90civic-ZC

I gotta replace my timing belt on my DOHC ZC and my question is what do I go off of on the cams to time it? There's two teeth on each cam gear with a notched line then there's the "up" arrow on one of the cam gears arm. I'm assuming it's the "up" arrow but I just want to make sure.

jlicrx

follow the attached for replacing the timing belt on the DOHC ZC

90civic-ZC

Cool, thanks man....much appreciated.

tailoredtune

i just had to do this over the weekend, some advice....get the cam and crank to TDC and then insert drill bits (or allen wrenches) into the cam covers (with valve cover off the holes in the cam cap and cam should line up if really at TDC).it will prevent the cams from moving under the tension of the valve springs. it will make your life much easier!

90civic-ZC

Yeah I did that too except I used two welding rods put my intake cam was just slightly lower that the head......not sure if that slight difference still matters, but I then used a wrench to keep it lined up with the head while I was putting the timing belt on. I was having difficulty keeping that cam lined up ecactly with the head and the crack to stay exactly with the arrow. I'm gonna have another set of hands tonight to keep the bottom at perfect TDC while I do the top. Did you have a problem with the crank being really sensitive, like the slightest touch it would go off? This is only the second car I've ever put a timing belt on so I am kind of new to it. Any help is very appreciated, I also have a newer thread about that no CEL with code 9. Which I'm assuming it's still my timing being off.

tailoredtune

that should work fine, i had the same problem with the crank and lack of hands. it is pretty sensitive at TDC. the only thing i did differently from the pdf attachment jlicrx gave you was that instead of turning the crank a 1/4 turn prior to tightening the tension pulley, i actually tightened the tension pulley down a little bit. i didn't tighten it all the way, just enough to take the slack out of the belt. then i turned the crank a 1/4 turn and the belt didn't slip on the cam gears. after turning the crank i tightened the tension pulley down all the way.

lastly i double checked everything one more time before putting on the splash guards.

90civic-ZC

I'm gonna fiddle with it some more tonight but I'll try your route too.....I just tightened it all the way then did a full revolution. I do appreciate your input though man. And from what I researched code 9 should go away without resetting the ECU right? or is that just some false info?

tailoredtune

yea i did it tons of ways before i did it correctly haha tighten the tension pulley a bit to get the slack out, then do 1/4 turn on the crank, after that you should be good to tighten the tension pulley down all the way and turn the crank a full rev.