96 Camry 4cyl. Timing belt problem. HELP!!!

[Fabito]

Hello,

1996 Camry 4cyl. Manual.

So I was repairing an oil leak that I thought was coming from the oil pan gasket and it turned out to be the gasket or O-Ring of the Oil Pump Body Cover.



I changed the gasket, which is an assholeish thing Toyota does, that gasket is thin as hair and they have it in the front counter on display at the dealer. Breaks every time....

Moving on.

I had to take off the timing belt:
I aligned the Crankshaft pulley at 0 and the Camshaft pulley at the dot.
Took off Crankshaft pulley and remover No. 1 or bottom cover.
Moved the No. 2 Idling pulley or tightner pulley to loosen the belt.
Took off the belt.
Removed No. 2 Idling pulley and Oil Pump pulley.
Changed the gasket, and put the pulleys back in.

Got a new belt.

Put the belt in nice and tight.
Loosen the No. 2 Idling pulley or tightner pulley to tighten the belt.
Put No. 1 or bottom Timing Belt Cover on.
Installed the Crankshaft pulley and made sure its mark remained at 0.
Turned the crankshaft pulley clockwise 2 revolutions and left it at 0. The timing at this point is perfect on both pulleys.
Turned the crankshaft pulley clockwise 7/8 of the way. Re-installed the outside belts to alternator, a/c etc.
Tightened the No 1. Idling Pulley or tightner pulley.
Hooked up wires and lose hoses.

Tried to turn the car on. I won't start. It tries to, but after a second or two it dies. Also there is that dreaded screeching noise cars get around the timing belt.

Any idea why it will not start?
Also, which pulley is that screeching noise coming from?

Thank you.

Here is a diagram of the belt, in case you don't know what pulleys I'm talking about.

[toyomoho]

To confirm, you aligned the cam pulley to see the notch on upper part of the cam bearing through the hole in the pulley spoke?

Crank at 0 degrees.

Tightened the No 1 pulley.

Rotated the crank pulley 2 times CW and confirmed when the crank pulley was at 0 degrees the cam pulley was aligned as stated above?

Rotate the crank to 0 degrees when the No 1 cylinder is at TDC. Check the rotor, should be at the No 1 dist cap electrode position.

The noise could be the other belts.

[Fabito]

Originally Posted by toyomoho

To confirm, you aligned the cam pulley to see the notch on upper part of the cam bearing through the hole in the pulley spoke?

Crank at 0 degrees.

Tightened the No 1 pulley.

Rotated the crank pulley 2 times CW and confirmed when the crank pulley was at 0 degrees the cam pulley was aligned as stated above?

Rotate the crank to 0 degrees when the No 1 cylinder is at TDC. Check the rotor, should be at the No 1 dist cap electrode position.

The noise could be the other belts.

Yes Cam Pulley was aligned at the notch and crank pulley at 0. Turned twice CW and it was still at the notch and 0.
Then turned it CW 7/8 of the way and tightened the No. 1 idler pulley.

I will check the rotor tomorrow, if it is not in the No. 1 cylinder position, what to do?

Also maybe the screeching noise is the other belts are too tight?

[nevanerviss]

I had this same problem when I did a friend's car... For whatever reason, it kept jumping teeth... When you put the TB back on, route it so that the slack is in the belt on the CAM side of the belt... I know that the book says put the slack on the WP side, but this didn't work for me... Leave the upper TB cover off the car and line up the marks and try to start it... If it starts, then let it run for a few SECONDS and the turn it off and rotate the crank to the 0 mark and recheck the cam pulley, if the mark on the cam doesn't line up, then rotate the crank again, and if the mark on the cam STILL doesn't line up, then you need to re tension the belt... If the marks are still lined up, then you need to investigate other issues, i.e. spark, coil, etc...

[Fabito]

Yes I made sure the slack on the belt was on the No. 1 idling pulley. So when the I released the No. 1 Idlin pulley it was nice and tight. It doesn't skip.

I forgot to mention my dad did the work first, and I believe he messed up the timing.

Which one is the No. 1 cylinder? The one on the driver's side? Or passanger?
Maybe If I set the rotor on that spark plug it will help.

