oranginal

update: after i installed the timing belt using the sharpie marks i made on the cam gears and getting the crank pulley on i rotated the motor to align the marks on the cam gears and i could see the white mark on the flywheel through the block hole. upon further investigation this was not the correct white alignment mark on the flywheel. the mark i was using positioned all the pistons at equal height. once i rotated the crank some more i could see the 5 degree marks then another white line but this white line was like a cross symbol which turns out was the mark i was looking for. i just assumed that the first white mark was the correct mark because it was in view after i put the cam gears where i thought they should have went.
in short: use the white mark on the flywheel to set TDC but pull the spark plugs and confirm pistion #1 is at the top to make sure you ahve the right mark, then align the gears


I just did a crank pulley and timing belt change.

if timing is off at the crank by 1-2 teeth and the gears are aligned at the marks could that cause the car not to start and make a clattering sound?

The crank pulley bolt came loose while driving ruining the pulley, so while i had it off i decided to switch the timing belt as well.

couldn't rotate the crank because the pulley was off so i marked the cam gears with a sharpie instead of setting the car at TDC. (i know bad bad)

put it all back together to what i thought was right and car was running rough so i had to shut it off after 5-10 seconds.

Then today i set the car at TDC at the flywheel, or what i thought was TDC, and aligned the cam gears but when i went to start the car i heard a weird clattering sound and the car wouldn't start but it cranks fine.

Since it's so hard to pinpoint the exact spot on the flywheel that everything lines up i was just wondering if i was off 1-2 teeth at the crank could that be causing my issues?

thanks for reading

Matgallis

yea you could have bent a valve in the process...

vinuneuro

There is absolutely no way you can set cam timing off the flywheel. You should be lining the cams up with the mark on the timing gear and oil pump housing.

Sounds like you've got bent valves, do a compression test. My belt a skipped tooth once when I started my engine. Was enough to bend valves in all cyl's enough for 0 compression across.

oranginal

to set TDC you align the mark on the flywheel through the hole in the block that's filled in by that rubber piece (below where it's stapped h44a4 or whatever)
then you align the cam gears marks with arrows up and the side marks pointing to each other.

the thing is you can see the flywheel mark and it's touch to line up perfectly... will try changing it a little and see what helps. don't think i bent any vales but i may run a compression test just to be sure, although with the engine not warm it won't be 100% accurate.

vinuneuro

No. Look through your helms.

Matgallis

Compression test require you to reassymble everything. Do a leak down test, better results.

98vtec

i take it you are OBD1. Take a look at the crank pulley key. #1 is at TDC when the key is pointed straight up. You can also stick something down the bore after removing the spark plug to physically put the engine at tdc. When your extension stops moving up, the engine is at Cyl1 TDC. When you put the belt on, leave the intake gear arrow a little lower than the exhaust arrow. This is because when you go to tighten the tensioner (after putting the slack in the belt between the intake gear and water pump) it will turn the cam a little in the process.

Man i wish i could do cam timing like you can with a stock thickness gasket. Having to remove the cams and tilt them up to get the belt on makes it a guessing game in getting them to line up.