last night i was trying to figure out what in the hell the problem was with my timing belt since nothing was lining up with the marks i made and the marks honda has on the motor. i was stumped. then i realized something. i made marks on one side of the gear, then on the same tooth on the other side. well when you take the gear off one way and install it in the other the little key changes things. see these two pics. one side has red marks and the other blue....almost black. notice they are in two totally different locations? somehow i overlooked the fact that the keyway will position the gear differently depending on which way you install it. i'm laughing at myself since it's now 315am and i just figured it out.

i was converting a JDM ITR motor for use with the USDM oil pump, crank sensor and crank sprocket. i had all sorts of thoughts go through my head before i spun this gear in my hand and realized the problem

 

haha, and when did problem first come up? Did you get it on the correct way?

 

the last owner of my car replaced the timing belt and some how managed to bend the cover and now it rubs on the gear and belt. is it safe for a dd to trim the top half of the cover off.

 

lots of people trim the cover but just think about it. if a rock gets up in there it could potentially wreck the engine. that being said you'd probably be ok, but IMO tempting fate in these kinds of situations is a bad idea

 

so... why did you install the crank sprocket backwards? Or was it just a mistake?

 

talking on the phone while i was working. the girl i was talking to kept distracting me with some of her ideas. the pictured sprocket is actually a JDM crank sprocket, our USDM ones are really hard to mess up since they have the CPS teeth on the backside.

as for the question about the cover. i would price them at acura if you have trouble finding a used one. one well placed rock could be bad news.

 

thats what i figured thax for the help