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I just started a timing belt job on my cousins Integra and the timing marks on the crank don’t line up with the mark on the timing cover. The cams are fine, but the mark on the timing cover is between the white TDC mark and the ignition timing marks. It’s actually closer to the ignition timing marks than TDC. Should I rotate the crank till it lines up and then just proceed with the job, or should I just leave it alone? And if I do have to move the crank, will I need to reset the ignition timing?
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Could be the timing has slipped a tooth. The white mark is the one for TDC but there should be a mark on the block that lines up with the timing belt gear on the crankshaft. The white mark is not for setting mechanical timing but spark timing. Usually one tooth on the timing belt pully lines up with a mark on the block. Google your engine and year for timing photos.
Supposedly there should be one on the oil pump but I didn’t see one. I’m going to clean it up and see what’s what. Thanks for the response. If it did slip time you would recommend I turn it back, or no? And what of the ignition timing.
There ended up being timing marks on the oil pump. I used these. The ones on the harmonic balancer don’t line up with the other for some reason but I can turn the engine over so I guess maybe the balancer is messed up or not timed with the other marks. I don’t know.
I’m also having another slight issue. I know I have the right belt but after I tension and turn the engine over it seems to loosen up a bit. Maybe it’s supposed to do this. It doesn’t get wicked loose or anything, just not as tight as I made it.
STOP—-get the service manual for your vehicle and see what it is suppose to be like. Do not risk closing it up and thinking it is fine—you could cause serious engine damage if valves meet pistons. Each engine has a routine for lining up timing marks during a belt change. Some engines require two revolutions of the crank in order to line up the cam marks—refer to the Service Manual for that specific model & engine.
I did rotate the engine over numerous times. I ran it, but now it has misfires on 3 cylinders and a random misfire code. I lined up the timing mark for the crank using the marks on the oil pump housing instead of the harmonic balancer which is how eric shows in his video so I think that is it. I know I didn’t get it off by too much because I didn’t bend any valves. But I have a sick amount of misfires so I did something wrong.
Ok guys, I am now getting all sorts of misfire codes. I lined up the cams perfect, I locked them in place with drill bits and they were dead on. The problem I had was the crank. There are timing marks on the harmonic balancer and timing cover and ones on the crank and the oil pump housing. If one was on the other wasn’t so I lined up the ones on the oil pump housing thinking the harmonic balancer might have turned or something. Well, I buttoned it all up and now I have misfires. No bent valves as I turned the engine over by hand first numerous times and it didn’t bind up. Should I: A. Go back and line up the marks on the harmonic balancer or B. Adjust the timing with the distributor?
I’m really getting desperate. I watched Eric’s video and followed everything to the letter but I still misfires. The marks line up on the block but the one on the balancer is off a little bit. Is it possible it’s the ignition timing that is causing the misfire codes?
I guess my biggest question is which marks are the most important to have lined up for the crank, the balancer marks or the marks on the block? Because they aren’t both lining up.
I would say that you need to line the crank marks up with the block and the cams gears with their respective marks, but I would also refer to a service manual. After installing the belt, you have to set the tensioner without letting the belt even slip one tooth—all it takes is a tooth for the timing to be off and cause the misfires. Go back and retrace your steps.
I tried lining up the marks on the block and that’s what caused the misfire. The cams were dead on and it didn’t slip a tooth. I went back yesterday and lined up the marks on the harmonic balancer, no more misfire.
Any way you could post a picture? I think I said in the video that the marks may not line up 100%, they may be slightly off. In the video I said to not even put the belt on the cams until you have the lower part of the engine lined up. This procedure helps eliminate the possibility of getting the timing incorrect. It also shows how to set the tension properly and how to check to see if you got it right. Seriously, you may want to go back and re-watch that part because I did spend a lot of time to create a good working procedure to demonstrate in the video. That said your misfires may be the result of another issue. If you have ignition problems or something else it could cause the misfire. You can always do a compression test to verify if you have a compression leak that’s causing the misfire. If you find low compression you might want to do a leak down test to see where the leak is.
Compression testing
Leak down testing
I hope I didn’t insult you or make you think I was bashing your video because that wasn’t my intention. I realize my comment could have come off that way and I am sorry if it did. I have learned a lot from you and have a great deal of respect for your experience and knowledge. I checked it out and my job was good. The marks lined up as good as they could without having any slack on the tension side of the belt or being off on the cams. The misfire must be caused by something else. I did do a tune up along with the T.B. and water pump; plugs (NGK), cap, rotor, and wires. I was assuming since I had just done the timing belt that I most likely screwed it up as the misfire appeared to occur after I worked on it but it must be a coincidence. Just a bit of info on this situation, the misfire only occurs at idle. And another thing about this car is my cousin had the head rebuilt about 8 months ago and she says it hasn’t been right since. Along with the misfire it has an overheat problem, but I digress. I think something wasn’t done right as I found through my other work that little things weren’t as they should be. An example is the valve lash was all over the place. Every single valve needed adjusting and it was very inconsistent. Almost as if they were never adjusted after the head was rebuilt. I am going to do the compression and leak down in a little bit so I’ll let you know what I find. Thank you for the reply.
I sort of got stuck having to fix it. She just wants it to run so since I worked on it, it has now become my problem. I am looking to become a technician and I do know a lot of theory but I am sort of getting stuck at the point where you need experience to guide your troubleshooting and point you in the right direction and I just don’t have enough of it. I don’t know if that makes sense.
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