A.H.

Hey Everyone,

I have the engine out and I am trying to replace the timing belt, pulley, etc. My initial plan was to maintain the same timing but the cam plates (that I attach the locking tool to) will not go horizontal. I have the crank pulley set to TDC. One side looks to be horizontal, the other is a good 45 degrees off (with large hole pointed toward center).

It is obvious the timing is off. The belt looks to be in fine condition. It could of happened when someone released tension on my timing belt about 6 months ago.

Now I am completely in the dark. I have no way of finding the correct timing (that I know of). I could just return the non-horizontal one to as close to horizontal as I can tell and go from there. What do you think?

A.H.

I've also noticed that the "flywheel locking pin" seems to fit into a hole that is bored out of some part of the crankshaft. When I fit the pin into the hole the mark on the flywheel is about 3/4in off the arrow (unlike picture above). Hmmm, is this TDC?

I've read through vtraudt's post. It seems that there is no way to look at the cams to determine if they are in the correct location for TDC, correct?

I have never done a compression test but it seems that may be in order. Maybe I can rent something. The car was in an accident and flipped over, it was still running when I pulled the key out. The engine does not look to have any damage, timing belt looks perfect.

OzzyLime

If you pull the valve covers you can look at the marks on the cams/cam caps to verify they are in the correct position. As for the crank lock tool, I rotated until the crank mark lined up with the mark on the rear crank cover and the tool screwed in with ease, then I tried to turn the crank (no movement should mean you are good to go).

I am no expert on these motors but have lived through replacing a 2.8 and learned a lot in the process. I believe I read that you start to get into valve/piston interference when you got past 20 degrees off on one of the cams.

Once you get things lined up I believe a compression test would be worth the effort.

If you end up needing a pdf guide on the TB job or upper seals let me know.

A.H.

Hey Ozzy,

Thanks a lot! By caps you mean the parts of the cams that hold them in, with the bolts, right? It would be nice to know what those marks mean. Are there any marks that tell you how the cams should be positioned when the crank is at TDC?

I shined a flashlight into the hole where the crank lock tool goes (after removing the crank position sensor) and was able to see the indent where it is supposed to fit, curiously it doesn't correspond with TDC as indicated by the flywheel mark and plastic cover arrow (about 3/4 in off as stated earlier). The difference is certainly less than 20 degrees though.

That would be great if I could get those pdf's from you. Any piece of literature is helpful. I'll send you a message with my e-mail address.

hubturn

Something ain't right here folks, and the sign is "somebody released tension on my timing belt about 6 months ago." Check your vibration damper as per the attached photo and look for that notch. That vib damper has been removed because the bolts have the telltale green color of replacement bolts ordered from the dealership. Further, there are 8 bolts. 8 divided into 360 is 45, about the number of degrees one of the locking plates is off, which is suspicious. If you remove the crank locking pin, and can turn the crank 2 revolutions without valves hitting pistons, then "somebody" has installed the vib damper one bolt off, or didn't have the camshaft holding tool and modified one of the locking plates to somehow fit. Maybe when the car went upside down the tensioner loosened and the belt jumped off for a moment allowing things to shift, but wow, that would be an oddity. Just my opinion.