jakethesnake Posted April 17, 2011 Share Posted April 17, 2011 Hey everyone, So I decided to change my 2.2 timing belt myself. It's a 1998 legacy 2.2, which is an interference engine (I believe, I've found conflicting info). Anyhow, I removed the old belt, and also removed and replaced the cam seals. A couple times while I was getting the driver side cam pulley off, it would slip and rotate 90 degrees either way (this pulley was under tension and didn't want to stay lined up with the mark). This happened a couple times, but I always moved it back up to where it was supposed to be. (the crankshaft and the passenger camshaft never rotated much if at all) So I got all the seals and water pump replaced, then got my new timing belt and everything put back on. I was very careful putting on the new timing belt (OEM belt), making sure I had it lined up right. It seemed easy because the OEM marks on it lined up perfectly with the appropriate marks on the cam pulleys and crank shaft. (The two camshaft pulleys marks were at 12 o'clock, as well as the crankshaft mark, just like when I pulled the old belt off) I counted the teeth on both sides to make sure everything was fine, 44 teeth on the passenger side, and 40.5 teeth on the driver side. Then I pulled the pin on my new tensioner. Everything still looked lined up correctly. Here's where I really got worried. My manual said to rotate the cams at least two full revolutions, to be sure everything was fine and it wasn't binding. I rotated it around, there was some resistance, but I just attributed it to the tension on the driver side cam, cause it felt about the same. I rotated the cam probably 90 degrees or so then I reached a point where there was more resistance, but not a whole lot. All of the sudden it went past that point of more resistance and I heard a nasty "clanking" sound. It kind of "slipped" past that point of a little more resistance. I rotated it another 90 degrees, then started to feel a bit more resistance again and stopped. Now I can rotate the camshaft 90 degrees before reaching a point where there is more resistance, and I'm afraid to go past this. I get this point of increased resistance either way, so I can turn my cam between 6 and 9 o clock, but I get more resistance at either end of that. What do you guys think? Did I bend my valves? As far as I could tell my timing was perfect and the teeth were exactly where they were supposed to be, but I'm pretty worried at this point. I'd also have a really hard time taking the belt off and resetting things, cause the cams are 180 degrees or so past where I started from, and the crank was rotating too. Thanks for any help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fairtax4me Posted April 17, 2011 Share Posted April 17, 2011 You will feel a large amount of resistance when turning the crankshaft because you are compressing air in the cylinders. Once you reach top dead center (the top of the compression stroke) the compressed air will push the piston back down and cause the engine to kick. Check that the timing marks on the cams and crankshaft still line up with the notches in the covers, put some coolant in the engine and try to start it. If you removed the oil pump you need to crank the engine for about 30 seconds with no spark or fuel (unplug the igniter module on the firewall, and unplug the injectors) to build oil pressure before starting the engine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jakethesnake Posted April 17, 2011 Author Share Posted April 17, 2011 Well, I've been feverishly searching around on the internet, and saw mention of removing the spark plugs when rotating the engine around to check the timing. Could that be what my problem is? Is compression building up and making it more difficult to rotate then releasing? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jakethesnake Posted April 17, 2011 Author Share Posted April 17, 2011 (edited) We posted at the exact same time thanks a lot for the help, makes me feel a lot better. I was extremely worried that I bent my valves or something, so hopefully everything is all good. That build up in compression will occur 4 times every complete rotation of the camshafts correct? Edited April 17, 2011 by jakethesnake Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fairtax4me Posted April 18, 2011 Share Posted April 18, 2011 That build up in compression will occur 4 times every complete rotation of the camshafts correct? Correct. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted April 18, 2011 Share Posted April 18, 2011 (edited) non-issue, that must be a relief! sounds like you got it nailed and should be good to go. that effect is not caused by piston compression. the cam gets loaded as the lobes on the cam compress the valve springs, which is why they snap even with the belt removed. maybe compression adds to it but considering the compression readings when turning a motor by hand i doubt it's much. if you have adjustable valves (which I think you do), i'd go ahead and adjust them. they are really easy to do on this car if they're the screw type. i used to just ignore it all the time, now i'm a big fan of this after recently seeing how tight all the valves i'm seeing are and how easy it is on certain Subaru engines. Edited April 18, 2011 by grossgary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MilesFox Posted April 18, 2011 Share Posted April 18, 2011 Well, I've been feverishly searching around on the internet, and saw mention of removing the spark plugs when rotating the engine around to check the timing. Could that be what my problem is? Is compression building up and making it more difficult to rotate then releasing? you are most likely worrying about something that is not a problem, based on speculation out of lack of experience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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