I have a 1996 4Runner that needs a timing belt replacement. I've never done one, but after pouring through all the great information on this site and other 4Runner sites I decided I could probably handle it. So, last January I started replacing my timing belt. When I put the new belt on (with all the marks on the belt lining up correctly with the pulleys) I saw that the timing mark on the crank shaft pulley lined up at about the 5 degree mark on the engine even though the cam shaft pulleys are both properly lined up with their marks. It looked to me like moving the belt by one tooth would move the pulley more than the 5 degrees need to make it line up with 0, so I was stumped. It was at that point that I decided to procrastinate, and here I am, 9 months later with the new timing belt still in the same position that I left it it January.

The thing is, I vaguely remember (imagine?) that the crank pulley mark was lined up somewhere near the 5 degree mark before I took the old belt off, but it's been so long that I could easily be remembering it wrong. Further adding to my confusion is something I saw in my Haynes repair manual. It says that the ignition timing should be 8 to 12 degrees before top dead center. So, is it possible that my timing mark alignment as shown in the pictures below is correct at 5 degrees? Or, if the timing mark on the crank shaft pulley absolutely must line up at 0 degrees, what do I do to make it line up?

Thanks in advance for any advise offered.

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