My timing belt broke a few days ago and the engine is probably ruined but I am hoping for the best and I am attempting the change the belt. I went though the write up in the FAQ (great write up by the way) but one thing was a little unclear to me and I was hoping someone could help me? It says once the belt is on to spin the crackshaft back (counter clockwise) 3 teeth on the camshaft, what exactly does that mean? Do I accually skip the camshaft 3 teeth past the crankshaft? Or is this just to eat up some slack in the belt?

I did put the the belt back on and fired it up. It does run, just runs like crap. I'm guess bent valve but maybe its just that the timing is off a little. I'm going to check the timing with a light next to see if its off there. Any input would be great. Thanks guys.

 

Sorry to hear about your problems, man.

Turn camshaft three teeth counter clockwise --> ensures tension between cam and crank shafts and gives the part of the belt that winds around the water pump and tensioners movement so that ultimately the tensioner is forced up a little, taking up slack and giving your belt the proper tension.

 

Precisely. You need to verify that all the slack is removed from the belt, that's why there is the step to retension the belt after the check.
If it still runs rough, check the compression. You can also pull the valve/cam cover off and check for any valve stems that may be shorter when closed, compared to the others. Most likely that will be a bent valve.