[jhelliot]

So my timing belt idler pulley bolt snapped, and I’ve lost timing. Was able to extract bolt and drill tap to replace with larger bolt that should work. Got timing belt and all back on and used a piston stop to find TDC. However, i can’t seem to get the cam in the right spot. I can’t see any lineup marks on the sprocket and backplate that make sense. Just as a guess and check I was able to get the thing running but it runs terrible, and if I put in drive it just dies. Tried going forward and back a few teeth but not any real difference. Cam sprocket does have an “S” stamped in it one location and there is a hole in it. There are two spots on the plate behind the sprocket one is dimpled and the other is either a nick or factory notch. I lined up on both these and it still sounds like the valves are gonna shoot out of it. Anybody have any pictures of how the cam sprocket should line up at TDC or is there a better way to go about this?

 

[1990Toyota]

The hole SHOULD be lined up with a dimple on the housing behind it...

here's a link... in the pic you can see the little dimple in the pic... ..I use a mirror or camera phone to look and see if the dimple is lined up with the hole......
The one in the pic is not aligned correctly, but you can see the hole and the dimple....


Did you align your crankshaft pulley correctly?

5SFE cam sproket timing marks | Toyota Nation Forum

 

[jhelliot]

The hole SHOULD be lined up with a dimple on the housing behind it...

here's a link... in the pic you can see the little dimple in the pic... ..I use a mirror or camera phone to look and see if the dimple is lined up with the hole......
The one in the pic is not aligned correctly, but you can see the hole and the dimple....


Did you align your crankshaft pulley correctly?

5SFE cam sproket timing marks | Toyota Nation Forum

Thanks for that. I’ll double check but I usually have good luck with using a piston stop tool instead of using the screwdriver trick.Hoping it’s just the timing and not a valve train issue. Assume noise could be water pump growling/grinding I didn’t swap it since It hasn’t been that long since it was done. Was running fine before the belt let go.