[ghettosled]

from left field (since you already checked the timing)...

what did you torque the oil pump body down to? i am wondering if this is on too tight causing the rotor to have a tough time turning and resulting in added friction for difficulty to start and the screeching noise.

[nevanerviss]

Originally Posted by Fabito

Yes I made sure the slack on the belt was on the No. 1 idling pulley. So when the I released the No. 1 Idlin pulley it was nice and tight. It doesn't skip.

No disrespect, but this question was asked of me when I had the same problem, but did you tighten the tensioner pulley after you released the tension?? I didn't (the first time) and that's what was resulting in the skipping teeth...

Originally Posted by Fabito

I forgot to mention my dad did the work first, and I believe he messed up the timing.

If the marks on both the crank AND the cam are lined up properly (and staying aligned), AND the belt tension is done properly, then it WILL start unless you have problems with the ignition timing, which is a horse of a different color...

Originally Posted by Fabito

Which one is the No. 1 cylinder? The one on the driver's side? Or passanger?

The #1 cylinder is the one closest to the passenger side of the car, closest to the cam pulley...

Originally Posted by Fabito

Maybe If I set the rotor on that spark plug it will help.

You could rotate the distro to that spot on the plug, and if I understand that correctly, that would be setting the ignition timing.

[Fabito]

Okay, so I did everything by the book. Followed every step in the repair manual.

However, one of the first steps on the process the book offers is to remove the spark plugs, which is the only thing I did not do as my father argued it wasn't needed.

The last steps I did were:

After I put the belt on and made sure it was tight all around I put in the bottom cover on. After that I put in the Crankshaft Pulley, made sure it was on the 0 mark and the Camshaft was on the dot. Turned the Crankshaft CW two revolutions back to 0. Everything was perfect. Then the book said to turn the Crankshaft CW again 1 and 7/8 of a turn, after that tightnen the No.1 idler pulley. Then it says to put in the top cover on and the engine mount or other things that were taken off on.

After this I proceded to turn the car on. And it was not starting.

I tried loosening the one bolt that holds the distributor to the engine to turn it just a little but it wasnt working.

In the illustration below, the whole I have circled in red, appear round in my distributor, not long, so I can not twist.

[nevanerviss]

After you did the 1 & 7/8 turn, did you verify that the marks still lined up? If they did, then you should most likely check for spark at each plug, and check your coil, as it may have failed resulting in the "crank, but not start" issue... You may also want to take the spark plugs out and check to see it they have oil or gas on them... Either way, it could be any number of issues, but it appears that you are not getting a good spark, which leads me to believe either a SP wiring issue, the coil is bad, or the distro itself is bad.

[toyomoho]

Remove the ign wire from the dist cap and can check for spark when cranking.

Line the crank up a 0 degree with No 1 cylinder at TDC. Remove the dist cap and check that the rotor is at the No 1 cap terminal.

The engine now starts but dies or does not start?

[dz63]

Originally Posted by Fabito

After that I put in the Crankshaft Pulley, made sure it was on the 0 mark and the Camshaft was on the dot.

There are two marks on the camshaft bearing housing. One is a "dot". The other is a "V-notch". You are supposed to align the hole in the camshaft pulley with "V-notch", not the dot. You say "dot" in one post and "notch" in another post. Which one did you use?

Originally Posted by Fabito

After that I put in the Crankshaft Pulley, made sure it was on the 0 mark and the Camshaft was on the dot. Turned the Crankshaft CW two revolutions back to 0. Everything was perfect. Then the book said to turn the Crankshaft CW again 1 and 7/8 of a turn, after that tightnen the No.1 idler pulley.

On my 1996 Camry, I had to tension the timing belt and lock the idler pulley BEFORE I turned the crankshaft pulley - just like nevanerviss said above. The spring (brand new) simply was not strong enough to keep the timing belt tight and prevent the belt from skipping a tooth. If I tried it the way you said above the belt would always skip a tooth. Maybe try locking the tensioner first, before rotating the crank pulley 720 degrees and see if it helps in your case. Note that you still need to get the timing belt tight on the water pump side (ie. toward the front of the engine).

