Hey Team, first post here but long time searcher/reader of posts. Apologies if this situation has been brought up before but not having luck searching for another post.

I'm doing a timing belt replacement on my 95 pickup's 3vze motor, and after getting everything back in place, the timing marks all looked to be dead on. I spun the engine twice, and everything seemed to be lining up perfectly: the marks on the belt were dead on and the pulley marks hit 0 degrees on the crank and both of the camshaft marks.

Because I really want to be sure, I decided to spin it a few more times to be sure, and that's when things got a little weird. After maybe 6 or 8 times around, the marks on all of the pulleys still looked perfect, but the paint marks on the new timing belt were one tooth off. Spun it some more, and now I'm two teeth off on the belt paint marks, but again, the crank pulley is hitting 0 degrees and the cam gears are hitting their marks perfectly.

Is this something I should be concerned about? I'm confident that the gears are where they need to be, and it seems like the paint marks wouldn't matter too much because the gears are what really matter, but it still seems insidious. I'm pretty dang confident that I didn't feel anything like a tooth slipping, and it's a Mitsobuoshi belt from the AISN kit so I don't think theres any issue with the belt itself.

Any ideas?

 

You pretty much answered your own Question.

What is more important the timing marks on engine hardware meaning things are lined up.

Marks on a belt.

 

This is by design; in gearing it's called a "hunting" pattern. If you had a nick on sprocket, for instance, this pattern assures the nick wouldn't hit the belt in the same place each time.

 

Great, makes sense. Just wasn't sure if it was a sign of issues to come. Thanks guys!