idea.

Any idea how open the valves would be/how much power I am losing? Car actually seemed to run really good as is. Good idle and everything.

 

[TunedUp]

If I am not mistaken 1 tooth equals 7 degrees which wouldn't damage anything. But it does need to be fixed.

 

[doubleclutch]

retimed it tonight, started up fine (once i remembered to plug the CPS back in). My one concern is I don't think I have the "in spec" amount of hydraulic tensioner sticking out, I am a bit short. My thought is this shouldn't be a problem (it would be a problem if it was sticking out too much). Thoughts?

 

[doubleclutch]

Re-did the timing to make sure the tensioner was right. Everything timed correctly. I fired it up after getting it back together and took a log of it. It is running like shit. It seems to be adding and pulling timing much like it so should be varying front 02. Log is attached.

Also, boost gauge is bouncing all over the place at 10 inhg. didn't touch any hoses that i know of. I did start the car last night briefly after timing it and ran fine. Really confused.