What's up all, I need a little bit of help after changing my head gasket.

My car: 95 del sol B16a3 vetc DOHC.

This is the first major thing I've done to a car and I did just about everything correct (I believe lol) except for marking the position of the camshafts with the timing belt.

After I took the front camshaft off I realized I would probably need to know the exact direction they were pointing. So I put the front back on pointing in the same direction as the rear (but I'm pretty sure the rear got moved out of place in the mean time) but didn't mark their position with the belt.

When I was done I put everything back together and the cams matching their direction.

First turn of the key it started right up but sounded a little funny. It ran for about 30 seconds when I saw white smoke coming from around the exhaust manifold. I've done some research on this and it sounds like that is just some burn off of old coolant in my Kats...??????

When I turned it off it sounded like a lot of air was being released somewhere. It wasn't super loud and it only lasted about half a second.

Any help getting on if this sounds like timing and how to get it back to the right alignment would be helpful.

Thanks in advance I know this was long!

 

With the belt off you should've set the crank to TDC and then it doesn't really matter what happens to the cams. You would just make sure they're properly aligned and you already know the crank is it TDC. Do you have a handy dandy timing light close by? That will also help. Check out the FAQ section here to figure out how to properly set mechanical timing for your vehiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiicle.

 

Timing light no I don't have. I'm guessing I can probably get one at autozone tho.

 

Set the crank to TDC then look at the cam gears. The up marks should be up and the marks at 90 degrees on the exhaust cam and 270 degrees on the intake cam should line up. Do they?

 

There are two marks on the crank. One is a white dot that appears to be from the manufacturer and a second is a scratch mark that was done by someone else. The white dot should be at the top.... correct?

 

The diagram is for the B16a2, but the B16a3 is likely very similar.

Turn the crank pulley COUNTERCLOCKWISE ONLY with a breaker bar until the cams are set at TDC1. Then look down at the crank pulley to see if the pointer aligns with the white mark. The pointer aims like a gun site.

 

Awesome! I've found everything you showed me but I also see something else.

I see three notches with a white mark in the middle and about an inch to the right (moving clockwise) I see another white mark all by itself. Which one do I line up with the pointer on the lower cover?

Thank you also!

 

The middle mark in the group of three is used to set the ignition timing.

The lone white mark (TDC1) is used to set the mechanical timing.