I installed a new timing belt on the ITR and I think I goofed on the crank pulley .. The car starts and idles fine but when I went to set the timing and flashed the timing light at the crank pulley I could not see the timing marks !! Obviously, I can see the marks on the block but they don't match with the crank pulley at all.. This may sound far-fetched but, is it possible that my crank pulley is 180 degrees off ??

What did I do wrong ?!?! This is frustrating !! Any opinions will be appreciated.

 

I think it's possible it's off 180 degrees. I had trouble seeing mine because of dirt, etc. If you turn the crank with a socket wrench until you can see the timing marks on the pulley, clean up the marks, and use a dab of white paint on the mark. Then try again.

 

It's impossible for the crank pulley to be on 180 degrees out of phase. The pulley uses a keyway and key to orient and secure the crank pulley. It only goes on one way unless you put it on backwards, but nobody's silly enough to do that.

The paint may have come off the crank pulley for the ignition timing markers, and you may not be seeing them even tho they're there. Maybe use touch-up paint to recolor the notches? I've tried various bright-colored hi-lighters, white-out, etc. and none of those hold up or are easy enough to see. You need something that stands out in color (like orange, white, pink, red) and opaque.

Set the motor to TDC and recheck your cam gear/crank pulley timing mark marks for proper alignment.

 

You have to short the service connector if you want to check the timing. Otherwise the timing will fluctuate every rotation caused by the ECU.

 

Also, are you certain you're using the timing light correctly?

 

Yes, the pulley is on correctly .. yes, I shorted the jumper on the passenger's firewall.. yes, I've used this timing gun a million times and I know what to look for when I use it ..

I will check the pulley tonight and paint the marks with White-out .. hopefully that will help ..

Is there a sure way to make certain that I am ad TDC on compression stroke and not on exhaust stroke ??

Anything else ??

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by iperez &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Is there a sure way to make certain that I am ad TDC on compression stroke and not on exhaust stroke ??</TD></TR></TABLE>
The camshaft lobes on whatever cylinder you're concerned with will point upwards. The cam would be on what's commonly referred to as the base circle. You do this when you adjust the valve lash. In this position, you will be able to wiggle the rocker arms up and down slightly (as long as the valve lash isn't too tight).

If the cylinder was on the EX stroke, the cam lobes would both be interacting with the rocker arms and pointed in the downwards direction.

 

OK.. I crawled under the car and painted the marks on the pulley .. that helped A LOT. I am now able to see the timing marks and advance/retard as I am used to .. I guess I should have been less-lazy and painted the marks before posting ..

I have one last question ... even though I am shorting the service connector on the passenger side kickpanel, the timing seems to jump every now and then on the timing gun .. It will flash steady in the same place for a few seconds, flash elsewhere once every now and then, and then back to where it should be .. is this normal ??

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by iperez &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I have one last question ... even though I am shorting the service connector on the passenger side kickpanel, the timing seems to jump every now and then on the timing gun .. It will flash steady in the same place for a few seconds, flash elsewhere once every now and then, and then back to where it should be .. is this normal ??</TD></TR></TABLE>

Could your plug wire clamp be making contact with another plug wire?

 

Hmmm... good point .. the pickup was actually resting over another wire even though it was attached to the #1 wire .. I didn't think it would make a difference .. I'll try it again tonight .. thanks

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by iperez &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Hmmm... good point .. the pickup was actually resting over another wire even though it was attached to the #1 wire .. I didn't think it would make a difference .. I'll try it again tonight .. thanks </TD></TR></TABLE>

Happy I could help! Good luck! Let us know how it turns out!

 

Did the test again last night and it was right on the money ... The fact that the pickup was sitting on another wire was making the difference .. who would have thought !!

Thanks for the help guys

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by iperez &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Did the test again last night and it was right on the money ... The fact that the pickup was sitting on another wire was making the difference .. who would have thought !!

Thanks for the help guys </TD></TR></TABLE>

Woohoo!!