I was heading up to Seattle yesterday to find a place to live. I went through my car and made sure everything was all right (spark plugs, new tire, changed oil, checked fluids, etc.). I got 70 miles out, and my car started acting funny and died. I wait for my dad to show up, and we check for spark and fuel. Both are good. I then suspect that the gas station gave me diesel insead of gasoline. That didn't happen. We notice that when I try to start it, it's just on the verge of catching, but it is also backfiring. My dad says it sounds like a timing problem. Well that was one thing I checked before I left. So we figure since we are getting spark, that it must be the timing belt has slipped. I tow it down here, and start to tear it apart. I then notice that the crankshaft and camshafts are timed right. So it wasn't the timing belt. Well after checking other things, from a suggestion from a mechanic/friend we figure I need a new distributor. So I pull off the cap, and hear something fall. It turns out the screw that holds on the rotor fell off, and that was causing the problems. :jawdrop: Anyway I changed the timing belt anyway because it had 60k miles on it, and it was already torn apart. But now my car works.
Good deal...next thing would have been the camshaft gear/distributor gear... And if it was the camshaft gear....you'd have been...SHAFTED!
My cars a dual overhead cams, so I don't think that would have been a problem. Of course my knowledge of cars isn't 100%, so I could be wrong. Well now the car runs, and not too bad. But it is running just a little rough. It seems to "cough" a little bit while idling. I went to time it, but the pully moved a little, so the mark was off. Unfortunately whoever had the car before me had replaced the timing belt (100k miles) but left the woodruf (sp?) key out of it. So now I have to add a woodruf key, then put on the pully correctly, then time it. But I'm kind of confused on why it would need to be timed. I didn't change the distributor any. And I borrowed a special tool from my mechanic friend that locked the two camshaft gears in place so they didn't move when the belt was off. The marks looked right on them for top dead center, so I don't think anything moved.
I'll bet when you released the tentioner it took up the slack, and pulled the crank pulley off a tooth. Unless you take up all the slack on the opposite side of the belt where the tentioner is located, this is very possible. In fact, I always move my crank pulley off a tooth, to both simplify getting the cogs on the crank, and to allow for tightening it up. Also, those crappy timing marks they put on the Honda cam gears are almost impossible to get right. Line up this slot, that is a full 3 inches away from the valve cover surface :?: . Why not just give me an arrow on the timing cover and 1 on the gear where I can see it? Hondas are great cars, but their timing belts suck rooster nuts. Also, if the belt had been streatched, the timing may have been set to accomodate this. Or, if the previous tech had installed it incorrectly, they may have set the timing to correct the issue . Always check timing when you do a belt.
I think the DOHC engines are a little different then. In this one, the gears are about a half inch away. One one tooth of the gear each there is a mark. When those marks are pointing eachother, it is at TDC. There is also marks on the gears with arrows pointing up, and the word "up" on them, so you really can't go wrong with them. Definitely thanks for the info Seth. It is good to know from a professional that the timing is thrown off when changing the belt. It makes me feel better in my work in that I wasn't sure if I did something else wrong. BTW, I tried calling you yesterday when I was completely confused. It was just before I found the problem. I'm glad I didn't get through, because I would hate to bug you over such a simple problem. But I really didn't want to buy a new distributor (this one's about 6 months old), and I couldn't think of anything else at the time. The screw is in tight now. :bye:
(***)941-**42 ? I don't know why your name didn't pop up. I saw it come up but I had my hands full at the time. If I had known it was you I would have answered. Let me know if that is right, because apparently I don't have you saved in my cell. I'll rectify that immediately. The DOHC aren't as bad. Those have to be level with the VC surface. They can be pointing right at each other and still be off though. You need a straightedge and it must line up through cam sproket bolt centers, and through the pointers. Be aware of that. With dual cams, the timing of them is even more critical than a SOHC. With a SOHC the intake and exhaust valves are always in time, even if they are off from the crank. On a DOHC, you can get the In/Ex valve timing off, as well as the crank. By the way, what did you do with that Toyota?
Yes, that is correct. But remember that it may change since I am moving (don't know if they let you keep it if you change states). And I am actually glad you didn't answer since it turned out to be an easy problem. I really don't want to bug you at work if I don't have to, especially if you are busy. Well that's good to know. But we did use that tool that locked them together, preventing them from turning. So now they may be a little off from the crankshaft, but at least they are still correct in relation to eachother. It really doesn't run too bad right now. It is just a little rough, which I think getting it timed will fix. The customer said he really didn't care if it was fixed or not. We were going to try one more thing with it, but with my current situation I think my boss decided just to forget it. After all, my last day is next thursday, and I have to now drive up there Monday and Tuesday to find a place to live. Hopefully that screw doesn't fall out again. :lol: Of course my dad had to tell everyone about how I had a screw loose..................I agreed. :bag:
Well the car works now. Thanks Seth for the help earlier today. And yes, I will let you know the new number if it changes. Quick question though. After talking to you today, I found the bolt holding the crankshaft pully on the ground. I thought I got it to tighten down to the 87 ft. lbs, but I guess not (too noisy at the time to hear the click). So since I really didn't have a way to keep the engine from turning when tightening it, I just hit it with the impact wrench. Now I know it is tighter than specified, but do you think that will cause a problem?
No. We always tighten them with an impact. When you torque them, they have a tendancy to... fall out . Glad that worked for ya. It is often the simplest of things that make the biggest differance .
