When I got my 90 'PU it had a broken timing belt. I spent the last 2 hours trying to install the belt. I have fairly good instructions but I'm still having difficulty.

First off the #1 cylinder is on the drivers side, correct?

My main concern is I'm having trouble finding the compression stroke for #1. It doesn't seem to relate to the timing mark on the crank correctly. I have the spark plug out and I can feel the air presser build, this is where the pointer would normally line up but I have to rotate the crank quite a ways more before its TDC.

As for the cam sprockets, they can only line up one way, right?

Thanks

 

Cylinder #1 is always the closest one to the front of the engine.

On your 3VZE it is on the passenger side.

There is no reason to find TDC compression when changing the timing belt. That needs to be done when aligning the distributor when you have it out.

The marks on the crankshaft and cam sprockets need to be properly aligned, If you are using a factory belt there are marks on the belt that make it much simpler. There are two solid lines on the belt that line up with the cam sprockets and one dotted line that lines up on the crank.

Note that there are two marks on the crankshaft sprocket. One is on the front of it and is to be aligned with the timing belt marks and one on the rear to be aligned with the mark on the engine.

And one more tip.
The text on the timing belt should be oriented so that you can read it right side up if you are sitting on top of the engine!
That means it is upside down as it is viewed from in front of the truck.

 

Not all toyota belts come with marks. Also remember, the marks for the crank go 5,0,5,10 so dont put the crank mark on the first mark as you will be off. Put the crank on 0 then both cams need to be straight up. Make sure your dist is pointing to #1 as well

 

Some guy on another Toyota board told me #1 was on the drivers side! According to the instructions I needed to bring #1 up on compression and align the marks. I figured out #1 was on the pass side by myself, thanks for confirming that info. It now starts and runs .

I still have the timing cover off. After aligning all the marks I noticed that after rotating the engine manually 2 or 3 times that the marks are no longer perfectly aligned (close but not perfect), should I be concerned?

 

thats why i always always turn the engine over by hand about 4 times before starting it.

 

No need for concern. You probably noticed that the crank pulley is smaller than the cam pulleys. That is because the crank turns twice for each cam revolution. So, over time, the marks progress. If you turned the crank long enough, the marks will come back into alignment.
As long as it was set the first time and nothing has jumped a tooth, it's all okay.