slydog39

Thanks for the replies. I did uset he proper marks--not the arrows--so my crank was always at 12oclock. If the belt was off by a tooth, it would seem that when I hand cranked it to test (or ran it for a minute) that the cam marks would have not been aligned, but they are. In any case, I am goingt o tear it down again this morning and remove the belt, and re-install. this time I will count the teeth between the positions--should be 43.5 on drivers side and 47 on the passengers if I have the rigth information

2009 Forester SOHC 2.5 engine automatic I was trying to do the 105,000 service on my car this weekend--new timing belt, pulleys, etc... I have 116,000 miles. All was going well, until i screwed up. I was removing the drivers side cam pulley to access the piece behind it so I could remove/replace the water pump. (yes, the 2009 has a plastic plate that gets in the way of the water pump--early models do not have.) My helper was holding the drivers side cam with a cam pulley holder tool, but let it slip as I tried to remove the bolt. The cam was turned to the left--the wrong direction--about to the 10 oclock position from the verticle it should have been. I got everything lined back up properly. the timing marks on the crank and both cams all line up properly when I hand rotate the crank after the new belt was installed. it all looks great --except for the fact that the car does not run well now.. the timing is screwed up., or something more sinister. I am afraid to ask. I am stuck. I was told if I go back in, remove the timing belt and hand rotate the drivers side cam a full rotation it would get everything back lined up and it may solve my problem. I need thoughts. I need this car and cannot afford to take it to a repair shop. Thanks for your input