So.. I've got a question for you all. I'm trying to do my timing and when I hook up light, my tracking notch is traveling around in a slow counterclockwise motion.??
The engine seems to be running fine, but this has me perplexed.
The only anomaly is when I had had the crank gear off awhile ago, the (other than metal) medium between the gear and the pully was old and a bit loose.
any ideas for me?

 

Welcome to YotaTech.

There is no crank gear on any Toyota 4runner/pickup. So for starters, tell us what vehicle you're talking about. Include make, model, year, ENGINE, transmission, trim. Put it in your signature to keep from having to repeat it.

There is a crank sprocket, and forward of that is the Harmonic Balancer (which has the timing mark). That HB has an annular rubber ring, which with enough years has been known to fail. If that ring is "loose," then the HB is definitely junk. It is only a matter of minutes before you throw it through the radiator.

$90-$100 at RockAuto

 

Thanks for schooling, new to the site.
91 runner w/3vze,
so I will def replace the HB. Would the engine still run if balancer off ?

 

Sure. It's just a matter of the ring that carries the belts (and the timing mark) being a few degrees out of phase. Still, you're lucky you caught it the easy way.