[Fabito]

Originally Posted by dz63

There are two marks on the camshaft bearing housing. One is a "dot". The other is a "V-notch". You are supposed to align the hole in the camshaft pulley with "V-notch", not the dot. You say "dot" in one post and "notch" in another post. Which one did you use?



On my 1996 Camry, I had to tension the timing belt and lock the idler pulley BEFORE I turned the crankshaft pulley - just like nevanerviss said above. The spring (brand new) simply was not strong enough to keep the timing belt tight and prevent the belt from skipping a tooth. If I tried it the way you said above the belt would always skip a tooth. Maybe try locking the tensioner first, before rotating the crank pulley 720 degrees and see if it helps in your case. Note that you still need to get the timing belt tight on the water pump side (ie. toward the front of the engine).

Yes I meant to say V notch, not dot. I apologize. I guess I will try to lock the idler pulley before turning the crankshaft pulley.

Today when I took off the distributor cap, the rotor appeared to be at the No. 1 Cylinder. The car cranks up and it wants to keep going but it turns off, it only last for like a second.

Should I try to start the engine after the 1 and 7/8r revolutions or leave it at the 0 mark after the two revolutions?
Also, did I have to take off the sparkplugs or no?

[new echo owner]

Have you check for fuel and spark? Did you reconnect the Crank Position Sensor?

If you are sure that the timing marks are aligned, check something else. Don't change the distributor timing, if it was running before, the distributor timing wouldn't be the problem. If it is off, it can only mean that your cam timing is off.

N.E.O.

[Fabito]

Originally Posted by new echo owner

Have you check for fuel and spark? Did you reconnect the Crank Position Sensor?

If you are sure that the timing marks are aligned, check something else. Don't change the distributor timing, if it was running before, the distributor timing would be the problem. If it is off, it can only mean that your cam timing is off.

N.E.O.

I have not checked for spark, I will do that tomottow. I did reconect the Crank Position Sensor correctly. The car ran before I started working on the car. It had to run to put it in the driveway.

I redid the work again, following the steps I mentioned before, but now the car cranks but won't even run for that one second. What's different?

[dz63]

Originally Posted by Fabito

Yes I meant to say V notch, not dot. I apologize. I guess I will try to lock the idler pulley before turning the crankshaft pulley.

Today when I took off the distributor cap, the rotor appeared to be at the No. 1 Cylinder. The car cranks up and it wants to keep going but it turns off, it only last for like a second.

Should I try to start the engine after the 1 and 7/8r revolutions or leave it at the 0 mark after the two revolutions?
Also, did I have to take off the sparkplugs or no?

I took the spark plugs out to make the crank pulley easier to turn. I don't think it is 100% necessary.

Here is what I recommend. Follow the instructions carefully.

1. Lock the tensioner in the loose position.
2. Align the notch on the crank pulley with the "0" on the lower timing belt cover.
3. Install the belt such that hole in the camshaft pulley is aligned with the "v" notch. Not the dot! Use a flashlight and a mirror to verify this.
4. Ever so, slightly rotate the camshaft pulley CCW (without moving the crank pulley) to make the timing belt tight on the water pump side (ie. toward the front of the car).
5. Have an assistant press down on the timing belt and keep the tension on water pump side while you unlock the tensioner. This is where I screwed up a few times. Doing it myself, the belt would always skip a tooth. Then I got an assistant to hold the belt down and it solved the problem.
6. The spring in the tensioner should now take up all of the slack on the oil pump side of the timing belt (ie. toward the rear of the car). Ensure that this is the case before proceeding.
7. Now, lock the tensioner in this position. Assistant can let go now. At this point the timing belt is tight on both sides and the marks are still aligned.
8. Rotate the crank pulley with your 19mm socket wrench exactly 720 degrees CW. If you go past the mark, rotate another 720.
9. Check both that marks are aligned as before and belt is timing belt is tight on both sides. Use mirror and flashlight to verify.
10. Rotate the crank pulley with your 19mm socket wrench another 720 degrees CW.
11. Check both that marks are aligned as before and belt is timing belt is tight on both sides. Use mirror and flashlight to verify.
12. If they both align - then your timing is set up perfectly. Start up the engine and try it out.