Timing Belt and Alignment Marks.

[DanThMan1983]

Doing the timing belt in car. Line up the cams, line up the crank, no balance shafts so I dont worry about the oil pump sprocket. Now The problem is when I get the cams lined up, and the crank lined up, I push the auto tensioner arm down, rotate the moveable tensioner around clockwise until the belt is tight and then the crank moves and I am off a tooth. So I attempt to set the crank back a tooth with the cams lined up correctly thinking that there is a tooth of slack in the belt on the intake side. So I go tighten the tensioner again and now the crank gets lined up and the cams move and are a tooth off. WTF is going on. I just cant get this. Any way I do it I am off a tooth somewhere!!! ugh this is frustrating. (4g63)

 

[jankab]

Turn the crankshaft in the forward direction (to the right)
to align the camshaft sprocket timing marks.
Always turn the crankshaft in the forward direction
only.
(2) Loosen the tension pulley center bolt.
(3) Move the tension pulley to the water pump side, and
then remove the timing belt.

(don't know if that helps at all)

 

[92awddsm]

Doing the timing belt in car. Line up the cams, line up the crank, no balance shafts so I dont worry about the oil pump sprocket. Now The problem is when I get the cams lined up, and the crank lined up, I push the auto tensioner arm down, rotate the moveable tensioner around clockwise until the belt is tight and then the crank moves and I am off a tooth. So I attempt to set the crank back a tooth with the cams lined up correctly thinking that there is a tooth of slack in the belt on the intake side. So I go tighten the tensioner again and now the crank gets lined up and the cams move and are a tooth off. WTF is going on. I just cant get this. Any way I do it I am off a tooth somewhere!!! ugh this is frustrating. (4g63)

First off, it really helps if you have a second set of hands or the tool to hold the cam gears in place. If you dont have the tool, try to get a friend to help. Start by putting the belt on the crank, oil pump, then go to the intake cam. This is where it starts to get tricky and the extra hands are needed. The cam gears never line up perfectly without belt tension on them so have someone put a wrench on the intake cam and hold the mark in place. Make sure there is no slack in the belt between the oil pump sprocket and intake gear when the belt goes on. Now, while still holding the intake cam in place, the exhaust cam will need to be rotated slightly for the mark to line up so, have the friend put a wrench on the ex cam also and hold it into position while you slide the belt on. Next, slip the belt over the tensioner pulley and lock it down according to specs. It is tricky and hard to do by your self but if you do it the way I described, it will usually stay in time and make installation easier. This is how I have always done it and I know that I have done at least 25 timing belt jobs on dsm's. The key is to make sure that there is no slack in the belt between the crank, oil pump, and cam gears.

 

[DanThMan1983]

First off, it really helps if you have a second set of hands or the tool to hold the cam gears in place. If you dont have the tool, try to get a friend to help. Start by putting the belt on the crank, oil pump, then go to the intake cam. This is where it starts to get tricky and the extra hands are needed. The cam gears never line up perfectly without belt tension on them so have someone put a wrench on the intake cam and hold the mark in place. Make sure there is no slack in the belt between the oil pump sprocket and intake gear when the belt goes on. Now, while still holding the intake cam in place, the exhaust cam will need to be rotated slightly for the mark to line up so, have the friend put a wrench on the ex cam also and hold it into position while you slide the belt on. Next, slip the belt over the tensioner pulley and lock it down according to specs. It is tricky and hard to do by your self but if you do it the way I described, it will usually stay in time and make installation easier. This is how I have always done it and I know that I have done at least 25 timing belt jobs on dsm's. The key is to make sure that there is no slack in the belt between the crank, oil pump, and cam gears.

That kind of helps but I think I will still have a problem. See the way I did is I line up the cams put a vise grip on each cam with the belt on them so it doesnt slip work the belt down around the solid tensioner, around the oil pump, and on the crank. now everything is lined up perfectly. But when I pull on the belt between the oil pump and the crank there is about half a tooth of slack there. Its almost like the belt is too long. Gosh I dont know what to do.

 

[greengoblin]

Take a look at this. It's straight off the vfaq page. Here a link to that page if you have not read it. It's very helpful IMO. Hope It helps.

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


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)

 

[DanThMan1983]

Take a look at this. It's straight off the vfaq page. Here a link to that page if you have not read it. It's very helpful IMO. Hope It helps.

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


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)

hey thats a good idea. Ill try that. Repost in 5

 

[DanThMan1983]

no luck ill call my buddy who has done a few of these before.

 

[silvawolfe]

Mine lined up just fine, are you sure you have all the slack out of the right side and the top of the belt? If you keep ending up a tooth off why don't you just move the belt over a tooth then check it again? It's just a belt, take your time and be gentle tuning the crank and everything should line up. I thought the vfaq was very detailed.

 

[Bestwestranger]

I have never been able to get the marks on the intake and exhaust cams to align, ever. The first time I replaced the belt at the 110k mark I could not get them to line up right, even with multiple tries. This weekend I tried again and again and again (and again) with a new belt after rebuilding the head and replacing a blown HG, and still no luck. I've read the manual a gajillion times. I've read VFAQ twice as much. I've searched around here. I've done everything possible to get them to align and they just will not do it. One or the other will always end up being 1/2-3/4 of a tooth off. When I finally give up I set the intake level, and the exhaust slightly retarded.

WTF am I missing here?

If this is just the way it is, should I be setting them up differently, maybe with the exhaust 1/2 a tooth advanced? Should I drop some $ on an adjustable cam gear to make it right? I don't really have any drivability problems, and I don't know if the popping noise I'm getting out of the exhaust on decel is a result (I personally like the sound ), but it seems to be plugging along just fine. However, if I'm doing something wrong, I'd like to know.

 

[steve]

Mine lined up just fine, are you sure you have all the slack out of the right side and the top of the belt?

This is the only way that you can be off a tooth once you tension the belt.

When I do one, I use the big binder clips and rotate each sprocket backwards as needed to make sure that there isn't any slack in the belt. So you pull the belt as tight as you can by hand and then move the sprocket to get the belt on it, then more the sprocket forward to make sure there isn't any slack. If the mark doesn't line up redo it before going to the next.

That means using the oil pump timing mark even though the lower BS isn't there since the biggest span where you coul be off is between the intake cam and the oil pump sprocket.

Steve