Yellowtruck

I was replacing my TB today and couldn't get my marks to stay aligned after my two rotations. I could use some help/advice. I did find a really great thread that I was using as well as my book, but not every issue is covered.
FYI: I'm pretty much teaching myself and have a little help from a friend at times. My knowledge is not up-to-par with most of you, so take it easy on me for not being in "the know"....at least I'm trying.

This is a little of where I'm at:
After removing my old TB and rotating my crank twice, I confirmed that my crank and both cams were at TDC. I then slipped on my new TB, hooked my tension spring and loosened the tensioner pulley. I did two more rotations and immediately seen the belt slip a few teeth. My cams ended up several teeth behind my crank. I let my crank go too far so, I decided to go two more rotations until it was at zero. That left both cam marks pointed down and each a few teeth off from one another.
I'm not sure what to do next.

I know that I can't turn my crank backwards, but what about my cams?
Do I unhook my tension spring, slip off the belt and turn each cam until they're both aligned back at TDC?

yotajordan14

try a timing light

Yellowtruck

From what I learned, I only need to do that when I move around my distributor. I haven't touched it. This was just going to be a simple water pump gasket, thermostat and all belt replacement. It's now two weeks later.

yotajordan14

hmm ic ic, just be careful tho because im think thats a contact engine, dont quote me but i think it is, theres two marks and yea i think you did the rotations right, it wont line up every rotation, but i would rotate by hand just to ensure there no contact in your top end, im not sure what the spec is to tighten the belt?

Yellowtruck

I really just need to verify if it's okay to keep my crankshaft zeroed out at TDC and manually turn each cam to TDC.
I already know what the torque spec's are.

92 TOY

cams are independent of the crank....so you can turn the cams to get them to the marks and the crankshaft to get IT to it's mark with the belt off and you are not mashing anything....so I've read, and so I've done.

likewise had a helluva time with the timing belt on my son's 3vze and got it figured out...see the last several posts on his build thread in my sig......I will also edit with a link to the pertinent post.

start with this page and work your way down https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f199...0/index40.html I am not an expert or a mechanic, but I think I'm doing a pretty darn good job pretending to be

RBX

3.slo is not an interference engine.

Get a timing light, anytime you change the belt it is a good idea to recheck timing.
You can rotate the cams and crank to meet TDC, if the valves hit the pistons moving them by hand shouldn't be an issue....but it is a non-interference engine, so you should be safe.

I would first move the crank to TDC with the belt and cams attached, then adjust the cams by slipping the belt off, and rotating. I have found that every TB i have ever done does not line up exactly as described or pictured, you need to use your best judgement.

If you are off by a tooth, your truck will run poorly, then you just need to move appropriately, NBD.
Your cams should turn at a different rate then the crank pulley, so they should be off at times, but line back up at TDC(make sure you are not 180* out from TDC, this is an easy mistake). And do not think the cams are off because they no longer line up with the marks on the belt, they will never line up after your first start/rotation.

hope that helps and good luck

92 TOY

actually (and man you know much more than me!!!) the book (or whatever the hell i was reading because i was reading the set of DAYCO instructions the HAYNEs and the FSM) said to line them up, turn the crankshaft twice and assure that they line up again.

Wrenchinjoe

Yes, you can rotate the cams independent of the crank, the valves will not contact the pistons on these engines.

Sounds like you need to pull the belt back off and try again. Line up the crank at TDC, line up each cam with the marks on the timing cover (12:00), then route the belt.

Start routing the belt with the cs mark on the belt aligned with the dimple on bottom the crank pulley. Then route the belt up and around the water pump and towards the driver's side cam pulley. It is hard to get the belt mark to line up with the pulley and timing cover marks, so rotate the cam slightly if you need to then rotate back to keep it tight. Then route under the center idler pulley and then over the passenger side cam pulley. Again, it is hard to pull the belt tight enough to make it line up on the correct teeth of the pulley in order to also line up with the timing cover marks, so rotate the cam slightly if you need to then rotate back to keep it tight.

Now check your work. Make sure the belt marks all line up, the crank pulley is still lined up, the cam pulleys are still lined up. The only slack left in the belt should be along the passenger side where the tensioner will take it up. If everything looks good, put the tensioner back on and then rotate the crank shaft around two full rotations. Everything should still be lined up based on the corresponding pulley marks and timing cover marks. As previously posted, ignore the belt marks after rotating, they are only there to help during the initial routing of the belt. Once you are confident everything is lined up, torque your tensioner idler to spec.

Good luck.

Yellowtruck

Hey, thanks a lot guys! That helps a lot. I don't wanna screw anything up and would rather wait another day or two for verification rather than take a risk and pay the price.

I'll be attacking this again as soon as I get home from work today.

92 TOY

good deal man. happy to help if indeed I can.

Yellowtruck

Your link helped too. I just finished reading it. Hope the finger is all healed up!
I'm like you in a way when it comes to stuff like this. I'm pretty damn analytical and want to know "why" and "how" all the time so I can get it done right the first time. I need to fully understand the concept before I can apply it. I'm 35 and I've just started the past couple of years trying to teach myself to do as many of my own repairs as I can. Things I regret not letting my dad teach me when he had the chance. Driving my truck to the nearest party was my main concern back then, not fixing them.

rustyf99

iTrader: (1)

Just to be clear - the marks on the timing BELT are to set the initial alignment with everything else. I agree with the notes above, take it off and start over, rotate the crank and cams and line everything up carefully - THEN put the tensioner on before you rotate anything, otherwise you are just taking up the slack and putting slack where it doesn't belong. After 2 full rev's under tension, the cam and crank marks should line up again, but the BELT MARKS are likely to be way off as the belt moves a lot differently that the cam and crank, but the cam and crank have to stay synch'd together.

92 TOY

cool and thanks. yep. very gratifying to do for yourself.



good clarification on this because I do NOT have marks on the BELT like some might. so YES to clarify....maybe the BELT may never line-up again, but the cams and the crankshaft should be at the 12 o'clock position every 2nd rotation.

good point.

RBX

the belt marks thing...agreed, thats what i was trying to say/type.

92 TOY

yeh....my DAYCO set does not have those.....so it totally escaped me what you were talking about. The belt we took off did not have them either so I presume this belt was done at some point.

RBX

I can't recall which belts have the marks and which don't, i am guessing only the OEM has marks since this belt could be used for other applicable engines. I need to do mine as wel.

Yellowtruck

I bought the new belt from Napa. It didn't come with any marks. So, I just put it on and went from there.
Heading home now to get a start on this.

92 TOY

let us know how it goes

Yellowtruck

All went well! The second attempt got it right on mark. We just went a little slower this time while rotating the crank to prevent the belt from slipping any teeth.
Gave it a quick start before doing my final assembly and it sounded good. Put her all back together and filled up with antifreeze and had just enough time to drive down the road and back before having to head out of town for the weeked with the family.
Still sounds good...may be listening too hard, but there may be a sound that I don't recognize or it could have been there the whole time. Will look into that today after work. Otherwise, my temp is holding and no leaks.
Thanks to all of you who helped me out with the advice! Much appreciated!!