So i have a very bad water leak at the number 2 idler pulley. I am tearing in to it and i see my cams like this. I think the factory marks on the plate behind the cams are above the bolt holes. It doesnt exactly line up on either one. The engine runs smooth but gets poor gas mileage. Is this of any concern?

Note: I PUT THE MARKS ON THE TIMING BELT

Crank at TDC


Passenger side cam


Driver side cam

 

it's the marks on the pullies and backing plate that you have to worry about, NOT on the belt. As long as they line up, you're good to go.

 

I'm by-no-means an expert - but I'm pretty sure the actual 'marks' for the cams to line up with are the little indents below the bolt holes.
That being said, I'd say you're definitely off a tooth for both cams and if you're following the factory service manual, I would adjust the cams and belt so that the marks on the cams are correctly lined up with the little indents below the bolt holes.
I redid my timing belt and the points (cam/crank) lined up perfect after installing the belt and doing the two revolutions of the crank test. I'd definitely fix that if I were you.

Steve

 

Well the pullies and backing plate dont exactly line up... i put the lines on belt the same place as the pullies marks are. funny, the passenger side pulley is on backwards.

Steve you said if you're following the factory service manual" I havent actualy done anything yet, this is how i found it when i took the cover off and turned the engine over.

Thanks for the advice

 

It looks like you are off a tooth. How bad is the mileage?

 

11 around town, 15 best on the highway. I have bigger tires but it shouldnt be hurting it that bad. my speedo isnt off that much according to my GPS

 

That's really bad. I'm getting 17 city, 20 highway. The good news is that you can adjust your belt very easily once you remove the #2 idler.

 

"funny, the passenger side pulley is on backwards."

Just so you know, I'm 99.99% sure that the cams are on correctly in your pictures. The drivers side is supposed to have the lip on the front and the passenger side on the back.

 

X2. Your pulleys are installed correctly.

 

really? because the arrow is on the back of the cam, i can feel it

 

now the next question, how do i get the tension off the belt so i can reseal the pulley and move the cams

 

there are timing marks on both sides of both cam sprockets; they are interchangeable, but one must go forward & one backward to prevent the belt from "walking"...

You will have to release the tensioner pulley to get the tension off the belt.

 

Clamp the belt to the pulleys, then simply remove the #2 idler pulley to relieve tension. Unclamp one at a time, adjust each cam if necessary, put #2 back on (without rtv), rotate your crank twice to check alignment. If everything looks good, clamp the belt to the pulleys, remove #2 again, put down a bead of RTV, then reassemble.

It might take a few tries to get it right.

 

Interesting. I've never seen this done. How much tension is on that belt when you pull off the number 2 idler. will it stress or strip the bolts when pulling it out?

 

There is very little tension on it. It's a non issue. Take a look at my pic above; the belt needs to stay exactly as is, and you need to rotate the cam without effecting the belt. Keep one side clamped while you use the slack (after removing #2) to skip the other cam 1 tooth over.

 

Get a new belt with the marks on the belt. Takes all the guess work out of the timing. As noted, the dimples near the bolt holes are the timing marks. All that white chicken scratch is just that and put there by some goober. The cast in triangle marks on the cam pulleys point to the dimples when properly timed. Crank has a similar notch for alignment with oil pump housing.

My $0.02

 

I dont want to take apart the whole lower section to get a new belt in there. The belt is fairly new.

I'll try Chickenlovers trick today

 

took it apart, cleaned everything, Sealed it all up except the timing cover and fired it up. it runs nice, no leaks. tomorow i'm gonna borrow a cooling system tester and pressure test it. if all goes well i'll take the front hose back off and cover everything up.

 

So, you got the cams lined up correctly? You might want to get the timing light out and double check the ignition timing. It needs to be 10-12 degrees BTDC.

 

i plan on borrowing a timing light and cooling system tester from my school tomorrow. my idle changed so i'm sure the timing changed with it.