Strange timing issue after belt replacement - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

gregzbutt · 03-15-2009, 08:01 PM

I'm having some strange issues with my 1991 camry. I just got done with a timing belt job on my 3sfe, all new seals, etc. I read through all the write ups here on the forums, lots of great info, and everything was going just fine. After I finished I started my car and it idles and revs fine. Before I took it for a test drive I checked the ignition timing and it's pretty far advanced, off the scale actually. I would guess its around the 17-19 mark, if there was one. The hole on the cam pulley is lined up perfectly on its mark when the notch on the crank pulley is lined up with the 0 degree mark on the cover. I decided to pull the cap on the rotor to see where it was, and its smack dab right on the number 4 plug. So now my question is, how is my car running? The rotor should be pointed at the number one wire, correct? I have never pulled the rotor before, and as far as I can tell the car is running like she has for the past year I've had it. So any ideas? Its hard for me to believe the timing has been this far off for so long, but its possible. Thanks for the help!

Greg Boser

gregzbutt · 03-15-2009, 09:42 PM

Alright, so I got it figured out. I've been working on this car a lot the past couple days and I'm just exhausted. I forgot that the crank turns twice for ever one turn of the cam. I turned the crank once more and its right on number one. I feel pretty dumb about that one. My timing is still off however. I'm gonna move the dizzy over a tooth and see if that fixes it.

fredk · 03-15-2009, 10:04 PM

dont move anything, if it is way too far advance it will buck against the starter and ping like mad, most likely the outer ring of the crank pulley slipped around, both my camrys did this so i just time them by ear

Tom 2000 · 03-15-2009, 10:11 PM

When you checked your igntiion timing, did you bridge the terminals T and E1 on the check connector?

gregzbutt · 03-15-2009, 11:13 PM

Yeah I bridged the terminals. It idled down right to 600. I didn't know that there was an outer ring that could slip around. I'm really tempted to just leave it as is. Like I said it runs and revs just like it did before I swapped on a new belt. I thought I would hear it knocking if it was that far advanced. That's why I was confused. So this is common?

Jimnist · 03-16-2009, 04:19 AM

I don't think it's that far advanced

http://www.toyotacelicaonline.com/timing.htm

But if you want to be safe, you should run higher octane fuel.

Doctor J · 03-16-2009, 12:19 PM

On my car I need to turn the distributor toward advance direction to get 10 degrees BTDC [to make smog station happy].
Sometimes the timing mismath can be caused by slight 'drifting' of outer crank pulley part relative to the hub pulley part due to the old rubber between two parts [look in my thread about timing belt ]

gregzbutt · 03-16-2009, 11:53 PM

Thanks for all the input everybody. Doc, there's a bunch of threads about timing belts you posted in, I'm not sure which one you were talking about, but I got some useful info anyway. I ended up leaving everything alone. The car was running great before I took it all apart, and I really took my time (about 6 days) taking it apart and putting it back together. I was really careful about marking the old belt, and lining everything up with the new one. Its hard for me to see where I would have messed up. After driving it, it feels way better than it did before. Replacing 3 broken motor mounts (front, middle, and rear all completely severed!!!) and taking about 3/4 of an inch of slack off the throttle cable will do wonders for your throttle response! Its not knocking on regular gas either. The outer part of the pulley must have moved a bit. Thanks everybody.

Greg