I'm starting my water pump job and noticed that when I align the crankpulley white mark with engine block arrow, the camshaft marks are not aligned. I was wondering if this is common. I don't want to tear down the engine and remove the timing belt if the markings on the engine are off.

I attached three pictures one of the camshaft aligned with the mark on the plastic timing cover(#1 TDC) note that the rear camshaft mark is aligned as well.

I then attached a photo of the crank white mark and engine mark being off by maybe 1/4 inch

The photos are a little deceiving because of the angle I had to take it at.

I hope I am just being paranoid!

My thought is to remove the crank pulley and plastic timing covers and check the sprockets mark with the engine block marks?

 

Has the belt been changed before?

The cam gears like to move when the belt is off and there is a chance that if the job was done before that they didn't get it lined up.

When doing any timing belt job, I will use something ("silver sharpie" is my favorite) and make marks on the belt to the gear(s). Then remove the belt and transfer those marks to the new belt - count the teeth between marks.

Then when the new belt goes on, the marks should line up. If not, something has moved.

 

I just finished the job. The timing mark on the crankshaft and both cam shafts aligned on the engine. Just not on the covers. So I lined them up and also dos the sharpie trick. Car started up and ran like a charm.