I’ll try and get a picture of the two dots tomorrow. They are opposite of the single dot. Somewhere I have an extra set of cams. It will be easier taking a picture of them than the cams in the head because the dots face the firewall.

Get a rag and spray it with brake cleaner and wipe off the outside face and see if you can find the second set of dots. My cams are from a 97 and a 96 and both sets of cams have both dots on them.


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You should have noticed if the timing marks on your cam pulleys were 180 degrees off tdc.
If the cam gear dots are lined up correctly, the pin on the end of the cam should be facing up which will align the cam pulleys to tdc


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Thanks - I appreciate that.

Ah - I see what you are saying. I aligned the dots, ignoring where the pin hole was (figuring to make sure of TDC later when installing the belt), which was obviously wrong.

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Ah. Thanks for taking the time.

And that mark is the same on the other gear? In other words, two dots to two dots?

Yes. Two dots to two dots.


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Perfect - all I need to know.

Many thanks the the gearheads here! Time to start tearing it apart . . .

I replaced the front cylinder head on our cheap Highlander (burnt valve, got the car for cheap, and used a cheap junkyard head) with a V6, and it has the same thing going on with the LH/RH heads. Only on a transverse engine... which one is LH and which one was RH? LOL, I checked, double-checked, triple-checked that.

Then I had some minor issues with the timing belt - used the stripes on the belt to align it, double-checked the hard marks after releasing the tensioner and turning the motor around twice... everything was off a bit, like a tooth or so. So I reset the tensioner, did the belt again, making SURE everything was lined up on those stripes, released the tensioner, and SAME THING. Very slowly it dawned on me I was putting the belt on 'backwards'. Stripes are close enough that it doesn't raise alarm bells while installing it (because the slack is in random spots).

Just as a follow-up, since I started the thread. I pulled both valve covers and, sure enough, the driver's side camshafts were misaligned. Since I hadn't known about the two dots, I had aligned a single dot to two dots. I realigned it, and now it runs like brand new! Here's to non-interference motors!

But just as a follow-up on the pairs of dots. On mine (1997), on the passenger (right) side, when the two dots are aligned, that means the single dots will also align when they rotate around. Also, when the two dots are aligned, it is not at TDC. In fact, the camshaft gear is 180 out at that point. When the single dots are aligned, it is at TDC. I am not sure why the service manual emphasizes aligning the two dot pairs, since that also means the single dot pairs will align, and it is simpler to align the single dots at TDC. Perhaps it is more of a pain because of compressing valve springs?

Anyway, many thanks to the forum! You got me back on the road!

Nice!! Glad you got it fixed up, my 96 was the same way, single dots aligned on both cams for tdc.


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Good for you!

Now, amend this thread's title with "-Resolved".

Thanks for finishing this up.

I'm glad to hear you figured it out! I would assume it's that way for timing purposes. Doesn't it tell you to align the 2 dots together on the right head and single dots together on the left head?

The service manual says too do that. I posted clips of it above.


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Right - I was anticipating doing just that, but since I didn't want too have to remove the timing belt, I put it at TDC (crank and camshafts) before opening it up. Upon pulling the valve covers, lo and behold, the single dots were together on the passenger (right) side also. I put a bar on the crank bolt and rotated it around by hand, and when the two dots were together it was 180 out. I am not sure why the service manual says to do it that way.

My error was on the driver's side, putting two dots to one. Doh! Anyway, since the intake camshafts were timed, I just had to remove the driver's side exhaust camshaft and reinstall it correctly: one dot to one dot. It didn't take long at all.

Thanks again to all for all the help!