Timing.....Engine install

[spokanesoob]

well i just spent the last 4 or 5 hours assembling my engine after i got the heads back. i thought the D/S camshaft slipped out and the disty was off so i realigned it to what it should have been, put the pointer between the marks the pass side cam down and drivers up.well i just tryed to start it after puttin it in my car and it just pops. i hate that feeling were you feel like you threw away 5 hours of you time just to be disappointed. oh well thats working on cars.

so any suggestions on what i should do about my situation?

when i aligned the disty i did it with the pointer pointing to the center marks is that wrong ?

[Andy FitzGibbon]

Are you confusing the cam timing marks and the engine timing marks?

The cam timing marks are the three lines on the flywheel, all by themselves. Line up on the center mark, set the cams (one hole pointing up, one hole pointing down on the cam pulleys) and put the belts on. Then rotate the engine 180 degrees to the engine timing marks. These are the marks you use the timing light on. Set the engine on 0 degrees (top dead center) and install the distributor.

Andy

[idosubaru]

let us know exactly what you did, Andy is on to your problems. you installed something wrong but without details i'm not sure what.

 

the distributor timing is annoying to get correct. the easiest way is to look at a known good engine or picture of one. the distributor needs to be lined up with the drivers side cam (so use the cam pulley as a reference).

 

one option is to get another engine with the d/s cam timing mark lined up and install your distributor to match exactly. that's just an easy way to do it but there's any number of methods.

 

don't mess with anything else until you're sure that is correct. once it is then you'll want to verify your timing belt timing.

 

electrical timing, timing belt timing, and distributor alignment are adjusted and worked on independently. don't get them confused by thinking they're the same or use the same procedures/marks or use them in the same way. they don't.

[Gloyale]

Assuming you're t-belts are installed properly, this should be real easy.

 

Rotate the engine to 0 TDC on the timing scale.

 

Look marks on the CAM pulleys. You want the passenger side up and out by 45 degrees, and the drivers down and out 45 degrees. If it's opposite, rotate the crank a full 360 to get them to that position.

 

That will be #1 cylinder at TDC of the Compression stroke.

 

Now the rotor of your disty should be pointing roughly at #1 on Cap.

 

If not, remove it and reinstall so that rotor points to #1 on Cap. There is a dot on the disty gear, alng that dot with the notch on the housing shaft, and it should drop in to the correct position.

 

Pictures worth a thousand words

[spokanesoob]

well i have done timing belts before but, what i did was, i set it up like i always do one cam up (Pass side) one down (drivers side) and the flywheel pointer aligned with the center of the three marks that look like this ||| then what i did is take the disty out, and put the rotor at #1 and installed. sounds like i did it wrong. what im gettin out of this is i have to do the cams, and then rotate the engine to 0btdc and Re install the disty? and when i re install it i have to line up a dot?? thats the part that confuses me.

[azsubaru]

IIRC, after you align the timing belts to the 3 marks, do another rotation cycle, then rotate the crank further until the 0 deg lines up, then install the distributor pointing to #1.

[GeneralDisorder]

Distributor is ignition timing.

 

Belts are VALVE timing.

 

Different animals.

 

Different marks.

 

You use the ignition timing marks for the disty - the ones with the numbers.

 

You use the ||| marks with the valves. No numbers.

 

GD

[spokanesoob]

got it figured thanks guys!

[Gloyale]

and when i re install it i have to line up a dot?? thats the part that confuses me.

 

You don't have to, but if you do, then you will end up in the right spot.

 

Otherwise simply eyeballing the rotor to point at #1 works fine too.

 

Glad you got it figured out.