2ndgenmafia
New member
Well ran into a problem... I can't for the life of me get the bolt off of the harmonic balancer.
Sort of impossible to time an engine with a timing light if it won't run. And trying to see if its timed while turning the ignition key is not going to give any sort of correct timing mark.
Sure, it may flash whenever it passes #1 cylinder, but the engine is advanced by the ecu when starting, and can bounce all over the place while cranking, so you'll never get close enough to see if its off. And I doubt you'll be able to spin the engine fast enough to really see the timing mark work to your favor.
The only way to see if the cams have slipped is to manually set them. One way to see if they are out of time is to set crank at TDC, pull #1 plug, check piston for TDC (making sure its not 180º out, if it isn't, spin engine another 360º and re-check piston for TDC), then use a leakdown tester to see if it holds pressure. That will tell you if the valves are completely closed, which will tell you whether the cam slipped or not. If you hear air leaking through and cannot get pressure to build to at least 75psi (while set at 100psi for test), turn the crank slightly back and forth while watching the gauge. Where it shows the highest pressure, look at the crank, that's how far off the cam is.
Furthermore, you can have one side out and not the other, depending on what tooth slipped, so you'll now have to a cylinder on the other side (spinning the motor 360º first), although I can't remember which one is closed when at TDC. I think its #5, but don't quote me on that.
This shouldn't take much more than about 10-20 minutes to check, and will tell you right away if the cams are not in the right position.
Of course, if you don't mind pulling the front cover, that would be the best way to check if the marks are lining up.
Does one camshaft pulley line up with the timing mark when the crank is at TDC? Rotate the other one so they both line up. Do you have the service manual?
This is a non interference motor. You can move the cams by hand to get the marks to line up.
As for the balancer bolt, there are lots of homebrew ways to get the bolt off. I use a 4ft padded cheater over the breaker and wrap a chain around the frame and through two of the crank pulley bolts. You will probably have to replace them with longer bolts. You will still have to lean on it quite a bit to get it to break loose. Throw a heavy towel over the chain setup incase something lets go. That's why I pad the cheater bar too.
Not necessarily. Spin it at the crank a couple times to see if you don't get them aligned. Pull the distributor CAP and check rotor position is at or near #1 cyl. Here's a good diy to follow.
1995 3vze Timing belt removal and replacement "With Lots Of Pics" - YotaTech Forums
Passenger side cam pulley lines up but driver side does not. Also... I'm stuck now and don't know what to do. I tried the starter trick with a breaker bar and all it did was strip the bolt...
Oh yeah, you're probably not going to get the timing belt's markings to line up since you can't get the balancer off. That's okay, just do it the old fashioned way! ignore the bottom markings since you can't see them anyways. Set crank to 0º, set the cam gears to their markings. Slip the belt around the crank then slip it onto the left cam gear, lining up its mark with the belt. If its not there, slip the belt s'more to get it there. You can now assume its on the mark at the crank. Get the right cam gear's marks lined up, slip belt on properly, get tensioner back onto belt. rotate 360º and double check that all three parts are lined up. put it back together.
OOPS! That is correct! 2 revolutions, not one! :redbrick:
you need to turn the engine over 2x, in order to bring the cams back into phase, to verify proper timing.