Has my timing belt slipped?

[Filip]

Hello,

My car is a Honda Accord (European model) 1996 with 1.8L F18A3 Engine SOHC, mostly the same as other F series 4cyl honda engines.

When i did my valve adjustment i wanted to check my timing belt if it has slipped or wrongly installed by the mechanic.

So, read the service manual, put my engine to TDC by the marks on the camshaft as the manual told me:

[IMG]http://imageshack.us/a/img42/8916/tzcc.jpg[/IMG]

And i saw this:

[IMG]http://imageshack.us/a/img9/7677/fz9z.jpg[/IMG]

It’s hard to make a picture of that, but the sign is not precisely on the “arrow”.
Does that mean my timing belt has slipped? Like one teeth?

I tried to find any information on how much is “one teeth” on the flywheel, but no luck.

If so, what to do to fix that? Can i just “slip” the timing belt of the cam gear, move the gear and put the belt on it? Or do i have to remove a whole more stuff with the crankshaft pulley?

Topic

[college man]

If its off a tooth the belt needs to come off to move
the cam.

[Thomas]

That might just be how they line up. I know on some ATV engines (I know, not a car engine, but still OHC) when the timing is set correct, the marks may not line up exactly, and moving the timing chain 1 tooth makes it off even worse the other way. Understand what I mean?

Any running problems at all?

[Bill]

As long as the car starts and runs well I wouldn’t worry about it. If the valve timing was off one tooth you would know it as the car would run poorly.

[Filip]

Actually the timing belt has been changed recently by the previous owner, so i do not know if it “runs” poorly because of that.

BUT i do have a rough idle and it takes a few seconds before it starts, so that could mean it. I know it can also mean a hundred other things, but i want to exclude or fix this one now.

Any more opinions? [b]I just wanted to know how much one teeth on the flywheel “is”.
[/b]

[EricTheCarGuy]

Timing marks don’t always line up perfectly. It’s annoying I know but if you’re not experiencing any performance problems then you’re probably fine. I do have a video on that belt replacement BTW.

http://www.ericthecarguy.com/vmanuals/22-vmanual-store/67-1990-2002-honda-f-series-timing-belt-replacement-vmanual

[Author]

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