So guys i got my motor in my 4runner. Except i could not get my timing for the life of me! I would align the little dot, with the oil pump body. Put the belt on, and the keeper, and then the cover and the crank pulley. I would turn the crank pulley till its at 0. and my piston is not at TDC. The piston is going down. Idk what to do!

 

What are you trying to do, replace the timing belt?
The crank pulley only goes on one way. There is no adjusting it.

 

I just got done a top end rebuild with my motor out. I dropped the motor in last night. And im trying to get my valve timing correct. but i think im lost.

 

I just did the same thing, Do you have a Factory Service Manual?

The crank pulley has a notch in it and so does the crank. You must push it on to that pin sticking up on the crank. It should slip over it easy. Now crank the motor by hand till the notch in the pulley lines up with the 0 mark on the plastic timing cover. If 1 is not at TDC then crank one more revolution til u get back to 0. Then you should be good. Then when you feed the belt around to the right cam pulley now you must roll the cam pulley back a half notch as you pull the belt around it. That way when you put tension on the tensioner both left and right cam pulleys get pulled half a tooth forward to line everything up.

make sense?

 

Pages EG2-42 thru 47:

http://www.ncttora.com/fsm/1990-1995...e/timingbe.pdf

 

I get confused with this all the time, too. When the mark points to zero you are always at TDC. The only ambiguity is whether you are on the compression or exhaust stroke. And with the timing belt off you aren't at either (because you're not driving the valves). So just set it to zero and put the belt on.

The rest of your note was spot-on.

(This might be a good place to mention that the marks on the belt, if any, are simply a convenience to help you get it on. The correct alignment depends on both cam sprocket arrows pointing up when the crank is at Zero, whatever the marks on the belt say. And once you turn the crank two turns (the cam sprockets are back pointing up) the belt marks will NOT line up with anything.)