Timing belt problem...need help

[artie in miami]

I am nearly finished putting a new timing belt on my wife's 2000 camry 4 cyl...I have the cam sprocket hole lined up with the dimple and have the belt temporarily in place on everything but the cam sproket (belt is on crank pulley, water pump, tensioners, oil pump etc). Every time I try to move the crank to line up the timing mark with the zero...it gets really hard to turn (clockwise) at about 5 (before the zero)...when I push hard enough to get the crank to move, it jumps past the zero...very frustrating...any ideas or advice ? I am wondering if leaving the spark plugs out for five days in the humidity of miami has caused it to be really hard to get into place...or am I doing something wrong ??

artie in miami

[ajkalian]

Originally Posted by artie in miami

I am nearly finished putting a new timing belt on my wife's 2000 camry 4 cyl...I have the cam sprocket hole lined up with the dimple and have the belt temporarily in place on everything but the cam sproket (belt is on crank pulley, water pump, tensioners, oil pump etc). Every time I try to move the crank to line up the timing mark with the zero...it gets really hard to turn (clockwise) at about 5 (before the zero)...when I push hard enough to get the crank to move, it jumps past the zero...very frustrating...any ideas or advice ?
artie in miami

Don't ya just hate it when that happens. It's very annoying. You can buy one at Amazon or maybe rent on locally.

Amazon

Amazon

If you can't find one, then just make one. You can use a 2x4, drill a couple of holes in it the correct spacing to engage the holes in the cam sprocket. Get a couple of 1/2" bolts, maybe 3" long so they stick out an inch past the 2x4 and you are good to go. If you have any 1" pipe laying around that would be better. A trip to Home Depot's plumbing department might be in order.


Edit:
Now that I think about it, you would probably be better off not using a piece of pipe, but rather go over to the section where they sell steel, and get some flat bar stock. Maybe 1/4" or 3/8" thick, by 1 1/2"-2" wide ought to do it. Be sure to position the bolts with the hex head protruding so they can engage behind the holes in the pulley. If you expose the threaded end of the bolts, it will slip out.

Re-Edit As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words, so here's something I threw together to show you what I mean by positioning the bolts.




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[AliRazoR]

http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_1...7=00971063000#

[artie in miami]

Maybe I did not explain myself...I made a cam adjuster from some flat steel stock and bolts...made a "Y" shaped handle from the flat stock and put some long bolts on the tips of the Y...I am having a problem getting the timing mark on the crank pulley to line up at the "O" mark on the belt cover...the crank gets really hard to turn at 5 degrees ....when I push on the wrench hard enough to get past the tough spot at 5, the crank jumps past the zero mark...I know that it is not kosher to turn the crank counter clockwise to get the pulley mark back to zero...what can I do to get the marks to line up if I cannot turn the crank pulley counter clockwise to get it to zero ??

Is there a way to put the belt on the cam sproket if the crank is lined up at 5 before TDC, and then make an adjustment for that later ?? I am really frustrated with this thing and cannot think of what to do ??

artie

[ajkalian]

Originally Posted by artie in miami

Maybe I did not explain myself...I made a cam adjuster from some flat steel stock and bolts...made a "Y" shaped handle from the flat stock and put some long bolts on the tips of the Y...I am having a problem getting the timing mark on the crank pulley to line up at the "O" mark on the belt cover...the crank gets really hard to turn at 5 degrees ....when I push on the wrench hard enough to get past the tough spot at 5, the crank jumps past the zero mark...I know that it is not kosher to turn the crank counter clockwise to get the pulley mark back to zero...what can I do to get the marks to line up if I cannot turn the crank pulley counter clockwise to get it to zero ??

Is there a way to put the belt on the cam sproket if the crank is lined up at 5 before TDC, and then make an adjustment for that later ?? I am really frustrated with this thing and cannot think of what to do ??

artie

OK, then just ignore my post above, sorry.

It doesn't hurt to turn the camshaft, or the crankshaft backwards a bit to adjust it to align the marks. There seems to be some hysteria about not rotating either of them counterclockwise, but I've done it with no harm. Now I'm only talking about a few degrees here an there to get the alignment marks lined up. Not running the engine backwards.

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