Catamount

First Thanx to everyone who has been helping me through my first timing belt. Its a lot easier than I first expected in fact have been enjoying it. Im almost done but have my first true problem.
Both Cams never removed. Crank & Cams alined at TDC.
FSM step #9, C) w/wrench on bolt not sst I slightly turn appx. 1 tooth the LH Cam CW & align timing mark w/ belt mark. D) w/wrench on bolt not sst I re-align CCW LH Cam timing mark w/#3 cover mark. the manual makes no mention of it, but I have no slack to take up so when I re-align LH cam it pulls the crank to 5 Btdc on #1 cover. Step #10, with slight force I am slipping the belt onto the RH Cam with no trouble lining up the belt mark at tdc on the cam and #3 cover mark. Steps 11 fan bracket, 12 & 13 tensioner go with out a hitch. Step #14 two turns timing check. I start with both Cams lined up tdc with belt marks. The crank is at 5 btdc. I turn CW and stop at #1 cylinder @ tdc. The belt marks are no were close to lining up and RH cam is 1/2 tooth off while LH cam is almost 1 full tooth off. Both towards the drivers side (LH?). I've redone the procedure 9 times with various twinks but get the same result. Need a suggestion

Catamount

most recent observation. If I turn LH Cam CCW 3/4 tooth it and RH Cam line up while the crank lines up with 10 btdc. Also make note that I started a thread last week because I found when starting this job I had just opened the covers and lined #1 cylinder @ top of stroke both cams lined up tdc but crank lined up @ 15 btdc. The engine has always run fine and been serviced (T.B.) by a well qualified mechanic.

Catamount

The job is now finished the engine with just over 300,000 miles is running great. Thanx to everyone who helped me through this. Really wasn't that difficult just a lot of wrenching and time to learn. Keeping the cams aligned I tried a few alternative crank alignments with the same results. I also tried re-installing the old belt by chance there was something wrong with the new belt. Fortunately even though I was going to throw the old belt away I marked it before I removed it ! which made this trial installment possible. same result. So now I knew I had a procedure situation not missing or extra teeth. The light bulb came on, its like pulling your horses front legs to get the creases out from under the girth. The FSM #9 e suggests that 9d is to take up slack in order to send it to the other side for the tensioner to take up. So I put the crank bolt on and used a wrench to hold crank relatively still while I performed #9d (re-aligning LH cam to match #3 cover mark). I was saving it for later but went ahead and turned the distributor so the rotor contact aligned with the plastic wiring hub which is the same width. I just noticed they lined up when I started the job and had first brought #1 cylinder to top of stroke. Don't know if made a difference here. Any how holding the crank still while I re-aligned the cam took up the belt slack (at first I didn't think I had) then sliding the belt onto RH cam (all lined up) was a breeze. The two revolution test with the crank at TDC brought the cam marks to within 1/16" ish or less of the cover marks. I was a little worried cam alignment wasn't perfect while I put it all back together but it started right up (quick test). So apparently there's a tinny wiggle room on the cam alignment. I installed and filled the radiator, fan, belts, etc. let it warm at idle connected a timing light made a slight timing adjustment and its good to go. Thanx again and I trust my observations will help someone else.

timmytoyota

Crankshaft at zero.Adjust timing by turning distributor when belt is installed at completion of reassembly.